#RPGaDay2021 - 9 - Medium

 

Medium?

Let's start by noting that the first association I have with the word "medium" comes from World of Tanks Blitz, where it refers to the kind of tank that developed into today's main battle tanks. Vehicles like the T-62A, the Centurion and the Pershing. That said, what does it evoke from a roleplaying perspective?

There's two areas that spring to mind. The first is the medium by which I consume RPGs. The second is the way that I play them.

I adopted the use of PDFs quite early, especially once I got my first iPad back in 2010 (64GB first generation iPad with WiFi only). Although I continued to buy dead tree versions of games, most of my reading was done using the iPad (and the still excellent Goodreader app?).

However, I started to travel with work, and ended up switching to an iPad mini. Even when the retina version of the iPad became available, I never found the mini, a satisfying reading experience. It was just too small for my eyes. These days, I'm tending to use Xodo (an Android app) on my Chromebook, which gives a decent view of two-page spreads. As I have a 2-in-1 Chromebook that flips to a tablet this works well.

However, I find it harder to learn a game system via reading PDFs. Books stick in my mind better as a medium but, even so, I usually have to couple that with writing notes to summarise what I've seen.

The other medium is the medium I use to play. Originally, this was always face-to-face, but these days most of my gaming is by VTT. This isn't a pandemic thing - it was already happening before. COVID-19 just added gaming conventions into the mix.

I do enjoy playing online; it gives me a chance to game with people I'd only see a couple of times a year otherwise.

The play style is a little different, but it's still fun. I find that 2.5 hours is optimal rather than the 3 to 4 I'd usually do face-to-face. All changes to match the medium.

9 August 2021 (belatedly)