Tips on how to play DnD?

[Manko-sensei]

Well, that was the third standard case then, group of friends playing TTRPGs as a group activity. I don't know how widespread is in Brazil, but when it comes to me I could play with a lot of people IRL so I could test the waters and find groups I was comfortable in. Playing online is not always a good fit for everyone, I got really tired about it and specially with the last waves of newcomers but it's more or less as TDM mentioned. Roll20 is not longer a place to find games, Discord servers are endogamic and social networks like Reddit are popular but somehow disfunctional as well (more than 10 years ago Facebook worked fairly well for instance in my country). About the friends part, as I was once member of a TTRPG club, people whose focus is "making friends" instead of a genuine interest in TTRPGs are normally a death sentence for clubs. Of course, you'll become friends in time with many people but to last you need to be on the same wave.
Applying for a game has become like a job application? In many cases indeed and just to fuel the ego of certain people, but a necessary measure to filter people.

 

[TheDragonMaster]

I assume in Brazil there are tcg shops but depending on where clover lives it could get tricky. It's also not always safe to walk around outside in the big cities. Lots of robberies n stuff.

Regarding my own experience with irl ttrpg gaming, only in high-school I found people to play with (in middle school we all rushed home to play League and Minecraft kek) and we only got a tcg shop in my shitty (shit+city) on our last year of high-school, before that we used to play in a shopping mall's meal area in a corner lol

 

[Manko-sensei]

I assume in Brazil there are tcg shops but depending on where clover lives it could get tricky. It's also not always safe to walk around outside in the big cities. Lots of robberies n stuff.

Regarding my own experience with irl ttrpg gaming, only in high-school I found people to play with (in middle school we all rushed home to play League and Minecraft kek) and we only got a tcg shop in my shitty (shit+city) on our last year of high-school, before that we used to play in a shopping mall's meal area in a corner lol

Every country has at least one dangerous area, but when I was in middle/high school openly talking about alternative culture was asking for unreserved bulling unless you had mastered the Fist of Justice technique. I didn't start until university and even then it was just on clubs, specialised stores and at home when you had a stable group, but it was overall a close-knit community in a (good) time without Pay to Play and when there weren't too many individuals to choose from.

 

[TheDragonMaster]

Every country has at least one dangerous area, but when I was in middle/high school openly talking about alternative culture was asking for unreserved bulling unless you had mastered the Fist of Justice technique. I didn't start until university and even then it was just on clubs, specialised stores and at home when you had a stable group, but it was overall a close-knit community in a (good) time without Pay to Play and when there weren't too many individuals to choose from.

I meant more in the sense that I used to do content review on YT which included a lot of Brazilian news and that opened my eyes how common getting robbed over there is to the point I have to doubt if going to any other location within a populated area of the country by foot is safe.

Thankfully I never got bullied for liking alternative culture specifically.

 

[Angry_Panda]

I never really used the online 'tabletops.' Once in a while someone would suggest one, and we'd look into it, but since all my gaming has literally been around tables with other players, there wasn't much any of those offered that was an improvement. I understand trying to get into that with no one to tag along with is hard, though, so keep your feelers out - something will come up.

 

[Cloverfieldo]

I meant more in the sense that I used to do content review on YT which included a lot of Brazilian news and that opened my eyes how common getting robbed over there is to the point I have to doubt if going to any other location within a populated area of the country by foot is safe.

Thankfully I never got bullied for liking alternative culture specifically.

I live in a relativity safe city, the downside is there are few TCG stores. I went into one, and they said they will be organizing games in march, so I think I will wait until then

 

[Manko-sensei]

I live in a relativity safe city, the downside is there are few TCG stores. I went into one, and they said they will be organizing games in march, so I think I will wait until then

Every time you have the chance to go to those events don't miss them, there you'll meet people more focused on playing TTRPGs and you'll surely mingle with someone (and March is around the corner).

I never really used the online 'tabletops.' Once in a while someone would suggest one, and we'd look into it, but since all my gaming has literally been around tables with other players, there wasn't much any of those offered that was an improvement. I understand trying to get into that with no one to tag along with is hard, though, so keep your feelers out - something will come up.

Virtual tabletops were basically the solution for playing sessions when there were no other way to do it, also when you live in a town/small city and you have no one nearby to play on a regular basis. It was an improvement from play-by-post on forums from the 2000s or group chats but even so the experience is poorer, no matter how "immersive" they sell it to you (right now Fantasy Grounds seems to be the last cry, despite all the money invested by D&D Beyond). Playing online is easy to try because it's just a few clicks and you don't need to have any social skills but you have to compete with many others for the same spot in the most popular games.
Nowadays I live in a place where playing IRL is not possible, so even if I don't recommend playing online I have no other choice if I decide to come back.