Why are open table OSR games like that?
Caveat Emptor: I do not play games across a wide range of communities. I am mostly active in one space centered around the OSR/DIY and my own home table group I have gamed with for six years in tabletop and over fifteen for other games. The title of this could easily be Why are _________ games like that? If I were a member of any of those other spaces.
I"ve been a player in the GB OSR server for a little over a year now and running a Classic Traveller game there for five months or so now. During all that time I have played with probably close to a dozen or so different GMs and have had lots of different folks as players. I run an open table game there and all of the games I've been a player in so far have been open table.
My home game group is closed table group and we've all known each other for at minimum seven years and some of us much longer than that.
This post addresses some issues that this public, online play culture can have. The play cultures are completely different and most of those differences are necessitated by the "open" nature of the game. I will also offer my own way to try and sidestep these problems if I think there is one.
The unfixed playercount problem
Player count being in flux is one of the biggest factors in how the vibes shift. At a certain inflection point (around 5-6 for this sandwich eater) the game becomes more about actions of the party rather than the individual PCs. A lot of the OSR games default styles of play slot into this nicely. A dungeon delve or a patron mission are group oriented goals that offer some means of personal expression in how they're completed, but is all in service to the "mission." This shift in play can be a deal breaker for a lot of people because being in a 12 person party where you may only get a few moments in the spotlight outside of combat.
This is not something I see in my home games were I am much more able to focus on individual PCs and their emotions/lives.
Be intentional with playercount
Think about the game you want to run and put a player cap on there. It may be hard some weeks to keep context going if you have all new players but that's the beauty of an open table, let them kick the tires in some other area of your game. Let folks who didn't play last week have priority to play next week or w/e. Plenty of good solutions but be intentional with how many players you want at the table because it WILL change the vibe.
Running with the fastest
There is a teaching term called running with the fastest where you only engage with the students giving you correct answers and ignoring the rest of the class. This is something that's easy to fall into in a public game because the GM doesn't know who is showing up to any given session and new players are complete unknowns. Some referees might feel uncomfortable putting new players on the spot. Some might have bad experiences with new folks grinding the game to a halt and err on the side of going with players they can count on to keep momentum going. Momentum is a powerful thing in a public game because there hasn't been buy in from all the players to have the patience to take things slow most the time. So even if you feel that things are progressing at a decent rate the GM might feel that pressure to keep momentum as to not feel like wasting anyone's time.
Twofer: Referees call folks by their name. Players ADVOCATE for yourself
I am legally blind and struggle with some aspects of online play. I bring up this disability with new referees I game with just in case I have an issue with the game due to that and might need some assistance. It has never happened fortunately but there are times when some refs will message me to check if everything is all good.
It can also be scary to interject yourself into established groups and start calling shots. My advice is the same. Speak up and advocate for yourself. Any table that would dismiss you for advocating for yourself isn't one that you should wanna play at.
And to my referees out there: scratch pad and pen with player names. Tally off every time you call on someone and try to make it even. After a while you'll build the muscle of keeping things spread around.
The skew towards violence
This goes back to the playercount problem. The easiest way to make sure folks are getting equal time in game is to run stuff that skews towards the parts of games that usually have the most codified rules for acting: combat. There is also the logistical issues of trying to do more high context, literary gaming with large groups that may be inconsistent week to week. Smash and grabs become a good way to make sure everyone is playing and contributing to the table.
Communicate expectations (or ride the waves)
Be clear when you start a public campaign or one shot how you expect folks to interact with the world. Is it something more serious or a hack and slash. And if it's something ongoing then continually communicate those expectations to players because it's easy for things like that to slip week to week.
Or you can do as Mr. Mann does with 1000 statues and try to match the vibes of the different groups that show up to your game. This will usually default to whatever the normal culture is, but depending on mood and party composition there will be surprising somber sessions.
My final bit of perspective on this is that quite typically the culture of a given hobby space is not homogenous or uniform. Weird Writer's Lost Girls or Havoc's Hearts Aglow and Arden Weasels are games well outside the server's normal style of play. I would offer my Frydheld Sector game as outside the norm as well. There is a certain amount of lurking one must do to try and get the culture of a place. It doesn't have to be terribly long or difficult. "Lurking more" is a good way to get a feel for what the given culture of a place is and seeing how you might want to impact it to give your own style to a place as well.
Which is to say, go forth and game at tables that celebrate and respect you. Run games that you are intentional with. Be clear with what you want out of the things you run.
Spread beauty and light.