WOTC needs to develop a "matching" service and host it on DnDBeyond. Right now the way players find each other is a vague mess, a wide variety of random sites, game shop cork boards, reddit, meetup, sub forums, etc, and it's virtually impossible for gamers to find each other. There are 10,000s of us out here looking for players or games and no reliable way to find each other. WOTC is at the center of it all and absolutely is the only one who is positioned to provide all of their customers with the best possible opportunity to find games and players. They can provide a consolidated, centralized system to gather the data and let essentially everyone who plays 5e find someone. They also stand the most to gain from more people finding players/games that match their needs and style as those people buy books. Gamers who want to play but can't find players rarely buy anything, and every social platform out there is filled with gamers saying "I really want to play, but can't find anyone".
It needs to be handled like a dating site, but without pictures or any of the "romantic" aspects. Keep it anonymous (handles only), only allowed to message if the interest is mutual, etc. The biggest part of the system should be a way for the players and GMs to express their interests in such a manner that everyone finds the best possible matches.
In addition to helping the players, it's a *HUGE* boon to WOTC in the form of data mining, gauging player interest, finding out how the players engage and what they want, etc. Offer coupons for books on the site, have contests for games that find each other there, like enabling content sharing on their campaign for 30 days, which is basically giving them a taste...they will absolutely buy stuff when it goes away.
Players create a profile for themselves and put in their basic info:
Online (Roll20.net, Discord) or Offline (face to face) Preference
Level of 5e experience: 0 (know nothing) to 20 (know everything)
Level of 5e knowledge: sliding scale from human fighter (basic mechanics) to aasimir MonkSorLockAdin (advanced/complex mechanics)
Rank the roles in order of your preference to playing them, from most to least interested: Tank, Healer, Damage Dealer, Utility
How esoteric are your characters, typically? 1 (I like single class humans) to 10 (monster-races, cross-world races, homebrew races with homebrew feats and several class dips)
How active are you in the game? 1 (quiet, speak when spoken to or when it's my turn) to 10 (can't really shut me up, in or out of character)
How active are you outside of the game? 1 (only care during game time) to 10 (between sessions I'm constantly chatting with the other players and GMs about back stories, side stories, the next session, etc)
Rank the following in order of your preference to have in a game, from most to least interested: Combat, RP Interaction, World Building, Optimized Party, Puzzles/Problem Solving, Storytelling
Do you prefer 1-shots or extended campaigns?
Homebrew (rule/race/item/feat/spell/etc) Preferences: 1 (Rules As Written only) to 10 (Wild West, change all the rules)
Level of desired Open World: 1 (completely on rails, almost scripted) to 10 (completely open, 100% sandbox and player agency)
Preferred Game "Rating": G (just want to have fun), PG (some minor adult themes, language, violence), PG13 (death, xenophobia, racism, sexism, vague slavery), R (graphic violence, sex trafficking, references to fetishes, etc), NC17 (all but the darkest possibly story elements), X (no limits)
Zip Code and max distance they can travel for a game
Ideal days/Times available
Additional Personal information, most of which is optional, but adds to the quality of matches:
Gender
Age
Pets acceptable? (allergies)
Smoking/Drinking/420 friendly?
GM makes a post for a game with all of the above info. Players do a search, selecting criteria, and the game pops up. The players express interest. The GM looks at their "profile" and decides if they reciprocate the interest. If so, they can PM each other and work out details. Players can choose to select flair/badges for their profiles to show books and subs they own, versions they've played, etc, more data makes better matches. Conversely the GM does a search for players, finds folks they like, tags them as interesting, and the players get to review the GM's profile before opting to reply and begin PMs.
The goal here is 100% safety and it must be 100% free so there is no barrier. More gamers putting in more information is more data, better matches, more successful groups, more sold books, it's literally Win/Win. I honestly don't know why this doesn't already exist. There are tiny 3rd party ones out there, but each only has a small fraction of the population and the bulk of new players have no clue they exist. Everyone knows DnDBeyond exists, it's the 1st place 5e gamers go and is the perfect central hub for gamers to find each other.
Edit: Note, I'm not talking anything automated. Not eHarmony's "matrices of matching", don't give me suggestions or give me cute ways to find players. It's a bulk database where people can search based upon entered criteria, that's it, nothing more. Any "value add" is in the data people can enter to narrow their searches.
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
DDB has sections in its forums and discord for finding and playing with other people online.
Most people play with people they know. Only a very small percent look for a group using DDB. I dont think it needs to take time from other projects to make a pseudo matchmaker.
In your post you talk about how WOTC should be the one doing this. DDB is not WOTC. It is a separate company that, like Roll 20 and Fantasy Grounds pays WOTC licensing fees to create products using WOTC content.
People don't use the DDB forums because they can't FIND them. I'm talking something on the main page at the level of "new player guide". Most people don't know other players, the Mercer Renaissance has created 10,000s of new players who don't know any other folks. Again, FB, Reddit, twitter are filled with "how do I find other players? I want to play!"
And yes, I know DDB isn't WOTC, but it's the flagship place where all of the digital books are sold so it's a great central point.
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Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
Added a bit about no automation. I'm not looking for an actual matching service. I don't want DDB actively matching people, sending recommendations, etc. All I want is a giant DB of DND players and GMs, in one place, so they can find each other if they wish. No "matrices of compatibility", no spamming people, no trolling, no catfishing, none of the nonsense that comes with trying to hook people together. Just a big DB that people can use to find each other and DDB can use to better target marketing to us, give us what we want.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
I think the market for this would be a lot more lacking than you'd think.
People looking for in-person games tend to do so through local gaming stores and websites like meetup, facebook. Hyper-local, community based services, rather than one overarching website.
As for people looking for online games, well generally they go through pre-existing social media and community sites; r/lfg, #looking-for-group on the DDB discord, lfg on roll20. Basically there are so many decentralised platforms offering the service, there isn't really a need to centralise it.
I'll agree to disagree, I literally see 100s of people expressing frustrating at this problem, and it's the #1 problem with gaming and has been since I started in '76, finding new folks to play with. Not everyone has a "canned" group of friends, or works/goes to school in an area rich in gamers. And the decentralized tiny solutions are the primary reason a centralized one would work, they all have tiny subnets and no one knows they're there, but if DNDB had a matching site that everyone could throw a profile into it would quickly fill up and have a lot more usability than any of the smaller ones.
All of the solutions you listed are all so provincial. For example, I didn't even know DDB *HAD* a Discord, and I'm on Discord right now, plus it's a horrible platform for matching, the more people that are there, the worse it is. The idea behind the DB is that you throw a profile in if you're a gamer and may never visit it again and a game may find you. I'm running 3 games right now and found my players over weeks/months of searching multiple platforms, all of which could've been avoided with a DDB solution.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
I'm running 3 games right now and found my players over weeks/months of searching multiple platforms, all of which could've been avoided with a DDB solution.
That's the new standard fallacy; the assumption that if X services aren't doing the job, a new one will. People who play on roll20 want to use roll20 lfg. People who play on discord want to use a discord based lfg. Adding a DDB service will work for the people who use DDB, but also dilute the pool even more.
Again, your position is anecdotal. People who are playing on Roll20 already have groups, people on Discord already have groups, congratulations to all of you. People who have a canned group of friends already available again don't need this. I'm talking about the rest of the world, the 10,000s of people who watch Crit Role, think "Wow, I'd really like to do this but I literally have no idea how to even start". The people who like Roll20 will stay on Roll20, play with their folks, and have fun. Meanwhile these new folks will be SENT to Roll20 from this system by finding a game with players that are on it, join that game, learn about Roll20 and have another way to find players.
I see this problem a lot with younger folks, "Dude, it's on Instagram, easy to find!" like that means anything to someone who has never touched Instagram. They know Roll20's system is "super easy", which is true for someone who lives on Roll20. I don't, never been there, haven't the foggiest how to find people on it, so it'll be much worse for people who've never even heard of Roll20. When it comes to data, more is always better. The more data points you have, the better and more reliable the solutions will be.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
People who are playing on Roll20 already have groups, people on Discord already have groups, congratulations to all of you.
That's not true though, people come into roll20 and discord without groups and find them through those channels.
My point is that there are X systems already out there and you're proposing introducing another one. It won't have everything people want from this service because that's not possible. People who use roll20 or fantasy grounds will want integration with that service because that's what they use. People who use discord will want integration with that service because that's what they use.
Creating a new standard won't render all the others obsolete, it'll just mean you now have one more service diluting the pool.
Also, could you maybe check your agism? Just because people are younger than you (or you assume them to be) that doesn't mean they implicitly know less than you.
I'm not about making anything obsolete, I'm just about creating a more logical, centralized one. Did you know there used to be a lot more search engines? Yahoo, Alta Vista, etc? Google made themselves "the name" and were so successful it literally replaced the word "search" in the lexicon. DDB is the first place players go, because the streamers send them there, so it's the logical central point.
I get it, you're on Discord/Roll20 and a fan. Cool, but saying we don't need a solution is like saying "I'm not hungry, ergo there is no world hunger". None of the existing solutions are going to rise to fill the gap, they're all very niche. I hate online D&D sessions, always have, since BBS and PBM days, and I'm not alone. Face-to-face sessions provide an experience like no other and the new folks that flock to the hobby daily are attracted to that because that's what Crit Role/AcqInc provides as an example.
Your not liking the solution doesn't make it wrong, it just means you already have a solution you like and seem to not care about anyone else and their issues. I'm looking at the larger problem and would rather not just dismiss 10,000 people to "let them eat cake" just because I have what I need.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
I'm personally not interested because I would rather see DDB spend their resources on building the feature requests already given that empower the DM and players.
I don't want to see those resources spent on a match making service.
But then again, that's why you make the feature request at the resource given. If there is a desire for DDB to build such a thing it will be reflected there.
I'm personally not interested because I would rather see DDB spend their resources on building the feature requests already given that empower the DM and players.
I don't want to see those resources spent on a match making service.
But then again, that's why you make the feature request at the resource given. If there is a desire for DDB to build such a thing it will be reflected there.
To clarify, I don't want a match-making service, I just want a DB. I don't want DDB sending me matches in the mail, hardening some matching system, trying to create compatible groups, etc. That would be a literal nightmare for me :P
Give me a DB, let me put my info in, you put your info in, millions put their info in, then we match ourselves. The more data we put in, the more they can learn about their customer base and the more things they can create that are better targeted.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
I think a centralized looking for group service is a good idea. However, I dont think it should be part of DDB. If anything a VTT site like roll20 would be better, but I think it would be best if it was independent from all licence distributors and cooperated with them (that way it could match players on DDB with players on R20 and truly be centralized).
WOTC needs to develop a "matching" service and host it on DnDBeyond. Right now the way players find each other is a vague mess, a wide variety of random sites, game shop cork boards, reddit, meetup, sub forums, etc, and it's virtually impossible for gamers to find each other. There are 10,000s of us out here looking for players or games and no reliable way to find each other. WOTC is at the center of it all and absolutely is the only one who is positioned to provide all of their customers with the best possible opportunity to find games and players. They can provide a consolidated, centralized system to gather the data and let essentially everyone who plays 5e find someone. They also stand the most to gain from more people finding players/games that match their needs and style as those people buy books. Gamers who want to play but can't find players rarely buy anything, and every social platform out there is filled with gamers saying "I really want to play, but can't find anyone".
It needs to be handled like a dating site, but without pictures or any of the "romantic" aspects. Keep it anonymous (handles only), only allowed to message if the interest is mutual, etc. The biggest part of the system should be a way for the players and GMs to express their interests in such a manner that everyone finds the best possible matches.
In addition to helping the players, it's a *HUGE* boon to WOTC in the form of data mining, gauging player interest, finding out how the players engage and what they want, etc. Offer coupons for books on the site, have contests for games that find each other there, like enabling content sharing on their campaign for 30 days, which is basically giving them a taste...they will absolutely buy stuff when it goes away.
Players create a profile for themselves and put in their basic info:
Additional Personal information, most of which is optional, but adds to the quality of matches:
GM makes a post for a game with all of the above info. Players do a search, selecting criteria, and the game pops up. The players express interest. The GM looks at their "profile" and decides if they reciprocate the interest. If so, they can PM each other and work out details. Players can choose to select flair/badges for their profiles to show books and subs they own, versions they've played, etc, more data makes better matches. Conversely the GM does a search for players, finds folks they like, tags them as interesting, and the players get to review the GM's profile before opting to reply and begin PMs.
The goal here is 100% safety and it must be 100% free so there is no barrier. More gamers putting in more information is more data, better matches, more successful groups, more sold books, it's literally Win/Win. I honestly don't know why this doesn't already exist. There are tiny 3rd party ones out there, but each only has a small fraction of the population and the bulk of new players have no clue they exist. Everyone knows DnDBeyond exists, it's the 1st place 5e gamers go and is the perfect central hub for gamers to find each other.
Edit: Note, I'm not talking anything automated. Not eHarmony's "matrices of matching", don't give me suggestions or give me cute ways to find players. It's a bulk database where people can search based upon entered criteria, that's it, nothing more. Any "value add" is in the data people can enter to narrow their searches.
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
DDB has sections in its forums and discord for finding and playing with other people online.
Most people play with people they know. Only a very small percent look for a group using DDB. I dont think it needs to take time from other projects to make a pseudo matchmaker.
In your post you talk about how WOTC should be the one doing this. DDB is not WOTC. It is a separate company that, like Roll 20 and Fantasy Grounds pays WOTC licensing fees to create products using WOTC content.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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People don't use the DDB forums because they can't FIND them. I'm talking something on the main page at the level of "new player guide". Most people don't know other players, the Mercer Renaissance has created 10,000s of new players who don't know any other folks. Again, FB, Reddit, twitter are filled with "how do I find other players? I want to play!"
And yes, I know DDB isn't WOTC, but it's the flagship place where all of the digital books are sold so it's a great central point.
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
Added a bit about no automation. I'm not looking for an actual matching service. I don't want DDB actively matching people, sending recommendations, etc. All I want is a giant DB of DND players and GMs, in one place, so they can find each other if they wish. No "matrices of compatibility", no spamming people, no trolling, no catfishing, none of the nonsense that comes with trying to hook people together. Just a big DB that people can use to find each other and DDB can use to better target marketing to us, give us what we want.
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
You can request it here
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/d-d-beyond-feedback/30499-request-and-vote-for-new-features-for-ddb
I think the market for this would be a lot more lacking than you'd think.
People looking for in-person games tend to do so through local gaming stores and websites like meetup, facebook. Hyper-local, community based services, rather than one overarching website.
As for people looking for online games, well generally they go through pre-existing social media and community sites; r/lfg, #looking-for-group on the DDB discord, lfg on roll20. Basically there are so many decentralised platforms offering the service, there isn't really a need to centralise it.
D&D Beyond moderator across forums, Discord, Twitch and YouTube. Always happy to help and willing to answer questions (or at least try). (he/him/his)
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat On - Mod Hat Off
Site Rules & Guidelines - Homebrew Rules - Looking for Players and Groups Rules
I'll agree to disagree, I literally see 100s of people expressing frustrating at this problem, and it's the #1 problem with gaming and has been since I started in '76, finding new folks to play with. Not everyone has a "canned" group of friends, or works/goes to school in an area rich in gamers. And the decentralized tiny solutions are the primary reason a centralized one would work, they all have tiny subnets and no one knows they're there, but if DNDB had a matching site that everyone could throw a profile into it would quickly fill up and have a lot more usability than any of the smaller ones.
All of the solutions you listed are all so provincial. For example, I didn't even know DDB *HAD* a Discord, and I'm on Discord right now, plus it's a horrible platform for matching, the more people that are there, the worse it is. The idea behind the DB is that you throw a profile in if you're a gamer and may never visit it again and a game may find you. I'm running 3 games right now and found my players over weeks/months of searching multiple platforms, all of which could've been avoided with a DDB solution.
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
Done, thanks a ton! :)
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
That's the new standard fallacy; the assumption that if X services aren't doing the job, a new one will. People who play on roll20 want to use roll20 lfg. People who play on discord want to use a discord based lfg. Adding a DDB service will work for the people who use DDB, but also dilute the pool even more.
D&D Beyond moderator across forums, Discord, Twitch and YouTube. Always happy to help and willing to answer questions (or at least try). (he/him/his)
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat On - Mod Hat Off
Site Rules & Guidelines - Homebrew Rules - Looking for Players and Groups Rules
Again, your position is anecdotal. People who are playing on Roll20 already have groups, people on Discord already have groups, congratulations to all of you. People who have a canned group of friends already available again don't need this. I'm talking about the rest of the world, the 10,000s of people who watch Crit Role, think "Wow, I'd really like to do this but I literally have no idea how to even start". The people who like Roll20 will stay on Roll20, play with their folks, and have fun. Meanwhile these new folks will be SENT to Roll20 from this system by finding a game with players that are on it, join that game, learn about Roll20 and have another way to find players.
I see this problem a lot with younger folks, "Dude, it's on Instagram, easy to find!" like that means anything to someone who has never touched Instagram. They know Roll20's system is "super easy", which is true for someone who lives on Roll20. I don't, never been there, haven't the foggiest how to find people on it, so it'll be much worse for people who've never even heard of Roll20. When it comes to data, more is always better. The more data points you have, the better and more reliable the solutions will be.
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
That's not true though, people come into roll20 and discord without groups and find them through those channels.
My point is that there are X systems already out there and you're proposing introducing another one. It won't have everything people want from this service because that's not possible. People who use roll20 or fantasy grounds will want integration with that service because that's what they use. People who use discord will want integration with that service because that's what they use.
Creating a new standard won't render all the others obsolete, it'll just mean you now have one more service diluting the pool.
Also, could you maybe check your agism? Just because people are younger than you (or you assume them to be) that doesn't mean they implicitly know less than you.
D&D Beyond moderator across forums, Discord, Twitch and YouTube. Always happy to help and willing to answer questions (or at least try). (he/him/his)
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat On - Mod Hat Off
Site Rules & Guidelines - Homebrew Rules - Looking for Players and Groups Rules
I'm not about making anything obsolete, I'm just about creating a more logical, centralized one. Did you know there used to be a lot more search engines? Yahoo, Alta Vista, etc? Google made themselves "the name" and were so successful it literally replaced the word "search" in the lexicon. DDB is the first place players go, because the streamers send them there, so it's the logical central point.
I get it, you're on Discord/Roll20 and a fan. Cool, but saying we don't need a solution is like saying "I'm not hungry, ergo there is no world hunger". None of the existing solutions are going to rise to fill the gap, they're all very niche. I hate online D&D sessions, always have, since BBS and PBM days, and I'm not alone. Face-to-face sessions provide an experience like no other and the new folks that flock to the hobby daily are attracted to that because that's what Crit Role/AcqInc provides as an example.
Your not liking the solution doesn't make it wrong, it just means you already have a solution you like and seem to not care about anyone else and their issues. I'm looking at the larger problem and would rather not just dismiss 10,000 people to "let them eat cake" just because I have what I need.
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
I'm personally not interested because I would rather see DDB spend their resources on building the feature requests already given that empower the DM and players.
I don't want to see those resources spent on a match making service.
But then again, that's why you make the feature request at the resource given. If there is a desire for DDB to build such a thing it will be reflected there.
To clarify, I don't want a match-making service, I just want a DB. I don't want DDB sending me matches in the mail, hardening some matching system, trying to create compatible groups, etc. That would be a literal nightmare for me :P
Give me a DB, let me put my info in, you put your info in, millions put their info in, then we match ourselves. The more data we put in, the more they can learn about their customer base and the more things they can create that are better targeted.
Ancient GM, started in '76, have played almost everything at some point or another.
I run/play Mercer-style games, heavy on the RP and interaction, light on the combat-monster and rule-lawyering. The goal is to tell an epic story with the players and the players are as involved in the world building as the GM is. I run and play a very Brechtian style, am huge into RP theory and love discussing improv and offers.
I think a centralized looking for group service is a good idea. However, I dont think it should be part of DDB. If anything a VTT site like roll20 would be better, but I think it would be best if it was independent from all licence distributors and cooperated with them (that way it could match players on DDB with players on R20 and truly be centralized).
While I've been pretty lucky with finding offline players on reddit, it would be nice to have another resource.
I would use it for offline groups - I'm not interested in online games - and the closest AL to me is an hour drive (without traffic).
So, I think it would be nice to have something like this idea - on DDB or not - to help with the few of us out in the boonies. ;)