startplaying.games Avis 41

With a critical eye of the game masters you patronize, this website is a great way for players and GMs to find each other. It actively promotes the use of safety features like lines & veils and the X card. I have had nothing but great experiences through StartPlaying; not only have I played some truly phenomenal games, I have met friends for life.

This is one of the greatest websites I've ever had the pleasure of coming across.

One of the biggest hurdles with any kind of community hobby as an adult is definitely scheduling.

Start playing games removes that problem. Any day of the week almost any time there's likely a game within your schedule.

And people more than willing to play with you, if you give this website a chance I promise you won't regret it.

Take it from a weekend warrior with little to no free time. It gave me something social to look forward to every week.

No matter your age range there's a place for you.

I know it sounds a bit melodramatic to say that a website that helps you set up online roleplaying games changed my life, but it’s absolutely true. Not only did it give me a source of income when I needed it the most, but it allowed me to connect with some awesome folks online - some of whom have become friends I’ve hung out with in person!

Two years ago when my job moved but my family couldn’t, my finances were stretched to the breaking point and I was doing serious research into how to live out of a car. I saw an ad for SPG on YouTube and figured it might be able to at least put a few bucks in my wallet. Maybe get me a tank of gas if I was really lucky.

Four months later it was paying my rent. Two years later I’ve paid off my credit card, am touring around the national gaming convention circuit running games for companies I used to fanboy over, and doing research into setting up my own LLC to build upon the momentum SPG has given me.

The staff is incredibly kind and responsive, and the company culture promotes values that I can proudly get behind. In the two years I’ve been using the website it has been regularly updated with new features and UI, and the folks behind the scenes are always open to feedback.

Can’t recommend them enough if you’re a freelancer or a customer - they will treat you well and give you all the tools you need to succeed in a very competitive market.

They are by far the best and fairest to work with! As a pro GM, they linked me up with great players, and it's been a blast these four years. Many of my players have been with them from the beginning, just to show you how good the system is at helping players find the right GM.

Whether a player or GM, this is the best way to start playing some games!

Love StartPlaying Games! I’ve played games with Game Masters I’ve found on the site and like that I can find GM profiles as well as verified reviews from players to help me find GMs which match my preferred style of play.

I’ve primarily been a Game Master/Dungeon Master, running over 1,300 game sessions via the platform. As a GM, it makes it easier for me to run my games as they manage the payment process and I can focus on running the games. I pay them for this service through fees on every game payment.

The people behind the company strike me as honest, hardworking people who I’ve gotten to know over the years. They are always improving the website, seeking feedback from players and GMs, building relationships with companies in the TTRPG (Tabletop Role-Playing Game) industry and give back to the community through donation-matching charity events.

I believe it’s a trustworthy site, and if you’re looking for a Dungeons & Dragons, or just about any game, you should be able to find one at StartPlaying.

For the amount of cost the site takes from players just being a message board, the site charges too much.

It doesn't help there's literally no vetting process if a GM is actually a voice actor, writer or whatever they claim to be.

I have been lucky all of the GMs through the site were not terrible. Just most of the time they were not what they claimed to be.

Avoid until they start playing with the truckloads of dollars they have in making the service better for players. I don't think they ever will.

I run games as a GM using the StartPlaying platform. It does have a slight fee to use but what it offers in the form of advertising and promoting my games helps me no end and is certainly worth the small percentage they charge for their services.. The other places to advertise either cost or can be quite toxic to paid GMing so this offers a safe space to run games. They handle payments stopping any problems with players not paying and therefore helping me from having to consonantly chase them up. All round a friendly and very capable company. Recommended.

Literally changed my life!
Ok, it is corny but true. My main passion has been ttrpg and StartPlaying gave me the opportunity to run games as my full-time job by connecting me with wonderful players. Teenage me would never have thought I would be working with games as I dreamed once.
Other than that the site is quite solid. I've used it plenty as a player too. It helped me find less popular game systems to play and at the weird times when Im free.
As a GM it takes care of charging my players, getting people to see the games Im offering and put all of them in a calendar with reminders. All the things I dont want to do, so I can focus on running my games.
What's not to love?

I had positive experiences with Start-Playing overall, despite the hefty charges they put on GMs, until I had a 'hostile' review; a player did not communicate any issues within the games for me to resolve, or ask for a refund - they just left a negative review.

I wanted to refund the player's two sessions in the campaign as long as the misleading review (as I can't do anything to change my GM skills/style if I don't get feedback in the session) was taken off - and Start-Playing, despite given extensive evidence on my part why this review was not fair, refused to take off the review.

This is why I signed to their website and agree to the heavy costs; for issues such as this, I expect the website to support both GMs as well as players to leave amicably from campaigns if there is a disagreement. I can't bring back the time the player invested for the player, but I will pay them back for their sessions (and Start-Playing for any costs involved for them) if the review is taken off.

I feel like this is the best thing I can do to resolve the situation for everyone, and I am unable to do so. I truly believe this is not fair.

Also, on their website, there is no way to comment on reviews from players to give a response so potential customers can assess the reviews - as such, I have to give the website a 1 star review until the hostile review is removed, or Start-Playing allow GMs to comment to negative reviews on their own page like Trustpilot.

great idea. terrible UI. as a GM, i don't want to to have to go and manually schedule every game EVERY TIME we play. the game is active. it is scheduled as weekly. i have enough shit to worry about. do better.

also, dogshit on a mobile device. do better. my players are more than happy to pay me outside of our service.

StartPlaying.Games addressed a need back in 2020: players and game masters alike were seeking an easier way to defeat the universal "scheduling conflict" that plagues us all. The co-founders are great people and have hired even more great people to build out the site in a way that makes the user experience simple and straightforward. As a player, I appreciate having the world (literally) at my fingertips when searching for a session or campaign that fits my interests and availability and the game masters I have played with have been exceptional hosts with epic stories to share. As a game master, I have been able to support my family with my earnings from the site and StartPlaying saved me SO MUCH time recruiting and advertising for my games. The players who have joined my tables have been amazing people from all over the world who enjoy collaborative story telling and creating epic memories with their teammates. The company's support crew (a.k.a. the support goblins) is incredibly helpful and serves the community of players and game masters with compassion and fairness and I have not yet had a negative experience resolving a site or payment issue.

The Good: A lot of GM's in a variety of timezones, pricing for both the luxury seeker or someone looking to play a little cheaper and get an experience without needing to do the prep yourself or deal with scheduling conflicts (they still show up, mind you; but I've noticed that 9 out of 10 times players seem more likely to show up and pay attention when they've invested money in it).

I've learned systems I really wanted to learn, can reach out to a GM who runs a specific system to ask them questions or to run a starter set, and overall there's a really positive vibe within the community I've met. And their search engine, for the most part, is likely to find you a system and campaign you're looking for (I've not quite figured out their SEO for finding buzzwords in-site; but I've had some good luck using Google to narrow finds down too)

The Mid: You won't know what you're getting for your money all the time. I've had a $40 game that felt like it should have been $15, the GM was extremely laxadasical and had no pregens for a system I'd never played in before and said "just bring any character you want, even 5e", which confused me a lot since I'd been very eager to learn and try Tales of the Valiant and it seemed like they'd really phoned that session's prep work in.

The Concerns: I don't know how they vet the GMs. There is a review system in place; which can give you some insights on the GM, but sometimes all people will say is "Great game!" with not much else to go by. My general advice, do your own vetting just to make sure you're getting what you want.

Being a new player, I had difficulty finding a game irl. I started looking around the internet for groups, but found it really difficult to get into groups that expected someone to know all the rules. I was able to find StartPlaying and tried a free game. It went really well especially since it was for new players. The DM was very patient and was focused in making sure I didn't get overwhelmed with all the rules. I then tried a paid game and that was even better as the DM was great at creating a story that incorporated rules very smoothly. Over all I have enjoyed being able to not stress about being on a schedule and getting to join games with DM taht are professional and enjoy thier wirk.

I am a professional GM that uses Startplaying.Games and would be absolutely lost at sea without their support.

I use the site to host and play games, and the support on each side is top notch.

I think there are some improvements in player search that can be made and a few tweaks here and there but the team is always innovating and rolling out new tech and methods of accountability.

SPG is the real deal.

StartPlaying.Games changed my life and there isnt another place I would rather use to host or play games.

I've found several great campaigns, as well as one-shots, through Start Playing. Can't recommend them highly enough! Even got to experience new to me systems like Monster of the Week and Candela Obscura.

Easy to navigate and understand site to find a ton of amazing Game Masters and fellow players of so many different systems and games. Can find just about any group or game even a few fun niche ones! Reliable service with consistent happy results when I've used them!

Over the last few years, I've played more than sixty games using the StartPlaying service. I've never had an issue with payment or searching for a game, though I will admit I am selective with my Game Masters and usually stick to a few whom I've clicked with well. I plan to finish my current long-term campaign (over twenty games!) in about a week and am already considering looking for a new campaign. Most games list their tech or character requirements ahead of time, as well as potential content warnings and safety tools, a big plus for me. It's a good system in my eyes.

This site is perfect for anyone who wants to learn/play any number of table top roleplay games. If you're having trouble finding a group to play with or don't have a local game store SPG is here to help you find just what you need to get started. There are also tons of Game Masters to choose from so you can get just the right game to play in.

I play in games on SPG, and I also GM games on SPG, so I have experienced their site from both sides of the screen. It's very easy to get into, both as a player and a game master.

The SPG support and tech teams are always on top of things when I have issues with the site, players, or GMs. It's a great way to find a game that you want, at a timeslot that works for you. The UI on the site is constantly improving, and they are always adding new features to streamline things. The people working behind the scenes on SPG are wonderful people and very, very passionate about what they do; they care about their players and their GMs.

If I were to suggest ways for SPG to improve, it would be to get a better system that allows people to request custom games. Some GMs are out there looking for players for the system (especially niche) that they want to run, and there are players who want to play in that system. A 'match-making' system for players would be great for SPG!

Always great, hundreds of amazing Dms, easy to use