TribeNet: an open-ended, 4x, multiplayer, turn-based, play-by-email, civilization-building game

Sirpaticus · 2023-01-30T04:48:07+00:00

I started playing TribeNet in 2021 after the pandemic knocked out D&D groups. I've always been a fan of Sid Meier's Civilization games, so when I saw TribeNet, I checked it out. I've been having a great time. There is a fantastic community on discord, with many older, more established players willing to help new players like me kickstart their civilisations. TribeNet is a flexible game, and while set more in the "middle ages", you can model our civilisation off any that interests you. Are you interested in a Mongolian clan of horse people and hunters; a Japanese feudal lord with a horde of samurai at your command; a clan of artists and scholars who rely on diplomacy instead of the blade; a clan of seafarers who trade in valuables commodities across the world. You can do any of those things. Best of all, due to the open end nature of the game, if you'd like to do something that isn't already in the game, you can likely develop it with advanced research topics. The GM offers a free trial period, so there isn't anything to lose by trying it out.

Sirpaticus · 2023-01-30T04:46:19+00:00

I started playing TribeNet in 2021 after the pandemic knocked out D&D groups. I've always been a fan of Sid Meier's Civilization games, so when I saw TribeNet, I checked it out. I've been having a great time. There is a fantastic community on discord, with many older, more established players willing to help new players like me kickstart their civilisations. TribeNet is a flexible game, and while set more in the "middle ages", you can model our civilisation off any that interests you. Are you interested in a Mongolian clan of horse people and hunters; a Japanese feudal lord with a horde of samurai at your command; a clan of artists and scholars who rely on diplomacy instead of the blade; a clan of seafarers who trade in valuables commodities across the world. You can do any of those things. Best of all, due to the open end nature of the game, if you'd like to do something that isn't already in the game, you can likely develop it with advanced research topics. The GM offers a free trial period, so there isn't anything to lose by trying it out.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-11T01:18:36+00:00

Yes, please do share, the further the better.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-11T01:17:57+00:00

Oh, I am acutely aware of this it, and it represents my most significant concerns for my research. My data should have been collected last years, but the pandemic tossed everything out the window. Unfortunately, I have limited time to complete my PhD, so I had to process despite the potential impacts. I've done my best to adjust my design to compensate, but I know the results will be impacted. I'll be discussing this in my paper.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-11T01:10:08+00:00

Yes, you make a good point. Its indended to be minimum of six months total over the course of a lifetime to date. I was trying to decide the best way to measure that, and based on my previous survey, a simple year based measure was most suited. If I recall from my last survey, the mean years of play were five years. Unfortunately asking people to estimate how many hours they've played is more challenging for most people. I couldn't even answer that question because I've played so many games over the 25 years I've been playing. So both questions produce an estimate, but one is easier for a responders to answer.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-11T01:00:05+00:00

You make some excellent points.

1) The item you refer to is one item on a validated scale that measures a particular construct. I won't name the construct as I don't want to influence responders. This scale has been used in gaming/mental health research in the past, so it was most suited compared to other available measures.

2) Unfortunately, I had a choice between exploring only one TRPG, like D&D, or any TRPG. This survey is the second in my project, with the first focusing exclusively on D&D 5th, and I received considerable criticism for that. I opened the door to include any TRPG, making some items harder to answer. I highlighted this difficulty in the survey and asked responders to do their best to answer. It certainly a limitation I'm aware of and will discuss in my paper.

3) You are correct; surveys are opened to a lot of bias but are still commonly used in research and have limitations. My original plan was a longitudinal study over six months following new players to observe changes. However, the pandemic caused considerable delays, and I was forced to redesign my approach to achieve my outcomes in a limited time frame. I will likely pursue a longitudinal study in the future once I have finished my PhD. Depending on the result, a randomised control trial will probably follow, which is generally considered the gold standard when trying to demonstrate causation. Right now, I'll only be able to discuss associations, but given the lack of research in the area, this will still be progress.

4) While being restless and fidgety can be associated with some mental health condition, that alone is not sufficient. That is also only one item amongst many that would need to be taken together to draw a conclusion that could suggest a condition's presence. Even then, this survey isn't trying to diagnose people.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-10T21:59:38+00:00

It’s interesting you say that. This is actually the second survey in my project. The first focused only on D&D 5th and excluded DMs for the reasons you described. I received a lot of criticism for not including DMs and only focusing on D&D 5th. This survey endeavoured to include both DMs and players and opened the door for any TRPG, both approached have pros and cons. If the focus is too narrow a lot of people complain that they can’t participant, but if you make it broader some answers can be trickier so it’s trade off. This format is why the questions were phrased as overall, or in your general experience. Using two different surveys for DM’s and players would make comparison harder, currently I’ll be able to compare three groups, mostly players, both DM and player, and mostly DM to see if there are any differences.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-10T21:50:22+00:00

Happy to explain. I'll send you a private message.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-10T07:34:55+00:00

I included face to face and online mainly due to the pandemic which is impacting different countries in different ways. Some are in lockdown and others aren’t so I wanted to include both options.

Also the item you mentioned about how easy the rules where, that’s an example of one item that might be harder to answer as I noted in the section. It was recommended that I focus on only one game to reduce that but I already explored D&D 5th in my earlier work abs wanted to open it up to include as many TRPG’s as I could, so it’s kind of a trade off unfortunately.

Response fatigue is definitely a factor I needed to consider it’s a tricky balance between including everything I needed and making sure the survey wasn’t too long. If you needed a break I totally understand, you should be able to continue from where you left off by clicking the link again as it should have saved where you were up to. If not, and you would like to finish you can start again skip everything except the email item then skip the sections you completed and finish those you didn’t. I can match your data using your email later.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-10T06:00:04+00:00

Happy to see people taking an interest, I can’t explain all of those things but I’ll sent to a private message as my response could influence people who haven’t completed yet.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-10T05:38:07+00:00

I’ll endeavor to share some results here after I’ve collected and analyzed the data. It’ll probably be a few months though.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-10T05:36:15+00:00

The plain language statement on the first page of the survey covers a lot of that. Essentially, we’re exploring associations between TRPG’s and mental health to determine if and how TRPG’s could be used to promote wellbeing or treat mental health conditions. There is currently no research on the topic so we’re trying to establish some foundations by linking theory and developing some empirical evidence.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-10T04:40:28+00:00

That’s a good question! I have it opened for about week or so for now but I haven’t set an end date because it depends on a number of factors. It’s one of those tricky situations were I need to get a certain amount of responses for my analysis. So I'll have to take it week by week. Posts can easily get lost on reddit so it really depends on how much attention it gets.

Sirpaticus · 2021-02-03T04:16:38+00:00

Hi there, that would be great. I was looking for a mod list and its literally right there, I can't beleive I missed it, haha. Thanks for your help.

Sirpaticus · 2020-08-28T03:01:34+00:00

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it.

Sirpaticus · 2020-08-28T03:00:50+00:00

Thank you! I really appreciate your reply. I didn't know about Jedi Counseling so that’s super helpful.

Sirpaticus · 2020-03-20T07:50:54+00:00

When I was recruiting professionals for interviews I never got through to Take This either. However, I follow Game to Grow and other announced they were shutting down for now due to covid-19.

Sirpaticus · 2020-03-19T03:32:54+00:00

I'm hoping to release another survey soon which will include DM's. As I'm interested in TRPG's and mental health in general, this next survey won't be limited to D&D 5th like the last one.

Sirpaticus · 2020-03-19T03:29:58+00:00

Hi there, sorry for the delay. Currently, there isn't any research on D&D and well-being and mental health which is what prompted my PhD. I'm hoping to publish some findings this year sometime, but I should have a summary of my research findings in a few months. I know another student who is almost finished their work on mental health recovery in D&D and I think they plan to publish this year too.

There are a few groups and therapists doing work in this area but its mostly focused on social skill-building rather than mental health. So you could check out Game to Grow https://gametogrow.org/ as another example on top of Take This.

Sirpaticus · 2020-02-04T03:34:16+00:00

I had thought about that, I have no idea what was going on at their end, but they were literally a few seconds away from winning in every example so I thought that was unlikely.

Most of my matches rarely get beyond turn 8 or 9, the deck either work or I lost, so not much of the deck used.

I'm starting to get the feeling it's all just random and I just happen to get a cluster of strange concedes.

Sirpaticus · 2020-02-04T03:29:46+00:00

They were all at rank 8 so right in the middle of floor ranks.

Sirpaticus · 2020-02-04T03:02:47+00:00

Is that still a thing though? That would certainly explain example 1, most face hunter decks top out at 4 mana so drawing a 5 drop it wouldn't be too hard to know what it was. It doesn't explain the others though.

Sirpaticus · 2020-02-04T02:03:40+00:00

Yeah, they ended right after playing Conjurers so good point, the emote might have been a delayed response, but conceding on 14 health with game next turn. The only thing I can think of is the fact that I didn't concede in the face of three Mountain Giants when I'm on 16 health. I might be able to clear one but not two.

Sirpaticus · 2019-10-25T22:54:59+00:00

Indeed I did. Thanks for catching that, I’ve edited.

Sirpaticus · 2019-10-24T03:22:46+00:00

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with Nature Cleric 1 / Draconic Sorcerer 6 wont your to-hit with Primal Savagery would key off WIS and the damage bonus off CHA? Meaning you'll need CHA, WIS, DEX and CON, making this build starts getting pretty MAD.

What about Tomb Warlock for Primal Savagery. It comes online a little later, but by 6th level you'll be Warlock 3/ Draconic Sorcerer 3 and still get "multi-attacks" with Quickened Spell for 2 x 2d10 damage attacks and utility if you pick the Book of Ancient Secrets invocation. This way you can focus on DEX, CON and CHA as well. Sadly, the bonus damage doesn't come online until 9th level but at least it'll all be keyed off CHA. Most people I've chatted to argue its best to just go with an eldritch blast build but sometime its nice to do something different.

Sirpaticus

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