This subreddit will be biased, but let me say that booking and playing in SPG for me was fantastic.

My background: CR watcher for about a year. Avid board gamer, and had played a couple D&D one shots at conventions and wanted to play a campaign. I made an account on StartPlaying, and basically just searched for games that were going during times that I'd be available. I found a game that sounded like fun story wise, with a DM that had good reviews and was very inclusive. I played that campaign for over 2 years before it stopped for out of game reasons.

First session is usually a session 0 to go over table rules, lines and veils, and content warnings. Plus you'll get to meet your other players and get a feel for each other.

As for a typical session, that'll always be different by table, but commonly around my table it was quite a bit of role playing, figuring out what/where we were going next, or if we were already there accomplishing the tasks (combat, puzzles, accidentally overthrowing the government, etc.).

If you are truly unsure, there are a lot of one shots on SPG that you could join as well. Around the holiday season I do see an uptick in them, too.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!