Join the Dice Age!
But why? In truth there are many ways to meet gamers on the net. There are community boards, classifieds, meetups, and other specialized web sites similiar to DiceAge.com. Generally though, all they do is bring people together. After that you're on your own. Dice Age helps you meet gamers - the type of gamers you want to meet - form a group and easily keep that group going. Here's a quick focus on some of its hightlights.
Membership Control - Look at any guide on pulling together a gaming group and the same advice pops up time and time again: "Interview new members before letting them join. Ask yourself, can I stand to spend 4 hours with this person, talking about elves?" Gaming is not bird watching. It has its stereotypes, yet it also has a very broad appeal with people who will not by nature get along with each other. Fifteen year old girls and seventy year old guys are probably not going to want to game with each other. Yet there are many gamers of both sorts (The guys who created D&D are now all senior citizens!)
Unlike some sites, Dice Age doesn't let people simply click a button and become a member of your group. Instead they click a button, become a joiner - a temporary member with limited access to the group - and then are finally let in by the organizer once it is agreed they would do well with the rest of the group. This is not just a matter of style but also security. You wouldn't invite a total stranger to spend a few hours hanging at your house watching TV. So why do it with gaming? Through membership control only the people in the group know where the game will take place and how to get there.
Group Support - Just like individual members, groups often have personalities which stand apart from their individual members, so the Dice Age gives groups the same kind of profile we give our players. Looking for a group of non-smoking, tea-totalling vegans who are into TORG and only play on Sundays? Possibly in Hawaii? Believe it or not but they are out there. Dice Age even comes with specialized search pages for tracking down people and groups in just this fashion. You can even compare your values and get a statistical view on how well you match up!
Communications - For the members of a group, contacting each other is as easy as going to the group profile, clicking the Contact button, writing out your message and clicking submit. You can contact the group as a whole or just certain members of it. Groups have the choice of either on-site mail (meaning you have to come to DiceAge.com to get it) or straight email.
For the organizers of groups there are a bevy of neat little details that hopefully the other sites haven't thought of yet, such as the Invite button. Need more players? Search them out and click the Invite button on their profile. This sends a simple generic invitation to join the group and removes the awkwardness of writing someone with something like, "I'd like you to join my group, but won't make you a member until I actually get to know you in person first :D" As a player, if you don't want to recieve invitations or as a group organizer if you aren't looking for any new members, then these settings can be clicked off quite easily.
Meeting Support - So as not to step on any toes, we actually call these Get-Togethers, but basically it's a meeting. The organizer of a group fills out a short description of the adventure and the site automatically sends out a notice of it to all members of the group. Saying you will attend is as easy as following a link and clicking a button. And to keep it on your mind, every time you visit the site, on the front page will be a reminder of your group's up-coming events as well as how many days are left until it happens.
And so much more! If you're still psyched to join the Dice Age then read through our list of Terms & Conditions below, agree to them and follow the buttons through the next few pages. This will set you up with a membership and get you ready to join groups, create groups - and do some gaming!
