Tabletop Night Friends

Server structure

Overview

A group that meets to play board games has exactly three recurring problems, and this server is three channels for each of them. Scheduling is the first: #can-you-make-it is where the date is proposed and people say yes or no, #this-weeks-game holds what is actually on the table, and #reschedule exists because the date always moves once. The Table is the second: #rules-questions for the argument that stops play, #teach-me for someone reading the rules before the night so the first hour is not a rules explanation, and #scores for the people who keep track. The Shelf is the third and the most useful: #what-we-own lists who has which game, so nobody buys a second copy of the same box; #wishlist is what the group wants next; and #tried-and-rated is one line per game after it hits the table, which is how a group stops replaying the same three titles. Voice has a Table room for playing online and a Hangout for everything else. There are exactly five roles and no hierarchy beyond a Host who can edit the read-only channels, because a group of eight friends does not need moderators — it needs somebody who updates the date. Nothing here assumes the games are digital: the layout works the same whether the group meets in a living room or on a virtual tabletop.

When to use it

A tabletop group's server usually collapses into one channel where the date, the rules argument and the shopping list all live together, so the date gets lost and the same rules question is asked every month. This layout separates scheduling from play from the shelf, keeps a record of what the group already owns and has already tried, and stays small enough that eight people do not feel like they are rattling around an empty building.

What makes it different

• Scheduling has its own three channels, so the date is never buried under a rules argument.
• A shelf list records who owns what, which stops the group buying the same box twice.
• #tried-and-rated is how a group escapes replaying its same three favourites.
• One Host role and no moderation ladder, because eight friends do not need one.

Recommended Vetox setup

• Reminders

  Set a Reminder in #this-weeks-game two days before, which is when people actually decide whether they are coming.

• Suggestions

  Run Suggestions on #wishlist so the group votes on the next purchase instead of the loudest person choosing.

• Welcomer

  Welcome a new player straight into #what-we-own so they can see the shelf before their first night.