I will list a few of my views and experiences with online gaming and GMing. I have been a roleplayer for 31 yeras.
I have only been online gaming for about a year.I have joined 5 or 6 online games as a player and all of them have lasted no longer than 5 or 6 sessions. Now I, like yourself like the idea of using a voice chat client for online rping but like your self have found people very reluctant to use them. I have heard the argument that it stifles real roleplaying and is counterproductive. I honestly think its due to the fact that a lot of the players today do not know the difference between roleplaying and rollplaying. Its a generational thing IMO.
I have been running 2 campaigns for Pathfinder for about 9 month. I have a core group between the 2 games of 6 people who have been there through the whole thing (three of them friends for 20+ years) with approximately 20 or more people coming and going after a sessions or sometimes months or sometimes never showing up for the first game. This I believe is due sometimes to playstyle differences but largely due to the fact that the internet or online does not hold people responsible for their actions, there is no accountability.You don't want to play any longer you just don't show up and go on your way.
I use D20pro and Ventrilo to run my games and honestly I think I would rather play that way than in person around a table. There is a lot more that can be done with a VTT IMO than with real dice and miniatures.
I sorta beg to differ. I don't use voice-chat software because I simply prefer text-based roleplaying when online, and VC would just slow down this old computer of mine (plus the neighbors' wireless networks or something cause a lot of interference for my network sometimes).
I also know several others that I game with online who either just don't like voice-chat for online RPGs or who don't have a microphone for their computers (especially the few that I believe play on OpenRPG while at work and the ones that play over laptops at whatever wi-fi hotspots they can find in their area). Though I do have an old microphone for my computer somewhere around here, and I have used it before when playing Mech*Commander and such, it's been a long time since I've used it and it didn't really enhance my gaming experience when I did.
Typing out my character's speech or my DM narration bits gives me a few moments longer to consider what to say, and it's a bit less chaotic. Plus I can easily save a chat-log of the session in OpenRPG as an html file for later reference, so the only times where I don't have complete or accurate notes of any session are those where my cruddy old computer has a glitch and crashes the program, which is somewhat rare (and wouldn't happen at all if I could just afford a new computer), or on the rare occasions where my internet goes out due to thunderstorms or other cable-company problems. Even then I often have a partial log saved from some point during the session.
I do still prefer face-to-face gaming, but since I rarely have the opportunity anymore, I'm much more comfortable with typing out stuff in online play rather than using voice-chat. Also, I think voices sounded odd online (and I think mine sounded nasally or higher-pitched for some reason) when I was using the mic during Mech*Warrior games and strategy sessions with the rest of the Clan Ghost Bear group.
HOWEVER, I do agree with you regarding the flakey-ness and high dropout rate among online RPGers. It's rare any of them even say that they've decided to drop out of the game or that they're thinking about it; folks just suddenly stop showing up at some point and you wonder if they just forgot, or ended up having other weekly plans in that timeslot, or whatever (especially when they're supposed to be new members of the group and just don't show up for the 1st or 2nd session).
I've run a half-dozen or so online campaigns over OpenRPG, and so far the longest-running of my games has gone on for 2-3 years and still has a few consistent players, though most of the group has fluctuated over time. I'm hoping that game will continue for another year or two or three until we've finished the main plot that the campaign is slowly building towards, ending in an epic showdown at 20th or 22nd level probably. Advancement has been kinda slow due to some sessions being cancelled or ending early due to folks having other demands upon their time. Also, major battles tend to take quite a while to run (for some reason, folks don't tend to decide on and type up their actions before their turn comes around, so most of them waste a few minutes on their turn before finally rolling their attacks/spells/whatever).
I think many of the players in any given online game tend to be doing other stuff at the same time, so they're not as attentive as they would be face-to-face. Games using voice-chat may be slightly better for avoiding that distractedness, but I dunno. Typing actions and such is definitely somewhat slower, though, in general.
ErichDragon: Unfortunately, I don't know of any OD&D, B/E/M/I D&D, 1E, or 2E campaigns running online, at least not specifically. I know there are some going on, but I don't remember when or with what groups or what programs. You could always check through the listings here in the Gamers Seeking Gamers forum or on the OpenRPG forums, and I assume that Maptools or other programs may have their own forums for people looking for groups. I haven't loaded my Core Rules 2 CD-ROM onto this computer and it wouldn't run very well on this thing anymore, anyhow, so I'm not involved in any AD&D games at present and aren't in a position to run any in the near future. I never had any cash for gaming-books until the end of 2E's run and the start of 3E.
