Wooden Table vs Virtual Table

[Saagael]

Interesting. I find that combat runs a bit faster in my online games because the math is pre-programmed. You click a die and get the attack roll and damage roll with all of the math included. However, I think the difference I'm seeing is that you appear to be just using text chat in MapTool; I use Skype for audio. I've also been lucky in that I haven't seen a lot of technical difficulties or lag (although my wife did accidentally turn off the circuit breaker to the modem during our last session, causing a reboot)

This is a specific group issue I'm guessing. We have Ventrillo to use, but no one but me uses it to talk, for whatever reasons. I try to get them to use it, but they don't. So usually they'll type something into chat, and I'll reply via Vent. Of course before my microphone stopped working...

Then there's the issue with me going pretty quickly, rolling dice, describing what the enemies do, and the moving on. In that short time, the players have lost track of what attacked them, whether it hit, and how much damage it did. So I consistently go back, explain what happened, tell them how much damage they took, and then move on. Though this doesn't work when the half the group is sitting on reddit or 4chan or facebook or some other site and not paying attention to the game at all, and don't see my text.

So yeah, it's slower for me than face to face games, but that's likely because my group uses the chat box for asking questions and talking, rather than Vent.

(Didn't mean to rant, but this really frustrates me after 22 levels of play. My next campaign I'm going to be much more strict about VOIP chatting)

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I've played and DMed both. I prefer face-to-face DMing for lots of reasons

- Much easier to joke around with people, and communication is richer (body language is visible, etc).

- Ad libbing is easier, and the game is a lot more flexible -- DMing online makes it a lot harder to go off-script.

- All the cars parked outside my house makes my churchy neighbors assume we have a bible study.

-rg

 

[OnlineDM]

I personally would like a mix of both. A table top game played over a digital screen like playing on a protected flat panel tv to auto populate the map and monsters. But still giving pc's the ability to move there avatars and roll the dice... If only

This is exactly what I've done for over a year and a half. My setup is portable, too, so I can take it to conventions and the local store to run games. I absolutely love it.

It's not cheap, but compared to buying a bunch of monster minis, it wasn't too bad. I spent a total of $534.10 ($463.99 for the projector and the rest for the supplies for the rig). And I've never spent a dime on monster minis.

 

[Ryujin]

Out of curiosity, why OpenRPG in particular? I started with OpenRPG and then dropped it like a hot potato as soon as I discovered MapTool. The advantage that I saw of OpenRPG is that everything is on a server, which means that you don't have to deal with routing everyone to the DM's computer, dealing with firewalls, etc. But that's the only advantage I saw, and the router issues aren't a problem for me at home. In every other respect, MapTool suited my game much, much better.

Just previous experience. I've used it before, so I'll likely use it again. Ultimately I might go to something else, if I find a better solution, and then MapTool would be in the running. The best solution would be a server side one, with access via web browser, for reasons of compatibility and simplicity.

Chat isn't an issue, because I could throw together a TeamSpeak server in short order. Already have, on a previous occasion. As I said, I would also be using it to augment a IRL tabletop, not replacing one.

 

[mentle]

This is exactly what I've done for over a year and a half. My setup is portable, too, so I can take it to conventions and the local store to run games. I absolutely love it.

It's not cheap, but compared to buying a bunch of monster minis, it wasn't too bad. I spent a total of $534.10 ($463.99 for the projector and the rest for the supplies for the rig). And I've never spent a dime on monster minis.

Lol. That's pretty close to what I'd like to

 

[Ryujin]

This is exactly what I've done for over a year and a half. My setup is portable, too, so I can take it to conventions and the local store to run games. I absolutely love it.

It's not cheap, but compared to buying a bunch of monster minis, it wasn't too bad. I spent a total of $534.10 ($463.99 for the projector and the rest for the supplies for the rig). And I've never spent a dime on monster minis.

What resolution of camera did you end up going with? There are plenty of inexpensive 800X600 cameras out there, but that strikes me as being too low a resolution for real usability.

 

[OnlineDM]

Just previous experience. I've used it before, so I'll likely use it again. Ultimately I might go to something else, if I find a better solution, and then MapTool would be in the running. The best solution would be a server side one, with access via web browser, for reasons of compatibility and simplicity.

Makes sense to me; I totally understand working with what you know.

For what it's worth, though, I've found MapTool to be much simpler to use than OpenRPG. The issue I had with OpenRPG is that everything had to be pre-set to the right size and pre-loaded on the server before you could use it. With MapTool, I can drag stuff to the map and draw on the map on the fly. Token sizing is built-in, and non-tokens can be free-resized. I also love the macro capabilities of MapTool, but that's of lesser importance.

Compatibility, though, I understand. Everyone can get to an OpenRPG server very easily. Not everyone is interested in configuring their router to host a MapTool game (though it's really not that bad).

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Actually, OnlineDM, that's pretty much the rig I've had until my recent move. The main difference was I suspended the projector from the ceiling in the basement of my old house, and used a mirror to reflect the map down on to the table.

Now that we've moved, we're back to other mapping solutions until I figure out a rig that doesn't put holes in the ceiling, since we're no longer gaming in the basement.

 

[OnlineDM]

What resolution of camera did you end up going with? There are plenty of inexpensive 800X600 cameras out there, but that strikes me as being too low a resolution for real usability.

My projector is 800 by 600, and I've been very happy with it. I was worried at first, but it's been just fine. Now, the monsters are a little tough to make out at normal size, but what I generally do is click a button to blow the monster up to a very large size when I first introduce it, and then shrink it back down. Works like a charm.

Actually, OnlineDM, that's pretty much the rig I've had until my recent move. The main difference was I suspended the projector from the ceiling in the basement of my old house, and used a mirror to reflect the map down on to the table.

Now that we've moved, we're back to other mapping solutions until I figure out a rig that doesn't put holes in the ceiling, since we're no longer gaming in the basement.

Well, I can tell you that I've been very happy with my rig for the entire year and a half I've been using it. No holes in the ceiling, no permanent mounting, etc. And it was pretty cheap to build (about $70).

 

[jcayer]

My group has one guy that travels 50%. We started with a web cam and gridded white board. Then moved to a projector and maptools. We've tried the image on the table and on a wall. We're currently using the wall.

For sound, one of us has a business conference number, so that, combined with a star phone I borrowed from a company, I used to work for, before they closed, easily handles voice.

The table is a bit cluttered as we have the DM laptop and the player/projector laptop. The player laptop has a wireless mouse, so we pass it around as needed. I will say the best and worst thing we did was add laser pointers. Great for pointing at the image on the wall and having a discussion. Worst when you've just finished your turn and have a 25 minute wait till you go again.

We do roll dice. Maptools is only used for the map. It is awesome to have someone put down a wall of fire, and then draw it right on the map.

I've been looking at building a multi-touch table since I think the wall doesn't give us the group feeling as much as looking across the table at each other....and my kids will love it.