Playing in Person Is Just Better (for me)

[MNblockhead]

Its fairly common IME. My group tends to make investments with their spare cash. I have, for the last 25+ years, tended towards older gamers, so I have to generate rules for real estate investment, stock markets (where appropriate time period), dental technology, and the like. Currently we're in a slightly alt-history Old West setting where the Mexican Revolution kicks off in 1889, and thus far my players are on the stock market, and own one business.

That's cool. It is the type of thing that I've been turned off of in the past because all of the bookkeeping, but with a module to just let the VTT take care of it, I could see doing this.

 

[Jd Smith1]

That's cool. It is the type of thing that I've been turned off of in the past because all of the bookkeeping, but with a module to just let the VTT take care of it, I could see doing this.

Well, I just post the information on the bulletin board of the VTT. You just tie the stocks they are interested in to RL stocks, and post the difference before each game.

 

[Blue]

Truth for me: Playing a session in person is better than online.

Truth for me: The total experience needed to play in person, including travel time before and after reducing the session, having a place to play, having to coordinate food, a much smaller player base to chose from because they need to be in a tight geographic area, overcoming social anxiety and executive dysfunction to make it, cleaning the area after, and more cancellations is worse than online.

Anyone only looking at the session itself and not the entire context is being fundamentally dishonest. This doesn't mean that my opinions are your opinions, but you can't cherry-pick just what's happening during the session, you need to include the whole experience.

 

[MNblockhead]

Truth for me: Playing a session in person is better than online.

Truth for me: The total experience needed to play in person, including travel time before and after reducing the session, having a place to play, having to coordinate food, a much smaller player base to chose from because they need to be in a tight geographic area, overcoming social anxiety and executive dysfunction to make it, cleaning the area after, and more cancellations is worse than online.

Anyone only looking at the session itself and not the entire context is being fundamentally dishonest. This doesn't mean that my opinions are your opinions, but you can't cherry-pick just what's happening during the session, you need to include the whole experience.

Highly dependent on a person's personality (hi, I'm captain obvious!). When I was playing in person, I had a good area in the house for gaming, but it was multipurpose and was used for crafts, other projects, etc. most of the time. So every game day I would move tables around bring in some more folding tables, arrange everything, get all the terrain and minis for the game, etc. But it never felt like a chore and I miss the ritual of it.

Generally, the players helped me put everything away after the game so that went quick and wasn't much of a chore.

For food, we would usually just break for a lunch run, but sometimes we do pot luck.

I realize its not for everyone, but I do miss the non-play aspects of game day.

 

[mcobden]

Like many of these posters, I see good in both. In many ways there is no substitute for in person play, and there is nothing like sitting around the table and laughing and rolling and scratching with a pencil. On the other hand, my absolute favorite person to play with is a thousand miles away. So there it is in a nutshell.

 

[2KAD77]

Caveat: I play online a lot. I have long term gaming friends spread across the country. I am very grateful that there are tools we can use to play together despite that distance.

With that said: I just returned from Carnage Con in Killington VT where I ran 4 sessions (one The One Ring 2E Moria adventure; 3 sessions of a Shadowdark mini con-campaign) and I am reminded just how much better it is to play in person. Worlds better. Impossibly better.

RPGs are inherently a conversation, and all conversations (from a chat with your BFF to a meeting with HR to an academic intellectual debate) are better in person where you can read body language, respond to non-verbal cues and otherwise engage the complete conversation rather than a partial limited form of the conversation.

If you, like me, are mostly stuck playing online because of scheduling and/or distance, I am not trying to convince you to not do that. Those games are good and valuable. But I am suggesting you seek out opportunities to play TTRPGs in person if you have not in a while.

It's so good.

Caveat 2: I realize that there are some people who have a very difficult time with in person interactions and I am not discounting your needs or preferences. If you have anxiety or another situation that makes in person gaming impossible, you deserve good gaming too and I wish you the best.

Caveat 3: In case it needs to be said, this post is my opinion and I understand that not everyone agrees and I am not belittling anyone's preferences.

I agree in that playing person is also my preferred method and socially appealing, but having the ability to play with long distance friends online is a wonderful choice.

 

[Corinnguard]

Caveat 2: I realize that there are some people who have a very difficult time with in person interactions and I am not discounting your needs or preferences. If you have anxiety or another situation that makes in person gaming impossible, you deserve good gaming too and I wish you the best.

Interacting with somebody online is something of an ice breaker for some people as you get to know them over time. You get to know their RL likes/dislikes and you get to know what things you have in common with them. All before you actually meet them in RL. I know it is for me. It's how I met my two best lifelong friends in RL

 

[StoneDev]

I have tried so hard to make online play work but I just dont understand it. I feel like people who play online and people who play in person have created two massively different game cultures to the point that if you play online, in person games are likely just as bad to you as online games seem to me.

 

[Reynard]

I have tried so hard to make online play work but I just dont understand it. I feel like people who play online and people who play in person have created two massively different game cultures to the point that if you play online, in person games are likely just as bad to you as online games seem to me.

This doesn't really make sense given how many people successfully do both

 

[Corinnguard]

I have tried so hard to make online play work but I just dont understand it. I feel like people who play online and people who play in person have created two massively different game cultures to the point that if you play online, in person games are likely just as bad to you as online games seem to me.

They aren't too different from one another in how they are played. With an in-person group, you're all gathered in one place with your game material (books, dice, miniatures, character sheets, etc.) besides you. You are reading the DM's and your fellow players' body language so as to know when your character gets into interact by acting or saying something during the game.

As for an online group, you and your fellow players are separated by distance and maybe even different time zones. All of your game material can be right next to you in RL or is mostly online. An online group doesn't have the advantage of reading each other's body language before jumping in to do something or say something during the game. So, you kind of have to wing it there.

So, I don't think it's all that difficult to do either one. Just go with the one you feel most comfortable doing with your fellow players/friends.