For those doing TTRPG online, what are your reasons?

[Wolfpack48]

Nothing I would like more than to play in person, but with three little kids my schedule doesn't really open up until 8pm and their aren't many people hosting live games at that hour. BUT I can jump online and get in PST games that start 5 or 6 PST which is great for me on EST.

Good one. I’ll add one for Family commitments!

 

[Duke_]

Geographic constraints is the main reason (1300 miles apart in some cases), but it's hard to deny the efficiency, so I checked that one too.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have regular players in at least four counties and across a wide span of time zones. Online is the only place it's convenient to gather.

 

[Duke_]

Remember the good ole days when somebody moved and the group completely fell apart? ... Yeah, the old days weren't so good, actually.

 

[MNblockhead]

I chose a lot of options because the reasons have evolved over time. Initially, it was because my work caused me to move overseas, so it was the only way to keep playing with the group. That is still the case, but I came to like the features and functionality of VTTs for more battlemap focused games.

Finally, with my current game, we decided to go with Warhammer Fantasy Role Play 4e. I wouldn't have run WFRP4e as an in-person game, the crunch, rules spread across multiple books, and all the tables would have driven me nuts if I had to run it in person. But there is a very good WFRP4e game system for Foundry. I love the lore and also like the game mechanics--if I can use the computer for the table rolls and look ups and applying various buffs and debuffs.

 

[Wolfpack48]

Well, interesting to see the overwhelming (and perhaps expected) high responses are:

Geographic constraints
Convenience
Scheduling constraints

Online play is definitely a great option for players who have moved or where local play isn't an option. Genuine enjoyment of the medium and preference for online tools is lower down, so it would seem there's lots of room for improvement. And pandemic inertia is still a thing but perhaps abating.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Several of these answers are not really independent.

My online games have been and are among people who could not or cannot get together in-person with any regularity.

Same. I prefer in person, and most of my games are just that, but I play in one online group because two of my friends live in Washington state and I don't.

 

[jdrakeh]

Difficulty finding local players willing to play anything other than vanilla D&D 5e.

 

[billd91]

The online game I’m in started during the pandemic and has some inertia driving it. But it is also reasonably convenient because we don’t have to go anywhere and that has become more important since my wife joined the game because she has chronic fatigue from her long COVID. So, definitely a mix of reasons.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I don't know when the xenomorph gestating in my stomach is going to burst out, and while I, the GM am disposable (soon to be replaced by an AI), if the terminal event occurs while we are playing in my decomissioned-missile-silo-turned-gaming-palace and my players are massacred over several hours of terrifying cat-and-mouse, they will never finish their quest to find Vecna's Head.

So, yeah, safer to play online.