DDI, are you ready to game on the Net?

[dema]

Nice to hear other people thoughts on this. I hope voice chat, private msg, private voice chat, and video is all part of the equation. The battlemat is a must. Buying virtual miniatures is going to be a pain in the wallet. Tokens should be fine for those that don't care much. I don't know how much user created content can be imported. I heard something about making your own tiles. If someone is able to import 3d figures I know the community will create them without a doubt. Being a player/DM without a group right now, and having some people living very very very far away makes playing DND over the net a cool idea. I still doubt we will have the time.

In reality I have no idea if I will actually subscribe for this service, or the online Dragon. I stopped reading Dragon about 8 issues into 3e and have not looked back. I hope for the best in this endeavor but I expect failure like many others. WOTC does not have a good track record with DND.

I used to play magic the gathering, and I still plug in the old Spells of the Ancients and Magic the gathering CD to game. Why?? You get all the decks for just to cost of 2 CDs. The online business model is obvious in that it wants you to pay, and pay, and pay.

I don't play magic online, but I hear that you buy virtual cards, and can win them too. You can even trade them in for print versions. Kinda cool. I wonder if you would be able to trade in virtual miniatures for real world ones. That may be cool. At least you would get something to keep.

I'm still trying to put my head around being able to sit in front of a computer monitor and play a table top RPG. It's just too freaky, really. Where are the people? They are in the box, kinda like a radio. I can't throw dice at people, I can't get upset that someone just spilled beer on my books. Only upset at myself. But going back to Magic online, playing online and still being able to hear, and possible see those you loved to play with may just hit the spot.

I don't play table top RPGs on the net. I think it would feel like playing while wearing binoculars where you can not see, hear, smell, feel everything at once. I like DMs/player that get up and shout, and act dumb or not, but at least into it. How are we going to have our amateur theater over the net? The campfire feel will be lost I fear, maybe.

So many concerns about the technology and the impact of social interaction changing completely. Nothing, I don't believe will beat face to face. But this may be a start. Who knows.

 

[Aria Silverhands]

They really should have hired the gent behind rptools.net to be lead design on the Game Table.

 

[Ace]

I play only FTF so no. I have no interest in the DDI whatever.

 

[Dormain1]

I voted No

I can use Skype and other tools from the net for free to get the same result atm

I really hope that they can get their gear together and make it work, as I would be a valuable tool but not for the price they are asking

and paying for virtual mini's is a joke, I would pay if they sent me a physical mini to prove I own that image but not for a piece of coding which I could write(or have someone write).

I do see a third party doing a better version with free mini's (which can be imported) being created when this goes belly up, but I hope for WotC this is the success they envisioned

 

[Grandvizier]

I feel much the same way, i would rather game face to face. That said, i will still try it out. I know some people i haven't gamed with for many years because of our locations. And who knows, despite its obvious drawbacks, the VT might have some perks over the game table. We'll see. But still anticipate massive server problems.



I could be wrong of course, or maybe their policy changed, but i seem to remember something about being able to play without having a subscription, maybe a shot deal, or pay-for-play. I dunno.

2ed for about 2 yrs on custum IRC platform. Though not the ame fglavour as tabletop it did have some advantages. Private messaging allowed for a much more interctive experience with the players- especially when they got sepearated