Do you play online D&D?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Online D&D might have its own virtues, but I wouldn't want to lose my tabletop games.

It's not an either-or. If I move to NYC next year, which I might, I expect to play face to face with one of the guys I play pbp with, but that won't mean we'll stop pbp, either, which has a distinctly different flavor and style of play we all (also) enjoy.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

I play both face to face and online games...

The face to face game that I play in, I enjoy because, as has been said before, D&D is a social gathering, as well as being a game, and there are things that you just can't get out of any but a face to face game. For instance, you can't throw dice at your online gaming buddies.

The PbP game that I play in allows me to enjoy a game where I can really explore the inmost thoughts and desires of the character, and stretch my creative muscles. Due to the slow pace of the game, there is no need to hurry in describing what you're doing or why you're doing it. Also, I can enjoy this game while I'm doing other things... Like being at work.

The Maptool and Ventrillo game that I'm running, I enjoy because it allows me to game with people that I would otherwise be unable to game with. Many of my friends have moved to distant locations over the years, and with Maptool, I am able to reconnect with them and we can all enjoy our favorite pastime.

Later
silver

 

[Arkhandus]

OpenRPG. A virtual tabletop.

 

[Zoycitenega]

I play both, but I still prefer tabletop, even if it's just a hack-and-slash. There's something about seeing the other players face to face, and hearing accents that my friends make up.

 

[shilsen]

I prefer face-to-face, which is why I'm in a number of tabletop games, but I also like to get some more of my gaming fix than I can make time to meet people for, so I do PbP at playbyweb.com and rpol.net.

 

[Ahnehnois]

It's not an either-or. If I move to NYC next year, which I might, I expect to play face to face with one of the guys I play pbp with, but that won't mean we'll stop pbp, either, which has a distinctly different flavor and style of play we all (also) enjoy.

I could see doing a little pbp on the side if I was in a good face to face game. I just wouldn't want to only be playing online and lose the in-person elements. Body language, tonality, etc. are just so important to communication.

I worded it that way because one of my PCs once was sick and asked me do move our in-person session online. There were many reasons why that wouldn't have worked, but I said no on principle-in that case it was an either/or.

I don't object to online gaming; I might even be doing it myself if I were physically able. I just prefer the real thing. In the same way, I'll talk to someone over the phone or by e-mail if I have to-these things are great because they work over distance-but I vastly prefer a face-to-face coversation. When I was in college, I saw far too many people wasting time on the internet when they could have taken a five-minute walk to interact with the same people in person.

 

[Oryan77]

No....I like to physically punch players when they argue the rules with me. It's hard to do that online!

 

[Pygon]

I use my own little homebrew tabletop emulator with icons I scanned from books or grabbed off Wizards' site. I figure it's not a problem since I don't distribute it, and the other guy I play with has the same books

It serves the purpose well enough, and even helps me to track hit points, initiative rolls, advance combat turns, and lets me know when spell effects wear off. After I tweaked it for functionality, frankly I prefer it to tabletop. Our last big encounter lasted 30 rounds with over 60 combatants, and the emulator tracked things wonderfully. I'm not looking forward to have to track things on paper again!

The downside is I have to prepare maps beforehand because it doesn't support drawing maps freestyle (yet). It also only supports rectangle shapes to hide and reveal sections of the map, so rooms with diagonal walls are a pain to reveal. Oh, and if a second machine on the same network somewhere tries to connect while the program is maintaining a connection across the inet, the network portion locks up - pff.

We play with Ventrilo as well so at least we can hear each other.

 

[Lanefan]

Nope, never played online; I far prefer the face-to-face interactions.

Lanefan

 

[James Heard]

As I've gotten older I play a lot of PbP. While gaming by message board posting is really slow and "misses the nuances of face to face contact," it also misses the nuances of crowded, unpleasant gaming stores, inconsiderate and unhygienic players, usually has a dedicated channel for out of character ramblings if that's what you're into, and more or less gives me a lot less of the "wargame" feel I find I dislike a lot with gaming sometimes with the people in the local area. It's gaming without the hassle of breathing people and without the static blandness of MMORPGs, and I like that - a lot.