How Has the Internet Changed the Way You Game?

[devilbat]

Made me more aware of gaming product in timely fashion
Given me access to players I never had back then
Given me access to a community of like-minded individuals I never realized in youth
Made me more rules conscious
Made organization of gaming sessions more efficient

This sums it up for me perfectly.

 

[IronWolf]

Back then one relied on Dragon for the sense of community - otherwise we always wondered just how many people really played this game besides us. Binders and binders upon notebooks and notebooks of notes and scrawlings about the campaign world and adventures (versus WiKi's full of info now).

Today the Internet really provides a sense of community which is great. Lots of places to gather ideas from and inspiration. Easy access to lots of fantasy art - again inspirational in many cases.

 

[Turanil]

How as the internet changed the way you game? What benefits has it granted you? Is it better, worse, the same?

I was brought to new games and new players through the Internet. Without Internet I would probably only have 5 or 6 books (instead of more than 50) and would have ceased to play due to a lack of new players (the old groups disbanded).

 

[Steve Jung]

Without it I wouldn't be playing. I met my gaming group through ENworld. I'm in a PbP here and I'm in a game on another board.

 

[Hussar]

When I moved out of Canada to Korea to start teaching, I found myself in a small town with a couple of other English teachers and no gamers. Discovered online gaming. Later, discovered OpenRPG and now, I do all my gaming over it. I run one game (in my sig) and play in another. In my game, the players are in 3 different countries, in the other game, the players are in 5 different countries and two of them are non-native English speakers. Without the internet, I couldn't game at all. There's simply no one to game with here.

For those who've never seen the attraction of OpenRPG, well, I can say that it is a very different experience than tabletop gaming. However, beggars can't be choosers, and, in some ways, online gaming is even better. Google search images, and you've got a very visual dungeon experience. I suppose I could just use NWN, but, I like the fact that my game IS DnD, not a video game. Sure, I'd love to sit around a table with a bunch of buddies and a cooler full of whatever drink of choice. But, instead, I type in front of my computer screen, a glass of 16 year old single malt scotch in hand (gift from a student - gotta love tourists) and play.

So, yeah, the internet has drastically changed the way I game.

 

[yennico]

Without internet it was more difficult:
- to recruit new players,
- to get information about new products and their quality

With the internet you get more ideas for adventures and plot hooks as without it.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I'd say the biggest impact of the net has been on my DMing: A small part of this is being able to gather/research information very easily... but the more important part is the GMing tips I've learned, mostly from here. Changed my game substantially and much for the better!

 

[naturaltwenty]

Time saving

I now play more often (using Fantasy Grounds) than I have in face-to-face gaming in years. With kids, jobs, intrusions of real life my gaming time decreased. But now with a virtual table-top emulator, VoiP, Dunjinni/Gridsmith, my blog, I can run a campaign from my home and never have to travel.

I still get together in a face-to-face game occasionally but the internet has enabled me to particpate with a much larger core of gamers.

PDF distribution goes hand-in-hand with virtual gaming. The PDF medium interfaces with this form of gaming seemlessly.

I loves me the intraweb thinga-majiggy,

Greg Volz
Natural Twenty Gaming
www.naturaltwenty.com

 

[diaglo]

My current gaming group is collected from the Internet -- I wouldn't know any of them without it.

ditto.

 

[Len]

My current gaming group is collected from the Internet -- I wouldn't know any of them without it.

Same here.

(diaglo, I thought you still use the Arpanet.)