Old Man Wants to Play Online

[payn]

You don't need any of those things. All you need is internet.

Plenty of online games are all text. That is it. No fancy bells and whistles.

I find text only to be the least satisfying way to play. On one hand, sometimes folks really get into writing up some great characters, actions, role play, etc… Then, you also have the guy who just writes “I attack” and nothing else. It’s very difficult to build a game worth playing in that format. YMMV

 

[Nikosandros]

It has already been mentioned, but - if your budget allows - I would strongly recommend a dual monitor setup. I use a 24" just for the video call (with an external webcam mounted on the top of the monitor) and a 32" for the VTT and other stuff. I use a cheap set of gaming headphones that are quite comfortable to wear for hours and have an actually quite decent directional microphone.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I find text only to be the least satisfying way to play. On one hand, sometimes folks really get into writing up some great characters, actions, role play, etc… Then, you also have the guy who just writes “I attack” and nothing else. It’s very difficult to build a game worth playing in that format. YMMV

I think purely text based works better as play by post which -- if you can get people to commit, which is a very big "if" -- can lead to some amazing stuff, like a collaborative fantasy novel spinning out over time.

For live games, though, I agree that it's not as good. I'm an extremely fast typist (115 wpm, last time I took a test) and even I find it hard to post full and compelling text over a sustained period.

 

[Mort]

You don't need any of those things. All you need is internet.

Plenty of online games are all text. That is it. No fancy bells and whistles.

I've done play by post and it can be pretty fun.

But for a live game? I don't think that would work for me!

Last time I DM'd for a group of technically challenged, we got everyone up on zoom (which was a bit challenging, fortunately 2 of us have A LOT of experience getting non-tech savvy people going on Zoom), then I just screenshared A VTT. It worked pretty well.

 

[Piperken]

I am an ancient TTRPG gamer (I started with the Holmes Basic Set LOL) and I would really love to play again. Alas, all of my friends have gone their separate ways long ago and I have no one to game with any longer. I have attempted to find local players, but none have worked out. That being the case, I thought I would put my toe in the water of gaming online. I am not a technology illiterate but I am not exactly up to date on the latest and greatest either.

So here are a few questions that I hope you good people could help me answer:

• I know I need a VTT, but I am not interested in D&D Beyond. I have nothing against 5E but it is just not the game for me. What other VTT is the most popular.
• I also know I will need some kind of webcam for video. I do not want to use the one on my laptop because it just is not very good. What kind of webcam or camera can I get (for a reasonable price) that would have good resolution, depth of field, etc.?
• I know I need audio. Should I use headphones or not? I am not a fan of them but what other options do I have for a reasonable price?
• What application is most popular for video chat? I would like to have at least four players on the screen at one time. I have a 27" monitor is that big enough.

I appreciate any help with this. It would make an old man's day!

The Ancient Gamer

I was ecstatic to read that you reached out here with these questions, and everyone has already offered great advice. My only kind suggestions are that if you do decide to commit to RP online, make sure your mic etc. is good and that ppl can hear you clearly; this will really make a huge difference.

Second, if you do use a mic, be sure to learn how the settings are adjusted and set those to your preferences (push-to-talk vs. voice activated).

 

[MNblockhead]

My group uses Foundry VTT since this probably the most popular VTT these days. They tend to go through cycles, but I think it does the best job currently of supporting the most systems. However, it is probably the biggest resource hog as well, so you will need a decent PC to support it.

Do you mean if you are running the software on your computer, or do you mean for the players as well? If you use a hosting service, I wouldn't think it would be more of a resource hog than Roll 20, and would be less so than Fantasy Grounds.

 

[aramis erak]

I've done play by post and it can be pretty fun.

But for a live game? I don't think that would work for me!

Last time I DM'd for a group of technically challenged, we got everyone up on zoom (which was a bit challenging, fortunately 2 of us have A LOT of experience getting non-tech savvy people going on Zoom), then I just screenshared A VTT. It worked pretty well.

I've seen play-by-text many times...
The first VTTs I encountered were text maps via TN3270... in a time frame when audio over the internet was a completely laughable proposal. It had a 3 window setup: one for stats, one for rolls and RP, one for ANSI graphics maps. It was realtime, but it was pretty much limited to campus intranets.

Later, people playing by forum on FidoNet and WWIVnet.
Play by email on internet in 1992-1996 when 90% of internet email addresses ended in .edu

Then play by chat in ICQ for realitme.
And Google
Then Skype... and playing by voice.

 

[Dire Bare]

I am an ancient TTRPG gamer (I started with the Holmes Basic Set LOL) and I would really love to play again. Alas, all of my friends have gone their separate ways long ago and I have no one to game with any longer. I have attempted to find local players, but none have worked out. That being the case, I thought I would put my toe in the water of gaming online. I am not a technology illiterate but I am not exactly up to date on the latest and greatest either.

So here are a few questions that I hope you good people could help me answer:

• I know I need a VTT, but I am not interested in D&D Beyond. I have nothing against 5E but it is just not the game for me. What other VTT is the most popular.
• I also know I will need some kind of webcam for video. I do not want to use the one on my laptop because it just is not very good. What kind of webcam or camera can I get (for a reasonable price) that would have good resolution, depth of field, etc.?
• I know I need audio. Should I use headphones or not? I am not a fan of them but what other options do I have for a reasonable price?
• What application is most popular for video chat? I would like to have at least four players on the screen at one time. I have a 27" monitor is that big enough.

I appreciate any help with this. It would make an old man's day!

The Ancient Gamer

Lots of good advice so far . . .

Old Man: Eh, you're not that old! We've got folks on the forums who were wargamers when the White Box came out in '74! Even some of the OG designers swing by every once in a while!

DM or PC? If you are looking to DM, I'd recommend starting out as a player first. Get your feet wet in the online environment.

Equipment: Don't go out and spend a lot of money yet, even if you have money to burn. You can always upgrade to premium equipment down the road. Dual monitors? Maybe eventually, but not at start! Headsets are great, but not your only option, a desktop mic is also a good option. You can find a decent mic on Amazon for around $20. Same with webcams, a simple $20 webcam that hangs over your monitor, or clamps onto your desk. Trusted brand names are more reliable and more expensive, but even the unknown brands from overseas usually do just fine.

Game: Play the games you want to play, but . . . most folks online are playing D&D 5E and its a lot easier to find players. If you tell us what games you are interested in playing (other than not D&D), you might get more specific suggestions.

Match-making: Finding players is more important than choosing a VTT or other online tools. Many of the VTTs also have player match-making, but also check out RPGMatch.org, StartPlaying.games, and Demiplane.com.

VTTs: There are a LOT of VTTs out there today. Tons. Roll20.com is probably the most popular platform and the easiest to find players. It's a good one to start with. But whatever VTT you start with, don't limit yourself! Check out all of the others and play games using them.

 

[Longspeak]

My games are all text. I know it's not for everyone, especially these days, but I roll with it and my games all have players, some of whom can't use voice for some reason, some just don't want to. I've played over voice, and it's fine. Fun, even. But for running, text is for me.

For OP, Roll20 is a good option for try and see. It has free accounts that are all you need to play, and a community of people looking to play. It does seem to me to have a lot of D&D compared to anything else, but I've seem lots of other games represented. Subscription accounts have features I find far preferable when GMing, but free accounts to play are fine, especially if the GM has invested in roll roll20 versions of book their players can consult in game.

I also like having logs. Especially now, coming off several months absence because of my stroke, having them to refer to help with details a lot.

 

[Distracted DM]

You've gotten a lot of great advice on here. I'll echo the sentiment that you don't need a webcam, but some folks do like it.
About half of my 12+ players don't use webcams most or any of the time. I always do, because I feel like it's part of the experience to provide as the DM.. and because I like seeing my players' faces, so if I use it maybe others will too

As far as places to find games:
A couple subreddits: r/lfg (free) and r/lfgpremium (paid)
Startplaying.Games (SPG) is a site for finding and playing games. There are free games on there, but they're primarily paid.
Roll20 has their own lfg area but I'm not familiar with it.

I mention paid games because it doesn't have as much of the stigma it used to have, and it's a little more reliable way of getting games going online and keeping them. I run via SPG- almost all of my players are over 35, and many of them are over 50.

If you're into Dungeon Crawl Classics, the Goodman Games server and the unofficial DCC server organize a lot of one-shots.

Basically there are tons of places to find a game, but getting a regular game or group is kind of a crapshoot.

As a player, almost all virtual tabletops (VTTs) will be free. It's usually the DM that pays for it.