[VTT] Going Back to VTT Instead of Live Play

[Marc_C]

Strange thing happened in the last two months. I was very happy to go back to play face-to-face. I'm the DM but my home is not in a central location. The players don't have cars.

I've decided to travel time of 25 minutes both ways for a 3 hour period is not worth it. Commute in public transit would take even longer.

I would add that since 'winter is coming' parking in dense urban areas can be a nightmare. My friend's apartment, where we play, doesn't have private parking.

We will start playing on line again. I didn't expect that to happen. Just turning on and off the computer and being at home already is a big game changer, pun intended.

 

[SAVeira]

I understand what you mean exactly. I am very much in the same boat. The ease of just launching Fantasy Grounds and Zoom, is so much simpler then traveling. Plus, the ability to get straight to bed after a game was a game changer.

Also, with Fantasy Grounds I have no problem presenting maps and mini. Then using Syrinscape, I have added backgrounds music and sound effects.

Heck, the ability for players to join from anywhere has meant few missed games.

 

[Umbran]

I'm not surprised that, after a year and more of being forced to play online, and picking up skills for using the features, some folks find that to be simpler.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I've been playing online for about 2 years before the pandemic. Same issues -- commutes were not great, and the additional time necessary was larger. We still get together for boardgames, though, but is a smaller group that's more local than the RPG team.

 

[Retreater]

Totally understand. Since the start of the pandemic, I've been able to play more regular games than before when we had to schedule traveling to someone's house in another state, finding a time when kids can be watched, everyone is off work on a weekend, etc. Couple that with bringing in new players from across the country (or even out of the country) who are obviously available only on VTT.
Yeah, I just don't see going back to regular in-person gaming ever happening again. It's a bummer in some respects (I have a nice gaming space, miniatures, 3D terrain, etc.), but the pros outweigh the cons.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I started on online game in the first few months of the pandemic with friends who all lived in San Francisco. Since then, two moved to other cities about two and six hours away, and one now splits his time between California and Oregon. Originally I had planned on transitioning us to in person play, but now with two of us having babies since the start of the campaign I think it will be forever online!

 

[ART!]

It's definitely good to know my group can do the VTT thing if we want/need to. Doing so for roughly a year increased the potential player list should we go that route again, so that's a good thing, too.

 

[General_Tangent]

While I miss not being able to play in the same room face to face, using a VTT has been a boon for me. My group has players from different parts of the country and I really don't miss lugging my books to someone else's house to play.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I recently tried online gaming after decades of FtF, and frankly, I'm never going back. No commute, all my stuff at my fingertips, a vast pool of gamers available, Roll20 is awesome, there is simply no downside.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Going to the gamestore to see my friends and play an RPG or board game is my one outting a week. I'll always choose it over online play which i find far to distracting.