VTT/online-play Etiquette and Horror Stories

[Blue]

You forgot "constantly telling other players what to do and/or complaining when said player doesn't listen to them."

I don't think that's a VTT/online-play specific problem. It happen when gathered together as well.

 

[Blue]

I think it's a little weird to require the cameras be on, however, I can see how it helps foster a human connection when you can't play in the same location.

...

One of the hardest ones to deal with is talking over each other. It happens - it will always happen to a certain degree because its hard to keep people from chiming in simultaneously without being excessively restrictive. You just have to accept it, stop people when you can, and ask people to repeat things when they couldn't be heard.

For me (and it could be just me), but these strongly go hand in hand. I was born in the 70s, almost all my formative social interaction with multiple people having lengthy conversations was in-person, so much of my "is this a good time to talk" comes from visual clues.

And when I had tried remote gaming back in the '90s or early 2000s using phones and an omni-directional mic, this was the biggest issue that made it a no-go.

For me, a big part of what makes remote gaming work from the social aspects of being able to communicate is the video. In my regular game we have one player who regularly drops off camera due to poor bandwidth issues and it seems she finds it harder to get a word in when she's not on camera. At least she talks less, both in- and out-of-character.

I'm not saying this is universal -- watching my (young adult) children play I know it's not. But it can be a part of it, and might be broadly generational.

 

[Blue]

"Insists on rolling physical dice when everyone else rolls in the VTT"

This jsut shows how different tables are. We roll physical dice with VTT rolls optional. Why? Dice are more fun.

We're the same way. I usually prefer the VTT myself for the convenience since it does all the math, but we're here to have fun, and click clack math rocks are part of that for many.

I ran a three year D&D 5e campaign with no VTT, just a shared Google Draw page and Zoom (later Discord) for video & voice. Everyone rolled their own dice.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

No real horror stories from me so far. The worst thing is ghosting games. No, "thanks but im gonna drop" just gone.

Im a little surprised to see so much "on camera" items. I have yet to be in a game where being on camera was mandatory and none so far have even seldomly activated it.

Our group found that people were less likely to do other things in the background if the cameras were on. With cameras off, one guy would just play video games or wander off. He was the guy who suggested we turn cameras on so that he would stay more focused.

 

[Metroido]

I don't like to have cameras on because I don't want people to see me rolling my eyes while they have a 30 minute conversation with an NPC where they work out some personal issues in a personal therapy session and drag the whole game to a halt.

 

[DeadlyUematsu]

One of the most annoying things players can do is moving their token around the map to explore while I am handling another player and their character's actions. It's disrespectful not only to me but the other players. It's so annoying and common that I might just forgo maps for players and just have them for my own reference.

 

[TheSword]

So many good points on here.

Foundry is a godsend though. It has a pause button where if I tap space bar it stops everyone moving until I tap it again. Great for when someone opens a door or turns a corner.

My pet peeve is uncontrolled background noise. Someone doing dishes etc. I’m lucky I’ve never had it with my players but when I’ve been a player in other peoples games I’ve seen people with pets barking, and god knows what else.

 

[numtini]

I'm one of the "other" and that one has come up repeatedly: signing up for a game and showing up wanting to play on a tablet or phone.

 

[DeadlyUematsu]

I'm one of the "other" and that one has come up repeatedly: signing up for a game and showing up wanting to play on a tablet or phone.

Oh geez. I've had players who did this. They always turn out to be half-way out the door so uninviting them is just a matter of saving everyone's time.

 

[Thomas Shey]

One of the most annoying things players can do is moving their token around the map to explore while I am handling another player and their character's actions. It's disrespectful not only to me but the other players. It's so annoying and common that I might just forgo maps for players and just have them for my own reference.

Not a problem without automatic lighting and vision control. In the one I use, if you move a token into a fog-of-war area, you don't see anything you didn't see before.