What's Wrong with Virtual Tabletop Play?

[naturaltwenty]

The only thing missing from my VoIP/VT game last night was me not smelling when one of my player's dropped ass. With voice software that's clearer than my phone line there was no shortage of put downs, making fun of each other and overall gaming goodness. Plus I didn't have to lug my tons of gaming stuff with me.

If you take the table out of the equation, you take away RPG.

 

[naturaltwenty]

Klooge is a good tool and it's very robust. It can handle multiple gaming environments. The plugins for it to support other gaming systems are primarliy fan made but of excellent quality. The 3-D environments might be tough to mimic but you can handle elevation like most people do in regular face-to-face games, put a counter by your figure or a d10/d20 indicating height.

I didn't see klooge.werks on that comparison chart. Pity, that's the one that I am most interested in. Granted, I'd need someone to hack in 3-dimensional movement

 

[trevorscroft]

free token making tools from rpgtools.com

Minor correction: http://rptools.net

 

[snikle]

I didn't see klooge.werks on that comparison chart. Pity, that's the one that I am most interested in.

I have tried (and had a few others try other ways of) contacting the people behind klooge.werks, alas they have never responded. Unfortunately, as the data on that comparison chart is provided by the developers, they were left off the chart. If they come around, that will gladly be changed.

 

[Craw Hammerfist]

I can only speak for myself, but this is the EXACT situation I am in. There are several campaigns I would like to play in, but the only way I could play them regularly is online. I tried it. I found the experience, even though I tried with different groups on different platforms, to be no fun for me. Because I choose not to play online, I am lucky to get to a game once a month. But still I choose not to play online. Again, this may be specific to my own situation, as my jobs (freelancer) keeps me isolated in front of a computer for 8-12 hours a day as it is, so the prospect of sitting in front of a computer for another second, much less another 4 hours or more, just doesn't appeal. I don't say this to try to claim that VTT games are inferior for everyone--only to show that it is not unreasonable for a motivated and interested gamer to prefer no game to an online game.

Yes, but you actually tried a VGT to see if it was for you. Others turn up their noses without having tried it. I get the same thing from my toddler at the dinner table.

 

[smerwin29]

Yes, but you actually tried a VGT to see if it was for you. Others turn up their noses without having tried it. I get the same thing from my toddler at the dinner table.

Agreed, for the most part. I think it is possible for someone to judge something without having tried it, because they know their own preferences and experiences. What is wrong is making that judgment FOR others based on individual preference. Which is why as right as people are to say that VTT games can be great for themselves, they are not right in saying that people who would rather not play than play them must (1) be unreasonable; (2) have other gaming choices; or (3) have some other problem.

For some, the best part of the game is the socialization and face-to-face contact. They don't need to try an online VTT game to know it is not for them. And I'm just talking about online play with no personal contact. The technology might be coming, or already available, to successfully use a VTT in a face-to-face game.

 

[naturaltwenty]

I have only one more thing to add - I'm very social and I like VTT software. I've found that alot of VTT players tend to be IT people. It's just a natural extension of giving a PowerPoint presentation - except in this one I get to kill 'em and take their stuff.

PS - can everyone else tell that www.rpg.net is down - enworld.org is humming!

Later,

Greg V.

 

[raltgaither]

My group and I have been playing by skype (VOIP) for almost two years now. It's free, you aren't looking at a computer screen (unless you just want to, or if you want to send messages to other folks; as DM, the computer is behind me), and it's NOTHING like PBEM or PbP. It's more like going to your regular game, setting up your character sheet, pencils, and dice, and playing as normal without looking up at one another or while keeping your eyes closed. The pace is 100% the same as FtF gaming, with the one exception that everyone is mapping, so occasionally a tricky room will slow things down as I describe it. Otherwise, we get just as much done in a 4-5 hour session as we did when we met in a room together.

I suppose you do lose something of the personal connection that comes with sitting next to someone, but you gain being able to game with your group when one of you moves away and being flexible on play times (which is good, as our group has small children).

 

[sjmiller]

I said this earlier, but I think it bears repeating. Using a virtual tabletop costs me a lot more than using an actual tabletop. I don't have a high speed internet connection, so in order to use this "great and wonderful" technology I would have to fork out a lot of money that I frankly do not have. Playing on my rather large dining room table does not incur that expense.

Plus, as someone else stated, I sit in front of a computer 8 hours a day, sometimes more. Why on earth would I want to spend 4 or more hours sitting in front of a computer to play a game? I don't play lots of computer game, MMORPGs (obviously), or even video games. I sometimes watch an hour or two of television, but at least there I am not sitting right in front of the monitor.

Online gaming is not for everyone. I am not saying it is bad, nor should anyone say that tabletop gaming is bad. They are different, and appeal to different audiences that sometimes overlap.

 

[naturaltwenty]

Most definitely. I'm a self-described gaming whore. I have to keep a dbase list on my smart phone to look up stuff to see if I've already purchased it. I've been known to buy something, get home and realize I'd already purchased it.

Later,

Greg V.

Online gaming is not for everyone. I am not saying it is bad, nor should anyone say that tabletop gaming is bad. They are different, and appeal to different audiences that sometimes overlap.