A few years ago, my DM, another friend and I were using IRC, and mIRC client to do some gaming. Being a programmer, I whipped up some scripts to recognize some basic statements, and track hit points. I then shared the script with my friend. The result was, the DM, being relatively non-technical (and using a web-browser chat client on the server hosting IRC), was able to type fairly simple statements, and our clients would parse his text and perform various responses.
The DM could type:
Janx dam 5
My client would deduct 5 HP, from my HP total, and send a private message to the DM about how much HP I had.
I had some stuff put in for attacking as well, so it would auto-roll for me. We didn't have any cheating issues or concerns.
The result was, we typed what our PCs said or did, and used the macro comands to keep scores and stuff. From the DM's perspective, he had easy access to our stats, and he did his paperwork like normal.
For those who can't type (or hunt and peck well), maybe it's a problem. But the year is 2007. Most of us have broadbad. every PC has a soundcard. Buy a microphone/headset, and use a voice conferencing program like Skype or NetMeeting (soon to be retired by MS).
My big concern about some virtual gaming programs is the system requirements and technical knowledge needed. I can figure out how to setup anything, by virtue of my experience. Setting up some of these programs required knowing more URLs, port numbers and stuff, than most folks understand. Games like NWN had such a high technical requirement that my laptops couldn't run it (not good enough video). My friends with 3+ year old PCs and no budget for hardware couldn't run it. Java based programs require installing Java, something most folks aren't prepared to do, and you're lucky if it has a good installer and launch icon for the user.
If you want a GREAT virtual tabletop software, it should:
use a central server to find players, like most other online games, users should not have to know IP addresses
have a good clean installer
have an obvious icon to run the program, no secondary DOS windows open, because they launched from a command line JVM
have decent graphics. SVGA is fine, it does not need 3d animation, just icons and bitmaps. A tech level that if the art is good, will look good, but doesn't put a strain on older machines
include text AND voice chat conferencing feature built into the interface, no running yet another program that the user has to setup
have charcter sheet management built in. Both character creation, maintenance and In-Game use should be considered. Most SW works as a decent character manager, and a lousy interface for running the PC during the game itself. This is why most people print their sheets out from PCGen, instead of running it on the laptop.
Have mapping built-in. The DM can draw up maps for the entire area, and let the PCs run around in it. The mapping system should also be ignorable. The DM can play mapless, or spawn up an encounter and quickly draw out the map, and place PCs and creatures to start a combat (not all DM's want to do it like NWN).
Have the rules, and combat actions built into the battlemat feature. Basically, once you go into combat mode, everything follows the rules. Have a "Special" action that would allow a player to describe something he wants to do, that isn't obviously covered by the rules, and the DM, can adjudicate the result, by moving characters, inflicting damage. Since the list of combat actions IS more than just move or Attack (go see the combat cards by fiery dragon), players will feel they have lots of options (more options than I get when playing a non-magic user in a RPG on my PS2).
