What's Wrong with Virtual Tabletop Play?

[Kepli Sire]

I play tabletop, online and PbP ... I like them all for different reasons.

Our tabletop game can only be played once per month due to distance and work of all group members. And when we are together, we talk more than we play <grin>. We are doing that now for 15 years ... yes, the very same people for 15 years.

I play online with people from all over the world and it's a blast. We use great maps, we chat a lot and the game runs pretty smoothly. This way of playing usually is faster than any tabletop game I ever been in. Not that there is less nonsense or fun, but the GM has everything ready and you can use all kinds of shortcuts and cool graphics to show what you want to do.

I run a PbP game and I love that, because it's pure roleplaying. The players only get to throw dice rarely, making them work hard on their char and the roleplaying part. I still use maps that I post to show the situation.

Anyway, don't trash it untill you have really tried it. Kalmarjan already posted a link to an upcoming online gaming conference (it's free ). Go to iCon and look around ... ... just click on the image below

 

[the_sandman]

I have to totally agree with Kepli on this one. Don't knock it until you try it.

I am in agreement with some of the posters here about some formats of online play. Basically, it is to each their own. If you feel like playing NWN2 and you get your roleplaying fix, cool. You have advanced the hobby. If you prefer to play face to face, that is your perogative as well. There is no real right or wrong in this case. Bottom line is, you are immersing yourself into the imaginary realm of role-playing, and that is what it is all about.

One question remains though; where will we be with this arrogance the day a company like WOTC decides that online play is the direction they want to take in the future? Sounds like a lot of people will have to change what they think.

Sandeman

PPS: I am AKA kalmarjan - as I just found my old password to these forums. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

One question remains though; where will we be with this arrogance the day a company like WOTC decides that online play is the direction they want to take in the future? Sounds like a lot of people will have to change what they think.

This is not arrogance, not in the slightest. I have found a game and game style that I enjoy.

Do not call me arrogant for not wanting to try something I have neither a need nor a want to deal with. Not to mention my utter lack of time to even consider this.
Do not call me arrogant for disagreeing with your opinions.
Or simply, do not call me arrogant.

If it comes to a day when I have to choose online only to play D&D, then it will be a sad and tough decision.
But if anyone says something as crass as "get with the times old man.", then my decision will be much easier.

 

[the_sandman]

Not neccessarily calling you arrogant, just stating that some of the responses here can be construed as arrogant. Please do not take the comment personally. {Or as a personal attack on you}

As I stated, I believe it is great that you have found your style of play. I also think it is great that it works for you.

On the other hand, I have read posts on this thread stating that online VT playing is somehow inferior to the "real thing". That is what I am calling arrogant.

What it all boils down to is the "act" of roleplaying. I have experience in both formats. I have run a successful campaign online now for 2 years. It has branched into three different timelines, on three different worlds.

I also get to play with people who live "more than an hour's drive from me." I challenge anyone here to play on a weekly basis face to face with people who are currently living in Denmark, the UK, the USA, Canada and Austrialia at the same time. Can't do it? Well, seems you are missing out.

I enjoy roleplaying in the face to face variety. I also enjoy roleplaying online. Fact is, I enjoy roleplaying period, no matter what the form.

Remember it was over 30 years ago when a hack named Gygax revolutionized the fomat of wargames to bring about the hobby that you all love. He innovated, and that innovation continues today. I am sure there are still some wargamers out there who think that Gygax brought them something inferior as well.

Cheers,

Sandeman

 

[dorpond]

I get together once every week with friends to play D&D. We have been doing so for many years now. We used to play on a battle map with miniatures; when there was an encounter, we would all dig for minis, I would draw out the map with a marker and several minutes later we had a scene in progress..

That has all changed now since VT's for me.

Now, before game I connect a laptop to my high definition TV; a couple players like to bring their laptops; we gather around the table and still grab our dice bags. Everything is the same but instead of the players looking at black hand drawn marker scribble on a battle mat, they see a full color map on the TV or on their laptops.

We still roll dice, we still move around mini's but they are minis in the VT. Maptool automatically counts your movement for you when you move; we can drop down a fireball spell and there is no measuring it out; I can tell my mini to have 60' vision that will reveal the FOW from the map and reveal monsters hiding in the dark. It has definately brought my gaming to a new level!

Yeah, as a DM I had to learn a little. yeah, I have to scan in maps from magazines, download some off the web or make them myself but even making maps in a good VT is as easy as pulling out your dry erase marker and marking on the battlemat.

I seriously suggest that you open your minds to VT software. They can be used as simple or as advanced as you want them to be.

 

[Crothian]

On the other hand, I have read posts on this thread stating that online VT playing is somehow inferior to the "real thing". That is what I am calling arrogant.

How is that arrogant? I've tried both and I play both ways currently. One though is in my opinion better then the other. That makes one again in my opinion inferior then the other. One does feel like real gaming where the other does not. Again it is just an opnion. This is not arrogance or being prideful? It is a person trying out both mediums and forming his own informed conclusion. It's great that you show up just to defend this play style but calling people who disagree with you arrogant is not going to aid your cause.

 

[trevorscroft]

I say "Why not do both at the same time?":

http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?t=1225

 

[snikle]

Hello all, I am one of the guys behind the upcoming iConvention (or iCon) mentioned a few times and this is exactly the reason we decided to run the convention. Information. Check out the website, the convention is entirely FREE and almost all the VGTs will have demonstrations and free demos that you can download and try.

One of the main things I see here is the confusion of where VGTs (or VTTs) are today. Everyone keeps bringing up NWN (2) and OpenRPG. Neither is a good example. NWN is not a VGT. OpenRPG is a VGT that has not been in development for a good long time (not to be confused with the still very much in development Open RPG+). If you think this is the best the VGT community has to offer, you are truly doing a disservice to yourself, especially if you are a typical gamer with a busy life like allot of us. Many of us began looking into VGTs because we were unable to continue to game like we did when we were in high school.

Do I think VGTs are as good as F2F gaming, yes. Period. In some respects I think they are better, all of the social comments I do not think are valid. I probably know 400 times more gamers because of my involvement with VGTs, I talk to them allot more than I used to talk to my old gamer buds, I know about their lives, wives, kids, likes and dislikes, etc. I do not believe anything socially is lost by getting together around a virtual table as compared to a real table. The 'note passing', jokes and side comments from the real table are all still there in the form of OOC chats, the whispers, IMs, emails, etc. Maps are simply better than the old graph paper. Unless you purchase the battle tiles and spend a fortune printing them all out, there is simply no way the maps at a real table can compare to those being used daily in the VGTs...none. Many people are even using these VGTs AT REAL TABLES using projectors so they can take advantage of all the features they offer. One VGT, d20Pro is even building in spell effects using the SRD, so area effect spell effects happen automatically when a play casts them, no more calculating out area of effect, duration and all that mumbo jumbo. Talk about making the GMs life easier! If you need one that has a feeling of being around a actual table, try Fantasy Grounds, the developers have gone to extreme lengths to make it appear you are at a real table. Want one that epitomizes mapmaking and GMing on the fly? Try out Maptool, for a free and open source application, it simply one of the best VGTs out there.

I have ran games online going back about 8 years now, starting out on ICQ and IRC, then later moving to full fledged VGTs like Fantasy Grounds and MapTool. These programs out today are simply amazing, some of the things you can do with them, I would even venture to say that in terms of game functionality some even take the RPG to a new level with things like interactive Fog of War and calculating character sheets. Now allot can be said for getting around a table and fighting over the last piece of pizza, doing physical jokes, and yes, even I would still like to get around a table now and then, but would I give up VGTs (and the literally hundreds of players I have met from around the world) for that? Not in a million years.

I also think the comment about WotC getting involved is dead on, I expect to see and official D&D VGT here in the next two years and for WotC to release their products digitally for their VGT, producing 500 copies of a product digitally is allot cheaper (read: profit creating) than printing 500 books...I think you all need to get used to it. ;-)

 

[Kepli Sire]

How is that arrogant? I've tried both and I play both ways currently. One though is in my opinion better then the other. That makes one again in my opinion inferior then the other. One does feel like real gaming where the other does not. Again it is just an opnion. This is not arrogance or being prideful? It is a person trying out both mediums and forming his own informed conclusion. It's great that you show up just to defend this play style but calling people who disagree with you arrogant is not going to aid your cause.

He says it's arrogant to say "it's inferior", because that's stating a fact, not an opinion. It should have been "I think it's inferior". Semantics I know, but it does affect people's perceptions of the meaning you are trying to give to your message

 

[Crothian]

He says it's arrogant to say "it's inferior", because that's stating a fact, not an opinion. It should have been "I think it's inferior". Semantics I know, but it does affect people's perceptions of the meaning you are trying to give to your message

If that's the case then I think some of these statements are being read with implications the writer did not mean. But even a statement of fact doesn't make it an arrogant stament. For me, it is a fact that Virtual play is inferior to face to face.