# Question(s) about the state of Online Gaming



## ErichDragon (Mar 30, 2011)

Hello all,

I am a long time member here and sporadic lurker.  I have been running online D&D and Battletech games for my circle of friends who are older, moved away, just don't have the time for long in-person sessions, for about 3 years now.  We use many online tools like Gametable, Teamspeak, Skype, Google Documents, EvilDM.net and a few others at various times.  All-in-all it's a pretty good simulation of the table top experience.

I am interested in branching out and joining some Online games with new friends but am having difficulty findind them.  That is puzzling since I am told that this interweb thing is a pretty big deal.

Specifically I am intrigued by the lack of games that people want to use voice communication?  I think this is the single coolest thing, technology wise, to come along in the past decade or so.  In my youth, imagining being able to talk to anyone, anywhere in the world, at any time for FREE was as likely as teleportation devices.  I am curious why people shun it?  Am I looking in the wrong places?  Is there a website I am unaware of where all like-thinking people are hanging out?

Thanks in advance for any advice or answers.  Specifically I am looking for an older school D&D game played during the evenings Eastern US time.  If anyone is looking for a player, drop me a line.

Thanks!


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## Dark Maiden (Mar 31, 2011)

Hi there.

Got a question:

Do you GM and have you looked at Pathfinder?

Me and 2 other friends have been looking for a gm that can run Kingmaker (a pathfinder module), that is willing to use skpye and maptools. So far we have two false starts in this regards.


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## ErichDragon (Mar 31, 2011)

I do GM but I have not looked at Pathfinder.  I am aware of MapTools but am not proficient in using it.  I use Gametable as my VTT for online games with TS2 for voice communication because I have a dedicated TS2 server, but use/have used Skype/Vent/Mumble/TS3, etc. in the past.

I was really hoping somebody out there was running one of the retro-clone systems as an online campaign.


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## OnlineDM (Mar 31, 2011)

Well, I can really only talk about my own experience, but I've been running an online game using MapTool and Skype since last July - so, eight months. We've been meeting most Fridays, and we're still going strong. 

I found players right here on EN World, and when I needed to seek out a new player I came back to EN World. So, the community is out there.

Now, we are playing D&D 4h Edition, so maybe that makes it easier to find players. But I would guess that there are some interested people out there for an older edition game to be played online in real time with voice chat.

If you're looking for any tips about running an online game with MapTool and Skype, feel free to drop me a line or to check out my blog (it's pretty much the main thing I write about, as you might guess from my handle).

Good luck!


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## Bigkilla (Apr 5, 2011)

ErichDragon said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I am a long time member here and sporadic lurker.  I have been running online D&D and Battletech games for my circle of friends who are older, moved away, just don't have the time for long in-person sessions, for about 3 years now.  We use many online tools like Gametable, Teamspeak, Skype, Google Documents, EvilDM.net and a few others at various times.  All-in-all it's a pretty good simulation of the table top experience.
> 
> ...




I will list a few of my views and experiences with online gaming and GMing. I have been a roleplayer for 31 yeras.

I have only been online gaming for about a year.I have joined 5 or 6 online games as a player and all of them have lasted no longer than 5 or 6 sessions. Now I, like yourself like the idea of using a voice chat client for online rping but like your self have found people very reluctant to use them. I have heard the argument that it stifles real roleplaying and is counterproductive. I honestly think its due to the fact that a lot of the players today do not know the difference between roleplaying and rollplaying. Its a generational thing IMO.


I have been running 2 campaigns for Pathfinder for about 9 month. I have a core group between the 2 games of 6 people who have been there through the whole thing (three of them friends for 20+ years) with approximately 20 or more people coming and going after a sessions or sometimes months or sometimes never showing up for the first game. This I believe is due sometimes to playstyle differences but largely due to the fact that the internet or online does not hold people responsible for their actions, there is no accountability.You don't want to play any longer you just don't show up and go on your way.

I use D20pro and Ventrilo to run my games and honestly I think I would rather play that way than in person around a table. There is a lot more that can be done with a VTT IMO than with real dice and miniatures.


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## Treebore (Apr 5, 2011)

Closest I could get you to an OSR game is the Castles and Crusades games going on or trying to get started.

I have had great luck with my online games, using Maptools/SKYPE. 3 of them have lasted close to or over 3 years now with some player over lap.

Now if your willing to play and run ANYTHING on a 6 week rotating basis, you may want to join our Thursday group. That groups whole purpose is to play RPG's we don't get to otherwise run or play. 6 Weeks at a time. After nearly 3 years our schedule has gotten below 20 RPG's.


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## Arkhandus (Apr 7, 2011)

Bigkilla said:


> I will list a few of my views and experiences with online gaming and GMing. I have been a roleplayer for 31 yeras.
> 
> I have only been online gaming for about a year.I have joined 5 or 6 online games as a player and all of them have lasted no longer than 5 or 6 sessions. Now I, like yourself like the idea of using a voice chat client for online rping but like your self have found people very reluctant to use them. I have heard the argument that it stifles real roleplaying and is counterproductive. I honestly think its due to the fact that a lot of the players today do not know the difference between roleplaying and rollplaying. Its a generational thing IMO.
> 
> ...



I sorta beg to differ.  I don't use voice-chat software because I simply prefer text-based roleplaying when online, and VC would just slow down this old computer of mine (plus the neighbors' wireless networks or something cause a lot of interference for my network sometimes).

I also know several others that I game with online who either just don't like voice-chat for online RPGs or who don't have a microphone for their computers (especially the few that I believe play on OpenRPG while at work and the ones that play over laptops at whatever wi-fi hotspots they can find in their area).  Though I do have an old microphone for my computer somewhere around here, and I have used it before when playing Mech*Commander and such, it's been a long time since I've used it and it didn't really enhance my gaming experience when I did.

Typing out my character's speech or my DM narration bits gives me a few moments longer to consider what to say, and it's a bit less chaotic.  Plus I can easily save a chat-log of the session in OpenRPG as an html file for later reference, so the only times where I don't have complete or accurate notes of any session are those where my cruddy old computer has a glitch and crashes the program, which is somewhat rare (and wouldn't happen at all if I could just afford a new computer), or on the rare occasions where my internet goes out due to thunderstorms or other cable-company problems.  Even then I often have a partial log saved from some point during the session.

I do still prefer face-to-face gaming, but since I rarely have the opportunity anymore, I'm much more comfortable with typing out stuff in online play rather than using voice-chat.  Also, I think voices sounded odd online (and I think mine sounded nasally or higher-pitched for some reason) when I was using the mic during Mech*Warrior games and strategy sessions with the rest of the Clan Ghost Bear group.

HOWEVER, I do agree with you regarding the flakey-ness and high dropout rate among online RPGers.  It's rare any of them even say that they've decided to drop out of the game or that they're thinking about it; folks just suddenly stop showing up at some point and you wonder if they just forgot, or ended up having other weekly plans in that timeslot, or whatever (especially when they're supposed to be new members of the group and just don't show up for the 1st or 2nd session).

I've run a half-dozen or so online campaigns over OpenRPG, and so far the longest-running of my games has gone on for 2-3 years and still has a few consistent players, though most of the group has fluctuated over time.  I'm hoping that game will continue for another year or two or three until we've finished the main plot that the campaign is slowly building towards, ending in an epic showdown at 20th or 22nd level probably.  Advancement has been kinda slow due to some sessions being cancelled or ending early due to folks having other demands upon their time.  Also, major battles tend to take quite a while to run (for some reason, folks don't tend to decide on and type up their actions before their turn comes around, so most of them waste a few minutes on their turn before finally rolling their attacks/spells/whatever).

I think many of the players in any given online game tend to be doing other stuff at the same time, so they're not as attentive as they would be face-to-face.  Games using voice-chat may be slightly better for avoiding that distractedness, but I dunno.  Typing actions and such is definitely somewhat slower, though, in general.

*ErichDragon:* Unfortunately, I don't know of any OD&D, B/E/M/I D&D, 1E, or 2E campaigns running online, at least not specifically.  I know there are some going on, but I don't remember when or with what groups or what programs.  You could always check through the listings here in the Gamers Seeking Gamers forum or on the OpenRPG forums, and I assume that Maptools or other programs may have their own forums for people looking for groups.  I haven't loaded my Core Rules 2 CD-ROM onto this computer and it wouldn't run very well on this thing anymore, anyhow, so I'm not involved in any AD&D games at present and aren't in a position to run any in the near future.  I never had any cash for gaming-books until the end of 2E's run and the start of 3E.


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## OnlineDM (Apr 7, 2011)

On the drop-out rate of online games, I must say that my experience has been different, much to my surprise. I recruited for my online game via posts here on EN World, and I fully expected that some people would express interest but never show up. I wanted five players, so I recruited seven.

When the night for the first game arrived, I had eight players show up (one of the seven brought a significant other). None of them seemed like they wanted to drop out. We ended up splitting the game - a few players started a new game that would start with 6th-level characters, while the rest of us continued from level 1.

That was last July. The same five players and I kept meeting most weeks through this past January, when one player moved from England to Japan and his schedule would no longer let him join us. I recruited a replacement player on EN World.

A few weeks later, I asked one player if he would prefer to be a part-time player since his schedule ended up conflicting with the game more often than not, and I recruited a sixth player.

We've continued with that same lineup since that point, with no end in sight. I haven't had anyone "flake" at all. Granted, it's been less than a year, but it's also been over 25 sessions, so I'd say I've probably gotten very lucky! It's a great group of people.


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## Arkhandus (Apr 7, 2011)

Hmmm.  It looks like Taliesin may be re-opening recruitment for his Friday night AD&D 2E campaign on OpenRPG.  I don't know if he uses VC software or not, but ya may as well take a look and inquire on his thread, ErichDragon.
Taliesin's thread on the OpenRPG forums


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## ErichDragon (Apr 15, 2011)

Arkhandus said:


> Hmmm.  It looks like Taliesin may be re-opening recruitment for his Friday night AD&D 2E campaign on OpenRPG.  I don't know if he uses VC software or not, but ya may as well take a look and inquire on his thread, ErichDragon.
> Taliesin's thread on the OpenRPG forums




Thanks for the effort Arkhandus.  I checked out that thread and it's funny, that group has exactly the kind of anti-voice sentiment I am so curious about.  I suppose it may have something to do with a generational gap.  I am 36 yo., all of my formative RPG experience was done before mass, or even niche, availability of the internet.  When MUDs and MOOs and then the advent of MMORPGs were all the rage I was in the Army and then College and didn't do much Roleplaying.  I suppose that is the time when typing in an RPG setting became the norm, and I missed it.  I only got into on-line gaming of any kind when reliable voice comms were available.  At least I think I understand why people feel that way a little better now, I still don't see how it is preferable in any way, but to each his own.  

BigKilla, do you have any open slots in either of your games?

Thanks everyone for your feedback!  Much appreciated!


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## azhrei_fje (Apr 19, 2011)

Well...

I am interested in recruiting one or two players for a Tuesday night Pathfinder game (7PM-11PM Eastern Time, currently GMT-4).  The problem is that the campaign is almost over!   I expect there will be less than a couple dozen sessions left.  And as anyone joining would be stepping into an existing campaign, it'd be easiest if they could pick up an existing PC to play -- at least for a couple sessions so they could see the party makeup.

We're playing Curse of the Crimson Throne; the party averages 13th level.  We use MapTool for our VTT (moving to 1.3.b87 for next Tuesday; no, b87 is not out yet but I'll have it done in a day or two ) and we use Ventrilo for voice chat.  (Yes, we use VC.  We prefer VC to be used for in-character stuff and text for the "crunchy bits".)  We use a MapTool framework to handle the heavy lifting (lots of macros to do things) and given your background you could pick it up pretty quick.

When that campaign is over I _may_ start another one or I may decide I just need a break!

I'm also playing in a Pathfinder game on Saturday nights (8PM-12AM ET) and the GM in that game has indicated he'd like to have one more player...


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## ghaladen (Apr 20, 2011)

I'm actually starting up a 2e Dark Sun game on every other Thursdays. We're just using Skype Group Video. Everything else is analog: books, dice, roleplaying. Not bothering with minis since I don't have a whole lot of Dark Sun minis, and since I'm trying to get back to my roots of gaming, _sans miniatures et VTTs. _

Anyway, if you're interested, let me know. It probably will be recorded and posted up on my YouTube channel, so if you have an issue with your face shown, I can overlay a picture of your character over your video feed so it's just your voice.


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