16 thoughts on “Here’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask.”

  1. I guess my post wasn’t clear enogh, sorry!  I’ve enjoyed online gaming significantly but was interested in hearing everyone else’s opinions on the subject, be it good or bad.  Thanks for the invite Jason Cordova  I’ve considered trying MonsterHearts before but just havn’t made the time to read up on it.

  2. I guess my post wasn’t clear enogh, sorry!  I’ve enjoyed online gaming significantly but was interested in hearing everyone else’s opinions on the subject, be it good or bad.  Thanks for the invite Jason Cordova  I’ve considered trying MonsterHearts before but just havn’t made the time to read up on it.

  3. Eddy Gonzalez I understood what you meant. As I said, Hangouts are great. But I can drill down further. If you’re playing a game with little or no physical components (like MH), a Hangouts game is a near-perfect substitute for being in the same room together. I have to imagine the more maps, minis, charts and other play aids added to the game makes online play a less ideal situation. I have never used Roll20 but I have been led to believe it’s pretty good in such situations.

    But , at the end of the day, nothing compares to being in the same room together. The intimacy and energy generated by being around a table just can’t be duplicated in a video conference.

    This has been an organizing principle of The Gauntlet since we began it in earnest back in January – in other words, let’s create opportunities for people to come together and play games.

    But online play definitely has merit.

  4. Eddy Gonzalez I understood what you meant. As I said, Hangouts are great. But I can drill down further. If you’re playing a game with little or no physical components (like MH), a Hangouts game is a near-perfect substitute for being in the same room together. I have to imagine the more maps, minis, charts and other play aids added to the game makes online play a less ideal situation. I have never used Roll20 but I have been led to believe it’s pretty good in such situations.

    But , at the end of the day, nothing compares to being in the same room together. The intimacy and energy generated by being around a table just can’t be duplicated in a video conference.

    This has been an organizing principle of The Gauntlet since we began it in earnest back in January – in other words, let’s create opportunities for people to come together and play games.

    But online play definitely has merit.

  5. I love playing on Roll20. Right now I am involved with 3 regular games and they are all done over Roll20 and Skype. Like everyone else I spent the the better part of the last 20 years playing in person. I don’t find that playing online detracts from the social experience very much. Even less so if everyone has webcams.

    It’s much easier to get everyone together and the older I get, the more important that becomes as schedules are more and more difficult to match up. In my Pathfinder games I use lots of maps, tokens, handouts, music, etc. I think it’s actually easier to setup that kind of stuff online. Dynamic lighting is really awesome and adds to the feel as well.

  6. I love playing on Roll20. Right now I am involved with 3 regular games and they are all done over Roll20 and Skype. Like everyone else I spent the the better part of the last 20 years playing in person. I don’t find that playing online detracts from the social experience very much. Even less so if everyone has webcams.

    It’s much easier to get everyone together and the older I get, the more important that becomes as schedules are more and more difficult to match up. In my Pathfinder games I use lots of maps, tokens, handouts, music, etc. I think it’s actually easier to setup that kind of stuff online. Dynamic lighting is really awesome and adds to the feel as well.

  7. I’ve used Roll20 for some sessions of Edge of the Empire, and it has worked really well. Especially for a group that lives hundreds of miles apart. It takes only a little extra time to prepare than it would if you were doing it with pen and paper, but the results are pretty nice.

    Player controlled components with fog-of-war works quite well. And having layers of pieces allows you to stage encounters and quickly drop the to where the layers can see. The convenience is the greatest thing. It makes tabletop rpg just as accessible as any video game. Just make sure everyone is free and log on.

    In all things, it is never as fulfilling to have a social interaction via telepresence. With webcams, though, it is pretty darn close. As someone said another time this conversation was brought up, with the improvement to these types of systems, one of the enabling characteristics is that you can game with who you want to, not just who happens to live near you. Not that I don’t enjoy the Houston gamers, but some people are not as lucky. Or, you might want to keep a group together as people move apart.

  8. I’ve used Roll20 for some sessions of Edge of the Empire, and it has worked really well. Especially for a group that lives hundreds of miles apart. It takes only a little extra time to prepare than it would if you were doing it with pen and paper, but the results are pretty nice.

    Player controlled components with fog-of-war works quite well. And having layers of pieces allows you to stage encounters and quickly drop the to where the layers can see. The convenience is the greatest thing. It makes tabletop rpg just as accessible as any video game. Just make sure everyone is free and log on.

    In all things, it is never as fulfilling to have a social interaction via telepresence. With webcams, though, it is pretty darn close. As someone said another time this conversation was brought up, with the improvement to these types of systems, one of the enabling characteristics is that you can game with who you want to, not just who happens to live near you. Not that I don’t enjoy the Houston gamers, but some people are not as lucky. Or, you might want to keep a group together as people move apart.

  9. To piggyback on Alan’s comment, it also allows you to make new connections all over the globe. In the 3 games that I run there is a Brazilian player, two Scottish players, and an English player. They are all really awesome people who I would have never met.

  10. To piggyback on Alan’s comment, it also allows you to make new connections all over the globe. In the 3 games that I run there is a Brazilian player, two Scottish players, and an English player. They are all really awesome people who I would have never met.

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