[VTT] Going Back to VTT Instead of Live Play

[aramis erak]

The key difference is one of expectation: you apparently view gaming as a social encounter, at least in part. I view gaming, F2F or online, as gaming. The people I game online with share the same focus. I also note that a lot of my players are veterans of MMOs, where teamwork is also pure audio interaction.

I do consider it a social occasion. Even when running open D&D AL tables, I was always there early, and I'd be available to go for post game beverages and snacks to discuss a variety of subjects, including rules issues in session.
My player base generally is not inclined to MMORPGs, but are to certain social play games: Among Us was a bit of a fad, Minecraft is on private servers in groups with massive mods, etc. The group is almost entirely a friend-group that happens to have the dad of one of their friends running games for them. (The causality is different: I was running for AL, two of the girls were playing at my table. My kids came down, and met kids their age at AL games, both my and others' tables. Their friend group spread, and they and their new friends brought more to my table.)

 

[Jd Smith1]

I do consider it a social occasion. Even when running open D&D AL tables, I was always there early, and I'd be available to go for post game beverages and snacks to discuss a variety of subjects, including rules issues in session.
My player base generally is not inclined to MMORPGs, but are to certain social play games: Among Us was a bit of a fad, Minecraft is on private servers in groups with massive mods, etc. The group is almost entirely a friend-group that happens to have the dad of one of their friends running games for them. (The causality is different: I was running for AL, two of the girls were playing at my table. My kids came down, and met kids their age at AL games, both my and others' tables. Their friend group spread, and they and their new friends brought more to my table.)

I don't care for that sort of gaming (or any other hobby). I come to the table to game, and my focus is on that.

A similar attitude is easily found online, which is why it suits me so well.

 

[Retreater]

I understand how long lasting friendships can develop at a gaming table, the same as around any other hobby. But gaming is such a niche interest and very difficult to schedule.
If you're going to compare it to any other hobby, look at playing in a garage band. You need a specific place, few distractions, a long span of uninterrupted time, the same people there mostly every time.
I know this because I've basically swapped out playing in a band to play D&D over the past decade.
It's not like getting together to watch sports or hanging out at a karaoke bar.
When you think about it, having the same group of 5-6 adults commit to a regular chunk of like 4-5 hours every week or so, sometimes for years, is an amazing feat.
VTTs have finally made it so we can meet remotely.

 

[Marc_C]

I understand how long lasting friendships can develop at a gaming table, the same as around any other hobby. But gaming is such a niche interest and very difficult to schedule.
If you're going to compare it to any other hobby, look at playing in a garage band. You need a specific place, few distractions, a long span of uninterrupted time, the same people there mostly every time.
I know this because I've basically swapped out playing in a band to play D&D over the past decade.
It's not like getting together to watch sports or hanging out at a karaoke bar.
When you think about it, having the same group of 5-6 adults commit to a regular chunk of like 4-5 hours every week or so, sometimes for years, is an amazing feat.
VTTs have finally made it so we can meet remotely.

The comparison with a music band is really good. That is how I see it. We are there to play and focus on an activity that releases us from day to day life for a few hours.

 

[ART!]

Same. I tried playing online and I absolutely hated the experience. It's exactly the same difference as doing a work meeting face-to-face or doing it in video call.

To me, it was so different that I would even call it a different game/activity. Missing out on the energy of people around you, the pleasure of sharing a space with people, the pleasure of not being in front of a screen, the sound of dices on the table, seeing micro-expressions, not having a delay and people speaking over each others.

I will never move to online full-time.

Having played and run games via VTT, I would play again but not run - not without a lot of experimentation first with different tools. I found running a game that way maddening.

Also, it's very much a social thing for me, too. Getting back to face-to-face gaming after a several months of VTT was quite emotional for my group. We all missed it A LOT.

 

[humble minion]

Remember that if VTT doesn’t become the default for TTRPGs, then as was mentioned upthread a lot of people who live in smaller towns simply won’t have access to enough local gamers to get any sort of game going. So I think we should hope it becomes the default, if nothing else to ensure the hobby thrives.

I don't think it needs to actually beocme the default, just as long as there's a big enough critical mass of VTT gamers so small-town or isolated gamers can find a group.

I hadn't gamed for years before covid, but one of the guys from our old group offered to run a VTT campaign when lockdowns started. It was truly a sanity saver for me, at least. We certainly won't be going back to face to face games, there's just too many practicalities in the way. We're all in the same city, but two of us are conservatively half an hour drive each way from the rest of the group (in opposite directions), one has a young child, one has an immune-suppressed partner, and the DM has health problems that prevent him from driving. Plus, the VTT tools for managing initiative, hit points, conditions etc - they all make the game flow infinitely smoother and faster than rolling dice and scribbling on paper. I dreaded that when I was GMing, I'd never go back to paper.

There's some downsides sure. My computer setup and network connectivity aren't the best, and that sometimes causes issues. DMing looks fiddly and complicatedunless you've got a couple of monitors the size of kitchen tables. And I'm not sure how you'd go introducing new players to the game over VTT - they'd have to learn the game and the VTT interface simultaneously, and that might make it harder than it would be face-to-face. But on the whole - I'm a 100% convert to the church of All VTT All The Time.

 

[Randomthoughts]

We certainly won't be going back to face to face games, there's just too many practicalities in the way.
<snip>
Plus, the VTT tools for managing initiative, hit points, conditions etc - they all make the game flow infinitely smoother and faster than rolling dice and scribbling on paper. I dreaded that when I was GMing, I'd never go back to paper.

I’m toying around with using a VTT during the F2F games. It makes GMing easier and speeds up play - coupled with the live experience, it should be the best of both worlds.

 

[humble minion]

I’m toying around with using a VTT during the F2F games. It makes GMing easier and speeds up play - coupled with the live experience, it should be the best of both worlds.

It's not the worst idea if you can get all your group in one place. And being all connected to the same local wi-fi network would help cut out a lot of the latency/internet issues too.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I don't think it needs to actually beocme the default, just as long as there's a big enough critical mass of VTT gamers so small-town or isolated gamers can find a group.

I hadn't gamed for years before covid, but one of the guys from our old group offered to run a VTT campaign when lockdowns started. It was truly a sanity saver for me, at least. We certainly won't be going back to face to face games, there's just too many practicalities in the way. We're all in the same city, but two of us are conservatively half an hour drive each way from the rest of the group (in opposite directions), one has a young child, one has an immune-suppressed partner, and the DM has health problems that prevent him from driving. Plus, the VTT tools for managing initiative, hit points, conditions etc - they all make the game flow infinitely smoother and faster than rolling dice and scribbling on paper. I dreaded that when I was GMing, I'd never go back to paper.

There's some downsides sure. My computer setup and network connectivity aren't the best, and that sometimes causes issues. DMing looks fiddly and complicatedunless you've got a couple of monitors the size of kitchen tables. And I'm not sure how you'd go introducing new players to the game over VTT - they'd have to learn the game and the VTT interface simultaneously, and that might make it harder than it would be face-to-face. But on the whole - I'm a 100% convert to the church of All VTT All The Time.

You do not really need over large monitors. I have run FantasyGrounds for years now, originally on 2 20'' monitors and more recently on a 27'' and a 20''. Bandwith is more of a problem. I had to halt my campaign for 2 years until the local ISP upgraded to fibre because I could not host FantasyGround and do sound comms at the same time.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

As Marc has noted, it certainly isn't limited to online gaming.

Vetting players and ensuring that you hold the group's attention is key no matter what venue you're using. And with the ease of handling PCs, things like combat move vastly faster online.

But frankly, I would boot any player who wandered off from the table, virtual or physical. The beauty of online, however, is the vast pool of players available.

Personally, I feel 5 players is best.

I agree, 6 players is too much for me whether ftf or online. If one of my core players hadn't seriously vouched for the 5th player to join our online Blades game we would still be going with 4 players and a GM.

It's not easy to give enough attention to all the players when you get larger groups, period.