Any experience with online games?

Jeffs wrote:
> Greetings!
>
> Anyone have any experience with online games (through something like
> openRPG or webRPG)?
>
> Jeffs
>
I do with playbyweb.com and rpgnet forums (both play by post) but not
with the live ones.
 >> Stay informed about: Any experience with online games? 

Jeffs wrote:
> Greetings!
>
> Anyone have any experience with online games (through something like
> openRPG or webRPG)?
>
> Jeffs
>
I ran a game on IRC for a while. I wrote a short dice-rolling script
for it, and it seemed to work well. I liked being able to have private
and public discussions at the same time.

--
Will Twentyman
email: wtwentyman at copper dot net
 >> Stay informed about: Any experience with online games? 

copeab.DeleteThis@yahoo.com wrote:

> The most important thing you need to know about online games is that
> they are much slower than face-to-face games. A chat-based game might
> take 8-12 hours to accomplish what a face-to-face game would take 4
> hours for. Pbem and similar are dreadfully slow.

Interesting...I hadn't considered that angle. My initial thought was
that you'd cut down on some of the things that slow games down (off
topic table talk, for example..."Hey, did you see on MythBusters that a
foot of water is enough to stop high caliber rounds..."). Typing
speed's not an issue (for me, at least...I do 120+ wpm)

A thought...my cell phone plan gives me unlimited nights and weekends
and three-way calling. I wonder if that could be used to speed up some
of the chat. (I'm sort of casting about for a way to game...my local
group hasn't had an RPG session in about a year, for various reasons,
and I'm going through some serious withdrawal...)

Jeffs/etc.
 >> Stay informed about: Any experience with online games? 

Jeffs wrote:
> copeab RemoveThis @yahoo.com wrote:
>
> > The most important thing you need to know about online games is that
> > they are much slower than face-to-face games. A chat-based game might
> > take 8-12 hours to accomplish what a face-to-face game would take 4
> > hours for. Pbem and similar are dreadfully slow.
>
> Interesting...I hadn't considered that angle. My initial thought was
> that you'd cut down on some of the things that slow games down (off
> topic table talk, for example..."Hey, did you see on MythBusters that a
> foot of water is enough to stop high caliber rounds..."). Typing
> speed's not an issue (for me, at least...I do 120+ wpm)

Typing speed isn't what really slows it down. There is lagtime from
connections and players wandering away from the computer briefly.
Usually, though, players will let you know if they are going to be away
from the keyboard for more than a couple minutes.

The first online session I ran had a torid pace and a couple players
were getting left behind, as they were used to a more leisurely pace
online.

Note that if you are GM who tends to improvise during a session (as
compared to having everything planned out) this slower pace is a
*tremendous* advantage, as it gives you more time to react to the PCs'
actions. Also, taking a minute to look up a rule/spell/etc. isn't as
disruptive as in a face-to-face game.

Brandon
 >> Stay informed about: Any experience with online games?