Seems popular with da kids these days. (https://discordapp.com) I joined the OSR one for a bit but didn't find much of interest. Apparently some are using it for PbP and they are working on a video component.
Quote from: Voros;980974Seems popular with da kids these days. (https://discordapp.com) I joined the OSR one for a bit but didn't find much of interest. Apparently some are using it for PbP and they are working on a video component.
I love Discord!
I played in an Unknown Armies campaign that finished up just recently. I was also running a Lamentations of the Flame Princess campaign a while back.
Discord features a lot more customization than Roll20. You don't have dice rolling functionality out-of-the-box, but you can get dice rollers by adding bots to your chat. There are hundreds of bots to choose from with all kinds of features.
How do you add bots?
We use it for voice and text in our DCC group... instead of Roll20's voice/video. Seems to work well. I wasn't aware there was more to it.
Could be handy, my mate keeps getting sent to Asia so a decent chat service could be good to have.
*skype never holds up
Quote from: Biscuitician;980991How do you add bots?
Make sure you have your account and your server set up.
Go to this page, look over this list, and pick out one or more bots you like.
https://www.carbonitex.net/Discord/bots
(You can find bots elsewhere, but this is the largest and most complete collection there is.)
Add the bot to your server, and approve permissions.
Here's an instructional video:
https://youtu.be/2YO96GFBSLw
I was using RoboNitori on my LotFP server.
Must check this out... I usually use Skype but it can be a bit unpredictable at times.
Discord came out a couple of years ago and has shot up to the number one choice of VoIP by video gamers, but it has three things against it.
1. It's closed source.
2. It has no clear way to make money. It has almost 50 million users, but is completely free. They sell an optional $5 per month service for stickers and an increased uploading cap, but how many use it? Right now, it's operating at a loss with venture capital, but sooner or later that's going to run out as they will be expected to start gaining money.
Which potentially brings me to my final point:
3. Discord's privacy policy gives it the right to record and store absolutely anything and everything you transmit. Now, whether or not they actually do that or do anything with the data they store, I have no idea. But the risk is there, especially once their venture capital inevitably runs dry.
No. I much prefer Mumble. It's completely open source, it uses the exact same audio codec as Discord, and people get to run their own private servers.
Quote from: Voros;980974Seems popular with da kids these days. (https://discordapp.com) I joined the OSR one for a bit but didn't find much of interest. Apparently some are using it for PbP and they are working on a video component.
Works great with excellent voice quality. You could download a standalone app for windows but it also operates through the browsers. The nice thing is that you can setup multiple voice and text channels and upload images and files.
I use Hangouts for my gaming sessions right now (plus Roll20 for the actual dice rolling). Is this so much better that I would abandon the consistently good performance Google offers me right now?
Quote from: Cellador;981102I use Hangouts for my gaming sessions right now (plus Roll20 for the actual dice rolling). Is this so much better that I would abandon the consistently good performance Google offers me right now?
Hangouts is better than Skype. Discord is better than Hangouts. But.... since we are talking about the Internet and the fact your route may be different than mine to the different servers your mileage may vary. The one thing discord has is a better sense of being a place where you congregate with your friends to chat and share. Not just voice but images, files, and video. But then again it not as organized as a campaign wiki site or even what Roll20 has.
Fasa Games has recently started an official Discord server (multiple chat and voice channels for the games).
https://discordapp.com/channels/328545846935158785
Lots of great Q&A in the Earthdawn channel as well.
https://discordapp.com/channels/328545846935158785/328545930057875457
Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but Discord is still a relevant social media platform and I think I missed this thread first time around. I have three servers that I sometimes visit. One is for Mythweavers (https://www.myth-weavers.com/) where I have had the best Play by Post RPG experiences. Another is the server for Fantasy Grounds, since I use that software. The other is my local Pokemon Go group. Because of that game, I went from being functionally disabled (though I am still legally), to being able to walk 6-10 kilometers a day without breaking a sweat, and outworking all my coworkers in a skilled labour (front end bakery) job. So I play the damn thing every single day, even when it sucks, because it tracks my walking just as good as Fitbit, and even better because I understand the method it uses to track distance, so I can adjust my walking habits to maximize accuracy. Sorry for the tangent, I may or may not be drinking tonight. :D
If this place had a server, I'd probably follow it. It's a good place to chat and you can customize rooms for different topics. If I were to run a game online, I might use Fantasy Grounds (my licence means players only need the demo version) in conjunction with Discord because it can manage text chat (which I prefer especially for games that I would like to log) as well as voice chat. And of course the bots with dice rollers if you want to go with the option of running your game completely in Discord. That is totally possible. You can make an interactive map on Google Drive and I think if your players have a Google account you can give them permission to edit the document, which means they can move their character tokens on their turn. :) So if you're gaming on the cheap it's a good way to go. Even if you're not gaming on the cheap, it's still a good place to do your chat and voice chat.
Discord is the best of the messaging clients out today.
I didn't even know what it was until this thread.
I'm still rather leery of online games based on my experiences to date at attempting them.
Mumble is just as good soundwise, without recording everything that's being done.
Quote from: Dumarest;1004521I didn't even know what it was until this thread.
I'm still rather leery of online games based on my experiences to date at attempting them.
Is it the people or the tech?
I have recently switched my Thursday night game from IRC to Discord, and have been pleasantly surprised. Two of my games, both being undergrad age, recommended it. I use the text chat rather than the voice, because I love the logging feature. When you run three games a week, remembering what happened last session can be a pain! I make a new channel each session, naming it with the date so it's easy to see when each one was. I also have separate channels for characters, NPCs, maps, and common equipment. All in all, very pleased.
Quote from: estar;1004550Is it the people or the tech?
Mainly unreliable people agreeing to parameters such as frequency of posting and then going silent and ruining a game. Both for refs and players. One reason I am hesitant to run anything online is because I don't want to be the jerk who says we'll post at least once a day (or however often) and then find myself unable to honor my agreement. I've run several in the past that all broke down after three to six months due to players fading out without explanation, and unfortunately the situations were such that moving forward without them was pointless and unenjoyable so we agreed to just drop it.
Other than that, I find the slow progress of a game online to be frustrating. Maybe a Skype-type game would work better for pacd, but I dont have the technology for that.
Quote from: Dumarest;1004561Mainly unreliable people agreeing to parameters such as frequency of posting and then going silent and ruining a game.
Ah, play by post is a different thing than what people use discord for. Discord is typically used to support virtual tabletop play.
However Discord because of it strong text chat feature, support of multiple text channel and good admin support. For example you can setup up a Bob's private message channel and restrict to just you and Bob. Discord could be easily be used for play by post.
Quote from: Dumarest;1004561Other than that, I find the slow progress of a game online to be frustrating. Maybe a Skype-type game would work better for pacd, but I dont have the technology for that.
So we are on the same page, Play by Post and using a VTT+voice/chat are two completely different modes. A VTT+voice/chat is a face to face session on-line. You prepare the same, still have the issues of getting people to meet at the same time, the session flows the same as if you sitting around a table. The only issues are those that plague all voice only conferencing in that you have to show some discipline when talking as if too many people start talking at once it gets confusing.
Roll20 and Discord means that if your hardware can use a web browser you can do face to face on-line. The only hardware you need is a headset with a microphone.
Go to http://www.fast.com and check you internet speed. If it is anything over 1 mbps you should be able to run discord for voice and Roll20 easily.
Even if voice doesn't work for you, you can still run the game text only in face to face.
What has happened in the past decade is that the minimum hardware has crept beyond the what needed for voip and chat, and the optimization of voice has pushed down the minimum requirements which helps even older computers. The same is true for video except that the minimum remains higher than voice.
Most problem with voip are connectivity related which looking at fast.com will help determine.
Never mind. Estar cross-posted. My post was useless! :D
Quote from: estar;1004571Ah, play by post is a different thing than what people use discord for. Discord is typically used to support virtual tabletop play.
However Discord because of it strong text chat feature, support of multiple text channel and good admin support. For example you can setup up a Bob's private message channel and restrict to just you and Bob. Discord could be easily be used for play by post.
So we are on the same page, Play by Post and using a VTT+voice/chat are two completely different modes. A VTT+voice/chat is a face to face session on-line. You prepare the same, still have the issues of getting people to meet at the same time, the session flows the same as if you sitting around a table. The only issues are those that plague all voice only conferencing in that you have to show some discipline when talking as if too many people start talking at once it gets confusing.
Roll20 and Discord means that if your hardware can use a web browser you can do face to face on-line. The only hardware you need is a headset with a microphone.
Go to http://www.fast.com and check you internet speed. If it is anything over 1 mbps you should be able to run discord for voice and Roll20 easily.
Even if voice doesn't work for you, you can still run the game text only in face to face.
What has happened in the past decade is that the minimum hardware has crept beyond the what needed for voip and chat, and the optimization of voice has pushed down the minimum requirements which helps even older computers. The same is true for video except that the minimum remains higher than voice.
Most problem with voip are connectivity related which looking at fast.com will help determine.
Thanks for the information...I actually do not have the internet at home...may be getting it sometime soon as my kids will need access for schoolwork.
There's still people with no internet at home? Like, people in the 1st world not in utter abject slum-dwelling poverty?!
Quote from: RPGPundit;1004860There's still people with no internet at home? Like, people in the 1st world not in utter abject slum-dwelling poverty?!
Some people won't pay $50 a month for things they don't need.
Quote from: Dumarest;1004925Some people won't pay $50 a month for things they don't need.
I would love to pay a paltry $50 a month for internet.
Quote from: Dumarest;1004925Some people won't pay $50 a month for things they don't need.
Given the utility and advantage of the internet I would ditch the TV and possibly the phone landline over not having it.
Quote from: estar;1004964Given the utility and advantage of the internet I would ditch the TV and possibly the phone landline over not having it.
Also things I don't need. ;)
Quote from: Dumarest;1004969Also things I don't need. ;)
And yet you have 3,133 post on this forum? Something not adding up.:rolleyes:
Quote from: estar;1004971And yet you have 3,133 post on this forum? Something not adding up.:rolleyes:
You've never heard of a job?
Quote from: Dumarest;1004925Some people won't pay $50 a month for things they don't need.
It's hard for me to imagine not needing internet.
Quote from: Krimson;1004946I would love to pay a paltry $50 a month for internet.
I pay a bit less than $50, for super super fast internet. Uruguay has some of the fastest internet per capita in the world.
Quote from: Dumarest;1004561Mainly unreliable people agreeing to parameters such as frequency of posting and then going silent and ruining a game. Both for refs and players. One reason I am hesitant to run anything online is because I don't want to be the jerk who says we'll post at least once a day (or however often) and then find myself unable to honor my agreement. I've run several in the past that all broke down after three to six months due to players fading out without explanation, and unfortunately the situations were such that moving forward without them was pointless and unenjoyable so we agreed to just drop it.
Other than that, I find the slow progress of a game online to be frustrating. Maybe a Skype-type game would work better for pacd, but I dont have the technology for that.
I ran a Star Wars game starting late last year for about five months until about March or so. I used
Roll20 and
Discord, and functionally, this worked just fine.
Roll20 Requires significant prep time to run a game with, although once you learn the macro-coding it does go somewhat quicker, but still requires a lot more prep than a tabletop RPG session. Problems for the game... lets see...
It ran at a decent enough pace, but the players were just horrible. I had a wide divergent mix of players, several that were highly experienced, and some with virtually no online roleplaying experience at all. They never got along, and several primadonna's in the group pretty much wrecked the game for everyone else. I'm an old school GM, not a baby-sitter, if the players want to duke it out, I just let them, and let the dice fall where they may.
The result of this style, was that two players just ragequit, and most of the remainder just quietly dropped the game. For about a month the game limped on with the two Primadonna's each trying to outdo the other, and then the last one quit. The last player wanted me to run a game exclusively for him, even though he had pretty much wrecked the game for a bunch of other players (as well as me) with his play style. I put way too much time into running a campaign game to allow a small percentage of the players wreck the game for the rest of the group, so I quit
Roll20 as well.
As a technology,
Discord and
Roll20 are mature enough to run a game, but the lack of face-to-face accountability, and the honesty that actually physically meeting and sitting down to amicably playing a game, remains lacking using the anonymizing online gaming tools that are available these days. This is a problem that persists with online MMO games as well, where player
metagaming and bullshit politics often ruins what would otherwise be a really good RPG gaming experience.
GameDaddy thanks for the writeup. I'm going to post about my experiences using Roll20 and Hangouts. A couple of years back I ran a game of The One ring via Roll20 over hangouts (before the Hangouts API was dropped) and had several months of gaming with folks I had met on the Cubicle7 forums. They were a mix of US and UK players and everything worked out fine until changes in employment status disrupted the game. (One player moved across country and others just couldn't mange a consistent day/time across four time zones).
I just come off playing the whole Zalozinhyi Quartet (GUMSHOE) over about a year and a half, I'm currently playing Curse of Nineveh (CoC), just finished up an Ashen Stars game (GUMSHOE again) and am currently running a Blades in the Dark game plus playtesting a Trail of Cthulhu campaign. All of these are being (or have been) run via Hangouts and recently using a separate die roller (after Google dropped the API).
All these games I've played with a group of friends from all over the UK that I know from meeting them at various conventions. Now that is a smaller pool than you are likely to find but gaming with random strangers for any period of time is not my idea of having fun and doesn't appear to be yours either.
The pool of people I play with aren't always up for the same game and drop in or out depending on the genre of system. But we are friends and no-one get's off on being a dick.
At a convention you know you are only having to play with folks for 3 or 4 hours at the most at one time but for a regular on-line game the ones I've seen to work are those where friends who have spread out and can't make a FTF games except occasionally and use the on-line game to stay in touch.
Maybe altering your on-line group to match different criteria might result in a better on-line game.
Quote from: GameDaddy;1005362Requires significant prep time to run a game with, although once you learn the macro-coding it does go somewhat quicker, but still requires a lot more prep than a tabletop RPG session.
I say this is highly dependent on one's refereeing style. In general I find it to be a wash. Some things are easier , and somethings are more fussy. But the really fussy thing are when you use advanced features like dynamic lighting, macros, or automated character sheets. None of which are need to make a game happen on Roll20. They are just in the "nice to have" category.
Quote from: GameDaddy;1005362As a technology, Discord and Roll20 are mature enough to run a game, but the lack of face-to-face accountability, and the honesty that actually physically meeting and sitting down to amicably playing a game, remains lacking using the anonymizing online gaming tools that are available these days. This is a problem that persists with online MMO games as well, where player metagaming and bullshit politics often ruins what would otherwise be a really good RPG gaming experience.
Was this is a public game? If so then it isn't surprising that you had this experience because it like running at a game store, you don't know who is going to drop in. My experience with Roll20 that the only unique social issue are the once afflicting any type of teleconferencing like talking over each other on whatever it is you are using with voip (like discord).
The other social the same ones you get in face to face gaming.
Quote from: Hermes Serpent;1005364Maybe altering your on-line group to match different criteria might result in a better on-line game.
I agree 100% with this. Being on-line doesn't change the need to keep on top of things socially. Game with people you like.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1005330It's hard for me to imagine not needing internet.
You and me both. I rarely buy and read print books these days with the exception of RPG core rulebooks. Most of the books I read these days are eBooks, either bought from Amazon, DriveThru, or Kobo, or borrowed electronically from the library. For comic books, I buy them digitally on Comixology or Google Play Books. For movies and television, I use a combination of Internet services - CBS All Access, PlayStation Vue, VUDU, WWE Network, and YouTube Red. Also, most of my family and friends live all over North America, so I use a combination of instant messaging services to keep in touch with them. I would be quite screwed without the Internet at home.
Quote from: GameDaddy;1005362As a technology, Discord and Roll20 are mature enough to run a game, but the lack of face-to-face accountability, and the honesty that actually physically meeting and sitting down to amicably playing a game, remains lacking using the anonymizing online gaming tools that are available these days. This is a problem that persists with online MMO games as well, where player metagaming and bullshit politics often ruins what would otherwise be a really good RPG gaming experience.
As others have said, run with people you know. Stranger danger is real, whether online or off.
Quote from: GameDaddy;1005362...The result of this style, was that two players just ragequit, and most of the remainder just quietly dropped the game...
Sounds like you let two assholes derail your game, not sure how that makes you an 'old school GM.'
Quote from: Voros;1005452Sounds like you let two assholes derail your game, not sure how that makes you an 'old school GM.'
When I started GMing in 1977 we had formed a gaming group based on our wargame group. There were three of us in my original wargaming game group. We played wargames often, just about every day, and weekends too. Weekends were the best becuase no school, we could play all day, and even stay up late playing. When we started playing RPGs everything went pretty much the same...
When we got into high school, our gaming group grew. Before we finished, we had about six-seven regular players. We played a mix of wargames and RPGs mostly D&D, and AD&D, but also Tunnels & Trolls, The Fantasy Trip, Bloody Arduin (that's what we called it), Traveller, Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, and Chivalry & Sorcery alternating as GMs, as Refs, and as Players. Up to a dozen more or so would play part time, or once in awhile if they were interested in trying a new game out, ...and would stop in and play depending on what games we played, ...or when the game was scheduled. Our Club was about twenty gamers in size total.
Me, Paul, Tom C., Doug B.(when he was in town), John, Rodney, Dale, Mike, Merv, Doug W. (when he was in town), Shane, and Tom Chimo, Dennis (PT), Rod (PT).
It wasn't until 1982 before I saw my first
ragequit. And that was not a guy in our regular gaming group, but a guy at another wargaming club across town, and he wasn't even playing one of our guys, but one of his guys, and he was losing playing a wargame, and simply flipped the entire table and started yelling. For us, this was a total shock event, and I only returned to play games with one guy in that club after that, who was cool enough not to get all bent out of shape over a boardgame or a tabletop game.
We went to conventions, and game shows, and not once was there an asshole around to derail one of our games because we didn't invite anyone who was obviously socially maladjusted, or hostile, to play.
The first time I had to step in and break up an attempt to derail one of my games was in 1983, and I was in the military already, and was GMing a regular campaign Friday & Saturday Night, with smaller game sessions being run for several player subgroups on weeknights for fourteen regular players, with about ten more regular observers, who would sit around the rec room just watching us play in amazement because none of them had ever seen a full-fledged RPG campaign game underway. Two players picked opposite alignments, and their personalities clashed as well, and they got into an epic fight, so I split the parties and ran their sessions separately.
Assholes were just not around for the most part, for the first five years we played RPGs. So, I'm not sure what kind of "Old School" gaming you played if your group was constantly at each others throats, or if they were trying to derail your game. With wargames, we always focused on playing a good competitive game, but always had a ref available to decide so we wouldn't waste much time arguing. With RPGs it was the players forming up a team to accomplish a tough goal (because our games were extremely lethal) and the GM was the Ref, who was in the words of Doug (who taught me how to play D&D) your job as GM to remain completely neutral and objective when running the game, favoring nor disfavoring no individual player. GM always made combat rolls openly on the table, and it was our gentleman's agreement to play with good sportsmanship, and good conduct.
The first time I witnessed a player deliberately try to derail one of my D&D games was in 2003 at GenCon. The crowd there was mostly RPGA players who played AD&D, or 3e, and at the time, ...some were still hostile towards original D&D. The OSR had not taken off yet, so there was not alot of popular support, although usually only one or two guys would show up for a 0D&D round who wanted to play like in the old days. Worst derailment attempt was a double whammy at two other separate games at GenCon in 2006. Both were 3.5e Eberron games.
So these hostile folks you speak of are around now, but really weren't around at the dawn of the hobby.
Quote from: estar;1005369I agree 100% with this. Being on-line doesn't change the need to keep on top of things socially. Game with people you like.
Oh yeah, my regular tabletop gaming group had a pool going trying to guess when the online game would implode, and making various wagers about the timing concerning that. To be honest, I didn't expect much. I always wanted to run a Dark Force user game, and it was a Dark Jedi game, that began the day Darth Vader died. Imagine my surprise when I saw the first new trailers for the Star Wars Battlefront that is scheduled to be released this Christmas, and it showed Imperial Troopers on Endor when the Death Star explodes. Only real difference is that my game started at a secret Dark Jedi training academy/Imperial Base on one of the Sith Home worlds near Hutt space, when the Death Star exploded.
Quote from: GameDaddy;1005516So these hostile folks you speak of are around now, but really weren't around at the dawn of the hobby.
I just didn't see what was 'Old School' about letting two players ruin the game for everyone else.
I have never had too many issues at the table since I was a teen as I played with friends and family once I was an adult.
Are you claiming that in 'Old School' playing there were never assholes? I understand in your personal circles you stuck mostly with friends and so didn't have many encounters but I fail to see what is 'Old School' about that.