Quote from: Arkansan;833285Thanks for all the advice so far. How would I know if my connection is fast enough?

Most types of broadband can handle the requirement of VTTs. It not that bandwidth intensive especially if you don't use video.

Technology wise, VTTs are

1) A internet enabled whiteboard
2) Text Chat
3) Sometimes voice chat
4) Computer tabletop utility

If you have a really large image maybe you will see a couple of seconds delay, but that not typical.

It might be better to use text chat rather than voice. In voice chats it's easy to have everybody talking over each other all the time, because nobody has any visual cues about when to talk, like they do in real life.

At least if you aren't using video too.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;833359It might be better to use text chat rather than voice. In voice chats it's easy to have everybody talking over each other all the time, because nobody has any visual cues about when to talk, like they do in real life.

At least if you aren't using video too.

Might as well just play by post if no video. But that is so '70s.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;833369Might as well just play by post if no video. But that is so '70s.

Using Text Chat in VTTs is not the same as play by post.

Quote from: estar;833378Using Text Chat in VTTs is not the same as play by post.

Just like the Internet is not the same as FIDONET.

I should pick up a webcam and look into this. Games are pretty easy to find then? Anyone have a link to some vids that show how it all come together?

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;833369Might as well just play by post if no video. But that is so '70s.

I actually do play on forums a lot. :V

Seems like there is a surprising amount of interest in this. I wonder how many more people would be doing this if they were a bit more confident of the specifics?

Quote from: Arkansan;833390Seems like there is a surprising amount of interest in this. I wonder how many more people would be doing this if they were a bit more confident of the specifics?

On thing about VTTs that most people miss is that you can switch between face to face and VTTs with ease. My Monday night VTT group has been getting together for a face to face game about once a year. The session starts right from when the last online session end and the next on-line session beings from when the face to face ends.

I've found Roll20 with Skype to be a great platform, even despite the quality/usability of Skype monotonically decreasing for every damn update.   For whatever reason the Roll20 Hangouts integration has been flaky, so we abandoned it.

I have just a couple of things I'd mention that haven't already been said by others

Even if you aren't using tactical maps as part of your game, use the map page to throw up some sort of evocative image yoinked from the web.  This really adds a lot to the remote VTT experience in my opinion.

Beware getting too caught up in automating tasks with creating macros in whatever tool you've chosen. As a GM, I have found it much more convenient to roll dice manually, referencing hardcopy, or a tablet, or a second monitor if you have one. When macros work well and consistently they can be an asset.  When something goes wrong, you may spend too many minutes of game play time debugging. Best to make sure you have what you need at hand so you can do it all manually.

This goes for players as well.  Roll20, for example, has a great 5e character sheet, but you may find that people come to rely upon it too much, and start to abdicate knowledge of their character to the tool.  This hasn't been a big problem for me, but the folks who are borderline knowledgeable/invested mechanically with a pen and paper game are in danger of falling more that way.

Without VTT I would game a lot less than I currently do. Overall I say it's a big plus.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;833359It might be better to use text chat rather than voice. In voice chats it's easy to have everybody talking over each other all the time, because nobody has any visual cues about when to talk, like they do in real life.

At least if you aren't using video too.

I have run a number of games on roll20.  A couple fill-in simple games, but mainly I ran a 160 session game, and my current online game (the Collegium Arcana Game, with the players being first year students at a giant ancien college of magic)is at session 50+ (the + is all the individual intermezzo sessions we run).

And while I started using voice, I went back to text.   I find the % of IC conversation to be much, much higher, as well as the amount that is done in the character voice as opposed to the player's voice.  Maybe not quite as much gets done, but it is much richer on the Roleplay side, normally.

You also get a perfect set of session notes, btw.  


I will echo others and say that while I still have 2 live groups I run (one regularly, one semi-regular) this has become a really, really enjoyable exercise in heavy roleplay.  While there are facets of the live game I like better, there are things about doing this long-term text-based online game that allows one to delve deeper into a well fleshed-out campaign.

Quote from: LordVreeg;833407I have run a number of games on roll20.  A couple fill-in simple games, but mainly I ran a 160 session game, and my current online game (the Collegium Arcana Game, with the players being first year students at a giant ancien college of magic)is at session 50+ (the + is all the individual intermezzo sessions we run).

And while I started using voice, I went back to text.   I find the % of IC conversation to be much, much higher, as well as the amount that is done in the character voice as opposed to the player's voice.  Maybe not quite as much gets done, but it is much richer on the Roleplay side, normally.

You also get a perfect set of session notes, btw.  


I will echo others and say that while I still have 2 live groups I run (one regularly, one semi-regular) this has become a really, really enjoyable exercise in heavy roleplay.  While there are facets of the live game I like better, there are things about doing this long-term text-based online game that allows one to delve deeper into a well fleshed-out campaign.

Interesting. So for you the real time text chat has provided a richer role playing experience than voice chat by encouraging folks to play "in character"? Also have you found any way to work around the lack of conversation cues, such as going in a set order or the like?

Quote from: Arkansan;833413Interesting. So for you the real time text chat has provided a richer role playing experience than voice chat by encouraging folks to play "in character"? Also have you found any way to work around the lack of conversation cues, such as going in a set order or the like?

Pretty much.  
 There are whisper/message modes, so as a GM, you find yourself more often sending things characters see and feel a lot more, and then they share it with the group, creating a situation where the the players do more of the atmospheric stuff, and it is so more IC coming from other players.  That one trick makes it so, so much easier to fall deeper IC.  I discovered it years and years ago, when in a very abandoned basement, with a lot of dark and dust and half seen statues in the dark, and them moving through very slowly, one pc suddenly blurted..."I think...I think I hear laughing"  and the group of players all freaked.  
 
There is no lack of cues, the players stay involved pretty much all the time, and again, you can whisper to facilitate and answer if you need one.  Typing changes the pace just enough that everyone has another second or so.

I mean, i've run a LOT of game this way now.  I would not want to go back to voice.  Very different experience.  Not saying good or bad...

Quote from: Arkansan;833413Interesting. So for you the real time text chat has provided a richer role playing experience than voice chat by encouraging folks to play "in character"? Also have you found any way to work around the lack of conversation cues, such as going in a set order or the like?

It's always the case, probably because people find it easier to roleplay through text than saying stuff out loud. Especially to internet strangers.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;833359It might be better to use text chat rather than voice. In voice chats it's easy to have everybody talking over each other all the time, because nobody has any visual cues about when to talk, like they do in real life.

At least if you aren't using video too.

I personaly find the opposite to be the case. It's a lot easier for us to reconcile audio conversation overlap than to reconcile chat text. Perhaps it's because our group all know each other well.