Do you play in online games? [Archive] - HERO Games Discussion Boards

Cygnia

Aug 8th, '07, 07:12 AM

I've dabbled in it. The games I like to play (Champions, original 7th Sea) I can never find table-top players in my area willing to give it a go, so usually PBEMs and PBP are my only outlet on that front. Of course, it's very easy to get burned if online playing styles cannot or will not mesh. I've seen too many online games ruined by godmodders, no-sellers and Mary Sues.

Lord Mhoram

Aug 8th, '07, 07:20 AM

Nope. And I never will.

My wife games, so any supplemental RPing I get, I can do face to face, one on one, with my favorite person in the world. Who needs online gaming? :)

teh bunneh

Aug 8th, '07, 07:35 AM

I run one game on HeroCentral, and play in two others. Though all three of them have recently suffered a bout of GM Real Life-itus. :( Hopefully it won't be fatal.

Nolgroth

Aug 8th, '07, 09:45 AM

The only game I run is online via OpenRPG. I've actually had quite a large amount of fun with the game. I thought I would miss the goofing off that happens around the gaming table, but I actually find that it happens as often around the "virtual" table as it does in FTF games. The only other "complaint" I have is the slightly slower to slower response speed in a typing environment.

I've often wondered if Teamspeak or similar product would make the game go faster. I ultimately dismiss that idea because Sacramento air quality makes my allergies go haywire and talking a lot tends to make my voice "creak."

wylodmayer

Aug 8th, '07, 10:06 AM

I played in a game from PlayByWeb once, and it was just godawful. The players all acted like they were by themselves, or only interacting with select other players, ignoring the posts of people they didn't know well or didn't like. Everyone was always running around, well, DOING stuff to try and look interesting, to drum up excitement (this was partially the DM's fault, for not providing more structure), and no one was actually paying attention to anything anyone else was doing. Terrible, just terrible.

I've had a little more success with Play-by-IM games, but play-by-post? Never again.

Flames

Aug 8th, '07, 10:10 AM

My group communicates about in-game matters via a Yahoo Group that we set up, and that has enhanced our FtF gaming quite a bit, and I recommend it as a free and easy way to keep the conversations and the juices flowing from one session to the next.

We also have a wiki for our GM's homebrew campaign world that has helped us to organize information about the PCs, prominent NPCs, locations, events, organizations, and so on. Again, I recommend that, particularly for people in homebrew campaigns.

eternal_sage

Aug 8th, '07, 11:29 AM

well, i met my wife on an RPG message board, but it was diceless...and rulesless...

which is why i grabbed her, moved her to TN, and gave those losers the middle finger. except for Alex, the guy who got me into Champions, who is actually a decent person, and not Mary Sue in disguise.

although i am starting up a game on HERO central.

Kristopher

Aug 8th, '07, 12:12 PM

I tried PBM, but it kept breaking down because of GM and player issues. I got tired of waiting for a week for that last player to respond, or for the GM to resolve actions because he was busy with other things. And then inevitably, the GM would cancel the game halfway through the first combat, or after two months, whichever came first.

I play WoW, but if I had to give up it or tabletop, I'd give up WoW in a heartbeat.

Lord Fyre

Aug 8th, '07, 12:26 PM

I’m interested to find out how many of us play in online games not just as a replacement for FTF but also as a supplement to it.

I am playing in EverQuest II (far too much) and WoW (occasionally). :straight:

I used play City Of Heroes, but Issue #5 left me cold. :mad: (If you play/played CoX you know what I am talking about, even if you do not agree.)

I also have a tabletop Fantasy Hero game that I am GMing. (Used to be D&D 3.5, but thanks to help from these boards, I have converted my players! :thumbup: )

Mojo_Bones

Aug 8th, '07, 03:01 PM

I play WoW, but it is a lousy substitute for real RPGing. I tried to play in one on line RPG group but after a few sessions that got several "no shows" I just gave up. I am about to try another and we are going to use teamspeak. I am hoping that will help as I am a slow and terrible typist.

MilkmanDan

Aug 9th, '07, 06:23 AM

I'm in two HC campaigns, which is my only gaming outlet at this point due to the whole lack of time in my real life. Working from home as an IT geek I'm eternally attached to a computer, so online makes sense for me, but I don't get out much as my kids are 5 and 3 and with both the wife and I working full-time (or more), there's just not enough free time in the day to dedicate myself to a gaming group.

I keep meaning to pick up a couple more campaigns, just haven't had the energy to draft characters and get that whole process going. I do find I enjoy online gaming a lot as (mentioned this once in another thread on the Champions forum) my background involves a lot of writing but no acting of any sort; in that regard, I find it a lot easier to be open and creative while writing than trying to act out stuff in a FtF session. I always feel weird doing hardcore roleplaying at a table, but, while writing, I can be a lot more creative (and long-winded), and it's about the only creative outlet I get these days.

Plex

Aug 9th, '07, 07:22 AM

I tried one mutliplayer online game years ago on AOL and quit when I had a group just attack me shortly after I started. Haven't done anything since. I'd probably get addicted if I went to play COH or the new DnD one, so I stay away. Besides it is really annoying to have to pay for the program and then have to pay a monthly fee.

I never played by e-mail or anything similar either.

teh bunneh

Aug 9th, '07, 07:32 AM

I'm in two HC campaigns, which is my only gaming outlet at this point due to the whole lack of time in my real life.

And yet, neither Supreme Serpent and I have been murdered in our sleep for allowing so much time to pass in our campaigns. :o

Or... are you two-timing us with some other HC hussy? ;)

MilkmanDan

Aug 9th, '07, 08:02 AM

And yet, neither Supreme Serpent and I have been murdered in our sleep for allowing so much time to pass in our campaigns. :o

Not that you know of, at least. I enlisted V to give you a little injection last night . . .

Or... are you two-timing us with some other HC hussy? ;)

I don't give it up to just any GM, you know. Only GMs who run campaigns in familiar universes that allow me to step into the action without doing too much work.

Squall

Aug 9th, '07, 08:09 AM

I play in on-line games when I can, just as fun way to flex my short story skizzles a little, and keep in touch with friends that live too far away for face to face gaming. I'm "Squall" on the few places I play Hero/Champions stuff (though I'm having a hard time finding a game at the moment on HC), but go by "Critias" or "Talondel" on a few others (Shadowrun, D&D, etc, gaming).

I think it's a great way to polish up your writing skills, and can be a lot of fun when done well and right (which requires a good group every bit as much as any face to face, tabletop, game).

Diamond Spear

Aug 9th, '07, 09:30 AM

So how many of you folks who play over at Hero Central would be interested in an agent-level/heroic level game featuring DEMON? Either as members of DEMON (if you want to walk that path) or as members of a magical society opposing DEMON.

Blue

Aug 9th, '07, 09:49 AM

I've considered it. But I generally think now that if my face-to-face group stopped meeting, I'd just stop altogether. I wouldn't feel like finding another group. And no online arrangements have impressed me so far.

Lord Fyre

Aug 9th, '07, 09:55 AM

I’m interested to find out how many of us play in online games not just as a replacement for FTF but also as a supplement to it.

The question is unclear. "Online Games" can refer to . . .

Massively Multiplayer Online (like WoW or EverQuest)
Limited Multiplayer Online (like Neverwinter Nights)
Play by Post
Play by E-Mail
Play in Online Chat Room.So, which one(s) did you mean?

Diamond Spear

Aug 9th, '07, 10:16 AM

The question is unclear. "Online Games" can refer to . . .

Massively Multiplayer Online (like WoW or EverQuest)
Limited Multiplayer Online (like Neverwinter Nights)
Play by Post
Play by E-Mail
Play in Online Chat Room.So, which one(s) did you mean?

Sorry about that. :o I meant Play by post, play by email and online chat room.

Lemurion

Aug 11th, '07, 10:06 AM

I've played PBP for off and on for a few years. I just got back into it on Hero Central and am having a blast. I recently relocated and don't know any gamers around here.

Diamond Spear

Aug 11th, '07, 10:47 AM

I've played PBP for off and on for a few years. I just got back into it on Hero Central and am having a blast. I recently relocated and don't know any gamers around here.

I see you are in NVA. Are you going to come to Herocon? It's near Baltimore.

Lemurion

Aug 11th, '07, 10:54 AM

I hadn't thought about it -- I just relocated from the West Coast. When is it?

TheRavenIs

Aug 11th, '07, 05:46 PM

I play in two PBEM games, they are the ones in my sig....

The people I do the online thing are except for two people those I also FtF games with, even though the GM for the Stellar Knights was one of our former FtF group.

We use it as a way to get our gaming fix, we only get together everyother weekend anymore, so we need that.

Cygnia

Aug 11th, '07, 06:02 PM

I do play WoW, but I'm not on an RP server (PVE on Lothar). Mind you, that doesn't stop me from playing the most amoral hedonistic greedy human paladin that's ever swung the Light anyway... :D

Corven_Ren

Aug 12th, '07, 12:26 PM

PBEM is my only roleplaying outlet. I am currently involved in one at Hero Central and two in the Uberworld universe.

Savinien

Aug 13th, '07, 03:58 PM

Hero Central is the best.

Though, the super-secret TSE website has a great group of folks playing.

Official sorry to Lemurion for GM-real life-itis.

Sorry, Lemurion.

Diamond Spear

Aug 14th, '07, 05:39 AM

I hadn't thought about it -- I just relocated from the West Coast. When is it?

PM sent.

Vondy

Aug 21st, '07, 01:16 AM

I've run PBEM, and would be willing to play in such a game insofar as I could live with the time commitment and liked the genre/story.

VR Dragon

Aug 21st, '07, 08:14 AM

Yes, much to my sorrow I play online MMO Games. I have played DragonRealms, Gemstone 3, Legends of Kesmai, EverQuest 1, Dark Ages of Camelot, StarWars Galaxies, Dungeons & Dragons Online, City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, and I may have left something out but I cannot recall.

And There is only 1 reason why I play online games. I have no gaming group to game with. When I do happen to have a group I disappear off the net completely, save for checking email and such. But no games!

Sigh, I hate small town areas.

Falcon

Aug 21st, '07, 08:31 AM

I would if I could.

badger3k

Aug 21st, '07, 04:00 PM

I’m interested to find out how many of us play in online games not just as a replacement for FTF but also as a supplement to it.

The closest I came is using Yahoo Chat to talk with my players in another state. I'd never require my players to buy anything, or use any program that required money (or even require them to download and learn to use a free program). Nor do I have the time or desire to waste my time with something like that. I'm a cranky old man :eg:

(side note, that switch a few years ago on rep makes it pretty sad - all my rep came in NGD, except for 14 points? :eek:)

Pyre-Archer

Aug 29th, '07, 12:08 AM

Have a few characters in City of Villains (Focusing on Caliburner for now...Fire Sword Circle is in my reach! Someday..)

Played in a few PBEMS, the most recent was a FUDGE based superhero RPG which faded out. Shame, I was having fun with a cyberkinetic.

Matt Frisbee

Aug 29th, '07, 06:08 PM

Nolgroth

Aug 30th, '07, 12:50 AM

"Online Gaming" is a video game with instant messaging. It is not roleplaying. It never will be roleplaying. All it will ever be is a video game with instant messaging. That's why I don't play it and have no interest in playing it -- ever.

Matt "Old-school-gamer" FrisbeeNot only harsh, but untrue. I've been playing an online game for over a year now and it is, to me, different from sitting around the table only because of the distances involved and the method of communication. Instead of speaking, we type. Instead of sitting around a table, we join a server.

The absolute closest thing to this "video game" you speak of is the fact that OpenRPG (and similar programs) allows the use of "miniatures" (small icon-like graphics) that can be moved on a "battlemat" (sometimes a larger graphic and sometimes a painful-to-look-at drawing that I try to do on the fly). I suppose dice that are program code instead of little cubes that you toss on the table could be considered video game-ish if you really wanted to press the issue.

The above program exists only to enhance the role-playing, of which there is way more of than the miniatures/battlemat thing. In fact, combat is the exception, not the rule in our game. Most of our game session is role-playing.

I believe that online gaming allows role-players an opportunity to meet other gamers and get together for a game, even though they are spread over a large geographical area. My group has players from California, Utah, Colorado and Idaho. Without the online venue, this group of unique and talented players would never have joined together. I would have missed out on some of the greatest role-playing I've had the pleasure of being a part of.

You are entitled to your opinion of course, but I sincerely wonder where you get your prejudice from.

Vondy

Sep 1st, '07, 09:17 PM

Hermit

Sep 1st, '07, 09:24 PM

Yeah, I use HEROCentral a lot. I also have a chat for D&D we meet for every week (Unless something comes up) That's been going on for awhile. Neither is as good as Face to Face, but I've met some nice people thanks to it, and had some fun.

Diamond Spear

Sep 3rd, '07, 01:31 PM

Vondy

Sep 4th, '07, 03:28 AM

Kind of harsh don't you think. The players in my HeroCentral game are soing to be soooo disapointed to find out that they are not really role-playing. :)

Oddly, my PBEM had neither video or instant messaging elements in it... :D

MisterBaldy

Sep 4th, '07, 06:47 AM

For me, a definite, and resounding...

NO WAY!!!

Boll Weevil

Sep 4th, '07, 07:50 AM

I tried online gaming once very similar to what you are suggesting. It was an agent-level/heroic level game featuring VIPER. It ended...suddenly.

clsage

Sep 17th, '07, 07:09 AM

Since it wasn't an option on your poll I'd add:

#4: Have tried it previously, not doing it currently, but
would like to get back online at Hero Central (given
the right campaign world and some time managment
improvement)

That's me in the proverbial nutshell.... :D

-Carl-

Bygoneyrs

Sep 19th, '07, 11:24 AM

For myself I voted "NO", and being 43 yrs old, married, with two
kids both in Scouts, and restoring a 169 yr old Victorian, plus
have a OnCall type of job too...I do not have the Unused banks
of time to be able to apply to that. I need my "free" time to
work on my redesign and conversion to Hero System from
D&D 3.5 and Traveller to Hero's.

So my only online type of play is through a PlayByMail/ PlayByEMail
game called Midgard (this game has been around since 1984) and
is currently running out of the UK but the owner is moving to Canada
and will be running it from there. The game runs once a month and
thise version of the game has AWESOME roleplaying through special
actions.

Have a look <<<plug>>> at:

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/midgard_uk_pbm/

Here is my own faction that I am just bringing live this cycle called
the Seekers. To develope a faction one must have 10 players and 30
clans declared. I have 15 players and 40 clans, in my faction now,
and growing. We are the Seekers of Knowledge, and remember
that with Power is Knowledge, and the application of that
Knowledge brings more Power. (Magic exists in this version of
Midgard as well too)

Have a look...I am always looking for a few good "folks"

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/kalmar_reborn/

Penn

copeab

Sep 19th, '07, 09:21 PM

"Online Gaming" is a video game with instant messaging. It is not roleplaying. It never will be roleplaying. All it will ever be is a video game with instant messaging. That's why I don't play it and have no interest in playing it -- ever.

Uh, 4+ years of experience with chat-based gaming has me disagree with you completely.

EDIT: If I *had* to compare chat games to a computer game, it would be closest to a multi-player version of Zork with the programmer (GM) being on hand to handle any situations not covered by existing code. Even that's not really a good description.

Play by Email is even farther from you picture.

Direbadger

Sep 30th, '07, 06:29 AM

"Online Gaming" is a video game with instant messaging. It is not roleplaying. It never will be roleplaying. All it will ever be is a video game with instant messaging. That's why I don't play it and have no interest in playing it -- ever.

Matt "Old-school-gamer" Frisbee

Wow. Extremely harsh and largely misinformed. Next time put a smiley in or something to tell us you aren't needlessly flaming. Unless you are trying to say that Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (like World of Warcraft) aren't roleplaying, and are completely missing the point of the poll, which was addressing things like play by post, instant messaging games, and virtual tabletop games.

Can you give the slightest explanation why it isn't roleplaying?

Your comments make little sense in the context of this topic. Just a video game with instant messaging? Huh? Where is the video on a PbP forum? My AIM doesn't have very much video either. Mostly just text roleplaying.

The more I think about this, the more I get the impression you completely misinterpreted the whole point of the thread, and your criticisms aren't meant to sound as bad as they do.

If you are indeed talking about PBEM, PbP, VTT, and IM roleplaying then, well, you need to get a better handle on these things before you make ludicrous statements.

Direbadger

Sep 30th, '07, 06:43 AM

Yes. I game online.

I have two regular face-to-face groups and we play Shadowrun, Lengend of the Five Rings, and other games mostly.

If I want to do something that the rest of my players aren't into, I turn to online gaming. I both play in and run games using Fantasy Grounds 2, a virtual table top program. It's a nice way to supplement my face-to-face gaming. Right now I've got a cool Savage Worlds game I'm running, and play in a D&D game.

I've also got a friend who lives on the other side of the country, and thanks to FG2, we can now get together and roleplay. I've also played with a few people overseas as well.

If given the choice, I'd rather do all my gaming face-to-face, but this isn't always an option and so virtual tabletops fill in nicely.

I get a bit annoyed at all the people who feel compelled to speak out loudly against online gaming, proudly demonstrating their superiority because they married a gamer chick and don't need other friends, or just boldly state they never have or will play online as if it's a badge of honor. I'm glad you've got enough geeks locally that you don't have to go online to game (you only need to go online to turn up your nose at those who do game online...). Why all the hate? Why the sense of superiority? I just don't get it.