The Future of Tabletop Gaming

Where new Keepers can ask "stupid" questions without fear of hazing.
User avatar
Scriven
Sponsor
Sponsor
Posts:239
Joined:Wed Aug 29, 2012 1:56 am
Location:Lincoln, Nebraska USA
Re: The Future of Tabletop Gaming

Post by Scriven » Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:05 pm

Wordcraftian wrote: Can someone give me the basic rundown of how an online game works? I can understand how a game can be played over Skype or G+, but I've seen a few forum (all text) settings with virtual dice and just wondered if anyone had ever played there. What was your experience like, and does it compare at all to live play?
I don't mean to answer for Trevlix, here, but I'll add an observation or two.

Forum (or PBP, play-by-post) games tend to be rather different than games conducted via a live chat client, in which all participants are on line simultaneously and writing back-and-forth responses in rapid succession. Generally, games conducted via forum posts are more often asynchronous -- that is, the players post to the forum whenever they happen to have the opportunity to log on, although there's usually some agreement among players and Keepers that each participant will try to post at least several times per week in order to keep the momentum up. It's a matter of basic etiquette that the Keeper should allow each player to respond to a given post (if necessary) before moving the game along, and that each player should do their best to adhere to the agreed-upon posting frequency. In a good play-by-post game, it's up to the Keeper to ensure that no player is inadvertently left behind in the action (cf. your Harry Potter example).

How does it compare to live play? It's different, that's all. I don't think anything really replicates the joy of getting together with good friends in person to play a live game, but in this day in age some of us have to take what we can get. That said, I've really come to enjoy PBP games over the past two years or so -- though there are admittedly all sorts of pros and cons, some of which Trevlix has already addressed.

For my money, the biggest two "cons" are:
  • 1. Slower game progression -- it may take days to resolve a single scene or encounter. Even longer, if combat is involved. Generally, PBP works best when there's a minimum of dice rolling.
    2. Player attrition -- sometimes players and keepers drop out or simply disappear from a game because of changes in schedule or interest. Hence the high "mortality rate" of PBP games noted by Trevlix -- that is, the death of games, not of characters. It's pretty poor manners to simply stop posting w/o a good explanation.

On the other hand, the "pros" can be significant:
  • 1. More opportunities for nuanced characterization and story. PBP tends to appeal to those who like to write, and allows for longer and more expressive descriptions of character actions, states of mind, environments and clues than what can usually be expressed verbally at a live game table.
    2. Convenience and flexibility. You can pretty much play in your own time, without having to rearrange your schedule and block out 3-5 consecutive hours. That's a big deal for those of us with kids.
AKA Professor Max von Schiller of the Miskatonic Area Paranormal Society (MAPS)
AKA George Finch of the Secret Everest Expedition
"Let's see if someone tries to kill us and work backwards" -- Dr. Who

Dr. Gerard
Professor
Professor
Posts:1353
Joined:Wed Jul 25, 2012 2:00 pm
Re: The Future of Tabletop Gaming

Post by Dr. Gerard » Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:57 pm

I've posted a new game thread in Tales of Mystery and Adventure. Wordcraftian, you're more than welcome to join as a player or just follow along if you're curious about how it works. I'll be running Cthulhu Dark, so it might give you an idea of how that system goes. It's much lighter in die rolls, so I'm hoping it'll be a good fit for PbP.
Keeper of the Cthulhu Dark "Secret Everest Expedition" PbP scenario
Rip Wheeler in the Call of Cthulhu "No Man's Land" scenario
Plays for Keepers

Wordcraftian
Senior
Senior
Posts:149
Joined:Mon Aug 06, 2012 2:06 pm
Location:Lee's Summit, MO
Contact:
Re: The Future of Tabletop Gaming

Post by Wordcraftian » Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:30 pm

Dr. Gerard wrote:I've posted a new game thread in Tales of Mystery and Adventure. Wordcraftian, you're more than welcome to join as a player or just follow along if you're curious about how it works. I'll be running Cthulhu Dark, so it might give you an idea of how that system goes. It's much lighter in die rolls, so I'm hoping it'll be a good fit for PbP.
I've already started following this thread. I look forward to getting a feel for how this works, and seeing Cthulhu Dark in action before I attempt to run a game with my wife. For future, PBP games may be my only chance to really play much of anything, as not all of my friends are in state or have access to webcams / their own computers.

Thanks to everyone for your input, it was all very helpful. :)
Image

trevlix
Investigator
Investigator
Posts:510
Joined:Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:58 am
Contact:
Re: The Future of Tabletop Gaming

Post by trevlix » Sat Sep 01, 2012 12:53 pm

Wordcraftian wrote:Thanks for the input. So you guys are all online simultaneously?
I assume you mean for a forum game? Typically not. Forum games takes months or years to complete because everyone posts (reacting off each other), then you wait for the keeper, etc. The longest (and actually best) forum game I ever played in took around 2 years to complete. Its quite amazing that it actually did complete, given that most don't last more than a few weeks.

Games using chat or Google+ obviously need everyone online at the same time. I've never run something with Google+, but I did run a few chat games. If you'd like to read one, the transcripts are here. BE WARNED! This is the very first CoC I _ever_ ran, and quite frankly, not that good. :)
[Trafford: Insanity: 4, Exhaustion: 2]

http://keepingthegame.blogspot.com/

1d4cast_James
Sophmore
Sophmore
Posts:55
Joined:Tue Oct 09, 2012 3:37 pm
Location:Winchester, VA
Contact:
Re: The Future of Tabletop Gaming

Post by 1d4cast_James » Thu Oct 18, 2012 8:36 pm

Keeper Dan wrote:
Dr. Gerard wrote:Know what might be kind of cool, though? A CoC automatic weapons damage calculator...
Okay, do we have any listeners who can program such a thing? This would be awesome. :tommy:
If you can tell me the formula to calculate damage (yeah I'm a noob and don't know it), I'll see what I can do. I haven't done any serious programming since college, but this shouldn't be too hard.
Founder and Co-Host of the 1d4Cast Podcast and 1d4Con.

Dr. Gerard
Professor
Professor
Posts:1353
Joined:Wed Jul 25, 2012 2:00 pm
Re: The Future of Tabletop Gaming

Post by Dr. Gerard » Fri Oct 19, 2012 1:24 am

trevlix wrote:
Wordcraftian wrote:Thanks for the input. So you guys are all online simultaneously?
I assume you mean for a forum game? Typically not. Forum games takes months or years to complete because everyone posts (reacting off each other), then you wait for the keeper, etc. The longest (and actually best) forum game I ever played in took around 2 years to complete. Its quite amazing that it actually did complete, given that most don't last more than a few weeks.

Games using chat or Google+ obviously need everyone online at the same time. I've never run something with Google+, but I did run a few chat games. If you'd like to read one, the transcripts are here. BE WARNED! This is the very first CoC I _ever_ ran, and quite frankly, not that good. :)
Finally got around to reading (ok, skimming) the chat game. Pretty fun! Maine's the state of my people, so it was great to see an adventure set there. Some pretty hilarious moments.
Keeper of the Cthulhu Dark "Secret Everest Expedition" PbP scenario
Rip Wheeler in the Call of Cthulhu "No Man's Land" scenario
Plays for Keepers

User avatar
hastur
Sponsor
Sponsor
Posts:72
Joined:Thu Nov 07, 2013 8:20 pm
Re: The Future of Tabletop Gaming

Post by hastur » Sun Jan 12, 2014 3:01 am

Dr. Gerard wrote:Know what might be kind of cool, though? A CoC automatic weapons damage calculator...
how would you picture that working? enter number of shots and damage, and make a lot of rolls?
say it three times, girl
there's no tomorrow
and there's no today
say it three times
i'm not far away

i survived the Post GenCon Random Bizarre BS episode

User avatar
fox01313
Graduate Student
Graduate Student
Posts:236
Joined:Wed Oct 16, 2013 12:18 pm
Location:DFW- TX
Re: The Future of Tabletop Gaming

Post by fox01313 » Sat Jan 18, 2014 12:09 am

hastur wrote:
Dr. Gerard wrote:Know what might be kind of cool, though? A CoC automatic weapons damage calculator...
how would you picture that working? enter number of shots and damage, and make a lot of rolls?
Well if nothing else you could get one of those desktop/tabletop mini catapults loaded with foam dice to just launch it to see how the damage comes out once people find all the dice.
"That's funny, usually the blood gets off on the second floor." -Mr. Burns in The Shinning episode (Treehouse of horror V)

Post Reply