LogFAQs > #936106071

voice chat vs text chat

voice
+ game moves much more quickly and can be easier to run. people slow at typing won't slow the game down.

-- the fast pace of the game can also mean that the same amount of content will keep you entertained for a shorter period of time. players will also have more trouble keeping notes and catching every piece of information you relay to them. not only do they have to hear what you say, clearly, without any misunderstandings, but they also can't copy/paste the text you just posted. they have to type out your verbal explanations... while also trying to continue following the flow of conversation. this issue can be mitigated with digital 'handouts,' but it's not a perfect solution in every case.

+ has a more fun and upbeat feeling. you're verbally interacting with other real people and you can feel this.

-- this laid back chatting atmosphere can lead to a lot of joking around and off topic tangents, which is less productive if you're trying to run a more serious game. I've never found a good solution to this other than knowing what type of game I want to run and deciding which players are suitable for that game. you don't want to invite a clown to a serious game, or an overly serious player to a fast paced goofy oneshot.

-- you aren't speaking face to face and this can cause some weird social hiccups. people talk over each other less than you would expect, but it does happen. and there's a lot of cases where no one "knows" whose turn it is to speak, and you can't look around the room and see other people's faces. this tends to cause one player, the most outgoing one, dominating a lot of scenes. even moreso than in person games or with text chat. this issue can be mitigated by having the GM remain aware of player participation and 'call on' people who don't get as many chances to speak.

text
+ probably the ideal mode for running a serious game with lots of world building and lore. people have time to read your messages, let the information sink in, respond accordingly. everyone can participate in a scene without talking over each other, and everyone can easily take notes on the developments of the story.

+ very easy to keep logs of your sessions which can be re-read for nostalgia purposes, searched for information, and you can always Ctrl+F to go back and find out exactly what was said if two people remember things differently.

-- it's slower even in the best case scenario. I have never planned a text based session and actually covered all of the material I wanted to cover in that session. and this is after doing it for years. they still surprise me with how little material you can cover in a single session. in the worst case scenario? a single slow typing player can grind a scene down to a halt and leave everyone waiting as the chat comes to a dead standstill. the only way to mitigate this issue is to stay on top of the slow players and constantly keep nagging them, which is socially difficult to do and it can become a stress for you and the slow player over time.

-- if you are using battle maps you generally have to deal with a small chat window or tabbing back and forth between the chat and the maps. neither option is particularly good. you can play without battle maps, this is what I normally do, but this can lead to issues if you are using a system with more 'precise' combat. it works fine if your combat tends to be more flavor driven and less about how large of a radius sphere the player can create, how many enemies are in range, and how they are clustered together after moving exactly 35 yards.

roll 20 vs discord

if you're doing text based just run it on discord. there's no decent way to do text based with interactive maps, and the roll20 chat window is tiny and sucks. if you're doing voice it may still be worth it to use the discord voice chat. but roll20's voice is functional and it is built right into the same interface you'd be using for your map and tokens -- so it has that advantage.

don't go overboard with features like dynamic lighting. I've noticed some people with worse PC performance tend to be almost unable to play along, but the dynamic lighting features tend to be finnicky in general even for people with decent to good PCs at times. it's pure jank and not worth the hassle. if you really need to hide things from your players, just hide regions of the map and reveal them one at a time. and learn how to make tokens invisible so you can prepare stealth foes ahead of time and have them 'pop out' when needed.

also break your encounters up to separate maps whenever possible. this is an additional step that cuts down on the amount of lag.

chatting with friends while moving your tokens around an interactive map is a very strong experience that gives a good feel -- simulates the idea of playing in person very well. roll20 is a fantastic option for this, and it's probably what you'll end up doing if I had to guess. the text chat based tabletop roleplaying scene is pretty much dead at this point, but I wouldn't write off the specific advantages it has, either.


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all the rest weren't so unfortunate
https://imgur.com/yv2eC4n