LogFAQs > #936368288

EvilMegas posted...

As for the DnD debate.

To be fair, that's exactly what I'm arguing. I'm not saying online RP through mics/cams is universally terrible, just that it isn't for me. And that every individual player and group has to decide for themselves.

For some people/groups, online play is awesome and great. For others, it's terrible. Some people will love it, and some people will hate it so much they wind up turning off of RP entirely. Neither group is wrong.

It's similar to how some groups will focus on acting/characterization/narrative to the point of bordering on freeform, while other groups will ignore those facets of RP in favor of focusing on combat, optimal builds, and synergistic interaction to the point of bordering on wargaming (and most groups in general will fall somewhere between the two extremes). Neither group is wrong for playing that way, even if someone who likes playing the one way would be absolutely miserable playing the other way.

Ultimately D&D, like all RP, is a group experience, and it's up to the group to decide how best to play it to maximize enjoyment. If you're having fun, you're doing it right. If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong.



shadowsword87 posted...

Promoting roleplay is, weirdly, a GM issue. If someone says "I want to use deception to get past the guard", it's a simple "all right, what do you say". So if they don't want to go further, it's super easy to just say they don't do anything.

I agree, but:

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Some people are so self-conscious about speaking in character that they shut completely down. Text can create a buffer where they can play in character while they'd never be able to do so in person.

Every player is going to have different levels of comfort with formulating in-character dialogue. Like I said, some players will bust out an elaborate off-the-cuff flowery speech with accents and flourishes, some will awkwardly default to "my character says this", and other people may feel so intimidated by being in the spotlight that they shut down completely. A good GM can coax players out of their shells to some degree, but not every player wants to be out of their shell, or will resist being coaxed. And repeatedly trying to force them to do more than they're willing to do might drive them away from RP entirely.

If that kind of player can open up in text in ways they never feel comfortable doing in person, there's nothing wrong with that. And there's the possibility that developing your skills there can actually extend to other aspects of play - when my gf started RPing she was exclusively playing online and didn't feel comfortable in a tabletop sense, but she eventually got to the point where she was LARPing pretty regularly. Essentially, the slower response times of text-based play gave her the practice she needed to get inside a character's head and play them, when then helped her when she needed to do so in person.

Some people will never make that step, though. And if they're comfortable with text RP and enjoy it, there's no reason why they shouldn't stick to it.



shadowsword87 posted...

I don't know about you, but I naturally do a little bit of acting while roleplaying. I sit differently, move my hands differently (or not at all). It takes a tiny amount of practice, but it's a skill that's honestly one of my favorite things to do, it's fun as hell to inhabit someone else's ticks. It doesn't require a lot, just sitting up straight with quick, precise hand motions. Or slouching to the side and making exaggerating sweeping gestures.

And that's fine... for you.

Plenty of people don't feel comfortable playing that way, though. Other people would argue that's not going far enough. Everyone has different comfort levels, different expectations. There is no "one style over all" that is the universally correct way to play.

I'd also point out that, if you're in a good online text-based game, you can easily inhabit a character and change your style of speaking, describe physical gestures and body language cues, and other emotional context that the vast majority of players never feel comfortable enough or skilled enough to convey at a table (and even less so over a mic/cam). It's why I said "You need to find better online games" - I get the impression you're basing your entire opinion of text-based RP on half-assed AOL-chat style play where almost no effort is being put into play (just like I always assume you're biased against Alignment because you've only played in games where it was misused by bad DMs).

Personally, I've LARPed. Even when I played pure tabletop, I'd bring props and personal items that would let me better get into character. But I've also GMed for players who are way too self-conscious to play that way, and either won't or can't play that way, who prefer text because it gives them a chance to feel like they can speak in-character without feeling completely stupid or messing up what they're trying to say because their character should be more eloquent than they are as real people.

And again, a lot of that depends on how comfortable you feel writing. Someone who can pour passion and descriptives and personality into their writing and do it quickly/somewhat stream-of-consciousness are going to enjoy that style of play a lot more than someone who almost exclusively writes in emojis and memes.

Ultimately, it's all about what the individual and the group are comfortable with.



shadowsword87 posted...

Me neither, I just judge you for being wrong.

Which is, ironically, the thing that makes you objectively wrong, as opposed to just being opinionated.

What you're essentially saying is "There is but ONE TRUE WAY to enjoy this, and anyone who disagrees is wrong". Which is what I'm kind of calling bullshit on.

I've played tabletop. I've played LARP (both frustrated theater major style like the White Wolf kids love, and the PVC pipe boffer/beanbag spell type with nerds beating each other up in the woods). I've played solely by microphone. I've played in a chat room. I've played on a message board. I've even played a "letters game" where people are essentially writing pen pal letters to each other via e-mail in-character. All of which have their pros and cons, all of which can be enjoyable in their own ways. And all of which can absolut