So we're all nerds here

[SomeGuy]

I'm not a nerd, I'm a total jock. I've already gone over this with you, geez.

[Chewbacca]

I'm a PowerNerd. [img]graemlins/cool.gif[/img] I work at a comic book store, I have an extensive D&D/AD&D book collection, and I'm an avid chessplayer. Amongst another nerdy activies.

I DM a semi-monthly PnP game. I wish we all had time to play more.

[ 01-04-2007, 10:15 PM: Message edited by: Chewbacca ]

[Felix The Assassin]

Originally posted by PurpleXVI: Wow, out of 12 votes so far, 11 people are into the whole online electronic roleplaying thing. How come the roleplaying forum here is so dead, then? What are people missing? Do they play elsewhere?

Proally has something to do with the widget that set question one to be answered. So the only way to tell you "What century" you either have to answer question 1, or, like myself hit the close tab, and ridicule you here in your thread.

How about a NONE of the above for question #1?

I run Linux on modern hardware. Does that count?

[PurpleXVI]

Well, if you don't roleplay at all, then, eh, the entire poll is just a bit pointless.

[Felix The Assassin]

Ah, grasshopper! I reveal to thee, my life of years gone by.
http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cg...;f=34;t=002073

[Bithron]

Tehee... I posted in that thread... [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[Luvian]

Sadly I haven't played Pen and Paper in 7 years or so. I got addicted to mmorpgs back then as well as computers in general and lost track of my pen and paper friends. I really wish I could play it again, I miss it.

I don't play forum rpgs. I don't have the patience anymore to read trough huge posts, and they feel a little too much "make believe" for me. I know it's part of the roleplaying, but in pen and paper there's the dice rolling, the banter, the action, on forums there seem to be pretty much just the make believe. I've had my fair share of bad players that thought they were their characters, and I just can't stand anything close to it anymore.

[ 01-05-2007, 03:37 PM: Message edited by: Luvian ]

[Dreamer128]

We're starting a new PnP game this week. 2nd edition DnD, unfortunately, since our former DM was the only one with all the 3rd edition handbooks.

[PurpleXVI]

You've never met those in Pen and Paper, Luvian? Wow, you've been lucky. I've had plenty of people who've spazzed in person because their character died or got cursed due to them doing something remarkably dumb.

I just find it easier to do things online since I can leave the gameplay more free. I've got more time to make things up on the go, and so it's okay if the players suddenly decide to take a side route or do something totally contrary to my expectations.

Additionally, the ability to make large posts means that I can do good descriptions and set up a nice mood without having a five-minute monologue which would put everyone to sleep.

I find it easier to establish the suspension of disbelief when people aren't gathered around the pen and paper table. That just tends to degenerate into silliness too often, not that everyone should take the game uber-seriously, but when people ONLY take it as "dice rolling and banter," then you might as well be playing Yahtzee.

Dreamer: 2nd ed 4 lyfe, yo. 3rd ed is for n00bz.

[Luvian]

Yeah I've met plenty of bad players in real life. My cousin thought his character was him. You know, he wasn't playing a role, he'd act with his real personality, he'd try to use metagame info, he'd get pissed when something bad hapened to "him". It took the longest time for me to convince him he wasn't playing against me (the DM) and that this wasn't the kind of game you play to win. Then there was another guy I knew, he played Vampire, and I think he really thought he was one. He'd behave in real life as if he's one anyway.

I didn't have any problems improvising in pen and paper. If you've created your world and paid attention to details, there shouldn't be any problems because you know it all. It doesn't matter what they decide to do, you know that city/npc/dungeon/whatever. You just have to have your world react in a realistic manner.

It's not so much that I can't read long posts, but that most people are boring. I'm not interested in reading 3 page long posts about a character that's drinking something in a bar while talking to some guy about the weather. I want some action and meaningful interactions. Most people tend to write at length about boring details and interaction on their character. That's what I call make believe. Pretend the game was a novel. If what you're about to post doesn't add anything to the plot, doesn't move the story, or isn't vital for a future plot element, then I don't want to read it. I'm not here as an audience for your pretend life, or to read an interactive story, I'm here to play.

It's true that real life sessions can degenerate if you're not prudent, but it can be kept under control, and people don't spend so much time on the make believe. They can't spend 15 minutes talking at length describing what they're wearing/doing/thinking. You actually really talk and act. Players don't just sit there describing themselves. It's "I'm sneaking behind the bartender and backstabing him." Short and to the point. That's all I want to know. There isn't 3 paragraph of fluff about what his character is wearing today, what he's thinking/feeling, that the floor is creaky and I don't know what else. I bet a real life in-character discussion between the king, his whole court, the pcs, and the arch-villain could be done in 5 minutes and be fully realistic and entertaining. But if it had actually happened on a forum, there'd be so much fluff the thread would be 10 pages long.

I'm sure there are good forum roleplayers that actually know what they're doing and are interesting, but I don't have the time or energy to look.