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Now that I got your attention, I do think that people who play online are playing d&D/pathfinder, etc. If fact for some it is the only form of game they get to play, but I have noticed things sometimes.
Sometimes when I hear people talk about build, and game decisions, I wonder how they can get away with their opinion at a game table, only to find out that they play online. Here is a general example. Some people think healing in combat is a waste of an action. When I am playing, if my friend who sits next to me take a huge hit, and says "Dude, I am down to five, one more I am dead, you have to come heal me" I could never look him in the eye and say "Sorry, that would wasting my action, instead I'm gonna try to take out that archer." He would look at me like I just signed his death warrant, and in game I might have.
I think though, I could make that decision a lot easier, if he was some dude on the other side of the country, playing by post once a day.
So my question is, do you feel that playing online will make you feel differently about your character choices, decisions, and how you think about rule interpretations, than playing face to face with friends would? Especially when it comes to making those "good for my group" vs "good for me" decisions.
I only play online through Fantasy Grounds because my two groups are now, as opposed to earlier, spread over 6 countries. Other than that there's no difference except less paper and 3d dice. ;)
Though it is sad in a way, the best *roleplaying* I've seen has been pbp. Live is fun, but less roleplaying really.
And hp-considerations have been very relevant in my pbp-games. Healing is definitely valuable and important in combat.
Everything is completely dependent on group. You can have some amazing face to face roleplayers, you can have the dude who will watch you die sitting right next to you, you can have the optimizer online...it all depends on the person. I don't think the format has anything to do with it.
However, I think that *knowing* the person has something to do with it.
You're much less likely to let your buddy Billy's character die than you are are to let that of some random person you just met at at con game or only know as a messageboard avatar.
For more information on why, see the monkeysphere.
There's clearly a difference between PBP and F2F.
I guess a lot of F2F habits carry across to PBP, for example my Healer would never let you croak like that in a PBP, it is never a 'waste' of an action to keep the party fighting capability and damage output online and maximised!
PBP is good in that you have a lot of time to think through your posts and actions, nd be able to contribute to a 'Story telling type game with a lot of creative output, F2F is much more a social activity/game, usually with LESS actual creativity and storytelling taking place; unless you are one of those odd Goth gamers who sits in a candlelit room drinking red wine and playing Vampire and moaning about the trials and tribulations of the mortal realm - but then you are probably sitting there with a load of hot chicks, so I'm not going to knock it.
So its same-same, but different.
And both are the 'game'...
It's art baby.
Hiya.
I am playing in a weekly PF campaign. As to if my decisions at the table would be different if I was playing "electronically"...I really don't think so.
Subconsciously I think of probably two things when I have to make a decision for my character:
--1-- Does this make sense from the perspective of my character, in game, right now?
--2-- Is my choice going to seriously annoy/screw-with/piss-off a fellow player?
Now, I don't *actually* ask this question to myself each time...but thinking about it now, those are the two things that would be most important. I don't think about meta-game consequences (be they for weal or woe). For example, my current character is a halfling thief (he calls himself a THIEF, not a "rogue"), he is 5th level and has Power Attack and Cleave. Why? It makes sense from a character perspective.
The second thing is important as well. While I am there to have fun, it is NOT at the expense of everyone else's ability to have fun. I absolutely *loath* players who use the "But that's what my character would do" excuse to be an a-hole in game. If my characters decision would seriously impact my friends enjoyment of the game, I sacrifice "in-game perspective choices" in favor of something less 'provocative'. I'd rather be content and see my friend happy than be happy myself and see my friend ticked off.
So, because of those two things, I really don't see my choice being different based on weather or not I am face-to-face with someone or sitting behind a computer screen.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
I think there is a huge difference between table top and online play. With table top, the action is faster and the social interaction is "more" real. That's not to say that I discount PBP, it's just not quite the same thing.
Chris Self, that was a great link.
… I spend a great deal of time working out a back story for my characters, making sure that my skills, equipment, feats and "fluff details" match that story.
Ironically, in my experience, I have seen more work put into back stories for online characters than face to face characters. People have time to 'get into character' and really play in the narrative.
"Sorry, that would wasting my action…"
Again, just in my experience, I see less meta-gaming in PbP. In the games I have been involved in, people have been more likely to rally to a fallen ally because that is their buddy. The thought of a 'wasted action' does not even enter their mind.