Time Limits for Roll20 (BoneKeep)

[Shea Hoarfoot]

Ok... SO BoneKeep has a strict Time limit (5hrs) the constraints of Roll20 makes the game a little slower (most 4 hour sessions take 5 hours now) is this strict limit STILL in effect for BoneKeep?

[Pirate Rob]

Why wouldn't it be?

[Shea Hoarfoot]

because (...as I stated in the OP... games that used to take 4 hours take 5)(games that normally take 1 hour like quests now take 2) the time limit originally assumed a location where things like BANDWITH and unexpected disconnects and issues with tokens not seeing light and discord reverbs etc... did not cause the game to play slower...
I have noticed that MOST GMs who do Roll20 schedule more time for every game (I certainly do)
... on a side note any idea why my stars in the forum are not correct? (I have 4 now is why I am prepping BoneKeep)

[BigNorseWolf]

Are you using macros to do the math for you? Having the math sped up means most of my roll20 sessions are shorter than my meatspace ones, provided everyone is set up and ready to go at the buzzer

(for quests, you expect to have a new guy setting up. For bonekeep that should NOT be the case)

[Shea Hoarfoot]

for EVERYTHING on Roll20 you have no idea who is using Macros... who is using a sheet and who thought he could play roll 20 by typing everything in... (I prep macros AND sheets) and again they may be experienced in Pathfinder (they better be if they want to live) but I have found the experience level in ROLL20 (while GROWING by leaps and bounds) still can be hit and miss (had someone rolling everything by typing in a game of Eyes of the Ten the other day... long time Pathfinder but first time on Roll20)... anyway my point was just as the game has adapted on many things these last 10 years... the use of Roll20/Fantasy Grounds may mean revisiting certain restrictions...

[Belafon]

Barring an official response from the OPF leadership (unlikely) the limit will stay at 5 hours for online games as well.

But here’s a suggestion: how about you schedule a 6 hour block of time? Spend the first hour helping/checking everyone’s macros. “Leslie, give me a full attack with your main weapon please.” “Tameka, let’s test that Bluff check again and see if it is fixed.” “Everyone roll a test initiative.” “OK, now pretend Jessica gave you inspire courage. Everyone click that buff, then make an attack roll to make sure the bonuses are in there.”

Once everyone is good to go, THEN start the scenario. You still have a 5-hour block for the scenario but you can spend as long as you want setting up.

[Ascalaphus]

It's Bonekeep, not a random pickup game. You'll want to know who else you're playing with, not some random people who happened to log in at the same time. So taking a bit of time to get everyone properly set up, as Kevin is suggesting, is a good idea. Then when everyone's ready to go, then you start the clock.

[andreww]

Lau Bannenberg wrote:

It's Bonekeep, not a random pickup game. You'll want to know who else you're playing with, not some random people who happened to log in at the same time. So taking a bit of time to get everyone properly set up, as Kevin is suggesting, is a good idea. Then when everyone's ready to go, then you start the clock.

I ran multiple Bonekeeps online to get to my 5th star and most of them were groups of random players.

I find online play significantly quickker than face to face. Automating dice rolls and the maths is a significant time saving. If someone is new to rol20 it isnt hard to provide them with some basic dice roll macros.

[bobtheworm1513]

I kind of disagree with this. When you have Scenarios that usually take more than 5 hours regardless of how it is played, (SFS 2-01 Pact World Warriors and PFS2 1-18 Lodge of the Living God being two perfect examples,) there should be a little leeway on the time. I have commented on Lodge of the living God before because there is no way I could have even come close to finishing that had it not been online because I have 4 hours between the start of my game and the close of the store.

The idea of, "Don't join a table with random players," is absurd! That is the same as saying, "don't go to a Con." or "Don't play online"

[Belafon]

bobtheworm1513 wrote:

I kind of disagree with this. When you have Scenarios that usually take more than 5 hours regardless of how it is played, (SFS 2-01 Pact World Warriors and PFS2 1-18 Lodge of the Living God being two perfect examples,) there should be a little leeway on the time. . .

The difference is that you CAN take more than 5 hours with those two scenarios, and almost any other. It's up to the GM/organizer to determine how much time is available. I've played plenty of scenarios that ran 7 hours or longer. I have GMed some very long scenarios online this year. If no one has a commitment at the planned end time, we just keep going until we are done.

Bonekeep is a special case in that the scenario explicitly allows you to play for 5 hours maximum. It's supposed to be a very challenging scenario, and one of the challenge factors is not giving people unlimited time to optimize strategies.

[HammerJack]

Honestly, if people are about their business and know how to run their character typing in roll commands to Roll is just as fast as rolling physical dive at a table. If the players cannot do that without taking an egregiously long time, it would affect the speed of play in the same way if you were playing in meatspace.

[Shea Hoarfoot]

all good ideas thanx... I usually try to prep a bit ahead (even going so far as to have the link open a few days in advance and posting in warhorn to remember to have macros ready and tested...) but I HAVE had last minute drops... last minute adds and of course the entire ... Roll20 drops out or Discord issues... I think we can also assume that a BREAK does not count towards the 5 hours... I think I am ready ... again thanx for all the good input.

[HammerJack]

I think it's definitely a fair assumption that the clock stops if the site goes down or someone is disconnected and you spend a long time getting it sorted out.

[Sebastian Hirsch]

Yeah stopping the clock if someone has tech issues, or has to run to put out a fire... I think that is very reasonable particularly in the current situation.

[Ascalaphus]

bobtheworm1513 wrote:

The idea of, "Don't join a table with random players," is absurd! That is the same as saying, "don't go to a Con." or "Don't play online"

I didn't say anything nearly that extreme. There's a difference between playing The Confirmation with whoever randomly shows up, and Bonekeep.

Most scenarios, randoms are fine. Some scenarios, you wanna prepare a party for.

[RealAlchemy]

Lau Bannenberg wrote:

bobtheworm1513 wrote:

The idea of, "Don't join a table with random players," is absurd! That is the same as saying, "don't go to a Con." or "Don't play online"

I didn't say anything nearly that extreme. There's a difference between playing The Confirmation with whoever randomly shows up, and Bonekeep.

Most scenarios, randoms are fine. Some scenarios, you wanna prepare a party for.

This.

For scenarios designed to be tough, or when people are playing one of the "hard-mode" scenarios, it's important to have a party ready to handle it. There are reasons why I played Bonekeep with my dwarven ranger, and why I played The Gauntlet with my switch hitting warpriest.