Use of Other Online Tools for Gaming

[Morfedel]

While in a discussion with some potential players of mine concerning various tools in use of gaming, a few interesting things came up.

I generally just use the Virtual Table Top, in this case FG2 of course... email, IM, and the forum I originally recruited it.

Other players brought up the possibility of things such as voice chat, wiki, specialized message boards, etc. I was generally against it at the time, as I've never seen the need for it, but the players for the most part felt it was the modern day way of gaming, and even found my primary use of email and IM programs quaint.

So, I was curious... what tools do you use, and scorn, in online gaming?



PS - when recruiting new players you don't know, don't make the mistake of accidentally getting snippy at them after a long tough few days at work. Ugh....

[Phystus]

We use voice chat, and I'd hate to play without it in some ways. I haven't tried a wiki or message board, but I wouldn't scorn such an idea. It could be quite useful, especially if you could post maps and such there.

~P

[Valarian]

Just FGII while gaming, but use Google groups between games to arrange games, discuss the games and to store notes or game logs.

[Tenian]

All the games I play in use voice chat. My wednesday group has a forum but only a small part of it is about theFGII campaigns, there are sections on pc/console games, wargames, etc.

My own scales of war campaign makes use of the Obsidian Portal to have a wiki, character summaries, NPC info, adventure summaries, etc. It is really handy if a player has to miss a session and it helps keeps track of all the npcs which will be helpful over the length of the adventure path. Viewing our campaign is open to the public and can be found here if you want to check it out.

[Oberoten]

Lets see... The server which I run the FGwiki on is run on the servers that keeps my pen and paper RPG groups Wiki (which contains houserules, virtues, flaws, weaponry, PCs and NPCs as well as a lot of historical data and prototypes for a lot of the stuff we eventually use along with the occasional story written to enhance the game)

... then we have the message boards, voice-chat, msn and schedulers on google and local.

- Obe

[Griogre]

I use voice chat, a dedicated Teamspeak server in my case and FG during the games. I have a Yahoo Group each for two of the games I run and use a Wiki for the other I co-DM. I prefer the groups but the guy I co-DM with that group likes the Wiki. The Wiki has more flexibility but I don't think its needed just to run an RPG game.

The groups and Wiki both serve the same function though. They give you a place to post things to the message board which can be really helpful for doing things in between sessions like treasure division, posting XP, strategies and occasionally a bit of roleplaying.

You can also post maps, links to important websites and other files like house rules, campaign and character background, and game logs or whatever you or the players find useful. I also keep up PDF copies of the character sheets and such things as my FG alias and TS server address.

Generally speaking I find the groups/Wiki allow me and the players to do administrative things between sessions so when we do connect and play we don't waste game time doing them.

[TFWoods3]

I use google sites between adventures to get the story moving between encounters, show maps, etc.

[MINI]

I use openRPG, specifically Traipse (a branch of openrpg) for gaming in tandem with forum boards.

[stormcaller3801]

The groups I'm part of as a player make use of Skype for voice chat, using the conference call feature and the free online calls. Skype's inherent IM system is typically used to augment the voice chat, usually with people typing things when other people are talking. This inevitably means we end up MSTing our own campaign. We aren't using Fantasy Grounds yet, by DM decision, but I'm hoping to change that.