It is sort of like the imitation RPG feel I got from massive hours invested into LOTRO online. I rarely found a group that wanted to do some of the things I wanted to do, so I did a lot of stuff solo. The one reason I got into it is that I wanted to be able to satisfy the desire to play RPG’s, since I did not have a group. Since I got on Roll 20, I haven’t logged into Roll 20, so I don’t miss it. It is a worse time sink than tabletop RPG’s ever were, because it is so easy to lose track of time, and have lulls in the action. I had more unintentional all nighters with an online RPG or a video game than I did with a tabletop RPG. With a tabletop RPG the all nighter was usually determined before play began. It was only ever assumed because that’s the way the group liked it.
As gamers age, they go for fewer all nighters. I can still pull an all nighter, but it takes a lot longer to recover than it did a decade or two ago.
While it is possible to find a group and make friends in an online RPG, it has not been that easy. It requires so much time, that if you miss certain events, you fall behind and can’t keep up with the friends you have made. Some people spend so much time at it that they blow through regularly and have many multiples of characters in multiple accounts that have maxed out their levels. My way to play online RPG’s does not seem to fit with how most others in my experience like to do it. I like to figure things out and understand, and most players just want to blow through and get the next cool item. I want the item, but I like to have a chance to know the big picture. My desire to go at my own pace does not fit in with many others.
With tabletop RPG’s you have a more direct interaction that does not allow for one player to ignore the wishes of the others without any intervention by the DM and other players. In online games, I have seen some pretty crappy behavior, and that is not in the one on one area where you go up against other players. In a table top RPG, there are ways to keep things together. Unless the DM has no skill to keep the players on task. The awesome question of, “Are you sure?” is a good way for the DM to get the players’ attention, and the DM can easily impose consequences on unruly players that make their character feel the pain they are causing the other players. I don’t mean in a malicious or vengeful way.
The DM of my Roll 20 game does not let player thieves steal from party members, and encourages working together. This avoids hurt feelings and keeps the players moving forward.
My point is that while online RPGs can help fill a desire to game, it is not near as good as the collaboration of players interacting with the worlds designed by DM’s. Both the players and the DM learn about themselves and the world. A good DM will build things the players do into the world. The wild guesses and side chatter of the players is fertile soil.
