Has COVID hit your gaming?

[sgtcallistan]

Our group is three who live in the same household, and one who visits for games.
-so we've been doing catch-ups among the three, and the parallel strand for the fourth player unfortunately on hold.

While this might seem a problem, we were actually at a point that three strands were out of sync at the time.
Three players have characters in more than one strand, so it's actually gone well.

I feel we may come up against a barrier when the calendars DO sync up, though.

So, Covid-19 hasn't prevented us gaming, exactly... :)

[Anders]

Anyone else have trouble focusing when playing online? I can't resist doing other things while at the computer.

[kirbwarrior]

Originally Posted by Anders

Anyone else have trouble focusing when playing online? I can't resist doing other things while at the computer.

I think it depends. If it's voice chat, I have a hard enough time hearing people through speakers I don't want to chance missing something someone said, especially the GM. Or I am the GM and thus have to pay attention to everything and make sure I am coming across as clear as possible.

If it's typing, then I have to do something else during downtime to be able to focus on the campaign. Usually it's reading something that doesn't require heavy thinking.

[Mark Skarr]

Originally Posted by kirbwarrior

I think it depends. If it's voice chat, I have a hard enough time hearing people through speakers I don't want to chance missing something someone said, especially the GM. Or I am the GM and thus have to pay attention to everything and make sure I am coming across as clear as possible.

I'm hard of hearing, so when we actually start gaming, I hook up a headset so I can hear more clearly and it blocks external sound.

Originally Posted by kirbwarrior

If it's typing, then I have to do something else during downtime to be able to focus on the campaign. Usually it's reading something that doesn't require heavy thinking.

Ugh, I can't stand playing-by-type. I've had issues with it keeping me focused and me falling asleep between posts.

[kirbwarrior]

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

I'm hard of hearing, so when we actually start gaming, I hook up a headset so I can hear more clearly and it blocks external sound.

I have issues with white noise so a headset makes perfect sense. My old one finally broke down :(

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

Ugh, I can't stand playing-by-type. I've had issues with it keeping me focused and me falling asleep between posts.

I feel it only works in one-on-one and definitely not in a combat heavy game (a single fight takes forever).

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by Anders

Anyone else have trouble focusing when playing online? I can't resist doing other things while at the computer.

For streaming there is no way I can multitask because I'm streaming for a live audience...so any sort of distraction is unprofessional. For the online game I'm in that isn't streamed, I'm the note-taker so I'm pretty focused there as well.

I find online to be more intense in terms of focus rather than offline were people can just get up and wander around or checkout for a while.

[namada]

Originally Posted by Anders

Anyone else have trouble focusing when playing online? I can't resist doing other things while at the computer.

This has always been my biggest resistance to digital gaming. Anytime anyone pulls out an electronic device, they're going to do other stuff and become an annoying d-bag.
Anyone ever have a GM pull out their phone, mid-session, say, "I have to take this call," disappear for 20 minutes? Leaving you sitting there thinking, "2 years ago when you didn't have that iPhone, you didn't 'need' to take any calls mid-game, so no, you didn't 'need' to take that call - you 'wanted' to. Goodbye useless."

[Fred Brackin]

Well, my group has decided to try a virtual session via Skype and it turns out that my equipment is not ready to join the 21st century. My IPad is too old to work with Skype and a microphone and webcam I found in The Computer Cabinet of Accessories Past don't appear to work at all. I'm sure the microphone worked fine in 1998 though I'll admit I never even tried the webcam.

So it looks like I'm out for at least the first session. I can probably afford a new microphone and assume I'll amortise its' cost over many future sessions but Amazon isn't doing a lot of two-daying stuff right now. I guess I'll see what the group does abot a second virtual session.

At this point I hope that everyone has figured out that they have more knowledge and experience in this sort of thing than I do. Knowledgeable advice on the practicalities of going virtual is welcome.

This dead end on problem one does postpone any action on what would be problem two. The session is going to be the start of a Numenera game. I believe the GM is probably using the Numenera Starter Set (which is half-price of $12.50 at Monte Cook's site). I played a couple of sessions some years ago and was so underwhelmed that I never bought book for the game.

I made a character out of a borrowed book last time but that doesn't work so well when you have no common table. there are going to be pregens but hours and hours of choosing actions at random and asking "What dice do I roll?" is demoralizing.

Any advice on subjects related to " Oh! Numerera can be lots of fun if you just do x, y and z!" is also welcome.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

At this point I hope that everyone has figured out that they have more knowledge and experience in this sort of thing than I do. Knowledgeable advice on the practicalities of going virtual is welcome.

Well, testing your setup well in advance is recommended but probably something you've already figured out. I had to go out and buy a new headset (for something like $50) when we started testing our ability to go online (fortunately we were testing before COVID actually hit), but in general I would assume that session 1 will be nothing but making sure everyone can actually run.

[Mark Skarr]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Well, my group has decided to try a virtual session via Skype and it turns out that my equipment is not ready to join the 21st century. My IPad is too old to work with Skype and a microphone and webcam I found in The Computer Cabinet of Accessories Past don't appear to work at all. I'm sure the microphone worked fine in 1998 though I'll admit I never even tried the webcam.

I've noticed that my sister's iPad and Perkidannman's Mac hate trying to use any of the same software we use. For my sister, that just seems to be electronics hating her right now (her PC is getting the grey-screen-of-death from Discord right now).

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

So it looks like I'm out for at least the first session. I can probably afford a new microphone and assume I'll amortise its' cost over many future sessions but Amazon isn't doing a lot of two-daying stuff right now. I guess I'll see what the group does abot a second virtual session.

You don't need an awesome headset or microphone. And you don't need a webcam at all. When we first started playing virtually (May 2017), I bought some lapel mikes for Hand of Bobb and myself (I thought I was buying two, but it turns out each pack was three mikes, so I have three, un-opened, in my cabinet right now). At that time, I spent $13 on those mikes (now, since they're no longer available, they're stupidly expensive).

I'm still using the original one I opened, it's plugged into my computer. When we're just chatting in Discord, it's the one I use. And I don't move it. It sits about two-feet from my head. I have another plugged into my server, that sits about three feet from my head, when I have to use Discord on that computer. Bobb is still using his original.

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

At this point I hope that everyone has figured out that they have more knowledge and experience in this sort of thing than I do. Knowledgeable advice on the practicalities of going virtual is welcome.

As Anthony alluded to (and will below, as well), it's best to make sure you're up and running prior to game day. It's also best to coordinate with all your players and ensure everyone's computers are patched and running the same client versions.

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

This dead end on problem one does postpone any action on what would be problem two. The session is going to be the start of a Numenera game. I believe the GM is probably using the Numenera Starter Set (which is half-price of $12.50 at Monte Cook's site). I played a couple of sessions some years ago and was so underwhelmed that I never bought book for the game.

I made a character out of a borrowed book last time but that doesn't work so well when you have no common table. there are going to be pregens but hours and hours of choosing actions at random and asking "What dice do I roll?" is demoralizing.

Any advice on subjects related to " Oh! Numerera can be lots of fun if you just do x, y and z!" is also welcome.

There was a huge sale on Monte Cook's Cypher system at Humble Bundle a short while ago (beginning of March-ish). I picked up the bundle--I'm a big fan of having access to additional resources for any game. I can use them for any other game.

Originally Posted by Anthony

Well, testing your setup well in advance is recommended but probably something you've already figured out. I had to go out and buy a new headset (for something like $50) when we started testing our ability to go online (fortunately we were testing before COVID actually hit), but in general I would assume that session 1 will be nothing but making sure everyone can actually run.

Yikes! When I decided to get a headset, the first one, for $25 wasn't terribly good, but I then bought the same kind I use at work (link to Amazon page). When I bought it, originally, it was $21.99, but it's gone up (supply/demand). I loved the one I used at work (did a great job of blocking the outside world from my ears. I switch to it when we begin playing as I find it makes it easier for me to concentrate. And it makes it easier for my players to hear me when I get emphatic (a problem with Discord).