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Post by ironnikki on Apr 21, 2013 19:04:23 GMT -8
After we graduated from college, my group split up to different corners of the country, but decided to try to maintain a weekly game over G+. It's been going pretty well for the past year and a half, and it's great to be able to keep in touch and still have fun with all of my old buddies.
We added a new player to the group a few months ago. He's not new to RPGs at all, and he's a great player. After we finished our last game, the new guy stepped up to GM our next game. We had our second game today, and so far, so good, but I have a minor complaint, and I wanted to get some other opinions.
We've been playing on roll20, and he made clear that he wanted us to use the built in dice roller. I didn't mind at first, but I've since realized that compared to actually throwing physical dice, typing out the commands (or clicking a macro button) is just... well... boring! I actually found my attention drifting away from the game and towards my lonely, forgotten dice on the shelf.
Now, I'm not asking for advice on how to solve this issue; I've got enough willpower to just suck it up and click the buttons without bitching about it. However, I'm curious to see how other people feel about this. Do you prefer rolling physical dice over dice rollers? If you GM an online game, would you have a problem with players asking to roll physical dice? Am I just crazy for letting this bug me so much?
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Post by gandalftheplaid on Apr 21, 2013 21:26:25 GMT -8
I prefer rolling real dice. There's just something to it. But it doesn't bug me that much. I take it as a reasonable evil in that it speeds things up. <Dice shaking>... <Dice shaking>... <dice rolling> "Uh... I got 11." "Was that with bonuses or was that your roll?" "That's with my skill bonus... Oh I missed the +1 for my dex."
A roll20 macro that's becoming common for me now: "/r 2d6 + 1 + 1 (Dex, Gun Combat Slug Pistol)" Cuts that particular conversation short.
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jfever
Journeyman Douchebag
FEVAH!!!!
Posts: 218
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Post by jfever on Apr 21, 2013 21:56:07 GMT -8
Physical will always trump digital (books, dice, playing the game in person, effects in movies, etc.), but ultimately it's a means to an end: having fun playing table top games. You are not crazy. You're just addicted to rolling physical dice, and this is your brain adjusting to dropping your addiction.
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Post by jazzisblues on Apr 22, 2013 5:50:28 GMT -8
I prefer to roll dice. Now, bear in mind I don't play online at all though I have thought of trying to run a G+ game if anyone would be interested in playing. If I were running an online game I would be perfectly happy for the players to roll their own dice and give me the number. The only time that would become an issue were if someone were obviously cheating. But I would deal with that directly with the person involved.
Cheers,
JiB
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Post by rickno7 on Apr 22, 2013 6:12:14 GMT -8
I have sent much feedback to Roll20 trying to add a more visual way to roll dice. It is my biggest complaint as the people I play with just are not fast typists, nor skilled in typing very well. I generally play with my cousin and a few old friends that know cheating just cheats them out of memorable scenarios, so we roll with real dice and tell the answers.
I have been hounding them to add a picture of dice that you can just click and have roll on screen. I don't need all the modifiers and junk added with the roll through a computer equation, we can do that with our heads just like when we roll real dice. We just need some sort of shared graphic so you can click-roll super easily.
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Post by ironnikki on Apr 22, 2013 8:15:37 GMT -8
I think you're right about my addiction, jfever. Perhaps I should find a support group ;-)
Yeah, a more visual way of rolling on the screen might help too. I think they have a 3D dice roller in beta, but I haven't tried to get it to work. We've had a couple bugs already, and I figure throwing anything else into the mix is just asking for trouble. I've set up a macro to just roll a 20, so at least I've got a button to do that, but I find myself typing in the command anyway to get the bonuses in there too. That being said, it would be kind of cool to have pre-built macros separated by system; i.e: GURPS has a 3d6 button, SW includes wild dice automatically and auto-calculates explosions, etc.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Apr 22, 2013 8:16:31 GMT -8
I prefer to roll dice. Now, bear in mind I don't play online at all though I have thought of trying to run a G+ game if anyone would be interested in playing. If I were running an online game I would be perfectly happy for the players to roll their own dice and give me the number. The only time that would become an issue were if someone were obviously cheating. But I would deal with that directly with the person involved. Cheers, JiB I hope you do in fact run a couple G+ games JiB! I wonder how a quick one shot game of Hero would go ;D. I also hope I can coerce you into getting in on Radzap's Paranoia G+ game he's fomenting. Along the lines of visual/virtual dice Fantasy Grounds uses pretty groovy, real looking computer dice you can pick up with your mouse and roll them to you hearts content. My Pathfinder players LOVE to do the right click trick of picking up a certain number of d6 (I think 20 is max ) and bukkakeing (I have no idea/nor desire really to correctly make that a verb) all over the chat roller. But all in all its a nice substitute to prying the cold dice from our sweaty hands...
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Post by jazzisblues on Apr 22, 2013 10:32:08 GMT -8
I prefer to roll dice. Now, bear in mind I don't play online at all though I have thought of trying to run a G+ game if anyone would be interested in playing. If I were running an online game I would be perfectly happy for the players to roll their own dice and give me the number. The only time that would become an issue were if someone were obviously cheating. But I would deal with that directly with the person involved. Cheers, JiB I hope you do in fact run a couple G+ games JiB! I wonder how a quick one shot game of Hero would go ;D. I also hope I can coerce you into getting in on Radzap's Paranoia G+ game he's fomenting. Along the lines of visual/virtual dice Fantasy Grounds uses pretty groovy, real looking computer dice you can pick up with your mouse and roll them to you hearts content. My Pathfinder players LOVE to do the right click trick of picking up a certain number of d6 (I think 20 is max ) and bukkakeing (I have no idea/nor desire really to correctly make that a verb) all over the chat roller. But all in all its a nice substitute to prying the cold dice from our sweaty hands... Heh heh heh ... Actually I would expect it would go very well. Hero isn't a hard game to play. It's a complicated game to make things for. Stu and I were talking about this the other night before the podcast. He asserted and I agree that it would be difficult to pick up Hero on one's own without someone to show them the way. Much like GURPS, the basics of the game are not hard but there are levels of complexity that can be daunting. Champions Complete makes it much easier. I do wish there was more love for Hero, but such is life I'm afraid. JiB
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Post by kaitoujuliet on Apr 23, 2013 14:26:22 GMT -8
I definitely prefer rolling physical dice. First off, I like collecting dice; they're pretty. And then there's the tactile experience of rolling them around in your hands and the satisfying sound they make when they hit the table.
However, if I were in an online game, I'd really want the rolls to be done online where everyone could see them. It's not that there aren't people I would trust to report their offline rolls honestly, but why even go down that road when it's not necessary?
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dnddad
Journeyman Douchebag
They're bullywugs aren't they Pat...
Posts: 200
Preferred Game Systems: WEG D6 Star Wars, Shadowrun 2nd, Battletech 3rd, Mechwarrior 2nd, AD&D 2nd, AFMBE rev, Savage Worlds Deluxe, Usagi Yojimbo, Marvel Super Heroes Advanced
Currently Playing: Frostgrave & Boltaction
Currently Running: from my problems
Favorite Species of Monkey: Spong
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Post by dnddad on Apr 23, 2013 16:26:36 GMT -8
I've never had the chance to play online, but I like to roll dice. I had a custom dice tower built for me and if I played online I'd just focus on the tray they settle.
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Post by CreativeCowboy on Apr 23, 2013 21:55:14 GMT -8
Until the dice are cast, the Rubicon has not been crossed. Just does not have the same ring mashing a button.
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Post by Forresst on Apr 24, 2013 14:27:33 GMT -8
Until the dice are cast, the Rubicon has not been crossed. Just does not have the same ring mashing a button. --->>> [CLICK HERE TO CROSS RUBICON!]<<--- ;D
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Post by CreativeCowboy on Apr 25, 2013 1:06:48 GMT -8
LOL. Caesar is spinning in his salad dressing now. Webcomic: Namelss PCs
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pjs37
Supporter
Posts: 43
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Post by pjs37 on Apr 26, 2013 8:17:15 GMT -8
I definitely prefer rolling real dice. However I can understand in running an online game why the person running it may prefer players use the in built dice system.
I feel like it is....too clinical I guess. It just feels like I roll worse with the digital rollers. Plus there is no attachment like there are with real dice.
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Post by kaitoujuliet on Apr 26, 2013 8:34:33 GMT -8
if I played online I'd just focus on the tray they settle. Good point; if you're using webcams, then physical dice-rolling becomes possible again.
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