play by video chat

[taltamir]

Anyone tried playing by video chat?
do you know of a really good program to use for it?
obviously it has to be capable of handling multiple video streams, one from each player.

[JerichoPenumbra]

Yes I have tried, but being the only player doing so when away from the group on the other end of the state led the them slowly forget I was there. Putting that experience aside, Skype works quite well. You can download it for free online, and it has a large array of other functions including multi-conference.

[Yorrin]

Yeah, I've done this by Skype before. Works fairly well.

[Turk Mannion]

Did it with Skype and Yahoo Video. Worked relatively well and better than having to drop your buddy from the group.

[Scorpions__]

I've had people join my dungeons through Skype before, works just fine, other than their vulnerability to pranks from the other players.

How's everyone work the dice?






DM[F]R

[taltamir]

thanks people. I will try it. I didn't realize skype had conference video before you mentioned it, good to know.

[Jastermereel]

I did something like this a few weeks back. I was all set to go and DM for my group, but the snowstorm shut the trains down, so someone suggested we use Skype (initially in jest).

It worked surprisingly well, but largely due to two factors:
A. We normally use a computer to play. I prepare a bunch of maps in Photoshop with all the players and NPCs as layers and then we project it onto a blank wall so everyone can see. The only difference here was that I was once-removed, and sharing my screen through Skype.

B. One of my players as a very high-quality microphone. We tried using the one on the laptop at their end at first and it was miserable. I had to ask them to repeat themselves more often than they rolled. Even when we plugged in the good one, it was impossible to hear properly if more than one person was speaking. I eventually had to open up a word document, crank the font up, and share that to "shout" to them to clarify things.

On the downside, I was monopolizing the bandwidth, so the other group in the room at their end (we run two at once after our 10 player campaign got ended...it's much more fun), which uses the D20SRD online for reference, ground to a halt a bit.

If you're the player, I'd be cautious that you don't get forgotten. If you're the DM, be prepared to find new ways to make yourself clear. It's a neat idea, but there are a lot of pitfalls to work out for each group.