RE: Who games with a computer

["Eric Benson" <ebenson@xxxxxxxx>]

> Do you run ME using a computer during actual play, or do you play in a
game
> where the GM does? If there was program support for in game activities
would
> you?

I prepare 99% of my gaming material on computer.  When I first got my
laptop, I was like, hey, this is cool, I'll just keep the computer running
and save paper.  It hasn't really worked that way.  For me, at least, it's
simpler to print out the material, scratch all over it and later update the
files.

I've used to be more of a scribe / recorder, which is pretty convenient when
you have four open games and it might be a while before you get back to the
same game.

With material - such as the ME books - being released in an electronic form,
we may be approaching the point where bringing a computer is required.  We
already hit this with Champions and the bestiary.  I guess we could print
the ebooks out (even 200 pages would pale in contrast to the amount of paper
wasted on a PhD thesis), but no one has gotten around to it.

But back to the question: Are in game programs a waste?

Not anymore.  I think we are approaching the critical mass where sufficient
number of players and GM's have the appropriate hardware and the willingness
to use it.

Some groups, however, will never computerize.  They game for social reasons,
they game to forget the mundane life they live.  Accessing the computer
isn't exactly forgetting the mundane life.

-Eric