Playing online or offline?

[Masnef]

Ei,

I like to play offline due to the faster game and visible inv but I am always tempted to play online because of ghosts and suggestions.
I've been reading that it's suggested to play online, I am missing something? What do you suggest me?

Thanks

[MainiacJoe]

I play offline exclusively because the PC it's most convenient for me to play on is a 10yr old dinosaur without internet connectivity. But I'm curious what you mean by, "and visible inv".

[Masnef]

I meant the inventory that in offline you have on the bottom right-side is missing in the online game (as far as I saw)

[KoboldLord]

Play however is convenient for you. This is a single-player game, and the intrusion of another player generally doesn't improve my game experience. Ghosts are a bad design feature when they're mine, and when I have access to other people's ghosts they are also a vector for allowing stupid people to interfere with my game. Getting bad advice from random hecklers is also probably not going to be useful in any way.

People suggest you play online because they want something from you. Some of them want targets, some of them are bored and want somebody to watch, and others might just like hanging out in a chat room that has other people in it. They aren't suggesting that you play online because it will be in any way beneficial for you, and if you decide you do want to play online hopefully it is because you actually like something about the atmosphere there.

[Wahaha]

If you play online you get a page with your scores, wins, characters played, etc. You can also query information about any game you played using the IRC bots. For example if you every wondered what's the lowest level at which you got a rune or how often you enter the Elven Halls, you can find out. You can even watch a recording of any game you played, or more likely view a specific part of any game where something interesting happened. Your wins are also proven to be legitimate (...) so if you ever want to talk about how good you are at crawl, you can, if you care about that kind of thing. While playing you can talk to other people who can help you with advice, talk about strategies, or just for fun. Also I like meeting other player's ghosts 1000 times more than my own.

[Sar]

Another perk of playing online is that if you play on several computers (like, for example, home PC and work PC, not that I'd ever play Crawl on my job, I take it veeery seriously) you don't have to transfer saves manually.

[advil]

I play online only, because of switching between computers, and especially because of the IRC bots and the detailed stats. Also, if you manage to accomplish something then it is on the record (for better or worse, !gamesby can be a bit depressing as an assessment of how one spends one's time). I don't play on the high-traffic servers much, so I don't get many hecklers, and I don't actually hang out much in ##crawl (which is way too high traffic for my tastes). You do have to be somewhat comfortable with sometimes screwing up "in public" though.

[archaeo]

People suggest you play online because they want something from you.

Or maybe because we've all played online and enjoyed the experience? The mere fact that I have to manually delete my ghosts/always ctrl-q offline ruins the experience for me (fighting my own ghosts is a terrible design choice), and playing Trunk online saves me the trouble of maintaining a current Crawl build.

That said, Masnef should play however they'd like to play.

e: I should add that I also have always enjoyed the presence of "hecklers," because tileschat is actually pretty reasonable as far as online chats go. We're nice people!

[daggaz]

The game speed and lack of a visible inventory is exactly what kills online for me. Ugh.

[CanOfWorms]

I like both.

Offline, I can start multiple games if I ever feel like experimenting with combos without being forced to finish a game that's going well (I usually take a break after clearing lair or picking up 2 runes) although it does lead to having 5+ ongoing games.

Online, if I feel like getting some help or talk about the game with someone (sometimes you just want people to see that moment you get a sweet randart or terrible acquirement) I can just bug some people on IRC or forums, and the server lag makes me play better by forcing me to think about the situation every move (although no lag is better for messing around quickly with various combos.) It also has a record page that lets me feel good/bad about myself and organizes all my games/wins handily.

[Sprucery]

not that I'd ever play Crawl on my job, I take it veeery seriously

I know what you mean. I take Crawl very seriously too.

[partial]

No mouse support ruins online for me

[SriBri]

I play online exclusively after starting offline originally years ago. I prefer online for the community feel of the game, as well as for the delicious stats. The tournaments are also really fun to participate in whenever they run. My initial objection was the slower pace of online play, but I don't even notice it any more unless the server is running super slow. I also find that I play better whenever someone is spectating a game of mine, probably because I don't want to embarrass myself.

[partial]

Funny, the slower pace is something I actually prefer about online play.

Makes me ALOT less likely to rush and make stupid decisions.

[Masnef]

Tanks all

[momplestiltskin]

Another thing to consider is that online allows you to avoid the temptation of save-scumming, if that's something you ever find yourself tempted to do. It forces you to play honestly.

[tasonir]

I mostly play online because I like the statistics generated/online morgues (easier to access when I'm out than locally stored morgues). I'll second partial's opinion that the slight latency helps me to slow down my play in a way that I find beneficial. No one wants 2 seconds of lag, but if you know that your actions have 1/4 of a second delay on them, I tend to not string 2-3 commands together anymore, which is dangerous to do in the first place, especially on Chei. One command at a time

[Sojiro]

I used to play online for the stats and support of other players, with a side order of offline when my ADHD prompted me to try a new combo while I had a game still ongoing (although I did make a 2nd online account before starting doing that).

Now I came back to crawl after a long time, and I find the servers sloooow. I can't play at my rhythm. So I mostly play offline. The fact that I have a dozen of characters going at a given time is another reason for doing offline for me.

[kroki]

online is great for waving your dick around on #irc and in tavern

[duvessa]

oh my god who cares

[partial]

tc obv

[Magipi]

Another reason to try playing online right now: the tournament!

[Jarlyk]

Well, one thing I can say for playing online is that it's forcing me to learn more of the key bindings rather than clicking on things. In the long run, that should make my games take less time.