In-person versus online

[Morganator 2.0]

This question is for everyone that has played both in-person and online: what are some of the stark differences that you notice? There are some obvious differences like playing with strangers instead of people you know, but I want to know what else you find different.

For me a big one is that baiting and bluffing has completely changed. I have this one friend who has a tell. He emits a quick hum when he has a counterspell or removal in hand. But if his mic isn't on, I have no way of reading him. Likewise I used to be really good at bluffing and making people think that I have an answer when I don't. Now it's a lot harder to bluff.

[Aetherium Slinky]

One of the biggest differences is playing with voice off. It's really hard to explain what you're trying to achieve if you cannot hear the other person.

Other than that for some reason people rush online games. There's very little time to think, especially with strangers. It's way less relaxed in my opinion.

[Varatius]

Bluffing is the biggest thing that's different but I have noticed a decline in politics.  Which is sad because my 5 regular members have a monocolored deck to play Pentastar and well politics is the big selling point of playing said format.

[Slyvester12]

The main thing I notice is fiddliness. I like combo decks and decks with a lot of interactions. In person, I can quickly handle all of my interactions without much trouble. Online, there's way too many buttons required to do even simple combos much of the time. Especially interactions like cascade. Cascade is a nightmare online.

[Aetherium Slinky]

but I have noticed a decline in politics

Actually this is a good point! To me it feels like people are more annoyed by politics than anything.

[Morganator 2.0]

Other than that for some reason people rush online games. There's very little time to think, especially with strangers. It's way less relaxed in my opinion.

Are people actively asking you to hurry up, or do you just get the impression that you're taking too long? That's another thing that I've noticed; turns online just take longer to play out. There are times where I know I'm going to have to think about a move, so I say something like "I need to think about this".

[Aetherium Slinky]

Other than that for some reason people rush online games. There's very little time to think, especially with strangers. It's way less relaxed in my opinion.

Are people actively asking you to hurry up, or do you just get the impression that you're taking too long? That's another thing that I've noticed; turns online just take longer to play out. There are times where I know I'm going to have to think about a move, so I say something like "I need to think about this".

Sometimes people are complaining about playing slowly. Usually I'm not the target but it's still a shame because I can understand how the game can be overwhelming at times and it's hard to make decisions. People also resolve spells really quickly so you have like 1-3 seconds to make the decision whether you want to counter something or not.

I've also noticed this "thinking" that people say almost apologetically. Maybe it's just a matter of experience that I'm lacking but I actually need to think about my moves before doing them, otherwise I'll think about it afterwards and realise it was a dumb thing to do. This probably subconsciously makes me play fewer spells in general because I don't want to "bother" others by making them wait.

[WizardSpartan]

Other than that for some reason people rush online games. There's very little time to think, especially with strangers. It's way less relaxed in my opinion.

Are people actively asking you to hurry up, or do you just get the impression that you're taking too long? That's another thing that I've noticed; turns online just take longer to play out. There are times where I know I'm going to have to think about a move, so I say something like "I need to think about this".

Sometimes people are complaining about playing slowly. Usually I'm not the target but it's still a shame because I can understand how the game can be overwhelming at times and it's hard to make decisions. People also resolve spells really quickly so you have like 1-3 seconds to make the decision whether you want to counter something or not.

I've also noticed this "thinking" that people say almost apologetically. Maybe it's just a matter of experience that I'm lacking but I actually need to think about my moves before doing them, otherwise I'll think about it afterwards and realise it was a dumb thing to do. This probably subconsciously makes me play fewer spells in general because I don't want to "bother" others by making them wait.

Yeah, overall the play experience is less satisfying for me. Shuffling the deck is about the only thing I do faster, and everything else just takes longer/is more complicated.

I've also noticed how quickly people resolve spells, but as someone who does that, it's difficult to know when to wait and/or how long to wait. If I'm resolving a game-winning combo, giant beater, etc. then I'll usually give like 10 seconds before moving on, but the overall problem is in-person, you can tell whether people are engaged or not, while online, you have no idea.

I also let people know when I'm thinking b/c, yet again, it's impossible to tell online whether a player is thinking or if they are afk, while in-person it's obvious.

Everything is just more complicated and less enjoyable, for a myriad of reasons.

[WWolfe]

One thing I've noticed online more than playing in-person is that there's a wide variety of how people determine the power level of their decks. I've had people tell me they have 4's that their decks are more like 9's and vice versa. I know this happens in-person, but with a normal playgroup or people that you somewhat routinely play with at your LGS, it seems to normally happen less as people are familiar with each other and what it is you're all looking for out of a game. Like I said, I know this happens in-person but with strangers online it seems to happen more.

As for other issues people have pointed out, there seems to be an impatience with people trying to play games in 15 minutes or so compared to letting them flow normally. I generally play relatively quickly as I know my decks fairly well and basically know what I want to do each turn based on where the game feels like it is, but even with that I feel rushed at times.

Also I've noticed that people aren't as detailed with their combinations and stuff as they normally are in-person. It's like it bothers them if you try to get them to explain it as they're already rushing through the actions instead of making sure people understand what is going on. I know a fair amount of the combos being played but it's impossible to know every interaction in MTG but it really seems to bother some people if you ask them to explain what they're doing.

Overall, I enjoy playing in-person much more than playing online.