Striking the ENTER key, I hear the telltale buzz of a node connection, and I am there. Looking around, I find that this place is huge, a world in itself. What will I find? Will it be high adventure of a medieval time, or gothic horrors that I am quite happy to find flipping away with a signoff command?

My fingers itch; my mind is sharp as knife. I long for those adventures. There are so many to be had, and a little time before the offline "real" world intervenes. I strike another key, and begin to explore.

Taking It to the People

The sound of dice rolling across the table and onto the floor is accompanied by a curse and dive for the lost polyhedra. Nearby, one participant wanders off on a coffee break. Another pages through a magazine. For several minutes, everyone talks at once, arguing over rules. The phone rings. And, somewhere during all of this, a game is being played. These player, drove as far as forty miles, some from other cities, to get here.

In contrast, the game I played online during a recent weekend was experienced from the comfort of my own home. The room was quiet, accompanied only by the patter of the keyboard. When I wanted to grab something to eat, none of the other players were aware of it, so they weren't distracted. My dice were tucked away on a shelf. My magazines were set aside.

Online chat games, "round table" style, are becoming more common on the national communications networks. Generally, they are played in what are termed "room", "round tables," or "conference centers". Imagining a network as one huge CB radio will give a good idea. These "rooms" compare to channels on the radio, and if each player tunes in to the same channel, they can play a game together.

For these live chat games, everyone has agreed to show up in the same room at the same time, and none of them has driven miles in the snow to do so. In fact, each of them is probably from a different state, and their get-togethers were arranged by a note posted an a virtual bulletin board that flashed coast to coast.

Race of the Snails

Play-By Mail has grown in popularity to the extent of having entire magazines dedicated to this subject. Playing by U.S. Mail has disadvantages to it, the most frustrating being the wait for the outcome of your move. Once in a while, a move lost in transit or mangled by some postal machine will throw a wrench into the works; so in the end, as time stretches on, you might lose interest and the money you've spent goes to the winds.

In the electronic world of network gaming, you have the advantage of knowing your electronic mail (e-mail) has reached the person you sent it to in the few seconds it takes to push a button. Most of the major online services have private electronic mail features as well as an email gaming community, so as with the other methods of role-playing available, you are sure to find something that suits you. These games are not immediately available to the unsubscribing general public, as the messages pass through as "private" correspondence.

Another aspect of many online networks is message-based gaming. This is much akin to players and the Gamemaster joining together to create a story, and tends to be more structured and drawn-out than online chat games. The Gamemaster opens with a move and sequence of events in a story form. Players then, in some cases, have varying amount of time to post their characters' moves, and what they would like to try, on the bulletin boards. The Gamemaster, after looking over the players' moves, roll dice offline if needed. The events that transpire next are a result of the players' actions, though the dice might still dictate a success or failure in some tasks. The story starts in a certain way, but with the dice even a Gamemaster will not know for certain the outcome. One thing that most people enjoy about posting their moves on a bulletin board is the fact that when you post your message, a mere few seconds pass and your post/game move is there for all in the game to see. (No waiting for the flap of the mailbox.) And in most cases, the games are updated at least once a week (some have even been known to update right after the players post) and in an hour or so, the next game move and resulting events are posted. Message-based games, posted on bulletin boards, are more accessible to the public than games played by e-mail. As a result, it's easier to recruit new players.

Live the Fantasy

Yet another type of role-playing found online is generally referred to as free-form gaming. It can be found on at least two of the major networks as an "Inn" in which role-players interact with others without a Gamemaster or set game schedule. The inter-galactic space traveller can sit and "have a drink" with a sorcerer without any kind of game system between them. Anyone and everyone can contribute to the collage of fantasy, and romances are kindled and broken every night in the spirit of role-playing.

This style of online gaming can be a bit awkward for the online newcomer to become familiar with, as it is found almost exclusively in the online community, and is fairly rare outside the electronic nets. Entering such an "Inn" with an open mind and willingness to learn, though, will often result in offers or explanations from others as to what is going on that night, which drinks to avoid, and what the major topics of conversation are. Socializing between gamers and their characters is an excellent method of understanding different player styles, and the wide diversity of methods from around the country.

Electronic Fencing

Up to this point, we have been discussing types of games available in message style. The player types a sentence, presses a button, and that's it. The only intervening computer software is the communications software which allows you to connect to the network.

Within the last few years, several of the online networks have added an entirely new dimension of role- playing to their offerings. These computer games are similar to any which you might find in a software store, but with one major difference - many people can play in the same game "world" simultaneously. Rather than a single player taking control of multiple characters in your favorite high fantasy computer game, you are a single character and travel the width and breadth of a game with others.

In addition, multi-player interactive games also cater to players who are not yet familiar with role-playing. For some of them, initially it is simply a game of trying to beat a computer. The discovery that you can actually become your character, with a little work and imagination, makes this type of game a valuable gate for increasing the number of role-players in the gaming industry.

Rules-Mongers' Paradise

If you have ever sent a letter to a game company, you know that it can take a long time to get a reply. If you need a rule clarified, or wish to correspond with other fans of your favorite game, attending conventions is often the only way to do so.

Message bases on communications networks are a good place to look for these things. Players can post questions, answers, and comments on their game, and then go back days or weeks later to find that many letters have been posted in response. Gamemasters congregate in these places, and a hundred ways to test your players come up in conversation regularly. Often, libraries full of "Gamemaster's assistant" programs, graphics files, and informative articles are there for the browsing.

If you are looking for a rare back issue of your favorite magazine; if you collect Alpha print copies of Magic: The Gathering cards; if you have lost the rules to an out-of-print game, then online is an excellent place to look.

And so, the adventure begins with the screeching tones of two computers talking.

Your opinions, comments, questions, complaints, and gripes are welcomed. Write to: PO Box 385, Tallevast FL 34270-0385, to the screen name "Shael" on American Online, or Internet "shael@aol.com." Please include a U.S. Mail address and your name with any correspondence, and an SASE if you wish a reply on paper.