When I first joined the site I remember someone posting a survival guide to playing "casual" players. You know, someone at work who finds out you play chess and insists that you come over the house and play a few games. Bringing a standard Staunton set with you and a rule book saves a lot of grief.
Yeah the whole 2d/3d can be a bit unnerving when you first switch. It's one of the reasons I always have a chess set or two set up next to the computer. They're not always in use, kind of impractical for timed stuff like the Tactics Trainer, but I do use them for correspondence chess and opening study. When I'm not lazy I'll try to use a board with videos as well.
Today I was playing with a Simpsons chess set where all the pieces were represented by members of the Simpsons family. Since Bart Lisa and Maggie all have spikey yellow hair, it was kind of confusing.
Do you get this same feeling when playing with novelty chess sets where the pieces don't look like they usually do?
Also, if you're used to playing on the internet with the 2d diagram board, do you play worse when you have a 3d OTB game and vice versa?