He was not different at all once we met.  It took a little while for me to acclimate to having him around (a couple days), but we started joking around the same as we did online almost immediately.  We knew each other for a year and a half (dated for a year of that) before a two-week engagement and civil ceremony.

I really feel online relationships are underestimated.  A lot of people take them very lightly, but really they take a relationship down to it's most fundamental component--communication.  Jeff and I would often have four or five lines of communication open at once while dating (daily!), and while not being able to do most normal 'date' activities sucked, we got to know each other really, really well, even being able to support each other long-distance through tough times.