Virtual Tabletop software?

[Festivus]

I have used both Maptool and Fantasy Grounds. I stopped using Fantasy Grounds when Maptool turned the corner and became a really stable alternative to the recently (at the time) released Maptool 2 which kept crashing on us.

Maptool has a big bonus that it's FREE. I disliked (but I believe they have changed) the licensing structure for Fantasy Grounds, where bringing new players in was difficult because they had to purchase a client.

I watched the Epic Table RPG app and didn't see anything in there that you couldn't already do with Maptool or Fantasy Grounds.

I can't recall if Fantasy Grounds ties you to a grid or hex map, but I know Maptool doesn't.

 

[Steel_Wind]

The only problem is, of my group of eight (including myself) we're all GM's. It would actually cost us over two hundred dollars to use this program.

C'mon, that's not a fair representation. If you are a DM and WANT a DM's copy, then it would cost you $30 each. It acts as a player client as well and does not take up a "guest slot" when it is in use as a player client in somebody else's game.

But it's hardly a reasonable assessment of a niche computer program's cost to suggest it's "too expensive" when you then evaluate its costs on the basis that each player wants to purchase his own DM client as well instead of a player client. That's a choice gamers may make - but it is not a requirement of the software nor the expected price point.

I'm suggesting you should be fair when posting on the cost of software here on ENWorld. If people think the actual cost is too much? Then they do. But it's not right to leave people thinking the actual cost is something other than what it really is. Your statement as to the cost of the software is, accordingly, misleading to a casual reader of these forums.

I personally don't think that either D20 Pro or Fantasy Grounds or anybody is "screwing over DMs". I think the asking price for their products is eminently fair. And to be clear on this point: I think the price you expect to pay is neither fair nor reasonable.

Your opinion is your own, but that doesn't necessarily make it a reasonable one.

 

[Matchstick]

C'mon, that's not a fair representation. If you are a DM and WANT a DM's copy, then it would cost you $30 each. It acts as a player client as well and does not take up a "guest slot" when it is in use as a player client in somebody else's game.

But it's hardly a reasonable assessment of a niche computer program's cost to suggest it's "too expensive" when you then evaluate its costs on the basis that each player wants to purchase his own DM client as well instead of a player client. That's a choice gamers may make - but it is not a requirement of the software nor the expected price point.

I'm suggesting you should be fair when posting on the cost of software here on ENWorld. If people think the actual cost is too much? Then they do. But it's not right to leave people thinking the actual cost is something other than what it really is. Your statement as to the cost of the software is, accordingly, misleading to a casual reader of these forums.

I personally don't think that either D20 Pro or Fantasy Grounds or anybody is "screwing over DMs". I think the asking price for their products is eminently fair. And to be clear on this point: I think the price you expect to pay is neither fair nor reasonable.

Your opinion is your own, but that doesn't necessarily make it a reasonable one.

I agree. Our group is pretty varied financially but we all bought Fantasy Grounds Full licenses. I think it's 40 bucks or so? That's a few months playing an MMOG, or a four trips to the movie theater, or two blu-rays. Best of all, we're now playing in a group again, with people in five states across three time zones. I'd have paid twice that (or more) just to get to RPG with the guys again. And the license is good for years.

Heck, I paid WAY more than that to go to GenCon and see some of my friends for only three days!

Paying isn't the way everyone wants to go. As you say, that's fine. And I definitely agree that paying doesn't mean that we got ripped off. I don't think any one of us feels even remotely that way. We have at least three GM's working on games and tons of interest in playing. Everyone's loving that renewed sense of participation and interest in RPG's.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

I use MapTool. I'm completely happy with it, so I see no need in paying for other software.

At GenCon, I actually asked almost every VTT booth "why pay for your program when MapTool is free?" and didn't get a good answer from any of them, surprisingly. Some were better than others at handling it, but it felt like I was blindsiding them every time. You'd think they'd expect that question and have some response prepared.

 

[Naszir]

I've been using Fantasy Grounds for 3 years now. Nice piece of software. Used it with Midnight (3.5 D&D Fantasy Flight Games) and for the past two years 4th Edition but it is flexible to enough to use with any system. It does its job well and it has good support and the guys who run the company are continuing to make improvements.

 

[Jorunkun]

Another vote for Maptool, which we have been using for more than two years now. It's free, it's stable and the Pathfinder framework is amazing.

 

[Qwillion]

Breaking of Fostor Nagar module supports Maptool; Jonathan Roberts our cartographer is a huge Maptool supporter and all of our Fantastic Maps line supports 4E and Pathfinder frameworks.

And yes Breaking of Fostor Nagar was given a special dispensation by Paizo to make it compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game to be able to use the compatibility licence.

 

[Verdande]

For portability, I don't have a laptop, refuse to get a netbook, and own an iPad.

Just a quick aside: How can somebody refuse a netbook and then get an iPad? The imagination boggles.

On topic:
I used to use this one free program that was written in Python, although it did force things to a grid. Also, I second MapTools.

 

[IronWolf]

I was able to check out Inferno at Gencon and wasn't too impressed.

We have a thread running on Infrno over here:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286387-who-has-tried-infrno-net.html

If you get a chance can you add what you thought of it over there? A few of us were curious.

 

[Hussar]

C'mon, that's not a fair representation. If you are a DM and WANT a DM's copy, then it would cost you $30 each. It acts as a player client as well and does not take up a "guest slot" when it is in use as a player client in somebody else's game.

But it's hardly a reasonable assessment of a niche computer program's cost to suggest it's "too expensive" when you then evaluate its costs on the basis that each player wants to purchase his own DM client as well instead of a player client. That's a choice gamers may make - but it is not a requirement of the software nor the expected price point.

I'm suggesting you should be fair when posting on the cost of software here on ENWorld. If people think the actual cost is too much? Then they do. But it's not right to leave people thinking the actual cost is something other than what it really is. Your statement as to the cost of the software is, accordingly, misleading to a casual reader of these forums.

I personally don't think that either D20 Pro or Fantasy Grounds or anybody is "screwing over DMs". I think the asking price for their products is eminently fair. And to be clear on this point: I think the price you expect to pay is neither fair nor reasonable.

Your opinion is your own, but that doesn't necessarily make it a reasonable one.

How is that not fair? My group of eight contains eight DM's. For us to use this software is going to cost the group over two hundred dollars.

And a group of 5 with 1 DM isn't likely going to be 50 dollars, since we're on the topic of honesty, because how do you decide who gets the free rides? It's most likely 30 bucks for the DM, and 10 for each player. 30+40=70, not 50.

But, that's the point, why is the DM being forced to pay the extra 20 bucks? What am I getting for that? If I'm the DM, I'm BRINGING the group to the program. For that extra 20 bucks, I get the privilege of selling your product to my players. Great for the program's producers I suppose, but, other than the fact that I get the non-crippled version of the program, what benefit do I get?

If I'm paying three times as much money to use the program as everyone else, I expect three times more support. But, I don't get that. All I get is the ability to run the game. Which is all I need in the first place.

I loathe the double price scheme. It screws over DM's for no reason. There should be ONE price that everyone who wants to use the program should have to pay. And everyone who pays that should get the same program and same benefits and limitations.

It's like selling a computer game where, if you want the ability to make custom maps or custom elements, you get to pay three times as much money. Good luck selling that idea. It's ridiculous.