They may get your money... but the fact they aren't doing this anymore is a pretty good indication that they wouldn't get many other's.
-
NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
DDXP Liveblogging
- Thread starter mudbunny
- Start date
Weregrognard
First Post
WotC has a few D&D products and plans for this year.
Some are interesting, some are "meh".
Sounds like a typical year to me
...
Somewhat related: Am I the only one looking forward to Living Dark Sun?
Some are interesting, some are "meh".
Sounds like a typical year to me
...
Somewhat related: Am I the only one looking forward to Living Dark Sun?
Abstruse
Legend
And that's where they're making a mistake. They've reached the point in the edition cycle where they're kinda stuck. 3rd Ed went through the same thing where all the core classes had tons of coverage in books and they were having to make up weird prestige classes just to put books in print. When 3.5 came to that point, they just went straight into 4e (which annoyed a lot of people and gave companies like Paizo a boost when they continued to support it). I think Wizards saw that and the fact that there's not a lot they can do to 4e to turn it into 4.5 or 5e other than basically errata the classes to eliminate the "math fix" feats and tighten up the powers.
Most players have their PHB1, PHB2 or PHB3 for their class of choice, the Power book for their power source, and maybe another book or two. DMs have their PHBs, MMs, adventures, campaign setting books, Power books, etc. They have far more material than they'll EVER use in their lifetime for the game. We've already got 8+ power options at every single level for each class and hundreds of monsters to draw from, so we don't NEED anymore books. Things like the Compendium and Character Generator just make it worse because I don't need Adventurer's Vault because it's already in the tools (even the Power books can be optional if it weren't for rules for stuff like Domains being in there). Now that I think about it, that might be the reason for the push to buggy online apps for everything rather than the installed programs that worked perfectly well - I can't just sign up for DDi for one month every 6 months just to get the updates.
I'm getting into TL,DR territory now, but basically, they're trying to get blood from a stone with 4e. There's no more "must buy" products in this edition, and a downturn in sales should be expected. A company can't have that sort of revenue dry up, so they're doing anything they can to get new customers who'll have to go buy a PHB/DMG/MM sets (also probably the reason they're pushing Encounters which is another mistake IMO)...and in doing so, they're alienating their core audience as proven by threads like this one on here, RPGnet, and on Wizards forums themselves.
I like the card idea (especially if it's like the Encounters Twitter thing they do). I like the board games (as long as they're not a "replacement" for the D&D Minis line). I don't like that it's pretty much all we're getting for the entire year aside from a Shadow Power book that doesn't have the Shadow power anymore and a Faewild book that I frankly can't say anything on because I know nothing about what it'll be.
Insight
Adventurer
Somewhat related: Am I the only one looking forward to Living Dark Sun?
Nope. I'm driving 150mi each way to attend DNDXP tomorrow specifically to play Ashes of Athas. I hope it's worth the trip.
[MENTION=59244]WolfStar76[/MENTION] is liveblogging the VT seminar right now, which includes a sample of play.
No streaming feed.
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1XVv_FNN5BMHOPorcJQeG9xNcftGqj5Ybu-9ceri9BRw
I will post up the text of the liveblogging once the seminar is finished.
No streaming feed.
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1XVv_FNN5BMHOPorcJQeG9xNcftGqj5Ybu-9ceri9BRw
I will post up the text of the liveblogging once the seminar is finished.
catsclaw227
First Post
Do we know if the VT will allow you to use custom maps or only tiles from the WOTC tilesets?
dmccoy1693
Adventurer
Well... That's interesting. Good for WotC. Not so good for game store owners.
From the Baldmangames Seminar page
Jan 28th, 2011 - 1:00pm
See the D&D Virtual Table in a real live gameplay experience! After the game, there will be a short question and answer session on the D&D Virtual Table if time permits.
Liveblogging notes by [MENTION=59244]WolfStar76[/MENTION] for Baldman Games
There were some difficulties getting things started with chasing down power cords and the like, but we’re underway now.
Chris Perkins is live in the conference room - while connected back to players in the WotC offices. Shelly Mezzanoble, Chuck Arnett, Josh Dillard are our players back at the office.
1:15 - The part is advancing down into the dungeon, and Chris Perkins is revealing bits of the map - including a single Kobold at the very edge of vision. As we see the DM screen - we can see that there are about 4 more kobolds waiting out of sight.
The kobold has run off, and Perception checks are being called for - te rolls are all spectacularly low, leading to many jokes about the fighter seeig things in the dark.
Greg Bilsland has pointed out that there are notes on the map that we the DMs can see - but the players can not. The PCs are a single square from multiple traps.
The players hear our snickering in the room, causing much trepidatin on their behalf.
Lander (Charles Arnett) has just stepped on a Scything Blade trap. Raugen (Josh Dillard) has just found another trap.
Tabitha - certain she’s not going to follow in these footprints, sidesteps diagonally - and sure enough she hasn’t found a Scyth Blade trap. Instead, she finds a Dragon Head Fire Trap - hitting her for 5 points of fire. . . luckily, given her Tiefling heritage, this is but a day in the spa for her.
Chris calls for Initiative, and we can see how the Initiative Tracker auto-sorts players by their new init scores. Chris is also able to re-sort/organize PCs and NPCs on the Init List.
As more of the map is revealed, we see the Kobolds laughing at the party, the traps having served their purpose.
Raugen begins his move - finding the next row of Scythe Blades. Ouch!
Kobold Slingers and Dragonshields are lining up against theparty - a Defender walking through teir traps alive has taken the humor from the situation.
As the attack rolls we can see how, not only does Josh get to see his roll, but so does everyone else. Because the roll was tied to a power, modifiers to the roll were added, and a total was given all at once.
**Alas I got called away a moment, so I’m playing catch up on my notes. Sorry fans, a Baldman’s work is never done.
**
Tabitha used her action to drop a zone - I’m not entire clear on the effect, but Tabitha was able to draw her zone Area of Effect directly on the map. It now shows as a red box - red being her chosen color for the game.
As the Kobolds start to beat on Raugen, he takes some damage, and soon we can see a red blood drop appeari on his token - on the map, on the Player list, and on the Initiative List. Make no mistake, when someone is bloodied, you’ll know about it.
The Kobolds start plotting to push the injured Raugen into a fire, hoping to add insult to injury.
1:30
Chris, as the DM, zooms the map in, better clarifying the area where the battle is going on. The Player view is updated to map as they go along.
Trevor Kidd is pointing out that all the voice chat that we’re listening in on is all fully built into the game table - no third party programs required.
Tabtha fires off some ARc Lightning at a Kobold Dragonshield, hitting his 15 Reflex - and bouncing off a nearby slinger. 8 points of damage fries the little jerks.
Chris goes to adjust the HP of the Kobold - and accidently drops Tabitha’s HP by mistake. Oops! Be careful with that unchecked power, DMs.
When players (or the DM) are talking, a green speaker icon lights up by their name - great for tracking down phantom noises (people shuffling around, playing music too loud, etc). Individual players, and even the DM, can be ignored one-by-one in case of microphone/speaker feedback issues.
Chris is showing off the ability to single-click a d20 icon, allowing him to instantly roll a full attack and/or damage roll without lots of hunting down stats.
The Initiative list has a big “NEXT” button on it to advanced through the list - or the DM can just click on someone to highlight them for their turn.
Players can use the text chat interface to send private messages back and forth - handy for making plans - or if you have a less co-operative group, for plotting against each other.
Tabitha is up againt, and prepares to cast Freezing Burst, tossing it down on a couple Kobolds, narrowly missing her friends. The Kobolds frost over, icicles growing from their noses.
Tabitha’s spell slides the Kobolds - and Trevor Kidd and Greg Bilsland (the dreamy one himself (See #gregbilslandrumors on twitter) ) explain that DMs can allow or disallow forced movement of the NPC tokens.
Tabitha now how to figure out her own movement, and is confused about where the traps are. Chris use a finger pointer tool to show which squares have been seen and are known to have traps. They then further use the drawing tools to circle squares that have traps in them.
Greg Bilsland points out that Chris could also opt to show the notes that on his map (makingthem public) and that this would let the players see his traps as well. . . at least, the ones they’ve stumbled across.
There’s a little more confusion with adjusting HPs - with poor Tabitha taking the damage intended for a Kobold. The HP adjustment user interface is pointed out as something that’s still being worked on.
Dragonshield 1 goes Bloodied, with the same Bloodied marker showing on his token as we’ve seen on the PCs.
I’ve asked about a few “eye” icons on the screen.
There is such an icon next to each player’s name on the player list. Clicking the icon will center the map on the clicked player - hepful in case you lose track of who’s where in the mess of combat.
There is also a tool at the top of the screen that prominently features an eye. This is the line-of-sight tool. Useful for drawing a straight line from the corner of one square to another - and seeing what might be blocking.
Charles is now using a Paladin voice font, deepening his voice a good bit. The effect is truly creepy when Chuck declares “It rubs the lotion on its skin. . .”
2:00
Kobolds start to drop, one of the slingers is now running in a small circle “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die. . . . “
Lander attacks the panicked kobold, hitting him hard AND pushing him back into the zone of fire.
Triumphant, the party has cleared the room.
There are double-doors to the right, and a giant statue on the left.
The doors are fanked by a pair of burning braziers. “As soon as you walk through the braziers. . . nothin happens” quips Chris.
The party decides upon a short rest befor they advance into the next room, and Chris reveals what’s coming - another pair of Kobolds and a rather unkempt looking Eladrin Mage.
The Kobold Slinger who managed to escape the room earlier was lying in wait in the corner of the new room - and tosses a scorpion at Lander. Alas, the poor shaken Kobold rolls poorly, the scopion falling at Lander’s feet.
The remainin Kobolds in the room release the ropes they were holding and drop a net - with a few flasks of Alchemists Fire tied into it - upon the Paladin, attacking his Reflx and giving hima small burn.
Initiative is rolled.
One kobold, upon releasing his rope runs off and dives into a barrel.
Another runs past some cages to a White Dragon. The party found it! The Kobolds weren’t kidding about their Dragon.
The Dragon moves up to claw at the Paladin - scoring a mark across him AND putting the Paladin squarely in his Aura. Freezing Winds constantly swirling around the dragon.
Lander, immobilized by the net, swing his warhammer at the Dragon, and is asked for a Nature check. Learning that this dragon, a Blizzard Dragon, is not native to this plane.
SMASH! The paladin smacks the dragon right in the nose - 18 points of damage. The Dragon shrinks away, already bloodied.
2:15
Tabitha comes up to use her Burning Hands. Looking like she’s about to cook the Paladin, but using a Fortune Card (Careful Aim), allowing her to omit one creature from the Area of Effect of her spell.
The Dragon is safe from the attack, but a Kobold is hurt, and hurt bad.
In an unexpected turn of events, the Kobold Slinger is now turning to sling a stone at the Eladrin Warlock in the room scoring a hit for 6HP.
Kobolds close in on the paladin, several of them swinging at him, with the Dragonshield scoring a hit - reduced to 3 points of damage by Stones Endurance.
Raugen steps up taking a swing at a Kobold Slinger, smashing him good. “MY poor fragile bones! Please, good master, spare my life and I will serve you ever after!”
The Eladrin sees his traitorious Kobolds, and curses them - refusing to be undone by the likes of them. Intruiged by an offer from the party of a deal, the Eladrin pauses, ultimately refusing.
I’ve just noticed that part of the player list is a health bar - as players take damage you can see a red bar slowly depleting, giving a quick view of overall party health.
The Eladrin makes a low-damage attack, moving to a small table and gathering up a bunch of important documents, uttering a command word. The well next to the table starts to glow.
2:30
Lander rushes around the Eladrin, stopping by the glowing well, being warned to move away by the Eladrin.
Tabitha, her fashion sense insulted by the Eladrin, is ready to bring it on. But FIRST, sad that the other party members have pet Kobolds, she offers the remaining Kobold to join her.
Failing the role, the Kobold makes a counter offer - I missed it in a quick Question, but something about the Kobold wanting to join her after all, and wanting to share and play with each other’s toys. She’s insightful enough to smell a false offer, however.
Arc Lightning steps up again. Frying the defiante Kobold and one other.
Trevor unmutes Chris, so we can hear his voice font. Male to Female Old was. . . interesting.
The Eladrin, amazed by Tabitha’s prowess, offers her a chance to join him in his secret domain, studying together, maybe even marrying and having lovely children.
Tabitha is sickened by the offier.
The Eladrin tries to dive into the glowing well, but Lander clotheslines him, dropping him to exactly 0HP.
The remaining Kobold surrenders.
Prisoners are being freed, the Kobolds try to make nice with the former prisoners.
Investigating the well, it’s a teleport to some other plane - it can be deactivated by a keyword. There are Elven Runes around the lip of the well.
They read that the well leads to a paralell dungeon - a dungeon that exists in the Feywild.
And with that - the Demo ends. moving into Q&A
Q: What happens when you right-click on a token?
A: You can set a token Invisible, Pick it up, set conditions, add it to the init tracker, and more.
Q: Can you create a monster in the Monster builder and bring it it?
A: Not yet, but we’ll be turning that feature on and testing it heavily very soon.
Q: Does it come with a suite of Dungeon Tiles or do you have to import them?
A: This beta includes a limited set of tiles, we haven’t decided how we’ll add more.
A: The other tiles are already scanned and ready, however, when we decide.
Q: Can you demonstrate how to lie tiles down?
A: Yes. *Chris drags a tile from the side menue, dropping a pit trap under the party and rotating tiles.
Q: Can you change what tiles are stacked on top of others?
A: Yes.
Q: Can you create your own Character Portrait?
A: Right now it’s just the loaded images. That may change later, but this beta is limited
They show off a map from Keep on the Shadowfell.
We’d like to run events online, just like the events here. Buy a ticket, get on, play.
Q: Will Dungeon/Dragon content be featured in the Virtual Table?
A: That’s something we’re hoping to focus on
Voice Font demonstrations
Male to Female
Elf
Orc - VERY GOOD
Paladin Voice (Batman)
Q: Will non-DDI subscribers be able to be invited to a game?
A: We don’t know yet
Q: Will Fortune Cards be integrated?
A: TBD - it will probably be like toher product, separate.
Q: Voice Fonts integrated?
A: Yes!
Q: Could we get a sound effects bar?
A: We’d love to put something like that in for wave files
Q: Is that the Tiles interface? It look shard to pick and choose tiles
A: We know we have a lot of UI work to do still, we’re realyl testing functionality right now.
Q: IF my friend makes an adventure, can I download/share that?
A: We’re working on that, with Game Table Online.
A: Right now, theoretically, yes, but we’re not sure we will have that feature on at launch.
Q: Is there a logfile of the action?
A: You can keep track of it in the chat screen during the game.
A: There’s a chat log, but I don’t know if we track things like all the math, and transactions for things like HP changes.
Q: Could you integrate older editions of the game into this tool?
A: Very possible, we’ll talk more about that with you later.
Q: Could you give players a reminder window/pop-up that shows things they need to do every round?
A: That’s possible, in the future, right now we’re working on emulating tabletop play as much as possible. Later we’ll look at adding features to make the game easier.
Q: Does the table simulate lighting conditions?
No, the DM can show/reveal parts of the map, but the tool doesn’t calculate line of sight, lighting, etc.
Q: Can you save a current game state and come back to that game if/when your play session ends?
A: Yes, we do that.
Thanks for coming! And thank you, dear reader, for following our notes!
Jan 28th, 2011 - 1:00pm
See the D&D Virtual Table in a real live gameplay experience! After the game, there will be a short question and answer session on the D&D Virtual Table if time permits.
Liveblogging notes by [MENTION=59244]WolfStar76[/MENTION] for Baldman Games
There were some difficulties getting things started with chasing down power cords and the like, but we’re underway now.
Chris Perkins is live in the conference room - while connected back to players in the WotC offices. Shelly Mezzanoble, Chuck Arnett, Josh Dillard are our players back at the office.
1:15 - The part is advancing down into the dungeon, and Chris Perkins is revealing bits of the map - including a single Kobold at the very edge of vision. As we see the DM screen - we can see that there are about 4 more kobolds waiting out of sight.
The kobold has run off, and Perception checks are being called for - te rolls are all spectacularly low, leading to many jokes about the fighter seeig things in the dark.
Greg Bilsland has pointed out that there are notes on the map that we the DMs can see - but the players can not. The PCs are a single square from multiple traps.
The players hear our snickering in the room, causing much trepidatin on their behalf.
Lander (Charles Arnett) has just stepped on a Scything Blade trap. Raugen (Josh Dillard) has just found another trap.
Tabitha - certain she’s not going to follow in these footprints, sidesteps diagonally - and sure enough she hasn’t found a Scyth Blade trap. Instead, she finds a Dragon Head Fire Trap - hitting her for 5 points of fire. . . luckily, given her Tiefling heritage, this is but a day in the spa for her.
Chris calls for Initiative, and we can see how the Initiative Tracker auto-sorts players by their new init scores. Chris is also able to re-sort/organize PCs and NPCs on the Init List.
As more of the map is revealed, we see the Kobolds laughing at the party, the traps having served their purpose.
Raugen begins his move - finding the next row of Scythe Blades. Ouch!
Kobold Slingers and Dragonshields are lining up against theparty - a Defender walking through teir traps alive has taken the humor from the situation.
As the attack rolls we can see how, not only does Josh get to see his roll, but so does everyone else. Because the roll was tied to a power, modifiers to the roll were added, and a total was given all at once.
**Alas I got called away a moment, so I’m playing catch up on my notes. Sorry fans, a Baldman’s work is never done.
**Tabitha used her action to drop a zone - I’m not entire clear on the effect, but Tabitha was able to draw her zone Area of Effect directly on the map. It now shows as a red box - red being her chosen color for the game.
As the Kobolds start to beat on Raugen, he takes some damage, and soon we can see a red blood drop appeari on his token - on the map, on the Player list, and on the Initiative List. Make no mistake, when someone is bloodied, you’ll know about it.
The Kobolds start plotting to push the injured Raugen into a fire, hoping to add insult to injury.
1:30
Chris, as the DM, zooms the map in, better clarifying the area where the battle is going on. The Player view is updated to map as they go along.
Trevor Kidd is pointing out that all the voice chat that we’re listening in on is all fully built into the game table - no third party programs required.
Tabtha fires off some ARc Lightning at a Kobold Dragonshield, hitting his 15 Reflex - and bouncing off a nearby slinger. 8 points of damage fries the little jerks.
Chris goes to adjust the HP of the Kobold - and accidently drops Tabitha’s HP by mistake. Oops! Be careful with that unchecked power, DMs.
When players (or the DM) are talking, a green speaker icon lights up by their name - great for tracking down phantom noises (people shuffling around, playing music too loud, etc). Individual players, and even the DM, can be ignored one-by-one in case of microphone/speaker feedback issues.
Chris is showing off the ability to single-click a d20 icon, allowing him to instantly roll a full attack and/or damage roll without lots of hunting down stats.
The Initiative list has a big “NEXT” button on it to advanced through the list - or the DM can just click on someone to highlight them for their turn.
Players can use the text chat interface to send private messages back and forth - handy for making plans - or if you have a less co-operative group, for plotting against each other.
Tabitha is up againt, and prepares to cast Freezing Burst, tossing it down on a couple Kobolds, narrowly missing her friends. The Kobolds frost over, icicles growing from their noses.
Tabitha’s spell slides the Kobolds - and Trevor Kidd and Greg Bilsland (the dreamy one himself (See #gregbilslandrumors on twitter) ) explain that DMs can allow or disallow forced movement of the NPC tokens.
Tabitha now how to figure out her own movement, and is confused about where the traps are. Chris use a finger pointer tool to show which squares have been seen and are known to have traps. They then further use the drawing tools to circle squares that have traps in them.
Greg Bilsland points out that Chris could also opt to show the notes that on his map (makingthem public) and that this would let the players see his traps as well. . . at least, the ones they’ve stumbled across.
There’s a little more confusion with adjusting HPs - with poor Tabitha taking the damage intended for a Kobold. The HP adjustment user interface is pointed out as something that’s still being worked on.
Dragonshield 1 goes Bloodied, with the same Bloodied marker showing on his token as we’ve seen on the PCs.
I’ve asked about a few “eye” icons on the screen.
There is such an icon next to each player’s name on the player list. Clicking the icon will center the map on the clicked player - hepful in case you lose track of who’s where in the mess of combat.
There is also a tool at the top of the screen that prominently features an eye. This is the line-of-sight tool. Useful for drawing a straight line from the corner of one square to another - and seeing what might be blocking.
Charles is now using a Paladin voice font, deepening his voice a good bit. The effect is truly creepy when Chuck declares “It rubs the lotion on its skin. . .”
2:00
Kobolds start to drop, one of the slingers is now running in a small circle “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die. . . . “
Lander attacks the panicked kobold, hitting him hard AND pushing him back into the zone of fire.
Triumphant, the party has cleared the room.
There are double-doors to the right, and a giant statue on the left.
The doors are fanked by a pair of burning braziers. “As soon as you walk through the braziers. . . nothin happens” quips Chris.
The party decides upon a short rest befor they advance into the next room, and Chris reveals what’s coming - another pair of Kobolds and a rather unkempt looking Eladrin Mage.
The Kobold Slinger who managed to escape the room earlier was lying in wait in the corner of the new room - and tosses a scorpion at Lander. Alas, the poor shaken Kobold rolls poorly, the scopion falling at Lander’s feet.
The remainin Kobolds in the room release the ropes they were holding and drop a net - with a few flasks of Alchemists Fire tied into it - upon the Paladin, attacking his Reflx and giving hima small burn.
Initiative is rolled.
One kobold, upon releasing his rope runs off and dives into a barrel.
Another runs past some cages to a White Dragon. The party found it! The Kobolds weren’t kidding about their Dragon.
The Dragon moves up to claw at the Paladin - scoring a mark across him AND putting the Paladin squarely in his Aura. Freezing Winds constantly swirling around the dragon.
Lander, immobilized by the net, swing his warhammer at the Dragon, and is asked for a Nature check. Learning that this dragon, a Blizzard Dragon, is not native to this plane.
SMASH! The paladin smacks the dragon right in the nose - 18 points of damage. The Dragon shrinks away, already bloodied.
2:15
Tabitha comes up to use her Burning Hands. Looking like she’s about to cook the Paladin, but using a Fortune Card (Careful Aim), allowing her to omit one creature from the Area of Effect of her spell.
The Dragon is safe from the attack, but a Kobold is hurt, and hurt bad.
In an unexpected turn of events, the Kobold Slinger is now turning to sling a stone at the Eladrin Warlock in the room scoring a hit for 6HP.
Kobolds close in on the paladin, several of them swinging at him, with the Dragonshield scoring a hit - reduced to 3 points of damage by Stones Endurance.
Raugen steps up taking a swing at a Kobold Slinger, smashing him good. “MY poor fragile bones! Please, good master, spare my life and I will serve you ever after!”
The Eladrin sees his traitorious Kobolds, and curses them - refusing to be undone by the likes of them. Intruiged by an offer from the party of a deal, the Eladrin pauses, ultimately refusing.
I’ve just noticed that part of the player list is a health bar - as players take damage you can see a red bar slowly depleting, giving a quick view of overall party health.
The Eladrin makes a low-damage attack, moving to a small table and gathering up a bunch of important documents, uttering a command word. The well next to the table starts to glow.
2:30
Lander rushes around the Eladrin, stopping by the glowing well, being warned to move away by the Eladrin.
Tabitha, her fashion sense insulted by the Eladrin, is ready to bring it on. But FIRST, sad that the other party members have pet Kobolds, she offers the remaining Kobold to join her.
Failing the role, the Kobold makes a counter offer - I missed it in a quick Question, but something about the Kobold wanting to join her after all, and wanting to share and play with each other’s toys. She’s insightful enough to smell a false offer, however.
Arc Lightning steps up again. Frying the defiante Kobold and one other.
Trevor unmutes Chris, so we can hear his voice font. Male to Female Old was. . . interesting.
The Eladrin, amazed by Tabitha’s prowess, offers her a chance to join him in his secret domain, studying together, maybe even marrying and having lovely children.
Tabitha is sickened by the offier.
The Eladrin tries to dive into the glowing well, but Lander clotheslines him, dropping him to exactly 0HP.
The remaining Kobold surrenders.
Prisoners are being freed, the Kobolds try to make nice with the former prisoners.
Investigating the well, it’s a teleport to some other plane - it can be deactivated by a keyword. There are Elven Runes around the lip of the well.
They read that the well leads to a paralell dungeon - a dungeon that exists in the Feywild.
And with that - the Demo ends. moving into Q&A
Q: What happens when you right-click on a token?
A: You can set a token Invisible, Pick it up, set conditions, add it to the init tracker, and more.
Q: Can you create a monster in the Monster builder and bring it it?
A: Not yet, but we’ll be turning that feature on and testing it heavily very soon.
Q: Does it come with a suite of Dungeon Tiles or do you have to import them?
A: This beta includes a limited set of tiles, we haven’t decided how we’ll add more.
A: The other tiles are already scanned and ready, however, when we decide.
Q: Can you demonstrate how to lie tiles down?
A: Yes. *Chris drags a tile from the side menue, dropping a pit trap under the party and rotating tiles.
Q: Can you change what tiles are stacked on top of others?
A: Yes.
Q: Can you create your own Character Portrait?
A: Right now it’s just the loaded images. That may change later, but this beta is limited
They show off a map from Keep on the Shadowfell.
We’d like to run events online, just like the events here. Buy a ticket, get on, play.
Q: Will Dungeon/Dragon content be featured in the Virtual Table?
A: That’s something we’re hoping to focus on
Voice Font demonstrations
Male to Female
Elf
Orc - VERY GOOD
Paladin Voice (Batman)
Q: Will non-DDI subscribers be able to be invited to a game?
A: We don’t know yet
Q: Will Fortune Cards be integrated?
A: TBD - it will probably be like toher product, separate.
Q: Voice Fonts integrated?
A: Yes!
Q: Could we get a sound effects bar?
A: We’d love to put something like that in for wave files
Q: Is that the Tiles interface? It look shard to pick and choose tiles
A: We know we have a lot of UI work to do still, we’re realyl testing functionality right now.
Q: IF my friend makes an adventure, can I download/share that?
A: We’re working on that, with Game Table Online.
A: Right now, theoretically, yes, but we’re not sure we will have that feature on at launch.
Q: Is there a logfile of the action?
A: You can keep track of it in the chat screen during the game.
A: There’s a chat log, but I don’t know if we track things like all the math, and transactions for things like HP changes.
Q: Could you integrate older editions of the game into this tool?
A: Very possible, we’ll talk more about that with you later.
Q: Could you give players a reminder window/pop-up that shows things they need to do every round?
A: That’s possible, in the future, right now we’re working on emulating tabletop play as much as possible. Later we’ll look at adding features to make the game easier.
Q: Does the table simulate lighting conditions?
No, the DM can show/reveal parts of the map, but the tool doesn’t calculate line of sight, lighting, etc.
Q: Can you save a current game state and come back to that game if/when your play session ends?
A: Yes, we do that.
Thanks for coming! And thank you, dear reader, for following our notes!
OnlineDM
Adventurer
I run a game in MapTool every Friday night (guess I should get back to prep work pretty soon here...) and I've also run some games in the Virtual Table. MapTool is far better right now just because you can do more stuff with it - import maps, draw better maps, import images for tokens, write custom macros, etc.
However, I do expect the Virtual Table to eventually surpass MapTool for 4e online play. The keys to that happening will be:
- Integrated character import from Character Builder
- Integrated monster import from Monster Builder
- Map image importability / better tools for drawing your own maps
- General UI improvements
The big obstacle, then will be pricing. MapTool is free. The absolute cheapest the Virtual Table could realistically be is free for players, while the DM would need a DDI subscription.
I tend to subscribe to the theory that there will end up being multiple tiers of DDI subscription - one that's like today's (the Player Tier) which will let you PLAY in Virtual Table games, and then a higher tier (the DM Tier) that will give you access to the Monster Builder and the ability to RUN Virtual Table Games. I also worry that microtransactions are going to be a part of the Virtual Table - pay for each monster, pay for each PC, pay for each Dungeon Tile set, etc.
If WotC makes Virtual Table a free part of a DDI subscription, with full import capabilities, I think it could end up being a big success. Remember that they look to their other big success, Magic: The Gathering, for business inspiration, and Magic Online is very successful. That game relies on microtransactions, though - you buy virtual packs of cards. I will be sad, though not surprised, if WotC does something similar with Virtual Table. Either pay per token or pay per game or something like that.
