Fantasy Grounds Is Going Free To Play

Fantasy Grounds, the Virtual Tabletop (VTT) which launched over 20 years ago in 2004, has always been a premium option for VTT users. That is--until today! Because, effective immediately, Fantasy Grounds is free to use.

Previously an FG license cost $50, and then you had to buy the games and other modules you wanted to use with it. As of today, all users can host and join unlimited games with no purchase or subscription.

The software itself is free, although of course the marketplace contains a massive quantity of official licensed content, and add-ons like art, maps, tokens, and digital dice. Officially licensed material includes Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, and more, with over 50 game systems and more than 3,000 products.

There's also a new 'Online Reader'--a web-based compendium which enables you to access your Fantasy Grounds library from your browser.

 

[kronovan]

Honestly, I thought the biggest barrier people would mention here on the forum would be the interface—not the fact that you have to install a software on your computer.

Hearing this always makes me curious and I have to ask, what aspect of the inteface?

I've certainly had players that didn't care for it overall, but that dislike at times seemed generational. I had one player say they thought it "didn't look like an up to date app." A number of my Millennial and GenZ players feel it's poor because it didn't have the features of a modern web app - OK? Whereas I and some of my baby boomer and GenX players, who pleasantly discovered the vertical tool pallete/toolbox in MAC, then Amiga and eventually Windows apps, tend to see it as visually good and easy to grasp.

I've also had some of my younger players find the right-click menus clumsy and confusing, which always brings up a "are you kidding" from me. Mostly because I still remember their debut (was that Win 3.1 or 95) and back then blissfully right-clicking to my hearts content - never have grown tired of them. I do think SW's recent move from icons to descriptive text on right-click menus to be a good interface development.

If on the other hand, you're referring to the image editing tools - for sure, that's a part of the interface I don't find particularly functional. I've been using mapping, CAD and other graphics software for decades and some of the image tools like Paint and Ligthing seem very uncoventional to me, but not in a good way - if that makes sense.

 

[Zaukrie]

Hearing this always makes me curious and I have to ask, what aspect of the inteface?

I've certainly had players that didn't care for it overall, but that dislike at times seemed generational. I had one player say they thought it "didn't look like an up to date app." A number of my Millennial and GenZ players feel it's poor because it didn't have the features of a modern web app - OK? Whereas I and some of my baby boomer and GenX players, who pleasantly discovered the vertical tool pallete/toolbox in MAC, then Amiga and eventually Windows apps, tend to see it as visually good and easy to grasp.

I've also had some of my younger players find the right-click menus clumsy and confusing, which always brings up a "are you kidding" from me. Mostly because I still remember their debut (was that Win 3.1 or 95) and back then blissfully right-clicking to my hearts content - never have grown tired of them. I do think SW's recent move from icons to descriptive text on right-click menus to be a good interface development.

If on the other hand, you're referring to the image editing tools - for sure, that's a part of the interface I don't find particularly functional. I've been using mapping, CAD and other graphics software for decades and some of the image tools like Paint and Ligthing seem very uncoventional to me, but not in a good way - if that makes sense.

I'm old. The UI is bad. It uses little of what we've learned about interfaces over the last two decades. So, it's not generational....

 

[BadEye]

I'm old. The UI is bad. It uses little of what we've learned about interfaces over the last two decades. So, it's not generational....

I'm not sure when the last time you used Fantasy Grounds would be, but the UI visuals have undergone a fairly extensive overhaul in the last year or so, and we have released some UI interaction improvements (such as removing radial menus) in that time and are actively working on more. I'm well-versed in what makes modern interfaces tick and am working to incorporate those elements into the application.

It might still not be to your preference, but I wanted to confirm that we have started taking and will continue to take steps to put the idea that the UI is dated to rest in the coming days. It's been a persistent byline for a few years, but we're working on changing the tide, have taken strides already, and we've seen positive feedback on the new direction. We've still got work to do and are committed to getting it done.

 

[kronovan]

Free dice for people who already owned FG (oh and a bunch of maps and modules from random games)

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/claimRewards.php

Not sure if the link actually works yet. I don't see it as a "purchase" yet...

It certainly worked for me - a few I chose were immediately added to My Library and all were added as modules when I did an update with the launcher. I was impressed with the 15 I was offered; 7 of them I have a near to immediate use for and they're all quality products. Well done Smiteworks.

 

[BigZebra]

We have tried a few times in the past to get official Shadowrun support. Hopefully we can get it one day.

While on the issue of licenses. You guys are the only VTT with license for D&D Classics/AD&D! That is amazing. Any plans for license for 3.5 or even 4e materials?

 

[kronovan]

I'm old. The UI is bad. It uses little of what we've learned about interfaces over the last two decades. So, it's not generational....

OK, fair enough. As BadEye stated though, the interface has seen some improvements in the recent years. So check it out.

Part of what I meant by generational, is the functional use of the interface. For example, almost all of my older players quickly grasped the drag & drop nature of the tool pallete to character sheets and some of the windows, while that wasn't at all second nature to some of my younger players. Which surprised me.

 

[kronovan]

A few things to note;

1. only about 1600 of their 3500 products are currently available in the Online Reader. They are still working to convert the remaining. One reason they consider it Beta...

Yep, of the 12 rulesets I own only 2 of them are available in My Library for the Online Reader. I'm not disappointed though, as I'm viewing the reader on my Android tablet and if I turn it horizontally the content looks good and is easy to read. My habit is to always buy the PDF of any ruleset or DLC I own for FG, but this may very well change that.

TBH I didn't expect it this soon. While I knew a reader had high votes in the features suggestion list, I figured it was still a few years away. Plesant surprise.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I'm not sure when the last time you used Fantasy Grounds would be, but the UI visuals have undergone a fairly extensive overhaul in the last year or so, and we have released some UI interaction improvements (such as removing radial menus) in that time and are actively working on more. I'm well-versed in what makes modern interfaces tick and am working to incorporate those elements into the application.

It might still not be to your preference, but I wanted to confirm that we have started taking and will continue to take steps to put the idea that the UI is dated to rest in the coming days. It's been a persistent byline for a few years, but we're working on changing the tide, have taken strides already, and we've seen positive feedback on the new direction. We've still got work to do and are committed to getting it done.

Can verify that they have been working on the UI, as someone that has complained often about it.

 

[RosenMcStern]

It might still not be to your preference, but I wanted to confirm that we have started taking and will continue to take steps to put the idea that the UI is dated to rest in the coming days. It's been a persistent byline for a few years, but we're working on changing the tide, have taken strides already, and we've seen positive feedback on the new direction. We've still got work to do and are committed to getting it done.

Hi Adam, and thank you for this reply. May I ask you if you are planning an improvement of the resolution of standard UI components ? Fantasy Grounds is currently working with a standard size of 20px buttons, icons, comboboxes, etc. This was absolutely fine when FG came out, given that many people still had 800x600 monitors at the time, but at the resolution of a modern screen it is annoying to have to "hit" such a small area to click a button. Not to mention that some of us older users can have eyesight issues at that resolution.

This impacts usability/accessibility, too, as most of the standard icons attached to components are limited to 20x20, whereas modern interfaces tend to have much bigger icons or at least to allow scaling. It's really a shame because FG allows you to manipulate these visual components very easily, but being limited to a 20x20 marker telling you that a token is wounded, when the token itself is a gorgeous 1800x1200 pseudo-3d image, severely impairs the intuitiveness of the graphic implementation.

Of course I understand that backwards compatibility is the key issue here, as changing the size of standard components would disrupt the existing rulesets. You guys are doing a fantastic job in accompanying third party developers towards adapting their creations to the improvements you make. I was just wondering if this is being treated as we speak.

 

[RosenMcStern]

(Partially) Eliminating the financial barrier to running games via FG is a good start, but the real key to making FG ubiquitous would be to get it on tablets and/or in a browser. Installing software beyond an app seems to be quite the barrier for folks.

The point is that a desktop application is inherently more performant and more secure than a browser app. Even when an app has a viable browser based version (take Discord, Zoom or MS Teams as examples) it usually warns you that downloading the app will give you a better experience. As for security, do not forget that VTTs are typically software that runs third party scripts. Keeping them away from the tool where most of us input credit card details should sound like a wise choice, not a limitation.

So while you may perceive the browser solution as better, moving FGU to a browser based implementation, which is feasible as Unity does run in browsers with a proprietary plugin, might in fact be a bad idea.

As for the availability on mobile devices, which someone mentioned, please note that no VTT has a mobile implementation atm. Ten or fifteen years ago there were attempts to port MapTools or Roll20 to a mobile app, but they all aborted. It seems quite obvious to me that mobile devices cannot support the UI of a virtual tabletop. They are simply too small. Prove me wrong if you can, but all such attempts have failed so far.