DDI Online Gametable - Reality or Myth?

[Grimstaff]

It's been so long since I've heard anything about the "forthcoming" DDI Online Gametable... is this even in the works anymore? Or has it been abandoned altogether? There were some demos back when, at GenCon '08, but since then...nothing?

I for one was looking forward to this, and was sorely disappointed back in June of '08 when it wasn't available at release time as promised...

Anyone got scuttlebutt on this?

 

[Mistwell]

I think it is in the long-term works, but they won't breath a word about it until it's mostly complete. Because every time they tell people something is coming, and they miss a deadline, all hell breaks loose.

 

[Shemeska]

The game table was one of the DDI features that was part of the original batch designed by the outsourced studio Radiant Machine, who were the same people that worked on Gleemax before it was cancelled. There were problems, it wasn't ready, and I don't believe that it has been worked on since the DDI was transfered to an in-house development team. As I've been told, the manpower is such that they're only capable of working on one new product at a time, and in any event, they're not working on it currently. Development is not active, and no further statements have been made officially about a timetable.

It was planned to be reality, but so was Duke Nukem Forever, so I wouldn't expect to see it anytime soon.

 

[Dire Bare]

I think it is in the long-term works, but they won't breath a word about it until it's mostly complete. Because every time they tell people something is coming, and they miss a deadline, all hell breaks loose.

Definitely. I'm not expected the gametable anytime in the immediate future, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it sometime next year. Or not.

However, keep in mind with the way WotC stealthed "Gleemax 2.0", the new site design we just got. We didn't know about it until it practically happened, and it's turned out pretty darned awesome so far! That's how the gametable will eventually drop, I bet. Two weeks before it goes live, we'll get some light teasers, and then . . . BAM!!! It'll drop on us and be pretty damned awesome!

Heh, is it obvious I'm not a cranky WotC skeptic?

 

[Dannager]

I think that's how it'll go, too.

The Character Builder and Monster Builder have set a precedent for how digital product roll-outs will go for WotC in the future: little build-up, sudden deployment, high-quality products.

 

[Henrix]

It also seems that the surveys Wizards have made have shown that not that many really want the game table.

Not that many play D&D online, and there are other tools for it.

A map making tool seems to be in the ropes, though, and perhaps that could be expanded to work as a game table. (More DMs/groups need maps than play online.)

I also think the original plan included 3d models of about every monster available. That's quite a lot of coding, and so very expensive.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

The official stance is now to work on one app at a time and not announcing anything before it's very close to release as beta version.

Development of the VTT has actually stopped, there is no official announcement on whether and when it'll commence and whether the existing code, which was being demoed more than a year ago, will be used for ongoing development.

Basing the decision whether to subscribe to DDI or not on the VTT would be nothing but foolish right now.

 

[Twowolves]

I think it is in the long-term works, but they won't breath a word about it until it's mostly complete. Because every time they tell people something is coming, and they miss a deadline, all hell breaks loose.

Deadlines you say? You mean like, say, the launch of 4th ed?

 

[Derren]

In short, don't expect the VTT for this edition.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Well, if the next app to come out is some sort of map designer, then I don't really think a VTT is off the beaten path. The basics of what a VTT would need is a way to represent characters, data about monsters, and a way to render the map. We already have a fairly strong base for the first two in the CB and MB. I'm not saying it would be trivial, but the building blocks would be there.