Give me your virtual tabletop xp

[Kahuna Burger]

Do you mean you had problems finding a suitable group to play with? or issues with the software itself?

software issues. I've tried to start a server a few times which makes it appear on the list in grey but neither I nor anyone else can join it, I've started a room on one of the apparently official servers but not been able to make myself DM.... I'm just not sure how to get this thing rolling. :\

 

[Arkhandus]

I've been playing and DMing almost exclusively over OpenRPG for the past 6-7ish years since moving to Arizona. Works fine for me, though the software uses a lot of resources on my machine (which is also about 7 years old....) when running it, so I always reset the computer after a session.

Kahuna_Burger:
I think that's mainly an issue with the newer versions of OpenRPG from the past year or so. Apparently if you wait maybe an hour or half an hour, your server should be connect-able to or whatever. Don't know why that happens (I never have a problem connecting to my server, but others have mentioned it sometimes). Sometimes no wait is needed.

I always run the server on my own machine that I play on, so that might be why I have no difficulty connecting to it myself. You can also try entering the IP address of the server and then hitting Connect, though I'm not sure if that works when the server's listed in gray.

Also, I always use the server-creating option that opens an MS-DOS window for it, rather than the Server Console. I still can't fathom what the point of the Console is, since it sucks.


If you enter a public server and create a room there, you'll need to fill in the spot that asks for an administrator's or GM's password (I forget what it says exactly), but it's different from the password to enter the room (which is optional). The main password is what you use to assign a role to yourself and the players (you click on their name in the list of people in the room, then choose to assign them a role, then you get prompted to enter the password).

For reference, too: A server lobby's Map cannot be changed/used, except that you can place an image to appear there at start-up (and I don't know how to do that). You need to be in a room in order to fiddle with the Map and place minis.

 

[Arkhandus]

I've used openrpg off and on for about 7 years.

Pros. Great for roleplaying, can be very atmospheric, you don't have to travel anywhere.

Cons. Slower games, Seems to be less commitment by players, And the couple of campaigns i ran we're harder work than a F2F game.

Generally if you can find a group that you like and like you , its good. It can take a while to get there though.

Another Pro: You can save chatlogs in OpenRPG to have a record of all the stuff that got sent to the chat frame during the session. But save it as an HTML file; the default seems to be just HTM which has some wierd kinks when trying to view the file.

About the 'less commitment by players' bit: Just a matter of finding the right players. Some people browse OpenRPG it seems and only enter games briefly before deciding to leave or join different games. Just something that crops up from using the Internet. Also, some people are entering at odd times of day or night in their timezone, and don't bother mentioning that they won't often be online at that time.

After a while you'll have a reasonably steady group. Just expect to spend an extra session or two on recruiting folks as you find a few people flake out and leave without warning.

 

[rvalle]

I've been running a WLD campaign using Fantasy Grounds for 2 years now and I love it. Since you'll be playing with friends (as I am) use voice software. It speeds things up and you get to chat with your friends. (We use Skype btw and find it works better for us then Team Speak).

Pros:
I get to play every week. This was impossible before using VT software (3 kids...).

If you run a published module and can get electronic versions of the maps you can drop them right in FG and use them instead of making your own.

The amount of prep time is what you make it. I was entering in all the text for the rooms ect but after the group was hitting 25% of the rooms I was typing up I stopped doing that. Now I just read the text to them over Skype. The only prep work I do is to make tokens for the game and to read up on what bad guys they are going to hit that session (my best guess anyway as the party has a habit of moving in directions I don't expect them too. Hate the players! ).

The players can move their tokens around in real time. Since we're doing one large dungeon I drop the map in and we do all the movement and fighting right on the map using FG's fog fo war feature. to unmask as they move. When a trap goes off there is no question about who is in range.

No travel time! Being able to wrap up a game, take off the head phones and be at home is a HUGE advantage. I can never go to sleep right away after a game but at least I'm at home already.

Cons:

There is an extra cost involved as each person has to buy the software. This was not a big deal for us, but it is for some.

As others have said the game runs a bit slower. Though, I'm not sure by what %. If you fator in the time the party does NOT spend mapping, it might be close to equal. You'll have to see for yourself.

As someone else says above, it is easier for a person to be interupted while they are at home. Phone, kids, rabid pet or a player just watching TV while they play all effect this (yes, I have a player that does watch tv while he 'plays').

Occasional software issues can slow down the game on some nights. This doesn't happen often to us but it does happen. Sometimes someone seems to have connection issues and they'll drop off Skype and FG from time to time (note: this is an advantage to using both voice and FG... if someone loses one you can still talk via the other. If they lose both you know they are having serious issues).



Thats what I can think of off the top of my head. 2 years down and probably 2 more to go to finish up WLD. Then I'll pick up something else and start over again.

rv

 

[catsclaw227]

I have experimented with Battlegrounds RPG and, while to seems to be OK for loading maps and such, it feels like a REAL resource hog.

We tried it with two other players connecting and I am starting to think that I need to find better ways to make it work. I think that if I upload the images on a server, it will be faster for all, since my upload bandwidth speeds are much slower than download.

Anyway, it looks like once they get past all the resource issues, it could be a neat application. But for now I feel like my money was spent prematurely. I bought the GM license and 3 floating player licenses.

 

[rvalle]

FG seems to handle such things pretty well. I've had up to 8 players connected and using voice software (plus several web pages open) with no issues. My maps tend to be on the large size at around 500k and up to 800k or so. I've had up to 50 tokens on the map at once... FG started to have issues then. Not running but shutting down and starting back up was crashing Fg till I removed some of the tokens.

A few older screen shots (WLD spoilers!)















The party fights Maddness in Region I of the WLD
http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l183/richvalle/WLD/?action=view&current=screenshot0008.png


Not sure if this will work... linking to FG's forum where we can post screenshots. This is one with my new 2nd monitor. Note: if you DM getting a 2nd monitor is VERY nice as you need all the desk space you can get.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=123&d=1183826597

 

[Murgh Bpurn]

I've used Virtual Tabletops for gaming with old school friends and guys from the VT community.

When gaming with my old school friends I always use skype as we have a good old "chin wag" at the same time.

The game can be slower, but i find it a lot easier to RP with chat.

Take a look at RPG Virtual tabletop and Four Ugly Monsters for more multi VT advice.

MB

 

[Griogre]

I've been playing and running some online games for almost two years now. I also alternate running a Face to Face game. I have tried several VTTs. I mostly GM and VTTs have allowed me to just play for once. I love GMing but I like to play too. One of the nice things about playing over the Internet is there are lots of "fish in the sea." It may take a while but you can almost always find a game or players. By the same token you may need to churn through some before you can find a game that suits your or players that show up. One of the best things about running over the net is that if you run a mainstream game you can always find players. Always. That's hard to do in a face to face game. It took close to a month to find enough players for my face to face game after half the group left/moved ect. It seldom takes more than a few days to fill an opening in a D&D game with FG.

I think if you are running D&D or d20 it's hard to beat Fantasy Grounds. It has the most intuative interface to anyone who has played face to face. This is important because most VTTs have horrible documentation.

MapTool is a VTT I haven't seen anyone mention. I would probably recommend this to people who don't play D&D. It has a steeper learning curve than FG but works very well at displaying a map and moving tokens around and generating random numbers.

I tried OpenRPG and didn't like it. Interface felt klutsy to me and it crashed alot.

Whatever VTT you end up with you want to use voice IMHO. It *greatly* speeds up combat if you can just say: "Roll initiative." "Kinkaid is lighty wounded." "Tell me how you got a +14 mod?" You can have you players type out "in character" chat if you want for the roleplaying but get voice for combat.

Here's a screen from a FG game I play in: Note I'm linking to a thumbnail on the FG board because Photobucket is doing maintainance - http://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15&d=1179101757

Here's a link to a thread with screenys in a Savage World "Aliens" Bug hunt I played in using MapTool. That was my Grenade in the second screen - LOL. http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?t=2318

 

[Yair]

MapTool is a VTT I haven't seen anyone mention. I would probably recommend this to people who don't play D&D. It has a steeper learning curve than FG but works very well at displaying a map and moving tokens around and generating random numbers.

Here's a link to a thread with screenys in a Savage World "Aliens" Bug hunt I played in using MapTool. That was my Grenade in the second screen - LOL. http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?t=2318

Very nice. Thanks.

I tried running MapTools, but it's running abyssamly slow on my computer. I suspect it's the memory, as it has only a little (128 MB, IIRC) and I think most of it is used by other programs (such as Windows...). I'll try to make things work.

Fantasy Grounds looks speefier, but it's far too investment-heavy for me for something I'm very uncertain of trying. And I'll be running Ars Magica, not d20, so...

Thanks again.

 

[Hussar]

I've been running regular games (and playing too) on OpenRPG for the past 4 years.

It was different at first, I'll admit that. But, now I'm firmly convinced that VTT play can be every bit equal to face to face play. Different, true, but, not the red haired stepchild some people paint either. Open has come a LONG way since I started using it and the current version is stable and very, very powerful. You can host images and sound files locally to use, track initiative, autocalc pretty much everything.

If your group is on the ball and macros their attacks, you can run combat extremely quickly. I'm down to averaging 30 seconds per player now.

I highly recommend using OpenRPG (http://openrpg.digitalxero.net/wiki/). I love running things online now.

One thing I do find with VTT play is that people tend to stay in character much better. It's easier to do, I think, when you don't have to worry about imagining Bob, the 300 pound Newfoundlander as the hot elf chick.