Have you played with the DDI VT?

[Kzach]

I'm wondering just how much exposure the VT beta is getting. I only got access to it about a month ago and the forum activity there is pretty dead. From what I gather, there hasn't been much activity on WotC's end either lately.

If you have had a play with it I'd like to hear what you think of it?

Personally I'm not impressed. It's a pale, PALE, imitation of what's already out there and offers virtually no incentive to use it over any other VT. The sole saving grace of it is that you can import from the monster builder and character builder. Other than that, it's incredibly clunky, very limited, poorly laid out and implemented and slow.

Sure, it's a beta, but so is Maptools and it absolutely wipes the floor with the DDI VT. What's more, it's nothing like the previews we saw way back at the introduction of 4e. That project was scrapped and a new VT team started from scratch. All they've done, however, is reinvent the wheel as an octahedron.

I think they would've been better served just offering an open license to people like the Fantasy Grounds and Maptools folk.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I haven't tried it yet because I have little or no interest in on-line gaming. I would be interested in the Carnegie Mellon table, but from what I read I'm not interested in the VT.

 

[OnlineDM]

I run 4e games in MapTool, so I was intrigued when the Virtual Table came out. I played with the beta a little bit in its earliest days (before the monster and PC import functionality existed) and was unimpressed, though I understood it was a beta. Being able to automatically import monsters and PCs would be wonderful, but would require a flexible monster builder that allowed for home-brew monsters.

Also, the actual mapping capabilities were non-existent at the time. A good VTT obviously needs to let you import your own map images and token images. I don't believe those functions exist yet in the VT, though I haven't checked it in a while.

If it eventually gets all of those functions, I could see it being more attractive than MapTool for pick-up games at the very least. But since I use MapTool on a projector to run games in person (as well as its usual online function), I'd probably have to stick with that (unless the VT got a good projector mode).

I'm with you - I don't know why WotC didn't just use MapTool and integrate it with their DDI tools. Of course, I'm not a programmer, so I don't know how feasible that would have been.

 

[Spatula]

I've played around with it recently. I haven't used any other VTTs, so I don't know how it stacks up to those. What I do know is that I was amazed at how little it did for the DMs or the players.

PC importing is okay but not great. Psionic powers just get one section each, meaning you have to figure out the numbers for augmentations on your own. If you want a power statted for different weapons, you have to do that on your own. If you want to change equipment, you have to do that manually too. It imports the data as it exists in the Char Builder and that's it.

Monster importing works but is rather poor.

There's so much automatic stuff that the program could be doing, but isn't, that it just makes me scratch my head. Monster recharge rolls. Applying/removing the bloodied / dying / dead conditions. Keeping track of bonuses. Removing conditions when they expire. Instead, the DM and the players have to do everything manually.

Basically what you get with the VTT as it exists today is a venue to advertise games, a hosting server, voice communication, a die roller, a crude map-maker, and some crude import capabilities. It's underwhelming.

 

[Scribble]

My guess is their desire is to eventually be able to quickly import monsters, characters maps and game info from the rest of the DDI.

Whether or not that will ever happen?


If they can manage that, I think it could turn into something pretty nice, since the biggest bonus it has is being attached to an already connected base of gamers.

Just log on, find a game and join.

Again whether or not they'll ever get there...

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

[MENTION=56189]Kzach[/MENTION] - and as to the forums being dead I see the find a campaign forum and the lfr forum as always having new posts in it when i check 3 or 4 times a day. So not sure what measuring stick you are looking for when it comes to being dead or busy.

Yeah if you are looking for a program that automates everything for you then the VTT is not for you.

You should really look at it as being no different than sitting at the table with your friends and family and playing a game. Some things have to be automated (dice etc) since you are playing on a virtual table top. But everything does not need to be automated.

That being said auto-bloodied/unbloodied is one of the few automations I would like to see.

If you are expecting total automation you should look for a computer game not the VTT.

 

[Zaran]

If you are expecting total automation you should look for a computer game not the VTT.

I'd love to see a video game that was automated 4e.

 

[Dannager]

I've played with both the official VTT and Maptool, and I'll choose the VTT any day of the week.

DDI integration, built-in voice chat, voice fonts - all of these are significant advantages that the VTT has over programs like Maptool. It also has the added perk of being much easier to hop into than a Maptool game.

Yes, Maptool is more flexible when it comes to being able to play with any system or house rule you want, but I'm not looking for flexibility in my online gaming. I'm looking for ease of play, because an online game is already going to be a chore to run compared to a face-to-face game. I want my online game's interface to facilitate play in the smoothest manner possible, and the D&D VTT wins out in that regard.

 

[MrMyth]

I've been in a campaign using Maptools for a year or two, and I've dabbled a couple times with the DDI VT.

There is no real chance our group will ditch Maptools for the VT - simply because we've had time to get used to it, and being able to write detailed macros and use the gorgeous and detailed maps crafted by the DM is of far too much benefit to give up for the VT.

And yet, if we were starting a new campaign today, the VT might be the way to go - it offers unparalleled ease of use and intuitive play, even before one adds in the benefit of integration with the other tools.

I think Dannager's dismissal of Maptools benefits as simply being 'flexibility with systems and house rules' is unfair - the benefit is that it allows a much, much larger level of investment in automation/details/etc. The VT is not at that point yet, and may never go that far.

For groups that do want to reach that level, Maptools is probably the better option - but only if you are willing to spend the time to code those macros, make those maps, set up those campaign settings. Being able to do so and, with the click of a button, have the program roll your AoE attacks, check for crits on each target, apply conditional bonuses to damage, etc - absolutely brilliant. If, again, you want to spend the time to master the program and create those macros.

For groups that want to just hop in and start gaming, the VT is amazing. I remember my first forays into online gaming, which was playing LG games on... OpenRPG, I think. And I remember just how much of a hassle it was, and how long the games took, and how much disconnect between the group there was. Even with Maptools, even with a close group of friends, even with half of us gaming in the same room via the same computer... it still is slower paced than normal play.

The DDI VT on the other hand, moves smoothly and seamlessly, and really does feel like new players can just hop right in and get started. That's huge. And has a nice format, various nifty tricks, and will only get better with time.

Dedicated gamers can probably get more out of Maptools... but only by investing a lot more into it. For casual play, pick up games, new gamers, or even just those who want to spend time on gaming instead of prep, the VT seems the way to go. And there are a lot of advances (including many of the suggestions in this thread) that I feel like they can put into the program eventually.

So while I find it a nice option now, I'm very interested to see where they take it over the next year or two.

 

[delericho]

Has the VTT actually been released yet? I thought it was still in a mostly-closed beta.

The huge advantage the DDI VTT can potentially bring to the table is a large community base. In theory, with enough people signed up and enough DMs out there, it should be possible to get to the point where you can log on, find a group and play... at any time. That would be awesome.

That's something that the existing Tabletop software options can't really do. It really would be the killer app for the DDI.

Unfortunately, they're about the miss the boat. Google+ Hangouts seem to be on the verge of offering that very option, and doing it rather better. And, with the resources of a much larger company behind them, G+ will improve much faster than WotC can. WotC really need to get this tool up and working, or they're going to find themselves with another costly write-off.