D&D 5E My 5e feedback: Mobile, mobile, mobile

[AdmundfortGeographer]

It regards the digital aspect of it. It can be summed up at this link.

But I'll take this paragraph out for you all who can't be bothered to follow through to that link. "I now dread using my computer. I want to use a tablet most of the time. And increasingly, I can. I want to use a smartphone all the rest of the time. And I do."

ht: daringfireball.net

 

[Frostmarrow]

Indeed. I use a PC at work, because I have to, and I feel like a cartwright working for Mr Ford while driving a model T on my days off. I keep my gaming documents in the cloud automatically synched with whatever device I'm carrying at the moment. Sometimes I use multiple devices, just like windows, on the same task. Mobile is key. Mobile devices are also a lot less intrusive at the table than are laptops.

 

[Kinak]

Yeah, if you can't bring a game's books up on an iPad, my wife's not playing it.

Which is funny, because I always go for the hardcopies myself (despite being an IT guy in real life). There's no way either of us is going to use a laptop.

So, unless 5e is able to deliver us PDFs (or a working purchase-based iPad app) and physical copies for a reasonable price, it's not getting played in our group. I honestly don't foresee that happening, but I've been surprised before.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I prefer hard copies, but I cannot argue against the usefulness of mobile compatability.

I do the bulk of my surfing on my iPad2 these days, so having some kind of pdf/eBook version would be greatly appreciated. If the price were right, of course.

 

[Blackbrrd]

I don't allow laptops at my table, just as I don't allow people to read books while we play. Having mobile apps doesn't really help when it comes to this issue. People will always end up "just checking" something like facebook, mail, news feed or whatnot.

On the other hand, I really don't understand why modules, meant for the DM aren't optimized for mobile use. A printed module costs maybe 3x what a pdf costs when shipped to Europe from the US. Having it in a format suitable for consumption on a mobile device would be really good. Then I could buy the module and bring it with me wherever and use downtime to prepare for my sessions.

It would be nice with a character app for phones too, but as noted above, I really hate it when people need to use a device that's made for other entertainment at a gaming table. (I use my phone mostly for reading, surfing and small games)

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

In my mind, while it would be groovy to be able to use a tablet at the table, that isn't entirely my point. I can't use ANY of the 4e tools on my tablet that were built for Silverlight. Zip, zero, zilch, nada. Character Builder? Doesn't happen.

If I wanted to do anything with the digital tools (build a character, update an character, etc.) I would have to put down my tablet and power up my languishing desktop. Just for that? I may not even have a desktop or laptop in a couple years truth be told for my personal use at home.

That's what I mean by mobile, put the tools where people are going to be. Increasingly that is at a mobile device like a tablet or smartphone.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I keep my gaming documents in the cloud automatically synched with whatever device I'm carrying at the moment.

Which cloud is this?

 

[Frostmarrow]

Which cloud is this?

I keep my notes in iCloud from Apple. This works great as I have a phone, a pad and a couple of pods. Nowadays a website open in one of them stays open in all of them. An app downloaded to one shows up in all.
My D&D Next second playtest documents rests securely in Dropbox and can be called up on the screan on a whim. And they're searchable. Like I said, I can keep one document, say character creation, open on the phone and the bestiary on the pad. It's very handy.

 

[Leatherhead]

This guy reminds me of how much I absolutely loathe touch screens.

They are a serious contender for the worst human interface device you can have (your output blocked by your input!) it's only advantage is saving physical space on the device.

But I must digress, an ideal mobile device wouldn't use a touch screen, and yes the D&D app should work on a phone. Hopefully not just the iphone, there are people below the middle class income bracket who would like to play games too.

 

[Anastrace]

I admit, I take all the group's notes in Evernote. Of course then I have the fun chore of getting to edit them whenever I have time since it's cloud based. Upside though, I'm not on map duty.

My sister and I refer to the paizo srd all the time on my tablet, and our dm is always opening the pdf's she downloads from them. We did try 4e for a bit, but the lack of working mobile tools was a no go. Well that and a few other reasons.