Poll: VTT Users - Do you prefer self-hosted or cloud-based VTTs?

[Thomas Shey]

I also have to say I'd personally be more likely to give something a look with a one time purchase, even if it was halfway substantial, than a subscription. I'm not a fan of, effectively, renting software.

 

[Heilemann]

I also have to say I'd personally be more likely to give something a look with a one time purchase, even if it was halfway substantial, than a subscription. I'm not a fan of, effectively, renting software.

I’m generally not a fan of renting software either, but for software that I really use if it’s priced fairly, I think it’s worth it to keep supporting that development effort, especially in something as niche as role-playing.

 

[aramis erak]

I actually just switched to Foundry. Self-hosting, pay once.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I’m generally not a fan of renting software either, but for software that I really use if it’s priced fairly, I think it’s worth it to keep supporting that development effort, especially in something as niche as role-playing.

I wouldn't completely write off doing so, but I'm not going to say its not a strike against it.

 

[LordEntrails]

Why do all the platforms have such absolutely terrible PDF support; it's THE standard in roleplaying games today!

Because PDF is a horrible format? Because it actually doesn't have much of an actual standard and can be done and formatted in so many ways that it's not reliably re-usable? Sure, everyone can print to PDF and sell it. But it doesn't mean it's done well or the same way the next person does it. And yes, it is the most wide-spread and accessible, but it's still a bad choice for every other reason.

Definitely cloud-based for us. We hate being beholden to someone's home internet connection, software configuration, and computer hardware.

But, you're playing online... So you are beholden to someone's internet connection. Actually, you are beholden to every player's internet connection. And if you then host it somewhere else you are beholden to their internet connection as well. So more ways for problems to occur (though if they have reliable service it might lower the risk than if the GM hosts it). And if someone else hosts it, you are beholden to their software configuration, it's out of your control. And every player is beholden to their own computer hardware. Look at all the limits to Roll20 because of its use of a web browser that has more performance restrictions.

 

[CleverNickName]

But, you're playing online... So you are beholden to someone's internet connection.

We've used Foundry, FantasyGrounds, and Roll20 before; to varying degrees of success, during the pandemic lockdowns. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but we ended up staying with Roll20 for 4 years and counting because it worked the best for us.

One of the key strengths of Roll20 was everyone being able to work offline, leveling up their characters or whatnot using the same shared library, between games...even when our host computer was having connection or hardware (or user) issues. Roll20 has hundreds of servers--it might get slow on some days, but it was never completely down for us.

But I'm not trying to claim one is better than the other. Roll20 has many issues (cost being the biggest issue by far), but it's a good fit for our group.

 

[GuardianLurker]

So, I'm currently FG-based, and have been since before they moved to their cloud-based lobby (back when I had to deal with port-forwarding).

I don't miss the days of port-forwarding, though I do prefer self-hosting.

What would it take for me to switch at this point? Better automation than what FG supplies out of the box, as well as an easier, better-documented way to homebrew what I need. I'm not so fussed about all the fancy map options, though they are nice. Oh, and it has to require less babysitting and have a less steep learning curve.

Foundry fails because I'd have to relearn something just as complex as FG, and it requires more babysitting. But it's come close a few times, when I'm really frustrated and disappointed with how FG (mis)behaves at the time.

Other VTTs have failed because they aren't as capable. As, like I've said, I need more than dice and a map.

 

[Kichwas]

The folks I game with that dislike self-hosting mostly expressed that they dislike it from the hoster's POV - letting someone else connect to their machines.

I prefer it myself for the power of being able to control all my assets more easily, quickly, and without concern for file sizes / upload compression / etc.
- Almost every time I've played at a table where Foundry was hosted on either Forge or Molten I've found my character art compressed like a late 1990's jpg image. We also invariable end up dealing with lag, access, and other issues. Lag of course can be even worse when self hosting for many people.

 

[Kichwas]

Foundry fails because I'd have to relearn something just as complex as FG, and it requires more babysitting. But it's come close a few times, when I'm really frustrated and disappointed with how FG (mis)behaves at the time.

Foundry is really not that complicated to set up.

But beyond that the UI is usually just nicer. I say usually because in v13 they made the decision to put a huge pile of UI changes into the base system rather than leave such things to modders, and it's been a bit of chaos. Some of those changes were severe downgrades light making a lot of windows so transparent you often can't even read what you're focusing on, and I had to get a UI mod to undo some of that...

But historically it had the nicer UI. We'll see what happens next year with v14. If they now think it's the job of the base app to screw around with the UI in each update, then Foundry won't remain a top tier VTT choice. If they decide to let modders be the ones that mess with the UI, then it will stay a good choice.

FG's UI looks like something from the mid 1990s to me - like something from the year or two right before the Web came out. It looks inspired by Windows 3.1 and AutoCAD.

If I had to give up on Foundry, I'd probably land on Owlbear - simply because I'm tending away from 'miniatures based wargames masquerading as RPGs' like Pathfinder / DrawSteel / D&D and over to narrative storytelling games masquerading as RPGs.
- I've lost the need for battlemaps.

But on topic: To my knowledge Owlbear doesn't have self-hosting. Which is half of why I keep Foundry installed.

 

[aramis erak]

Because PDF is a horrible format?

No, it's not horrible. It is, however, optimized for one use case: printing it out the same on any postscript capable printer. From the offset plate cutters to the local inkjet via a .ps to raster algorithm. It largely succeeded. And that's why it's the default.

The problem is a lot of people use readers that don't support the totality of the current standard. I've tried 2 dozen over the last few years... most fail some elements that have been standard for 20 years... like Forms.