D&D (2024) Review of 1D &D VTT

[Azzy]

You mean like the lightning bolts that go through walls?

Lol, that only works for the bad guys.

 

[mamba]

Perhaps? I'm not sure what you are getting at with "draw" - to me that implies a lot of freedom. I don't think the DM will be able to just draw whatever they imagine and have the VTT execute it. I suspect it will work more like building with modular terrain, where you are pretty strictly limited by the pieces that you have available, and the inventiveness comes in finding interesting ways to arrange them. And then WotC will offer to sell you more pieces for different adventures.

same thing, you place premade assets on a map, can lower or raise the terrain, stuff like that. Kinda like DungeonCraft, but in 3D. Maybe even draw in an actual layer to identify the terrain the chars can walk on.

Not sure it allows several levels, e.g. steps leading to the second floor and the second floor above the first. I would hope so, but some games have weird limitations, so the tools to create an environment for a vtt might too. It's not gonna kill me if these have to be two environments that are connected via the stairs.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

IIRC, they previously stated those could be turned off. Regardless, my statement stands - the article the OP posted had nothing to do with that.

I don’t see the need to speculate on the functionality of a pre-alpha release of a software that I care little about.

Of course, if you turn off the automation then you'll have to do everything by hand instead. Many groups will decide that having the automation features available is more valuable than playing with their preferred house rules, so end up running RAW.

The ideal would be a VTT with automation that can be extended with plugins and mods so that dedicated users can make it work exactly like they want it to.

 

[Hussar]

Of course, if you turn off the automation then you'll have to do everything by hand instead. Many groups will decide that having the automation features available is more valuable than playing with their preferred house rules, so end up running RAW.

The ideal would be a VTT with automation that can be extended with plugins and mods so that dedicated users can make it work exactly like they want it to.

You mean like how vtts work right now? And have worked for more than a decade?

I don’t think it’s terribly unreasonable to think WotC’s offering will have pretty much the same features that EVERY other vtt has right now.

But hey. Let’s pretend that the vtt won’t let the dm see player character sheets because, it’s so much easier to rage against stuff we completely make up.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

You mean like how vtts work right now? And have worked for more than a decade?

I don’t think it’s terribly unreasonable to think WotC’s offering will have pretty much the same features that EVERY other vtt has right now.

But hey. Let’s pretend that the vtt won’t let the dm see player character sheets because, it’s so much easier to rage against stuff we completely make up.

I haven't actually used any VTTs, so I wouldn't know. But a 1st party VTT is going to have different priorities than a 3rd party one, so I would expect that WotC's D&D will have features no other VTT has, while not neccessarily supporting everything existing VTTs do.

 

[mamba]

I haven't actually used any VTTs, so I wouldn't know. But a 1st party VTT is going to have different priorities than a 3rd party one, so I would expect that WotC's D&D will have features no other VTT has, while not neccessarily supporting everything existing VTTs do.

WotC is probably paying 20 times more for their VTT than the competition, and that is a conservative estimate. So I’d expect features others do not have, mostly in the form of polish (they are not the first 3d vtt, but it is rare still), but I would not expect any glaring gaps.

They might not support every single feature any other vtt has, and them not having the same priorities as others is trivially true (they prioritize D&D), but I would not expect any missing big features, or neglect of one area (eg support for houserules) altogether.

 

[Hussar]

Sure. I’m sure that there may be features they might not have on release.

But presuming blindingly stupid incompetence and then claiming that this is the accurate prediction of the future is a bit of a big jump.

I mean one might just want to keep the source of claims in mind before making any predictions.

 

[Oofta]

same thing, you place premade assets on a map, can lower or raise the terrain, stuff like that. Kinda like DungeonCraft, but in 3D. Maybe even draw in an actual layer to identify the terrain the chars can walk on.

Not sure it allows several levels, e.g. steps leading to the second floor and the second floor above the first. I would hope so, but some games have weird limitations, so the tools to create an environment for a vtt might too. It's not gonna kill me if these have to be two environments that are connected via the stairs.

Putting a second floor on buildings is a pain in Roll20 as well. Best way I could do it was link to a different map or room off to the side. For that matter, it's not really that different when I run a game using a battle mat, it's hard to represent multiple levels when you can have PCs and creatures on each of those levels.

 

[Oofta]

You mean like how vtts work right now? And have worked for more than a decade?

I don’t think it’s terribly unreasonable to think WotC’s offering will have pretty much the same features that EVERY other vtt has right now.

But hey. Let’s pretend that the vtt won’t let the dm see player character sheets because, it’s so much easier to rage against stuff we completely make up.

There may not be some features on day 0 release, they've said they expect to continue development of new features after release depending on how people use the product and what they ask for. But of course they will never listen to what people actually want in a VTT because they have a monopoly in the VTT market with a product that they haven't even released, right?

 

[Hussar]

Putting a second floor on buildings is a pain in Roll20 as well. Best way I could do it was link to a different map or room off to the side. For that matter, it's not really that different when I run a game using a battle mat, it's hard to represent multiple levels when you can have PCs and creatures on each of those levels.

Yeah. That can be especially tricky if you start working with sight lines on the map. Getting the sight lines on different, overlapping maps (if you want to do a multi-story location) is honestly more trouble than it's worth. Much better to just have the different levels on the same "map" and then jump from section to section, if you follow what I mean.