SmiteWorks Hires D&D Beyond Founder as Chief Development Officer of Fantasy Grounds

SmiteWorks, owner of the Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop, announced today that they hired Adam Bradford as their Chief Development Officer. Bradford was the founder of D&D Beyond, before leaving to join Demiplane, a generic D&D Beyond-style platform aimed at some game systems.

SmiteWorks USA, LLC, the developer behind the leading virtual tabletop software, Fantasy Grounds, is excited to announce the appointment of Adam Bradford as its new Chief Development Officer (CDO). Adam Bradford, a prominent figure in the tabletop gaming industry, brings a wealth of experience and expertise that will be instrumental in driving the company’s growth and innovation.

Adam Bradford is well-known for his pioneering work in the digital gaming space. He founded D&D Beyond, a digital toolset that transformed the way Dungeons & Dragons is played. Under his leadership, D&D Beyond experienced significant growth and was eventually acquired by Hasbro. Following this success, Adam joined Demiplane, another online tabletop roleplaying game company, where he led the development for a digital tools platform for a variety of other games, further cementing his reputation as a visionary in the industry.

In his new role at SmiteWorks, Adam will focus on expanding Fantasy Grounds’ market presence, enhancing user engagement, and user experience. He will oversee strategic initiatives across product development, business development, marketing, community engagement, and user acquisition. Adam’s innovative approach and proven track record make him an ideal fit for SmiteWorks as the company continues to push the boundaries of digital tabletop gaming.

"We are thrilled to welcome Adam Bradford to the SmiteWorks team," said Doug Davison, President of SmiteWorks USA, LLC. "Adam's expertise and vision will be invaluable as we work to grow Fantasy Grounds and provide our users with the best possible tabletop gaming experience. We have a lot of great things in the works for Fantasy Grounds and we believe Adam is the perfect addition to help us achieve our goals."

Adam Bradford expressed his enthusiasm for joining SmiteWorks, stating, "I am incredibly excited to be joining SmiteWorks and to have the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing success of Fantasy Grounds. The virtual tabletop space is evolving rapidly to make playing these games we love more convenient than ever, and I look forward to working with the outstanding team at SmiteWorks to continue driving innovation and growth in the tabletop roleplaying space."[/callout[]

 

[UngainlyTitan]

@BadEye One thing that has occurred to me, base on just looking at my YouTube feed is some simple short introduction videos to the image/map creation tools. Ever since the switch to unity these tools have lost me. The videos on the topic are multi-hour live casts. The videos should also have accompanying wiki written how-to explanations.
god! I miss the days when software was expected to have a functional context sensitive F1 help button.

 

[kronovan]

Part of increasing ease of use across the board will mean instructional / tutorial content in both written and video formats - data has shown over the years that there's a split more or less down the middle in which is preferred, so doing just one isn't going to satisfy enough fans or be comprehensive enough...

Glad to hear SmitheWorks will be taking that approach. I'm of an age for whom computer-based training didn't even exist in college classrooms. Despite having been a software trainer that even created CBT tutorials, I still learn more quickly and effectively from written content.

I'll also call out that a bigger part of the ease of use priority for me is reducing the need for dedicated tutorial content in the first place by smoothing the onboarding ramp in other ways, with all the various tools we'll have at our disposal to do that.

It's the mapping tools that IMO are the biggest challenge. A magnitude of change has been introduced to mapping since the transition from FGC to FGU. I can no longer count on my fingers and toes the amount of disrupted sessions I've experienced due to a GM host struggling with them. That includes GMs who have a decent amount of experience with other mapping apps. I don't think it's purely a UI issue either, as there seems to be some operational issues. I can no longer recall the times I've heard a GM say: "I tested this with a second, demo client connected to my ultimate host and it worked." Adding the player preview toggle for map images was a big help, but things that display correctly in that mode sometimes don't work real-time/live session.

 

[LordEntrails]

There is no "player tier" or GM tier. There is a demo license that let's you play in a game hosted by someone with a paid license. There is a standard license that let's you host games for up to 6 people. There is an ultimate license that let's you host games for any number of people. I don't know if you need a standard license to purchase content, but even with a demo license you can access content the GM shares.

NOTE: The GM has to have the game server up for you to do anything in it.

No, No, No. Sorry friend, but a Standard FG license can not host ANY free account. It can host for an unlimited number of other Standard or Ultimate Players, but zero Demo players.
Either the GM and All players need a Standard license, or the GM needs an Ultimate license.

 

[LordEntrails]

@BadEye One thing that has occurred to me, base on just looking at my YouTube feed is some simple short introduction videos to the image/map creation tools. Ever since the switch to unity these tools have lost me. The videos on the topic are multi-hour live casts. The videos should also have accompanying wiki written how-to explanations.
god! I miss the days when software was expected to have a functional context sensitive F1 help button.

There is a pretty simple and straightforward guide to the mapping tools here: Working with Images as the GM - Fantasy Grounds Customer Portal - Confluence

A more comprehensive guide to the 3 general methods here: Creating Maps - Fantasy Grounds Customer Portal - Confluence

A 6 minute getting started mapping with tiles video here: A 7 minute getting started mapping with brushes video here: A 9 minute quick map video here:

 

[LordEntrails]

Fantasy Grounds Friday had Adam on last episode.

 

[Reynard]

No, No, No. Sorry friend, but a Standard FG license can not host ANY free account. It can host for an unlimited number of other Standard or Ultimate Players, but zero Demo players.
Either the GM and All players need a Standard license, or the GM needs an Ultimate license.
View attachment 366851

Thanks for the clarification. I have always and only ever had a Ultimate license so I misunderstood the Standard license.

 

[Zaukrie]

No, No, No. Sorry friend, but a Standard FG license can not host ANY free account. It can host for an unlimited number of other Standard or Ultimate Players, but zero Demo players.
Either the GM and All players need a Standard license, or the GM needs an Ultimate license.
View attachment 366851

We aren't talking FG.... At least I thought we weren't

 

[LordEntrails]

We aren't talking FG.... At least I thought we weren't

Oh, sorry. I think @Reynard and I both thought you were. I certainly did.

 

[Zaukrie]

Oh, sorry. I think @Reynard and I both thought you were. I certainly did.

That explains our mutual confusion. No biggie....