Status of D&D Game Table?

[wayne62682]

I'm a big fan of WotC and 4E but looking back when 4E debuted I can't help but laugh at all the things they swore would be ready for launch, and promised, and how many promises have been broken. There was supposed to be Gleemax, the ultimate community for gamers, which crashed and burned what a few months (if that) after it launched? The Character Builder came out on schedule, so that was good. The Encounter Builder was late, but better late than never. And the VTT is probably never going to see the light of day. So the two main features they hyped up (Gleemax and the VTT) either crashed or are just vaporware.

Not bashing WotC, but I find it funny how things are now compared to 4E launch.

 

[Zaran]

I'm a big fan of WotC and 4E but looking back when 4E debuted I can't help but laugh at all the things they swore would be ready for launch, and promised, and how many promises have been broken. There was supposed to be Gleemax, the ultimate community for gamers, which crashed and burned what a few months (if that) after it launched? The Character Builder came out on schedule, so that was good. The Encounter Builder was late, but better late than never. And the VTT is probably never going to see the light of day. So the two main features they hyped up (Gleemax and the VTT) either crashed or are just vaporware.

Not bashing WotC, but I find it funny how things are now compared to 4E launch.

Apparently, they did a survey asking what we wanted. GM tools beat out the online table. I don't remember this survey but I wouldn't be surprised if people voted that way. But I suspect that most of the people that spend alot of time in forums like this are GMs. That being said they are being extremely slow on even the GM tools. That encounter builder is nothing. They need to make something that can be combined with the monster creator.

I also wouldn't be surprised if they had got alot of hate mail about selling virtual minis for use on the virtual game table and that has stopped them from pursuing it.

 

[IronWolf]

It probably doesn't hurt that there are some pretty decent VTTs already out there ready for use and some of those are free to use. As the existing VTTs continue to mature, WotC would have to come out with something to really get people to drop what they currently use and possibly pay for a tool WotC puts out.

 

[malraux]

I seriously do not think that they are putting any effort into getting the game table to us. Hiring someone to do the work for them once they could not get it working would be a logical plan. They probably think that the investment isn't worth it. If they can't figure out a way to make a ton of money off the game table they will not make the effort.

Right, so they did outsource the VTT. That's a big part of why it ended up imploding. The outsourced developer just couldn't deliver.

 

[Shemeska]

I don't believe that the VTT was ever put back into active development once WotC moved everything in-house (prior to anything DDI being released). Of course all the people I've talked to have since been laid off so maybe there are miracles being worked on a much smaller team and smaller budget. I wouldn't expect WotC to ever again fund a VTT development project anytime within the next ten years given how the first time went.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I think the really more interesting question is when the next expansion to the Adventure Builder is due. It has been very quite on this front.

Neither the character builder nor the monster builder seem to need much more fundamental work, unless they want to add the new monster stat blocks now. They haven't seen any feature changes in the past few updates, IIRC.

 

[Zaran]

I think the really more interesting question is when the next expansion to the Adventure Builder is due. It has been very quite on this front.

Neither the character builder nor the monster builder seem to need much more fundamental work, unless they want to add the new monster stat blocks now. They haven't seen any feature changes in the past few updates, IIRC.

I think we will see the new stat blocks soon. But that really shouldn't be an EPIC addition to the GM tools. Didn't I read somewhere that the guy in charge of the DDI development is also the guy who is charge of the non RPG stuff like the board games that they are putting out? Seems to me that department is spread pretty thin.

 

[Stoat]

I don't believe that the VTT was ever put back into active development once WotC moved everything in-house (prior to anything DDI being released). Of course all the people I've talked to have since been laid off so maybe there are miracles being worked on a much smaller team and smaller budget. I wouldn't expect WotC to ever again fund a VTT development project anytime within the next ten years given how the first time went.

How current is your information?

What happened the first time that makes you think it will be ten years before WotC ever funds another VTT development project?

 

[Shemeska]

How current is your information?

What happened the first time that makes you think it will be ten years before WotC ever funds another VTT development project?

About a year old now.

And based on the amount of $ they sunk into the outsourcing of the DDI (inclusive of Gleemax) and the subsequent management purges when much of it went belly-up.

 

[Stoat]

About a year old now.

And based on the amount of $ they sunk into the outsourcing of the DDI (inclusive of Gleemax) and the subsequent management purges when much of it went belly-up.

How much did WotC sink into outsourcing the DDI and Gleemax?

I apologize for cross-examining you, but in a sea of speculation, you seem to be one of a very few people with any concrete knowledge about the situation.