D&D 4E The (on-line) Future of 4E (or 4D as it will become known)- am I mad?

[Cyronax]

They don't even have Monster Tools up yet in the new subscription-model.

Until they have that tool + the Character Builder + a visualizer + X months/years I don't see them having it ready to go.

This is a long term thing. 4e will just be the testbed. 5e will probably be an attempt at more of what you are showing. Of course, that's what 4e was supposed to be.

 

[DracoSuave]

Vandal Hearts type stuff

They already did this. It was crap.

D&D Tactics for the lose.

 

[Goonalan]

They already did this. It was crap.

D&D Tactics for the lose.

Er... Wasn't that 3.5e rules melted down somewhat, I remember playing it and wanting to like it but... nearly, it scratched the itch- a little.

I'm talking about 4e (or 5e), multiplayer with voice chat et al (as above), the future of on-line D&D?

Not the past.

And no it's not a substitute for tabletop gaming, but if you can't get a regular game and on-line is your only option, wouldn't it be cool?

Even just a little bit?

 

[caudor]

4D Games/Campaign Packs with combinations of all of the above, ready to run...

Etc.

Am I the only one thinking this?

Obviously I'll still be playing around the table but I'll be as happy (perhaps) to fire up 4D and play with my on-line buds.

I'm excited- genuinely.

Two questions-

How mad am I?

How many years will it take to get to the above? (or else where will we be in 5, 10 years from now?)

You are not mad...more of a visionary, I suppose

I don't know how many years the change will happen. I don't know that reality will follow your vision, but I do suspect it won't resemble anything we are doing right now. Technology gets around to changing everything.

I can see online competitions, paid DM services, pools of quick-play delves online. I can see a wide array of both DM and player services aimed at making things easier (for a buck or two).

I like the idea of buying a ticket to play in a game hosted by some celebrity DM one night, and then getting together with a bunch of friends another night.

 

[Korgoth]

Why should they bother? That Vandal Hearts thing already looks cooler than Virtual D&D. Why not just play that?

It should be painfully obvious to everyone right now that WOTC is not a software company. I wouldn't want plumbers designing my rocket ship, and I wouldn't want to put WOTC in charge of writing a computer program.

 

[The Monster]

What I daydream about is real integration between online/computer stuff and tabletop play - building encounters, with maps and critters, and being able to easily print out the info if you want; character sheets integrated with visualizer (hyped since Release Day, and *still* not running!?!), which can be readily printed out, or used for realtime play on a pad with minimal fiddling; shared viewing, so the GM can look at character sheets and share notes and images in realtime table play. That's what I wish for - not copycat stylized 3d maps.
There's already plenty of MMOs; if they go that route, I can't/won't follow.

 

[Goonalan]

I note from the Baldman Games write up about the VTT demo at DDXP, found here-

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1XVv_FNN5BMHOPorcJQeG9xNcftGqj5Ybu-9ceri9BRw

That-

'They show off a map from Keep on the Shadowfell.
We’d like to run events online, just like the events here. Buy a ticket, get on, play.'

That's one of my suggestions ticked off.

'Will Dungeon/Dragon content be featured in the Virtual Table?
That’s something we’re hoping to focus on'

Depending how this is produced for the VTT then that could be another ticked off, with new creatures featuring in either source being available in the VTT, or even Dungeons pre-built and ready to play in the VTT. Or do they mean something different?

Voice Font demonstrations
Male to Female
Elf
Orc - VERY GOOD
Paladin Voice (Batman)

&

Voice Fonts integrated?
A: Yes!
Q: Could we get a sound effects bar?
A: We’d love to put something like that in for wave files

Promising.

And...

IF my friend makes an adventure, can I download/share that?
A: We’re working on that, with Game Table Online.
A: Right now, theoretically, yes, but we’re not sure we will have that feature on at launch.

Will the NWN Vault get replaced by the DDI Vault full of pre-built adventures?

Could you give players a reminder window/pop-up that shows things they need to do every round?
A: That’s possible, in the future, right now we’re working on emulating tabletop play as much as possible. Later we’ll look at adding features to make the game easier.

That would make things a lot easier for those just getting in to the game.

Anyone seen any footage of this VTT demo anywhere on the web yet?

 

[Jhaelen]

I wouldn't want plumbers designing my rocket ship, and I wouldn't want to put WOTC in charge of writing a computer program.

And how would you feel about rocket ship designers fixing your plumbing?

 

[kaomera]

They don't even have Monster Tools up yet in the new subscription-model.

Until they have that tool + the Character Builder + a visualizer + X months/years I don't see them having it ready to go.

Every indication I've seen is that the VTT is not going to support the monster builder at launch. And the visualizer has been dropped completely, aside from the fact that since they're not going to have any 3d elements all you'd need would be to be able to import images (which also seems like it may not be an option at launch).

 

[phloog]

To me, the best D&D games are like a book...the DM/author gives descriptions, but it's up to my brain to interpret those and to fill in the details...so if the NPC is a "grizzled old veteran", I can decide in my mind what he looks like.

The more completely supplied the imagery is, the harder it is to dismiss that imagery in favor of my own imagination. It becomes less like a good book and (flames coming I'm sure) more like a video game or movie.

I use Dwarven Forge, but i think they work because we see them as just walls, and we know they aren't exactly what is there - - they are just pretty ways to do the tactics. If you give me a system that draws/animates every NPC and every scene, my imagination feels cheated.

So most importantly I don't WANT this sort of graphically slick stuff...frankly for me, the VTT would be better if it looked like an old vector graphics video game - - show me the walls and the placement of individuals, pits, etc. This doesn't make me a Luddite/grognard - - I LOVE video games...but for me the more information my eyes and ears get that specifies how things are, the less free my imagination is.

And IF they went this way, they would need a TON of content/options to ensure things would always fit with everyone's style of world