VT/CB/AT integration coming soon to beta testers

[samursus]

That's a pretty fair point. The only caveat I'd add is that if WotC is expecting to snap up a section of the audience that already comes online for gaming fun, THAT section might be spoken for if the price point is redokulous.

If WotC is expecting to bring people online for gaming fun, they can make a dynamite first impression, but after that it's only a matter of months before they find out about MapTool (or other online mapping/gametable programs), and then it BECOMES a competition. Not that the first impression can't keep a lot of people, just that if it's costing the group $60/month and not doing what the people want it to do (like with drag-and-drop map editing from non-Dungeon Tiles images), a free alternative could sound very appealing.

It might not be a tremendous deal right out of the gate, but the higher the barrier to entry, the more likely people won't do it, or will quickly migrate to an alternative once they're aware of it (and they'll quickly become aware of it if they're playing online). Even if WotC recruits brand new people to play online, the early adopters need to buy in to a certain extent (or the people they bring on will quickly migrate away).

But yeah, WotC could get a nice few months out of everyone who's never tried online D&D before trying it with the VT. Their marketing reach is certainly more than even the paid programs readily available online.

Good points again, but I think only only a small subset of online VT users would graduate to Maptools. And its really an unavoidable consequence for WotC, and one with diminishing returns. I am sure we would all like the new E-tools to be the go-to method of gaming online, but we all know, nothing (except whatever Google does [Edit: Forgot about Wave ] ) ever pleases everyone.

With Wizards digital track record, I am merely hoping for "good".

 

[lkj]

Thanks to those who responded about the asynchronous use. It's sort of what I figured. It might or might not work but it won't be ideal in any case.

I totally agree that it's best used for an online game of dispersed people. It's how I'd like to use it. I've had a couple of games I ran using Fantasy Grounds. That worked pretty well. But I have to admit the integration with other DDI tools would be a pretty big draw for us. We're severely time limited these days.

And, the reason I'm an email campaign guy these days is a problem of scheduling-- both time zones (China, eastern U.S, and western U.S) and being crazy busy. The email campaign is very suboptimal. But it's a lot better than nothing. Currently I just use a google docs presentation as our battlemat. Works fairly well, but the guy in China is having access trouble. He says he'll have it sorted out through a VPN soon though. But it's one of the reasons I was hitting around. I thought Google Wave was going to be our final email campaign solution, but alas . . .

Anyway, thanks again.

AD

 

[Nathal]

I am waiting that VT. Once it appears, I will likely join DDI and give it a try. I hope my future players can jump on for free, but some of them would shell out $10 a month if I were running. It would be really cool to reunite like that. I own Fantasygrounds, but as with Maptool, it requires more prep work in advance. I would love a fully integrated VT.

 

[Mirtek]

Actually I would be surprised if anyone gets the VT with DDI as it currently is. There will either be a general price increase to DDI or a split into basic/premium DDI with only the later including the VT.

The only way I could see people getting the VT as part of the current DDI rate would be as a limited free trial or as long as your current subscription bought for the old price is still running (maybe with a "buy an extension until the xx.xx.2011 for the old price" like when they did the first price increase).

But WotC surely will use the VT for another price increase.

 

[Nathal]

Actually I would be surprised if anyone gets the VT with DDI as it currently is. There will either be a general price increase to DDI or a split into basic/premium DDI with only the later including the VT.

The only way I could see people getting the VT as part of the current DDI rate would be as a limited free trial or as long as your current subscription bought for the old price is still running (maybe with a "buy an extension until the xx.xx.2011 for the old price" like when they did the first price increase).

But WotC surely will use the VT for another price increase.

The vt was supposed to be there in the first place...did they determine price after they dumped it in the beginning?

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

The vt was supposed to be there in the first place...did they determine price after they dumped it in the beginning?

Yes the price for DDi was stated to be an introductory price that would eventually raise as more tools were added to it.

 

[Kelvor Ravenstar]

The Adventure Tools beta went live tonight, for the people who were already in the VTT Beta. I was very disappointed in what I found. It ran fine on my browser, no crashes, but the functionality is lacking.

At the moment, the only customization available is changing the level of the monsters, and changing the names of the monsters and powers. No changing from standard to elite or solo, and no adding new powers. No holding pen at all that I could see.

Luckily people outside the beta can't see it yet, or there would be a new uprising of complaints about a product not being ready for release rushed ahead of schedule.

 

[Dannager]

The Adventure Tools beta went live tonight, for the people who were already in the VTT Beta. I was very disappointed in what I found. It ran fine on my browser, no crashes, but the functionality is lacking.

At the moment, the only customization available is changing the level of the monsters, and changing the names of the monsters and powers. No changing from standard to elite or solo, and no adding new powers. No holding pen at all that I could see.

Luckily people outside the beta can't see it yet, or there would be a new uprising of complaints about a product not being ready for release rushed ahead of schedule.

Right. I'm pretty sure you don't get to complain about an incomplete features list in a program that is clearly advertised as incomplete to begin with (thus, beta). It is very likely that, as with the other online suite apps, more robust features will be phased in after they are satisfied that they've tested the dickens out of the current functionality.

 

[the Jester]

1: Many, if not most, of the beta testers are in fact insiders.
2: Given that the offline version is "broken" the online version is bound to be broken as well. Wouldn't it be smart to test it out with a small subset of your customers and test it before rolling it out to everyone as a feature of DDI?
3: If the non-DDI beta testers get used to using the software while beta testing they are more likely to become insiders when the software goes live.

As a non-beta test Insider, I feel pretty burnt that the content I am paying for is being given to non-paying folks when I haven't gotten the chance to see it yet.

I don't mind not being a beta tester, but when non-employee, non-subscribers are getting into the tests and some DDI subscribers that asked to get in are not... well, something's screwy there.

From the sounds of it, though, the MB is nowhere near ready for release. That's a shame- a good MB, or at least as good as the offline version, was the last thing that could have kept me on-board.

Here's hoping that in six months or so things are at the point at which I feel that re-subbing is worth it.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

It's not a monster builder per se, but an advanced monster browsing tool that allows you to adjust level.

For those who are not in the beta: all you need to do is send one email to get into the beta program - not hard at all.

I know that this will lead to OH NOES !!! BROKEN LIAR discussions, but it really is the only way for Wotc to do this: FIRST you work on VTT integration, THEN you add additional customizing functions. Adventure tools are much better for browsing monsters, and you can rename the monster and the powers, making reskinning much easier.