Let's be honest about why people aren't coming to fantasy grounds

[Nylanfs]

hehe, I see what you did there.

[dulux-oz]

But on a side note, as far as I know, still no ruleset writing tutorials

Because, as has been said on innumerable occasions in the past, developing a Ruleset (note I said developing, not writing - because that's what it is) requires a set of base skills in XML, LUA, Logic, Program Design, Graphic Design, and Computer Programming - tutorials for all of those can be found already online - and without those base skills any Tutorial done will be either:

1. So High Level as to be good only for existing Programmers - in which case won't be useful
2. So Low Level trying to cover those base skills as to be so Looonnngggg that a viewer would be better off spending the time actually attending a 1st Year University course on Programming - in which case it won't be useful, or
3. Somewhere in the middle such that important information isn't covered in an effort to keep the damn thing to a reasonable length - in which case won't be useful

As an example, let me ask this: How many Tutorials are out there that cover the creating of a Computer Game such as StarCraft, WoW or even Duke Nuke 'Em (to name a few)?

Of course, if you disagree with me then you can always go and produce your own Tutorial...

Cheers

[Morbid-Don]

THE IDEAL ENVIRONMENT

Whomever can secure a partnership or establish a department with one of the major RPG Publishers is gonna be king when software comes out that sort of mimicks the games shown below - in that - replace the game's AI with a GM/DM who has control over the environment and "mobs" = VIOLA - a mature robust game online GM/DMing option!

Space Hulk:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/242570/

Shadowrun Online:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/267750/

All the game assets and mechanics need to be pre-loaded/bundled in - this shouldn't be the realm of the end consumer...

Granted scalability and customization of course is a must!

In a time when Publishers are experiencing challenges ranging from Book Piracy to a drop in the number of gamers who play PNP RPG aka the community.

You can stay in the stone age and eventually when we're all old and gray - we'll be the last generation to play the PNP Games because Publishers/Designers are too guarded about adopting the next step in an eventual market evolution.

Lets progress forward!

Just and idea/opinion, not meaning to upset or attack anyone

Stay Gaming!

[JohnD]

THE IDEAL ENVIRONMENT

Whomever can secure a partnership or establish a department with one of the major RPG Publishers is gonna be king when software comes out that sort of mimicks the games shown below - in that - replace the game's AI with a GM/DM who has control over the environment and "mobs" = VIOLA - a mature robust game online GM/DMing option!

Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights 2

[tiilikainen]

I have owned a Fantasy Grounds license since 3/28/2009 and have used it consistently since then. Here is my feedback; I hope it's more helpful than a simple wall of text.

Quality. I think Fantasy Grounds development is going in the right direction. After Smiteworks purchased Fantasy Grounds, there was a substantial improvement in the stability and usability of the software. I have never experienced a worsening of the quality of service as the result of a patch, and I think that Smiteworks sets the quality bar high enough--and hurdles it with a consistency that other developers ought to envy. Please keep up the great work.

Community. We have an absolutely fantastic community. I want to give overdue credit to the significant community members who have poured their blood, sweat, and tears into Fantasy Grounds. I don't know that newer people really appreciate how much these folks have contributed to the functionality and experience of Fantasy Grounds. Moon Wizard has been developing and maintaining the D&D rulesets for as long as I can remember and is an indispensable member of the community. DrZeuss/Zeus (and formerly Tenian) wrote programs to assist DMs with module creation. Xorn -- your tutorial videos are wonderfully useful - I'm currently working through your Twitch video on parsing my copy of the PHB. Thank you guys so much for doing what you do. There are many other people I don't know who work on other rule systems--my group has used FG mainly for 3E/4E/5E D&D gaming, but you are all essential. I can't overstate how important community involvement is to the overall Fantasy Grounds product. Fantasy Grounds is the textbook example of how community involvement in a piece of software can vastly improve upon and expand the scope of that software.

Extensibility. I wish that the process of developing new rulesets was less intimidating. I have some software development background, and I very much appreciate how robust the FG API is, but the combination of LUA and XML is very challenging. A standard library of sorts would be much appreciated. I wished that there was a better separation between the presentation layer, the data layer, and the "business rules" layer. If there were some sort of Eclipse or other editor plugin that understood the structure of a Fantasy Grounds ruleset, that would be great. If there was a GUI developer that allowed you to develop a ruleset in a WYSIWYG manner, that would be awesome. I would weep with joy. A set of detailed tutorial videos or webinars would be lovely. I would be very interested to learn about the tool chain that ruleset developers use to implement the rulesets.

Media. The website is fine. It does what it needs to do. The fonts could be adjusted upward in size. There could be a Videos page that collects all of the tutorials together. My opinion is that flashy marketing videos are a waste of money because they cost so much per unit time to produce. Videos that give 60-second demonstrations of various functions of Fantasy Grounds for the Steam store page should be all that's needed. Banner advertising on other websites is fine. I am happy that Smiteworks appears to be spending the majority of their money making Fantasy Grounds a better product.

Dice. Fantasy Grounds has the best-animated dice. Period. Accept no substitutes.

Thanks for reading. =)

[Tiqon]

only a little misreading of your post here - but have you ever tried learning blender? Sheesh. FG is a breeze compared to blender.

Not to mention a VCR...never did manage to learn that... Timed recording... ouch!