how FG could be better

[X-baby longshot]

Hello all, I have started to attempt to play online VTT. Being a new VTT player, I thought I would post a few of my thoughts. First off I would like to say even though you have to download the FG VTT, this really does give me the best feeling of at home Role-playing game. Especially the dice, they are awesome! The things I found a bit lacking, is the means to find a group. I think some better or more advanced search tools and possibly some more information on the game postings that are looking for more players could go a lot further on the FG website. Time zones can be pretty confusing and most posts don't include how long they expect to run the game for, or the start time for the game. Other VTT's have set up some kind of time zone converter within their program so the times you see on their website are set to your time zone. Lastly I would recommend making your payment method a bit more customer friendly. I attempted to purchase a subscription but was immediately re-directed to PayPal, just wondering why I can’t use a credit card to purchase a subscription. Even with the few things I found that I think could be better I intend to continue to use FG, as it does seem to be a superior VTT.

[dulux-oz]

Hello all, I have started to attempt to play online VTT. Being a new VTT player, I thought I would post a few of my thoughts. First off I would like to say even though you have to download the FG VTT, this really does give me the best feeling of at home Role-playing game. Especially the dice, they are awesome! The things I found a bit lacking, is the means to find a group. I think some better or more advanced search tools and possibly some more information on the game postings that are looking for more players could go a lot further on the FG website. Time zones can be pretty confusing and most posts don't include how long they expect to run the game for, or the start time for the game. Other VTT's have set up some kind of time zone converter within their program so the times you see on their website are set to your time zone. Lastly I would recommend making your payment method a bit more customer friendly. I attempted to purchase a subscription but was immediately re-directed to PayPal, just wondering why I can’t use a credit card to purchase a subscription. Even with the few things I found that I think could be better I intend to continue to use FG, as it does seem to be a superior VTT.

Hey, welcome aboard!

You find us all pretty friendly here (actually, its one of the friendliest, most courteous boards I've even been involved with). Feel free to ask questions - everyone is here to help.

A couple of things from your post:

Finding a Group - generally its not a big problem, it just takes a little bit of time/patience - keep an eye out on the boards, there's normally an average of one notice a day asking for players.
As far as search tools, etc - SW is a small operation - Doug, Moon and Zeus are it, and generally the community would rather have them working on improvements to the software than anything else - as I said, finding a game is normally not that big a problem. People who do post looking for players are pretty good with when/where/etc, but that, of course, is up to the posters.

Not sure if I'm reading you right on the timezone thing - when I log onto the Forum the posts, etc are displayed in my Lima time (local time) ie UTC+10, which is where I am. Most game request posts 've seen general post the time as UTC +/- n, so again, generally its not too difficult.

As far as payments are concerned, I know SW use PayPal because its the simplest way to get payments going - and PayPal will allow you to pay by a Credit Card without even having to log in - I know, cause I've done it multiple time

One last comment (& another of my Shameless Plugs(TM) ) - have you seen any of the excellent Tutorial Videos available from the Wiki (& from YouTube), including but not limited to mine? People have told me they find them useful. Mine concentrate on the basics of using FG, which Zorn (another regular) has been focussing on D&D 5E.

Anyway, again, Welcome

Cheers

[X-baby longshot]

Ok, well I guess it works just fine for you. I wasn't trying to create an argument, was nearly pointing out what I saw as things that could be improved. So I thought I might voice my opinion on how to keep FG competitive with other VTT's. I understand the want to keep developers active on upgrades for the VTT, and am not saying to give that up. What I was trying to nicely put in the forums, was my thoughts on how things could be improved to get more people involved with FG, as someone new to VTT's I shopped around and found several differences between other sites. As I previously stated I believe FG has the best VTT of all that I reviewed, it gives the best feeling of a game from home. As a person who just moved locations and is disconnected with my older group due to huge difference in time zones, an easy to use looking for group function is probably on the top of my list in choosing a VTT, and in my humble opinion I don’t think FG has the best LFG system out of all the VTT’s I looked at, so again in my humble opinion I think it’s worth investing some time in it to making it better. Granted it’s not my time or decision, just my opinion that I thought I would share with the developers to possibly make a difference. Feel free to ignore my opinion, although I think that a few small adjustments could make a large difference in the amount of customers you have active. I agree that showing the time zone IE UTC+/-1 or whatever the DM is posting from is somewhat usable information. When I review the game calendar and look at games, only a few, list the times that the game will start at and normally when they do they list their specific time zone IE the game will start at 6:00PM EST, however many games listed in the calendar have no such information, and the only thing to go off is the UTC time zone. However just because your time zone and mine is the same, does not mean that you intend to hold a game in a time period that I’m available to play at. However if all that data was required to post on the Calendar, then the web site could convert the data to the players reviewing the calendar and there would no questions to start time or game time length.

[dulux-oz]

Cool - and I'm sure SW will take your comments into consideration: they usually do

BTW I don't think you were trying to start an argument - as I've said, the community here is the nicest, most considerate I've ever been involved with - so, like yourself, I was just expressing an opinion and trying to point out some things to be helpful - actually, the Game Calendar System has been remarked upon before, and it wouldn't surprise me if Doug and the others were looking into it anyway.

So, don't stop making comments - we all need as much feedback as we can get - and I encourage you to participate in the community as much as you feel comfortable with

Happy gaming

Cheers

[damned]

i think that predominantly Fantasy Grounds is bought by existing groups to continue playing together as life takes its toll on us all
this means that there are often fewer games looking for players or gms than the other major VTT.
the group Im running right now doesnt have a calendar entry. some of the group have been with me well over 2 years and others far less time. i only advertise when I need players. currently the group has players from NZ, AUS, UK, US.
and about 5 weeks ago one of the group starting running games on the opposite weekend.
what am i trying to say? it can and does take time to find a group that fits your gaming style, your availability etc. but many groups will be long lasting once formed. others - like the active PFS community are mostly one shots - but one shots with plenty of familiar faces.
there is a very active Savage Worlds group https://extraordinarygamers.com/ who run games at all sorts of times and are very welcoming.

and as dulux-oz says - feedback is welcome - and heard.

[Mask_of_winter]

there is a very active Savage Worlds group https://extraordinarygamers.com/ who run games at all sorts of times and are very welcoming.

SXG is no longer Savage Worlds only, we have Pathfinder, BRP, CoC, Mutants & Masterminds, D&D5e, Castles & Crusades and also Fate Core. Fantasy, modern and Sci-fi.
Just saying...
Anyway, welcome aboard X-Baby. Keep checking on the forums, especially the Guild section. Introduce yourself, let us know when you're available, where in the world you are (timezone) and game system preference and you're bound to find something. I run many one-shots and never have a problem finding players no matter how obscure the game is. Check out steam also and check out our calendar: https://extraordinarygamers.com/Calendar