New to table top gaming, using Lite Client, seeking game to join

[ElvisAronDeadly]

I found FG today while looking for online based text adventures today. I really dig table top gaming, but havnt had much exposure to games other than a few lack luster games in middle school. I cant find a real life game and cant check out games hosted at local shops because I have to be home raising a kid, so figured I'd look around online. FG seems like a great alternative that would allow me to play and still parent (the kid is pretty independent, but still not old enough to be left home alone).

I havnt got the extra cash to buy the player license yet, but will hopefully get it eventually. For now, Im hoping to find a GM running Ultimate, whos open to a noob joining their game. Mostly interested in fantasy settings, although id also be interested in Shadowrun, or a Serenity game if anyones running them. I am open to joining a game outside that comfort zone though. So if you have a game and would be willing to have me, please feel free to drop me a line!

[Macgreine]

Welcome to Fantasy Grounds, by far the best VTT out there for those who can afford to buy it. It is however somewhat dysfunctional in its licensing for those who want to plug in and try it. Something about dissatisfied monkeys, the need for a vacation and banana rum keep it at bay. If you dont find what your looking for here you might want to try Roll20. Its completely free and gives you a chance to "plug in" without $ commitment. Anyway good luck with your ventures.

Mac

[Trenloe]

The OP mentions they have a lite license in the title but then says they can't buy the player license (which is the lite license) - I wonder what it is...

[Mgrancey]

There are GM's willing to demo systems if your looking around to find a system you like. Availability and ideal play times are good to add in as well. There is a little confusion from thread title and your initial post, are you looking for a game for when you acquire a lite (pc only) license?

[damned]

Welcome to Fantasy Grounds, by far the best VTT out there for those who can afford to buy it. It is however somewhat dysfunctional in its licensing for those who want to plug in and try it. Something about dissatisfied monkeys, the need for a vacation and banana rum keep it at bay. If you dont find what your looking for here you might want to try Roll20. Its completely free and gives you a chance to "plug in" without $ commitment. Anyway good luck with your ventures.

Mac

i think we all get your point by now....

[Valarian]

I'm going to be running a Babylon 5 game using Fate Core starting with character generation tonight (8pm UK time).
see Calendar entry for further details: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/calendar/?id=1057

This will be running on an Ultimate license, so I can accept unregistered connections.You can join in before you get your Lite license.

[dr_venture]

Hey Elvis, welcome! You might want to add your time zone, and the days and hours that you are most interested in. Also be sure to keep an eye on the Guild House forum for games with openings, and take a look at the game calendar, though the signal to noise ratio there is a bit less than optimal. And hang in there - sometimes it can take a little while to find a game to your liking, but it's worth it.

[Andraax]

I havnt got the extra cash to buy the player license yet, but will hopefully get it eventually. For now, Im hoping to find a GM running Ultimate, whos open to a noob joining their game. Mostly interested in fantasy settings, although id also be interested in Shadowrun, or a Serenity game if anyones running them. I am open to joining a game outside that comfort zone though. So if you have a game and would be willing to have me, please feel free to drop me a line!

I'm running a fantasy games on alternate Saturday afternoons (US/Central) if you're interested. Castles and Crusades. I have a page on Obsidian Portal - Adventures on the Blacktooth Ridge (https://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/blacktooth-ridge) - if you want to request joining. I have an Ultimate license, so you do not need to buy anything.

[Macgreine]

i think we all get your point by now....

I know and I apologize for bringing it up again, but there's an old saying that the squeaky wheel gets some grease or something and I know that without rebellion there is no change. All I really want is to be able to invite people without the license either by a floating seat ( which I am willing to pay for ) or a trial period which Fantasy Grounds can arrange however they see fit. My intentions are good and not to bring harm to FG or the community, only to make it better. I find it ridiculous that I should have to front the bucks to welcome new players.

Join me in my quest brothers!!!

[Andraax]

Join me in my quest brothers!!!

I just bought the ultimate license, so I can always invite people to join an play and they don't need any license at all.

[Macgreine]

I just bought the ultimate license, so I can always invite people to join an play and they don't need any license at all.

Thats awesome. If you have the means, good on ya! I dont have the extra $115 and can't seem to justify it by any jump of the imagination.

BTW I looked over your page on OP and your campaign looks like fun. Best of luck with it.

[Andraax]

Thats awesome. If you have the means, good on ya! I dont have the extra $115 and can't seem to justify it by any jump of the imagination.

I've always found it funny that a lot of the same people who complain about paying $50-100 for RPG stuff (a couple extra books or in this case VTT software) - items that will be useful for years and through many, many gaming sessions - have no problems plunking down the same amount for PlayStation or Xbox or whatever games - which they are done playing with in 1-2 weeks.

I guess the fact that I am also a professional software engineer might influence my thoughts on the costs associated with quality software.

[Macgreine]

I've always found it funny that a lot of the same people who complain about paying $50-100 for RPG stuff (a couple extra books or in this case VTT software) - items that will be useful for years and through many, many gaming sessions - have no problems plunking down the same amount for PlayStation or Xbox or whatever games - which they are done playing with in 1-2 weeks.

I guess the fact that I am also a professional software engineer might influence my thoughts on the costs associated with quality software.

You are so right my friend and just so you know I dont own a gaming console.I do however find myself later in life without the income a professional software engineer might have, yet I have a desire to share my experience with tabletop gaming with those new to either RPG games or the table top. So forgive me if my appeal does not reason well with you.I mean no harm.

I never said it wasn't worth it. Its the best VTT in existence I am just trying to forge a way for people to access it easier.


Sincerely, Mac

[Macgreine]

I've always found it funny that a lot of the same people who complain about paying $50-100 for RPG stuff (a couple extra books or in this case VTT software) - items that will be useful for years and through many, many gaming sessions - have no problems plunking down the same amount for PlayStation or Xbox or whatever games - which they are done playing with in 1-2 weeks.

I guess the fact that I am also a professional software engineer might influence my thoughts on the costs associated with quality software.


Just out of curiosity how many of the players in your game have at least a lite license @ $24 or did they join because you had an ultimate license. This is not an attack, mind you. I am just wondering.

[Andraax]

Just out of curiosity how many of the players in your game have at least a lite license @ $24 or did they join because you had an ultimate license. This is not an attack, mind you. I am just wondering.

I have no idea. I know that at least one bought the lite license (even though it wasn't needed) just to support the developers. Others may have as well. I didn't take a poll.

[Valarian]

All I really want is to be able to invite people without the license either by a floating seat ( which I am willing to pay for )
Good news, this is already available ... it's called the ultimate license.


a trial period which Fantasy Grounds can arrange however they see fit.
This is also available. Any unregistered, lite or full license can run a demo for a single unregistered user. Of course, ultimate licenses can run a full game, which is what ultimate license holders are paying for.

[Valarian]

Just out of curiosity how many of the players in your game have at least a lite license @ $24 or did they join because you had an ultimate license. This is not an attack, mind you. I am just wondering.
The majority of players in my games have licenses, lite or even full. They play for a while unregistered and then purchase.

[Valarian]

Apologies to the OP for the thread derail,

[damned]

Just out of curiosity how many of the players in your game have at least a lite license @ $24 or did they join because you had an ultimate license. This is not an attack, mind you. I am just wondering.

I do find it disappointing that most of my players do not have a license of any kind... makes me a bit sad... i did cop the ultimate just so i could ensure i got a game running... most of my players were sourced from outside this community so the ultimate has been handy for me. but yes - you can only spend what you can afford and all of us can afford different things.

squeaky wheels do get attention but sometimes they get more attention from passers-by than from the mechanic who is busy fixing/building other things higher on their priority list...

[JohnD]

I think the squeaky message might be less irksome if the new person wasn't essentially being told "go to another VTT" within minutes of arriving. That can't be doing anything good for the prospects of making a change.

I bought an Ultimate license. If I had to do it over again I'd go with the Full.

[Trenloe]

"Floating licences" are in 59th place on the wishlist, go and vote if you want this to be more visible to the FG devs: fg2app.idea.informer.com/ However, I'm pretty sure they've already got the message.

I agree with John, suggesting that prospective new players go elsewhere as soon as they post in the forums is not a good message to be giving out, no matter what individuals thoughts on the current licensing model.

[dulux-oz]

Personally, I have absolutely no problem with the licencing system - in fact, IMNSHO I consider it one of the most flexible and generous licencing systems I've found.

Again, backing up what others have already said, I find in amazing, disappointing and even somewhat selfish that people won't spend a few dollars on a product that provides not just hours of entertainment but months and even years of fun and yet are quite happy to spend the same or more on a pizza & a 6-pack! Still, as a GM its sort of expected that you'll "go that extra mile" and purchase the books/tools/whatever - but that's what hobbies are for.

Yes, some people genuenly find themselves short of funds, but I've always found that if people want something badly enough they'll find a way (they'll cut back on beer, or cigarettes, or pizza, or something for a while) - of course, it is easier to just sit and whinge, but hey, that's never been MY style!

Keep up the good work SmiteWorks, keep answering those questions so those of us who do want to "do their own thing" can, and thankyou for a great, well-priced and oh so useful addition to our hobby!

[Gargomaxthalus]

In my case I'm hoping to get that play for a few years and love it experience that I got from the MMOs Star Wars Galaxies and City of Heroes/Villains. My enthusiasm has been so great that not only did I snap up the Full license, but I've even spent hundreds of dollars on Hero Lab and some rule book PDFs in the last two months as well as some licenses for FG II rule sets. Everyone has there own financial and societal pressures to account for so not everyone will be happy with how this works. Also FG, although lacking integrated video/voice chat, looks better and likely functions better than the non profit Roll20 so I say, why not send them there, they'll likely be back anyway.

[Macgreine]

Personally, I have absolutely no problem with the licencing system - in fact, IMNSHO I consider it one of the most flexible and generous licencing systems I've found.

Again, backing up what others have already said, I find in amazing, disappointing and even somewhat selfish that people won't spend a few dollars on a product that provides not just hours of entertainment but months and even years of fun and yet are quite happy to spend the same or more on a pizza & a 6-pack! Still, as a GM its sort of expected that you'll "go that extra mile" and purchase the books/tools/whatever - but that's what hobbies are for.

Yes, some people genuenly find themselves short of funds, but I've always found that if people want something badly enough they'll find a way (they'll cut back on beer, or cigarettes, or pizza, or something for a while) - of course, it is easier to just sit and whinge, but hey, that's never been MY style!
inking
Keep up the good work SmiteWorks, keep answering those questions so those of us who do want to "do their own thing" can, and thankyou for a great, well-priced and oh so useful addition to our hobby!

Yea, you bunch of cigarette eating, pizza drinking, beer smokers. Stop yer whinin!!!!

[AstaSyneri]

From my point of view I agree: I love the pricing. $149 is not cheap - but it's a lifetime license (considering I am already over 40, do I get some money back? ;-)). Totally worth it, if there is longtime health in the development, a decent set of rules (Pathfinder / Savage Worlds does the trick for me right now, more would be nice, of course).

The same reasoning tells me that you want to continously grow the player base and the revenue. Other VTTs vie for customers with pretty pictures on extremely limited funtionality. The problem is that FG requires the GM to do a lot of extra work and is not immediately "video game style"-attractive. At least on the screen shots.

And I want FG to improve upon functionality and ease-of-use (especially for GMs), but for that SmiteWorks need money.

A classic Indie games developer conundrum...

[Andrepartthree]

Well for what my two cents is worth (admittedly not much :) ) ...

A player's license is what, twenty four dollars ? That's about the price of a lot of "player's handbook" versions of RPG's .. the license where you can GM too for forty dollars.. which is what I purchased.. matches the price of the more expensive RPG books perhaps a "dungeon master's guide" sort of thing (cripes even smaller books can run in the forty dollar price range ! ) .. If you're paying that much for the books why not pay the same for an FG license?

On the other hand FG is definitely not for everyone... I know of at least one avid tabletop gamer who didn't like it at all when I roped him into it though it being an all-text game and him being a slow typist certainly didn't help (wish I'd hooked him up with a primarily voice chat game now that I think about it ) ... I can see how a "trial version" of the software that expires after say a week or so of first joining a game would be a definite draw to get people who enjoy FG hooked on it ... but then again I'm not a programmer, I have no idea how expensive or feasible that would be to begin with ...

Personally I've found FG to be enjoyable as all hell and in some way superior to tabletop gaming ... at it's best you feel like you're typing an interactive novel with your players :) .. if you go with the all-text approach I favor though I'm sure the voice-chat-dominant groups are having fun too ;) ..