Player looking for 3.5 ed meduim to long term play

[Rocherd]

Dear Whom it may concern.

CURRENTLY 3 PLAYERS AWAITING.

FG License: I have full
Game System: 3.5 non pathfinder

Time Zone: I am US PST or UCT -8:00, but have a decently flexible scheduled.
Day of week and time: Decently flexible
Planned Frequency: 2-3 times a week (if all i can get is 1 I will settle)

Text or Voice: Text and of the like to gm only, Voice preferred for all, so Mix of both.
Voice software used: Team speak please, i am pending on other software.

Roleplay & Combat mix: Flexable but, characters i tend to play fair far better outside of combat, however have some indirect combat application (support).

Details of your scenario: I am open to any non pathfinder, but would really really like 3.5/srd/ogl.

What do you expect from players?

Friendly, but not super distracted. Hopefully there will be a comic relief in the group,

I am not that player (its not that i dont have a sense of humor, I am bad at the art of funny.). To be honest, im serious one..... You know that guy, Doesn't say much during good time moments, too busy enjoying the moment. Has no problem with a good laugh and having a good time, but is the one holding the cattle prod poking everyone to continue (not killing the mood but, unless were wasting alot of time, I do so with me trying to be funny. Not a good idea. That can potentially kill by causing ears and eyes to bleed.). ~see your eyes are already bleeding~

What do I expect from a GM?
1. Understand Player Styles
2. Bring out the best and worst of characters (inside and outside of combat, rp, ect.)
3. Combat doesn't happen unless one of five things are true: Game Event*, Travel, Story (this includes trying to move to next story point, eg cant get to the king without going through or past the guards.), (side or main) quest, reasonable location surprise.
4. Good storyteller. very good with the minds eye description.
5. Method to your madness
(no particular order to the numbers)

*eg during the month of December pulling us out of story to solve some holiday mischief or reindeer killing spree, someones rl birthday, basically events dont happen for no reason.... Unless the group really needs to goof off for whatever reason ( try to keep it rare and meaningful).

What do you not want? rules lawyers, combat all the dang time, power players.

Very Respectfully,
Richard

[nmex23]

That sounds like a solid layout for game. I agree with almost all of what you are looking for. I would also like to participate in a game of this style if one is found.

[Vhok]

I would be interested depending on the day(s) if a Dm could be found

[Rocherd]

Thank you for your support, I Know a DM will come along, but when happens to be the question.

[Rocherd]

Hmm.... This is rather discouraging.....

But never know, could take less time than rl...

[Rocherd]

after watching some videos, the software still doesnt seem ready for public release...

Namly, there is alot that has to be done outside of and to the software itself..

Since im under 2 weeks and under 2 hours, I will be getting a refund. From steam/vavle

[Mask_of_winter]

Which software? Fantasy Grounds?
It's been out since 2004. Why do you believe it isn't ready for public release?

[Trenloe]

after watching some videos, the software still doesnt seem ready for public release...
Huh? Assuming you're referring to Fantasy Grounds? This software has been around for 10 years, with people role-playing many tens-of-thousands of hours using just this software.


Namly, there is alot that has to be done outside of and to the software itself..
Can you expand on what you mean by this?

Fantasy Grounds is a Virtual Table Top (VTT) software that enables people who are geographically separated to play role-playing games over the internet. Just like in any role-playing game the GM has to do preparation for their games. That preparation can be hastened a lot by using pre-created adventure modules - 44 for 3.5E available here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/?search=&sys=9&pub=-1&typ=3&sort=1&x=13&y=12

The 3.5E ruleset comes with FG library modules containing spells, monsters and magic items from the d20 SRD (https://www.d20srd.org/). Complete SRD data is available in this package: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=DGA044

Or is it the fact that in just 3 days you haven't been offered a game? If you read through various threads on this forum where people have struggled to find a game in a very short period of time, you'll see that you'll need a bit of patience to find a good game for you - this will frequently take more than a week, perhaps longer if you have limited availability and/or specific requirements. Just like in playing a role-playing game face-to-face, it will take time for you to find a group that plays at a time you're free, plays in the style that you like and where you fit into the group. This might take you a few trial-and-error session until you hit on that magical combination you're looking for. Don't give up after just three days, otherwise you'll be missing out on an amazing online RPG experience and the chance to play in an amazing community.

Oh, and if you hadn't noticed, FGDaze2 gameday is on tomorrow (Saturday 15th)! Get involved in a one-shot game (even if it's not D&D), get to know Fantasy Grounds, get to know some GMs/players, have a great one-shot gaming experience. There are still spaces available in some games - more info here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?25258-FGDaze!-2-Saturday-August-15th-2015-Game-announcement-thread

[Mask_of_winter]

GMs will announce they are looking for players in the LFG category. That's when you have to reply to thread or pm them. They don't typically sort through pages and pages of players looking for a game and contact them. The same goes for in RL games and I've been part of this hobby for 30 years.

Like Trenloe said, you have to be patient. More than 5 days (your profile says you signed up on August 15th) and I see you have limited your posting to your own thread.

Come join us at FG Daze man, it's good timez.

[Rocherd]

Mostly class,race,maps,feats,spells,weapons,lore,ect. basically, if your a dm with alot of your own material gathered over the years (even hotfixes for classes, races ect.)..... you have a mountain of paper work to do. basically anything custom, has to be done manually, and when i say manually (I mean VIA programming, by script, easy to do and easy to get to, if and only if your doing only one focusing on adding or changing one area and on one thing). Most of what needs to be done can be done by a program... As a dm myself.... I would have to make a whole program to streamline data over manually and according to various templates (also not appealing), i would have to make another program for quick/quick-fix mapping, anoughter for maintain modular aspects like library managment, custom rules and modules, ect. Basically there is no (easy, efficient or effective) way of transerfing and/or creating new data.

Basically, its half done.

Alot of the front work (most of player side is done, good for basic players), in fact, nicely done at that....... HOWEVER, backend work, this covers the area that in actual pen and paper games, alot of what unseasoned players dont see (and typically discouraged from doing for alittle while).

I wouldnt recommenced this program to a DM on VTT or otherwise as it currently stands.

I have spent years having fun being a player and a dm (some rare cases gm), I have collected, ideas from others, had ideas of myown, short storys, rag-tag storys to full campain. Classes, you name it...

Put it to you this way, for every dnd 3.0 and 3.5 book (offical and unoffical/non-endorsed) on my shelve (I have most of the books most of what im missing is pathfinder didnt like the few i have), I probably on average have 2 medium volumes binders each with many more pages as the book its next to, covering maps, classes (patching of classes), races (patching of races), Unexpolored (for me) DM campains, items, lore.... Lots of stuff...

I have got about 15 years worth of data, it would take 'me' 3 years to just devleop and manage the programs and get everything over, or 15 years doing it casually (so i dont burn out) the way the vidoes perscribe it. even longer on a as needed basis. If its going to take along time, it mine as well be painless.

[Mask_of_winter]

I have a lot of material as well but I don't see how I need ALL of that in an xml format in order to run a campaign. I only get the stuff I need.

If I need a map, I drag one from a folder and drop it in FG. If I want to run a module I copy and paste it in FG. FG isn't a campaign prep tool (although it does quite a bit of the work) it's a virtual table top allowing you to play over distance. It makes no claim to be a substitute for other tools a GM needs. I use Photoshop for my maps, TokenTool to make tokens and pdf reader to copy and paste my material. Some people use Obsidian Portal, RealmWorks or the Keep to manage their campaign. Skype, TeamSpeak, Mumble or Google Hangouts are used for VOIP; OBS and Twitch to livestream. There are many tools that can be used to supplement a campaign. I use some for RL and continue to use them on FG.

Maybe you should give it a fair chance and experience what it can do before tossing it. I believe the goal is to have fun and thousands of users have fun with it every week. Surely, not all of them are fools :)

[Rocherd]

where ever you live, i would love that, in 15 years, i have had to seek out most of players, as the population of players is getting thinner, and harder to find. Even going to a comic book shop, even places that just sell various table tops, is harder. Doesnt help much anymore (the past 3 years i have to wait for comicon or dragoncon, meet-up works if and only if you run into someone you know or new folks.).

This really isnt about, the time im waiting, could careless, because if in RL I get a group first, thats where my attention is going, if not it would have been here. My issue is that it is not ready for release, its half done.

[Rocherd]

oh that reminds me drag and drop doesnt work, litterally, there is a drag and no drop.

[Rocherd]

okay also if its just vtt only, i could just use pictures, with a character mananger. thats not how they market it, they market it as a DM tool set. Its hardly that.

[Rocherd]

Despite what you think I did give it a fair chance and a fair review. Its half done.

[Trenloe]

oh that reminds me drag and drop doesnt work, litterally, there is a drag and no drop.
Can you give an example please?

[JohnD]

Hang on. OP has ~ 15 years of custom content that can't be just entered quickly and painlessly. This prevents him from using the program at all, and means it's not ready for public release 10 years after being out there used daily by thousands of gaming people.

OK.

This sounds like the whole "there's $1000+ of DLC on Steam LOL you need to spend $1200 just to use FG" argument.

I have a lot of my own modifications myself after many years of DMing which aren't in FG and that hasn't stopped me from using it. I'm not alone in that.

So if FG "isn't ready", what's your fall back option? Everything else you have to do even more work.

Just like in face to face, it takes time to find a group that you mesh well with for a whole bunch of reasons. If you want to take your ball and go home after 5 days, fine; your loss... but don't blame the software for your impatience.

Good luck in your search for something that meets your gaming needs.

[Rocherd]

Can you give an example please?

yes you can place it into a folder, even try putting it in various kinds of formats

.sid, .jpeg, .liff (had a friend send me one for testing purposes), tiff, pcx (for shits and giggles), .png, .dcx (its a telecomm thing), .rif/.raw (various), .bmp

Most of these i already figured wouldnt work, but had to try just in case the 1 and million happend. Fact is program failed to find/dectect.

after that i figured try other drag and drop methods.

A. while the search function was open
B. stright into the program.

nope...even watched the thread processes, no remarkable registering in program, kinda look like it just said no a (very small spike, basically enough to say no, nothing that would suggest linking, holding or loading.)

next, i figured it was my computer..... not the first time people try to say that is a vaild method of detection of problem (having heard this lazy and arrogant arugment before), first uninstalled it off my tower and on to my labtop. So, once again, i dissassmeble my tower, clean everything as purscribe by manufactures and with out damaging it, reassembale, freash install, no backup (all backups taken offline, unpluged from network and wall, just to humor (some of the dumbest arguments i have heard in my life), during reinstall, i go over to the labtop start running the program (registar the program) (no change) (shoot at one point i granted the program root perviliges just to see if anything would happen (if it worked i would be even more pissed, and yes took some work getting it to run from root. Since the program wasnt apperently designed for)... so I figured hey, lets humor people more, dissasmebal reassemble reinstall.

so after getting my tower reinstalled, i move it from my projector to my touch screen/table. drivers, ect, updates, ect., fix typical errors that most users arent even made aware of, thses come with a freash install, reguardless of your set up. (so my error log is clean and fit as a fittle) reinstall steam, get some of my games back on run them just to make sure everything running normally with them, then go in to my admin tools, and re-turn on some logs, and (mostly accesses, attempts, ect, things that dont effect a damn thing, only thing it effects is weather its logged or not), after all that checks, i run memtest 64 that passes, i have some other utility programs that can run from usb boot option to make sure everything is in working order (it is).

reran your program ect.... same issue... no change. Its not my hardware, its not my software, its not combatiablity, its not os. but just in case i decided check the error loggs again, still clean. so i tryed redownload and reinstall multiple times (like 10 or so times) no change...

only thing i didnt try (that i can think of) is to see if i could disassemble (aka reverse engineer/hack) your software.

I havent got sleep yet and still have posts to reply too and a labtop to finish.

[Rocherd]

Hang on. OP has ~ 15 years of custom content that can't be just entered quickly and painlessly. This prevents him from using the program at all, and means it's not ready for public release 10 years after being out there used daily by thousands of gaming people.

OK.

This sounds like the whole "there's $1000+ of DLC on Steam LOL you need to spend $1200 just to use FG" argument.

I have a lot of my own modifications myself after many years of DMing which aren't in FG and that hasn't stopped me from using it. I'm not alone in that.

So if FG "isn't ready", what's your fall back option? Everything else you have to do even more work.

Just like in face to face, it takes time to find a group that you mesh well with for a whole bunch of reasons. If you want to take your ball and go home after 5 days, fine; your loss... but don't blame the software for your impatience.

Good luck in your search for something that meets your gaming needs.

dont missunderstand me, I bought a full licesnce and minimum dlc that pretained to srd, d20, 3.0/3.5 (ogl). (it cut down on work that needed to be done fact is it doesnt work, with or without steam running. it will update, and load the information, but you cant do squat with it, not even while creating a campain) this program requires 3 or 4 times the work than pen and paper (even if i had to do it from sctrach).




Just like in face to face, it takes time to find a group that you mesh well with for a whole bunch of reasons. If you want to take your ball and go home after 5 days, fine; your loss... but don't blame the software for your impatience.

Apperently your at the point beyond rationaility, I understand your point of view, and I agree with this statment. HOWEVER, you seem unable to listen.

[Rocherd]

okay,

Everyone out except Trenloe, please.

[Mask_of_winter]

Apperently your at the point beyond rationaility, I understand your point of view, and I agree with this statment. HOWEVER, you seem unable to listen.

Sounds to me like you're the one beyond reasoning. Your arguement is: "It doesn't work for me therefor the software is half-done, doesn't work." Yet, many people here can testify that it does work Why don't you let people trouble shoot your issues?

First, in which folder did you drop your image files?

[Rocherd]

Sounds to me like you're the one beyond reasoning. Your arguement is: "It doesn't work for me therefor the software is half-done, doesn't work." Yet, many people here can testify that it does work Why don't you let people trouble shoot your issues?

First, in which folder did you drop your image files?

once again, you are only listening to a small part, please leave

[damned]

okay,

Everyone out except Trenloe, please.

there are only 3 types of image formats supported - gif, png and jpg. and they do work. drag and drop is not specific enough to understand what you are missing. the features of different rulesets vary greatly including whether you can drag and drop things like equipment, spells, feats, abilities, classes etc. some allow a lot, some allow some some dont have any drag and drop support. so some more info would be useful.


next, i figured it was my computer..... not the first time people try to say that is a vaild method of detection of problem (having heard this lazy and arrogant arugment before), first uninstalled it off my tower and on to my labtop. So, once again, i dissassmeble my tower, clean everything as purscribe by manufactures and with out damaging it, reassembale, freash install, no backup (all backups taken offline, unpluged from network and wall, just to humor (some of the dumbest arguments i have heard in my life), during reinstall, i go over to the labtop start running the program (registar the program) (no change) (shoot at one point i granted the program root perviliges just to see if anything would happen (if it worked i would be even more pissed, and yes took some work getting it to run from root. Since the program wasnt apperently designed for)... so I figured hey, lets humor people more, dissasmebal reassemble reinstall.

so after getting my tower reinstalled, i move it from my projector to my touch screen/table. drivers, ect, updates, ect., fix typical errors that most users arent even made aware of, thses come with a freash install, reguardless of your set up. (so my error log is clean and fit as a fittle) reinstall steam, get some of my games back on run them just to make sure everything running normally with them, then go in to my admin tools, and re-turn on some logs, and (mostly accesses, attempts, ect, things that dont effect a damn thing, only thing it effects is weather its logged or not), after all that checks, i run memtest 64 that passes, i have some other utility programs that can run from usb boot option to make sure everything is in working order (it is).

reran your program ect.... same issue... no change. Its not my hardware, its not my software, its not combatiablity, its not os. but just in case i decided check the error loggs again, still clean. so i tryed redownload and reinstall multiple times (like 10 or so times) no change...

sounds like you went to a lot of effort. perhaps you could provide more details about the actual problem/issue you are seeing so we can actually provide some specific responses.



Mostly class,race,maps,feats,spells,weapons,lore,ect. basically, if your a dm with alot of your own material gathered over the years (even hotfixes for classes, races ect.)..... you have a mountain of paper work to do. basically anything custom, has to be done manually, and when i say manually (I mean VIA programming, by script, easy to do and easy to get to, if and only if your doing only one focusing on adding or changing one area and on one thing). Most of what needs to be done can be done by a program... As a dm myself.... I would have to make a whole program to streamline data over manually and according to various templates (also not appealing), i would have to make another program for quick/quick-fix mapping, anoughter for maintain modular aspects like library managment, custom rules and modules, ect. Basically there is no (easy, efficient or effective) way of transerfing and/or creating new data.

I too am surprised that the game doesnt include your 15years of accumulated house rules. that must have been terrible to discover.
but seriously - RPGs are already extraordinarily complex. for every rule there are 3 official exceptions. and for every official exception there are 17 house rules. the human brain is incredibly agile and adaptable and can handle these exceptions and house rules and other reasons for doing it differently. software is not like that. software takes an input and weighs it against what it knows and outputs a result. FG has support for many, many of these rules and validations but even then it doesnt support or cannot easily support all the legal/canon stuff let alone the house ruling. if you need to house rule it sometimes it just means you do the roll manually and you do the sums in your head and maually adjust the character sheet - just like you do in real life.

No other table top has the nitty gritty understanding of the 3.5/4/5e rulesets that FG does. If it were easy it would be done. In fact everyones tabletop would do it.

[Rocherd]

I too am surprised that the game doesnt include your 15years of accumulated house rules. that must have been terrible to discover.
but seriously - RPGs are already extraordinarily complex.


LoL, I get your point, I am saying even for simple things its a pain and an unnecessary pain at that. however, there is alot of procedural things ((some)feats, weapons, spells, classes, races, (some) actions) that are involved some simple things - such as do this and this happens, anti: this happends and do this, smallar to write and easy to conceive admittedly, not so nessarly with computers as the uniquely imagintive (expecally in behavior) and less logical it is becomes harder, again true.

Understanding this, its not inconceivable nor horrific task of a small team (small being 3 people) of programmers to do in 10 years (shoot even 5 years with day jobs), to create a sub-sheet (per object-project, and can easily break down functions to/of said object, into a series of conditionals for input by user/user activity) linked to a dictonary-ish like library/program (common terms found in rpg system styles, roll, draw, xdx (aka 1d20), action(x) (move, swing, dodge ect), floor, wall, object(x) (tree, door, character, monster, ) using this system you could also make new feilds for purpose or even modify current ones. If Done with some extra reference modularity could change/add to/the dictionary easily. The most grusiom least fun part about this idea is the creation of the dictionary.

(humorisly, after done peoples tab button begin to fade way) Over simplisticaly put think character sheet feilds (as a simmularity not as purpose per-say). Note: Most of the dictonary terms (in programming terms) could be done by community help, relatively quickly (year maybe 2) also should be the first thing done, object-projects, then subsheet.


Again one of thoughs things that is easy to say, kinda easy to read, kinda easy to understand, but not nessarly always 100% easily done, but vs the alternative below.

vs

a template script librarys (where your ether doing both or just one, which is a mess and hard to maintain (and find/fix/correct) and place info into), however has its place if you have the data already on hand in the computer which all that needs to be done at the point is to make sure there is a standard format for conversion into the program (kinda like back side porting).....


So if you take a look at it you have basically three ways solve this issue:

interconnect both so you dont have to redo work done and adding most: flexablity, user friendliness, attractivness, functionailty, purpose..

Make a backside porting programm inside fg software: functionality and purpose...

redo input object project and dictonary: user friendly'ish, attractivness, purpose.

non-solutions:

Keep what you have, fuctnionalty


and before this comment comes up, I am not saying auto rollers and things of that nature.

Your way isnt wrong its just half done, its just not ready, the moment you added the books and character sheets, rules, you picked up the other half of dnd/rpg's....

This is where most programs fall short... Are you or are you not going to make a progam like everyone elses?
Your comming up on the most boring and grulling programming, I Dont Envy Your Position. Be better and different. Gesh...

As far as compatablity, its a minor issue (its the mosqiteo that wont go away) for me, I always find a way, its the favorite part of the puzzle for me.. to be honest, I am kinda fusterated... its most likly an optimization issue or conflict somewhere,( even though i have a poor mans powerhouse of a computer, itttzzz nice,) im not seeing and i tend to like to fix on my own, I will figure it out. Unfortantly (s)he asked, so, yeah im sorry, also seemed to completely ingnore 1/3rd of the topics I brought up, but was honestly trying so i figured help is help. (refering to Trenloe).....

[JohnD]

okay,

Everyone out except Trenloe, please.

Hmm... well, as I said, good luck in your search for something that meets your needs. You're probably narrowing your prospective pool of Fantasy Grounds DMs with this approach, but to each his/her own.

[Rocherd]

Hmm... well, as I said, good luck in your search for something that meets your needs. You're probably narrowing your prospective pool of Fantasy Grounds DMs with this approach, but to each his/her own.


Are you still at stuck that point??
Or trying to troll?

[JohnD]

Are you still at stuck that point??
Or trying to troll?

:rolleyes:

Yeah, 3+ years and 1900 posts of Troll... that's me.

:rolleyes:

Speaking of "troll", I personally find it difficult to figure out how one person (you) can go from;


CURRENTLY 3 PLAYERS AWAITING. ... Friendly, but not super distracted. on August 11th.

to;


I Know a DM will come along, but when happens to be the question. on the 12th... not even 24 hours later. It's almost like you expect DMs to jump out of the bushes with enthusiasm at the prospect of having the honour of running a game for you. If you've been gaming for 15+ years, you know that players outnumber DMs probably 100 to 1, so it is hard to believe you wouldn't realize you need to put an effort into finding a game, but, I guess that's what we're supposed to believe.

Then, on the 14th;


Hmm.... This is rather discouraging.....

At this point, you've "tried" three days - none of your posts were in other threads where DMs looking for players have posted, so it's little wonder your "efforts" were not rewarded.

You also lament that face-to-face gaming opportunities don't seem to be in the cards for you... this is something I can personally identify with. I live in a city of 700k+ and because of my home situation an in-person gathering is not possible; thankfully I have FG to keep my hobby going.

But wait... somewhat inexplicably, all of a sudden, on the 15th;


after watching some videos, the software still doesn't seem ready for public release...

speaking of a program that's been in public use for a decade. One wonders how you've magically been able to work through the learning curve so quickly to be able to make such a blanket damning statement with any validity... but wait, you state that you've given it a fair assessment so I guess we're all out to lunch.

Then, when pressed for examples of what leads you to make your claim, all of a sudden you're a master programmer spouting jargon, talking in half sentences, talking around whatever the problem is (if there is one) instead of giving specifics that can be addressed and then leading us through some supposed massive un-in/re-in of multiple computer systems for... what exactly?

You still haven't enunciated what isn't working (news flash - you probably can't ask a question about FG at this point that hasn't been asked a few hundred times by other novice users).

But, instead of taking advantage of a few people who were trying to get you to provide information so they could help, you go in the opposite direction - all of a sudden your a moderator telling people to get out of your thread. Surely the purpose of posting is to seek advice, help and guidance. Or is it just to bitch and moan?

You've had Trenloe, Mask_of_Winter and damned in here trying to nudge you in the right direction towards self discovery and realization. I can't speak for M_o_W, but I know that in the last three years I haven't seen many "user issues" that Trenloe and damned haven't been able to help someone get through, so there's a missed opportunity on your part.

You have supposedly a Full License and you bought supposedly the SRD. You can DM a game with what you've got there. You can play in a game with what you've got there. Your 15+ years of masterful adjustments to core that make things exactly the way you want them to be... some of those can be reflected by manual manipulation in FG, others can be handled on a case by case basis. There's nothing actually stopping you from playing or DMing that isn't internal to your own skull. I'm sure there's a DM out there who has read this thread and thought "that Rocherd chap is exactly the kind of player I need to add to my existing 'play nicely in the sandbox' group".

So, having done a stellar job of putting your best foot forward, again, I wish you the best of luck finding a gaming solution that meets your "top 1% of the top 1%" requirements. Personally, I'm of the opinion that if gaming is your hobby, you'd rather be gaming than lamenting about not gaming, and with that philosophy, I do hope you find what you're looking for.

But wait, I forgot... I'm the troll.

[Vhok]

:rolleyes:

Yeah, 3+ years and 1900 posts of Troll... that's me.

:rolleyes:

Speaking of "troll", I personally find it difficult to figure out how one person (you) can go from;

on August 11th.

to;

on the 12th... not even 24 hours later. It's almost like you expect DMs to jump out of the bushes with enthusiasm at the prospect of having the honour of running a game for you. If you've been gaming for 15+ years, you know that players outnumber DMs probably 100 to 1, so it is hard to believe you wouldn't realize you need to put an effort into finding a game, but, I guess that's what we're supposed to believe.

Then, on the 14th;



At this point, you've "tried" three days - none of your posts were in other threads where DMs looking for players have posted, so it's little wonder your "efforts" were not rewarded.

You also lament that face-to-face gaming opportunities don't seem to be in the cards for you... this is something I can personally identify with. I live in a city of 700k+ and because of my home situation an in-person gathering is not possible; thankfully I have FG to keep my hobby going.

But wait... somewhat inexplicably, all of a sudden, on the 15th;



speaking of a program that's been in public use for a decade. One wonders how you've magically been able to work through the learning curve so quickly to be able to make such a blanket damning statement with any validity... but wait, you state that you've given it a fair assessment so I guess we're all out to lunch.

Then, when pressed for examples of what leads you to make your claim, all of a sudden you're a master programmer spouting jargon, talking in half sentences, talking around whatever the problem is (if there is one) instead of giving specifics that can be addressed and then leading us through some supposed massive un-in/re-in of multiple computer systems for... what exactly?

You still haven't enunciated what isn't working (news flash - you probably can't ask a question about FG at this point that hasn't been asked a few hundred times by other novice users).

But, instead of taking advantage of a few people who were trying to get you to provide information so they could help, you go in the opposite direction - all of a sudden your a moderator telling people to get out of your thread. Surely the purpose of posting is to seek advice, help and guidance. Or is it just to bitch and moan?

You've had Trenloe, Mask_of_Winter and damned in here trying to nudge you in the right direction towards self discovery and realization. I can't speak for M_o_W, but I know that in the last three years I haven't seen many "user issues" that Trenloe and damned haven't been able to help someone get through, so there's a missed opportunity on your part.

You have supposedly a Full License and you bought supposedly the SRD. You can DM a game with what you've got there. You can play in a game with what you've got there. Your 15+ years of masterful adjustments to core that make things exactly the way you want them to be... some of those can be reflected by manual manipulation in FG, others can be handled on a case by case basis. There's nothing actually stopping you from playing or DMing that isn't internal to your own skull. I'm sure there's a DM out there who has read this thread and thought "that Rocherd chap is exactly the kind of player I need to add to my existing 'play nicely in the sandbox' group".

So, having done a stellar job of putting your best foot forward, again, I wish you the best of luck finding a gaming solution that meets your "top 1% of the top 1%" requirements. Personally, I'm of the opinion that if gaming is your hobby, you'd rather be gaming than lamenting about not gaming, and with that philosophy, I do hope you find what you're looking for.

But wait, I forgot... I'm the troll.

I've been reading this thread since it was started and I feel like I need to speak up.

the man is just voicing his opinion on a program. you know why he wanted everyone but trenloe out? prolly because of posts like this. you are coming in to his thread as assaulting him with words. not a troll? are you sure? how did your post do anything other than insult him. you are insulting him simply because he is not in love with a program that you enjoy using. I personally love FG I haven't been around long but I thought this community was better than that.

I'm very sorry that you found FG lacking Rocherd and for the people attacking you in this thread because of it.

[Trenloe]

I've closed this thread.

This is the second time recently where a new FG user has struggled to grasp exactly how they can use FG for their gaming needs and some community members have replied with less than welcoming responses. If new users are struggling please try and educate them in a positive way - it takes a while for new users to fully grasp what Fantasy Grounds is, what it can do, and for them to adjust their initial expectations as to what it can do for them.

@Rocherd - I'm sorry that your initial experience of the FG community hasn't been a good one. A lot of this has been an expectation of finding a game very quickly (which rarely happens, especially if you aren't proactive in looking for a game) and the ability to easily populate your extensive custom RPG data into the system (which is not required to use Fantasy Grounds and Fantasy Grounds isn't designed for the level of automatic customization that you're looking for - no Virtual Table Top is currently, or is ever likely to be). And some of the language you used hit a nerve with a lot of us FG fans, and some of the rambling replies you posted weren't really constructive in allowing FG community members to address your issues and help you. However, that shouldn't result in less than welcoming/unconstructive responses from the community - which is usually very welcoming and helpful.

FG Community - if you don't have anything helpful to day, then please just ignore the thread and don't post. Leave the help/constructive responses to people who are prepared to spend the time and help. Thanks.

Now, to try to address some of your expectations:

Finding a game. You need to be proactive and go looking for a game. This can take some time - and it might take you a number of tries to find a group that gives you the gaming experience you are looking for. If you're patient, communicate well (friendly, clearly and constructively) and keep looking, then you'll find (over time) some great gaming groups. I currently play in 4 campaigns on Fantasy Grounds, and could easily play in a lot more if I had the free time - but this didn't happen overnight, it's take quite a while to find campaigns that fit all of my requirements.
Putting vast amounts of data into Fantasy Grounds. You can do this, if you really want to - as you've pointed out, it's a manual process as your data needs to be converted to the Fantasy Grounds format - there's no escaping this *if* you want to enter all of your data into Fantasy Grounds. BUT there is simply no need to enter all of your data into Fantasy Grounds. Use it just like you've always used your data - reference it as and when needed when you're playing or preparing. Only enter the data you actually need to play for your session - maps/images, handouts, NPCs, PC data as and when it is needed (feats, skills, weapons, equipment, etc.), encounters. If you're running a game via voice (which I'd recommend) then the amount of preparation you need to do in Fantasy Grounds is vastly reduced.
Preparing for a game. Once you're familiar with Fantasy Grounds it is pretty quick to prepare for a game. I run both FG games and face-to-face games and preparation for a Fantasy Grounds game takes me one-third of the time it takes me to prepare for a face-to-face game. And the props/maps I have in Fantasy Grounds are much better then the ones I'll use in a face-to-face game.
Drag/drop doesn't work. As damned pointed out - there are three main graphic file formats supported. If you were dragging/dropping into the campaign images file directory (after pressing the "Folder" button in the Images window) then FG won't update the file list until the file explorer is closed (as closing the file explorer process triggers the folder rescan) or Fantasy Grounds is restarted.
Fantasy Grounds isn't ready. I think the thing here is, based on your expectations (some addressed above), it isn't "ready" for *you*. However, it is "ready" for the 99.999% of people who use FG every day and have been using it for over 10 years.



Sorry your expectations didn't align with what the application is designed for. FG is one of the most feature rich, stable, mature and flexible virtual table tops available on the market, and is used successfully and happily by many, many GMs and players every day.

If you can't adjust your expectations and approach to finding a game, then I think it's better for you to get your refund and move on (if you haven't done so already). Sorry you didn't find what you were looking for - I honestly don't think that product exists...