Why Fantasty Grounds?

[mr_h]

My group and I are in the typical seperated by hundreds of miles category. We are currently trying to find a online tabletop version that would work for all the stuff we need on a game. After some time of searching online, we've come down to just a few programs and I'm sure other folks out there have come upon this as well.

So I'm wondering why people chose FG over the competition. I am not trying to start a flamewar/This is better then that war, I simply want to hear why other people chose Fantasy Grounds vs the other programs out there.

Plus, a few questions:

1) Has there been any further discussion on pricing (IE, bundles) that I might have missed in the forums?

2) What sort of work, if any, is being done to allow FG to run on Linux or Mac systems?

Most importantly...I just want to hear why folks chose FG:) Any insight you folks can give would be greatly appreciate....thanks a ton.

H

[richvalle]

Hello and welcome!

Let me answer your first questions real quick. I'll try to post more later.

1. Yes there has. Its currently not possible the way FG is sold though rpgnow. More options are said to be in the works but no time frame has been given.

2. There was a post a long time ago (almost a year I think) about maybe porting the software over to Mac. I've seen nothing about it since. I suspect this has been pushed to a back, back burner.

rv

[kalmarjan]

Hmmm...

I have tried all incarnations of RP'ing over the internet. For what it is worth, if you want to emulate the tabletop experience, FG wins hands down. With a little investment of your time, you have absolute control over the content that goes into your game.

Also, several different comanies are already at work making different ports into FG. An example is this link here. (https://forums.fantasygrounds.com/viewtopic.php?t=1365)

So, the way that I see it, you will get to best experience what you had with your friends.... only it will be sitting at a computer. And it will save you a lot of money as opposed to calling LD LOL.

Welcome aboard... and if you have any questions, this community will be glad to help a fellow cult... er... community member..

Sandeman

[Dupre]

1) Has there been any further discussion on pricing (IE, bundles) that I might have missed in the forums?

Bundle pricing will not be fixed to any specific combination of licenses, but rather the price goes down as you build your own bundle. Discount can be quite a bit for an individual item, but exact details will be revealed on Monday the 19th if everything goes smoothly.


2) What sort of work, if any, is being done to allow FG to run on Linux or Mac systems?

This has indeed been brought up before, but I don't have a definitive answer to give you. Both platforms are of interest to us, but we haven't decided which one to go for first at this time and when that will happen.

We are currently working on the next version, 1.06, which will bring a lot to the table and it will keep us busy for a couple of weeks still.


Most importantly...I just want to hear why folks chose FG:)

I'm rather biased to answer this so I hope someone else can shed light on their choice.

[devinnight]

I've tried a couple other online forms.. in the end it just seesm the FG doesn't get in the way of playing the game. It's a natural fit.
Using a voice program in conjunction with FG feels as good as playing in the same room.
-D

[Callum]

My group and I are in the typical seperated by hundreds of miles category. We are currently trying to find a online tabletop version that would work for all the stuff we need on a game. After some time of searching online, we've come down to just a few programs and I'm sure other folks out there have come upon this as well.
I'd be interested to know what other programs you're considering, as well as hearing the experienced users' replies to your questions.

[festivus]

I looked at Klooge and some of the free ones but for ease of defining content and presenting a virtual tabletop, FG was the best fit for me.

I felt that the automation and extra whiz bang features actually got in the way for me with Klooge. I just wanted a virtual table with dice and a place to share pictures that had some masking capabilities. Now I am working on boot hill, call of cthulhu, d20 and heck even a board game online... all with one software package. Worth the bucks in my book.

As mentioned above, we also are using voice communication which really helps out with discussing stuff. FG has it's problems, but the developers seem really dedicated to making this thing work well for all, so soon we will have cut&paste, sizable chat windows, client/server modules, right? :)

I know you guys are working on stuff as hard as you can, I appreciate it.

[Snikle]

TO be honest, a friend and I downloaded the demo and were just blown away. The fact that it is just like you were sitting at a table surrounded by friends was what drew me into purchasing it (think I bought it a couple of hours after I downloaded the demo). The fact that you can import your own tokens, maps, rules, and it fit perfect for our style of play. I am a bit more freeform than some and it allows me that flexibility, but I also know another DM that plans everything out in detail, and it works for him as well. Frankly I have not seen anything this good for this market.

[LordTomar]

I played PnP through other programs, mostly chat programs. These seemed fine but there were no map or token functions to these, so unless you really paid attention to everything being said you could get lost. Then I heard about OpenRPG and tried that out, but it was just too much of a headache and I gave that up quickly.

I then downloaded the demo for FG and played around wiht it for a couple days and fell in love wiht its ease of use and it did make me feel like I was sitting around with a friend playing. So I bought it and have really enjoyed using it since.

[Sigurd]

I'd love to see a Linux Port but I can dual boot into legacy system for this program.

This is the best conversion of a table top experience that I have seen.

The interface is comfortable and pretty and subdued enough to not get in the way of gaming. It doesn't seem I've played a lot but its been over 20 hrs online. Thats already a lot of value for a game. Its already saved me lots of money on gas and travel time.

Other players in FG have an immediacy that is worth the whole price of admission. Want to play a game with your friend in another country but don't want to wait for him or sit on your hands for 3 days of play by email - Fantasy Grounds.

It has things it could do better but hey this is version 1.X. Developers have been working hard at ther 'X" and its getting better all the time.

Sigurd

Cant say much more.

[Bumamgar]

Our group was using GhostOrb before making the switch to FG. I spent about a month researching the other virtual table-top options, and FG really stands head and shoulders above the rest.

I'm a developer by trade, so I may be a bit biased, but the customizability available in FG is one of the main things that drew me in, and with the promise of scripting in 1.6, I'm waiting with baited breath :)

Our group has been using FG for a few months now... We play every Saturday for 5+ hours, and we rarely have any problems (besides the masking issues, which I may have fixed by using jpg maps ~400k instead of png maps ~4meg :))

We use ventrilo for voice comms, and FG for everything else, and it rarely gets in the way of our sessions. In fact, my wife and I use FG as our battle-grid in our solo campaigns where we're in the same room (we don't bother with the ventrilo in that case :))

[heruca]

My group and I are in the typical seperated by hundreds of miles category. We are currently trying to find a online tabletop version that would work for all the stuff we need on a game. After some time of searching online, we've come down to just a few programs

I've compiled a list of all the Online Virtual Tabletop software I could find, after conducting an extensive search. There are more programs out there than you might think. You might want to check it out to see if there's any software you might have missed. :wink:

https://www.battlegroundsgames.com/links.html
(the list is at the bottom of the page)

And if anyone knows of any software I should add to that list, please let me know by PM or e-mail. Thanks!

[Etore]

That's a nice list, but as far as I can tell, FG is the only one that tries to bring the P&P experience to the home PCs rather than turning it into a video game.

Battlegrounds is visually appealing though, but the looks are deceiving as it's fully dependent on the underlying map you have (or don't have in many cases) and nothing stops you from using such a map as part of a FG campaign.

[mr_h]

I'd be interested to know what other programs you're considering, as well as hearing the experienced users' replies to your questions.

It's actually been rather interesting. Some people like FG because it's simple and straight forward, without a lot of complexity getting in the way of the game. Other folks like KW becaues that complexity, once setup, let's them concentrate more on the game.

I'll have to look up more about FG's scripting here....

[Kimian]

I'm brand new to FG and am awaiting my gaming group to purchase so we can pick up where our campaign left off. We looked at Ghostorb and became part of their online community for awhile, but each effort in playing with that system seemed troublesome; voice issues, maps gone missing, crashing, etc. When I saw FG online, I got hooked real quick.

The biggest draw for me is visual aspects. Fantasy Grounds just looks great where Ghost Orb was just white space with weird circular map viewing ports. ANd there are TOKENS! And I'd be lying if I said the 3-D dice rolling doesn't trip my trigger.

I don't miss the voice chat that GO offered, and if we decide to go with headsets, Ventrilo will be our choice. FG vs. GO.... and the winner is... Fantasy Grounds.

[Crusader]

And I'd be lying if I said the 3-D dice rolling doesn't trip my trigger.

Yeah, that got my attention as well. As it did for my players. We're roleplayers - I guess you have to be a gamer to have an absolute faith in the importance of 'chucking the dies the right way', but it doesn't feel right to just click a button and a number is presented.

[Kimian]

So true Crusader... dice, no matter if they're real or 3-D, are very important. In fact, my players in my "real" tabletop D&D game have dice rituals like many old school players do. If the 20 is rolling bad, it goes in the freezer for a half hour. That's just how it goes! :)

[Snikle]

I have been gaming online (real RPGing, not that PC game stuff) for about 8 years now, using various means to do it and not until FG came along have I had a rpg experience close to real PnP games.
On dice, watch at the beginning of a session, as the players roll the digital dice a few times....'to warm them up' Makes me laugh everytime!

[Crusader]

If the 20 is rolling bad, it goes in the freezer for a half hour.

Doing that while using FantasyGrounds might not be a good idea though! ;)

[Kimian]

I don't think I could fit my computer in the freezer anyway... it's full of frozen pizza.

I apologize to this thread for derailing. What were we talking about again? Oh yeah... Fantasy Grounds vs. the Others.

[mr_h]

Many thanks for everyone giving me their insite and such. Just one more very important question:

Is there a game out there were I could just watch a group playing with my new full copy of FG? I'd like to see how others run it :D

[richvalle]

If no one else pipes in, I run a game on Thursday nights between 7:00-11:00ish Central time. We are not running for the next week or two but you would be welcome to drop in if you like/haven't looked elsewhere yet.

rv

[slowsnake]

Hi richvalle, slowsnake neer. I'm new to FG , but would like to watch your game on thursday night. I'v been playing D&D on and off since the early 80's. Looking to try online games now. I also play in RPGA in home town store. The game is on the 5th thur? Are you using voice or typing? Is there room for more or 1 player. Thanks for your time. [email protected]

[richvalle]

I probably won't be ready for a game this Thursday (5th) but hopefully by the 12th.

Sorry, I don't have room to add players at the moment. We are using Teamspeak all communication.

I'll send you a message when we are close to having a game.

rv

[mr_h]

Thanks Richvalle, I'll get in touch with you then :)

[kalmarjan]

If you have the day off on Monday, you can watch my game starting at 12:30 EST.

PM me for connection details.

Sandeman

[mr_h]

If you have the day off on Monday, you can watch my game starting at 12:30 EST.

PM me for connection details.

Sandeman

And pm I will ago :)