New to FG Considering FGC vs FGU

[Espiem]

Hello all, I've recently decided to make the plunge into VTT D&D 5E, and have settled on FG as a platform. I'm currently struggling between whether to go with FGU or FGC. I've dug around a bit on the forums here, and it seems that most people are still suggesting using FGC on a monthly basis and upgrading to FGU when it becomes more stable. Ideally, I'd like to purchase a one time ultimate license right now though, and save myself a few months of sub costs, but don't really see the point in purchasing a one time FGC license if I'm eventually going to just upgrade to FGU anyway.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how FGU compares with FGC currently, and what specifically are the issues I'm likely to run into with FGU that FGC does not suffer from?

Thanks in advance for any input.

[LordEntrails]

What is your tolerance for 'issues'? Are you going to be unhappy if you have to cancel a session because FGU doesn't work some day? If you update FGU before game time some day you might have to cancel your session. Or if you are using cloud brokering and the lobby server goes down you might not be able to play. Are you going to be unhappy if you load up a bunch of data and it takes 90 second to open your list of items? Or if it takes you 6 minutes to start your campaign?

These are the types of issues some people sometimes experience. If those are show stoppers for you, then don't get FGU yet.

Do you have any issues over possibly needing to use port forwarding? Do you have anyone on a Mac running Catalina (10.15)? Then you probably won't be able to use FGC.

[Espiem]

Regarding the load times, is that just when I first load up the campaign? For instance could I load everything in say 15-20 min before our scheduled start time and be good for the rest of the session, or are people experiencing sometimes long load times of things mid session?

How frequently am I likely to have to cancel a session due to FGU not working? And by not working, do you mean the program won't load, an update is required that takes a significant amount of time to download, connectivity doesn't work for some reason, what are the typical causes of session cancelling issues and with what frequency are people seeing them?

As of right now I don't have anyone that's using a Mac, as for port forwarding I don't know if I'll have any issues, I don't currently have any need to do it.

[Fear Grounds]

Unity is still actively in development, and has not been optimized for speed and performance yet. Does unity work, absolutely it does. Loading the campaign information early before playing helps, along with pre-loading maps/images to players. There are still going to be times, when the system just stops, and goes back into "think mode". This typically doesn't last a huge amount of time, like less than a minute, but you need to be ready for it to happen.

I've had more problems connecting with Discord/Zoom/etc than I've had with Fantasy Grounds.

Port forwarding is needed for players to connect to your computer, with Classic edition. Port: TCP 1802 specifically. Unity does not require port forwarding, but does run the risk of server issues.

[TXCBoy36]

What is your tolerance for 'issues'? Are you going to be unhappy if you have to cancel a session because FGU doesn't work some day? If you update FGU before game time some day you might have to cancel your session. Or if you are using cloud brokering and the lobby server goes down you might not be able to play. Are you going to be unhappy if you load up a bunch of data and it takes 90 second to open your list of items? Or if it takes you 6 minutes to start your campaign?

These are the types of issues some people sometimes experience. If those are show stoppers for you, then don't get FGU yet.

Do you have any issues over possibly needing to use port forwarding? Do you have anyone on a Mac running Catalina (10.15)? Then you probably won't be able to use FGC.

Based on what you have said, its seems like FGC is the better choice. I prefer to have a system that is tested and runs smoothly. Do they plan in discontinuing FGC once FGU is ready for a full release or will FGC still be available for an extended time period.

[Bonkon]

Good Day TXCBoy36 :)
SW will be supporting FGC for the foreseeable future from what I understand :) I have both FGC and FGU but only play on FGC due to stability right now. Plus some things I like that have not been implemented in FGU yet such as locking the tokens on a map during combat. :)

EDIT: And all download content will transfer over to FGU if/when you decide to move to that platform :)

[Griogre]

I would suggest you get a monthly subscription for FGC a quarter or so, until FGU is released and then buy FGU. That would allow you to use FGC until all the kinks are worked out. You also check to make sure you don't have any port forwarding issues the first month.

[LordEntrails]

Regarding the load times, is that just when I first load up the campaign? For instance could I load everything in say 15-20 min before our scheduled start time and be good for the rest of the session, or are people experiencing sometimes long load times of things mid session?
Their is a minutes (5-10?) minute load time when you start your campaign. Then their often are 20-40 second delays when you open up a list (like the NPC list) for the first time (and occasionally after).


How frequently am I likely to have to cancel a session due to FGU not working? And by not working, do you mean the program won't load, an update is required that takes a significant amount of time to download, connectivity doesn't work for some reason, what are the typical causes of session cancelling issues and with what frequency are people seeing them?
I have not had to cancel a session. But in part that's because I watch the forums and check before I update etc. For instance, last Wednesday their was an update that cause some/many/most people to be unable to see text on character sheets and other places. But, because I checked the forum earlier in the day I was able to tell my players not to update and I did not update myself. So we didn't have to cancel. Others did not have that and had updated and had to cancel. Occasionally, 3-4 times over 2 months) the match making server has been down for 1-4 hours or so and if you were using cloud games then you wouldn't not have been able to host a game.

I've been running a weekly game for about 3 weeks now and we've never cancelled. I've been a player in weekend game for about 4 weeks and we have never had to cancel. So it sounds to me like its unlikely, but others have had issues and reported sessions being cancelled. I did have one session where FGU errored and made me (host/gm) have to exit a restart twice in one session due to a LOS issue with dragging an NPC token. So after that I just didn't move that one token.


As of right now I don't have anyone that's using a Mac, as for port forwarding I don't know if I'll have any issues, I don't currently have any need to do it.
Then if you don't require LOS, and would rather have a more reliable experience and can afford a month or two subscription, I would go FGC.



Based on what you have said, its seems like FGC is the better choice. I prefer to have a system that is tested and runs smoothly. Do they plan in discontinuing FGC once FGU is ready for a full release or will FGC still be available for an extended time period.
If you want a smooth system, FGC is the way to go. Extremely reliable.

As other have said FGC will be supported for some length. Nothing confirmed at this time. I suspect FGC will continue to be updated for the rest of 2020, and then will probably just be in maintenance mode for anther year, maybe two. But, that's just my suspicion, nothing confirmed by SmiteWorks.

[TXCBoy36]

thanks!

[Espiem]

If the cloud hosting is down, couldn't you still use the port forwarding option to run your game in FGU? From what I've seen in intro videos it sounds like FGU still has that option, cloud hosting was just included in addition to port forwarding for convenience. Am I misunderstanding?

[LordEntrails]

If the cloud hosting is down, couldn't you still use the port forwarding option to run your game in FGU? From what I've seen in intro videos it sounds like FGU still has that option, cloud hosting was just included in addition to port forwarding for convenience. Am I misunderstanding?
You are correct. Just chose the "LAN" option as the host when you start your campaign. Note you can switch back and forth each time you start.

[BillyBeardDm]

I would like to add that I have had FGC for over a year and a friend of mine just got FGU with starfinder. I have been helping him navigate it because they are very similar in ways. A subscription for a couple months to FGC will give you and your players a great feel and knowledge of the program then when FGU is ready and stable just transfer your campaign over learn the new stuff they added and keep gaming.

FG is a great program and it would be a shame if you or your players got a bad taste in your mouth with FGU still in beta.

[TXCBoy36]

I do have another question and sorry for the many questions. If I purchase the FGC total subscription @ $9.99 per month and want to upgrade to purchasing the full package, am I able to do that or do I have to do 1 or the other....Just want to make sure that I understand the platform before investing the full amount of $140 first and paying the monthly subscription seems the way to go to try it out with all of the bells and whistles.

[LordEntrails]

I do have another question and sorry for the many questions. If I purchase the FGC total subscription @ $9.99 per month and want to upgrade to purchasing the full package, am I able to do that or do I have to do 1 or the other....Just want to make sure that I understand the platform before investing the full amount of $140 first and paying the monthly subscription seems the way to go to try it out with all of the bells and whistles.
If you purchase the FGC Ultimate subscription it does not prevent you from purchasing a One-Time license (of any type) whenever you want. But, you will not get a credit for the months you have paid the subscription and you will not get a discount on any type of future license purchase.

So, you can get a subscription and then later buy the one-time license, but the money you paid for the subscription is spent, and the price of the one-time license will be whatever the standard price is at that time.

If you just want to be sure that if something doesn't work out, you can buy a one-time license from the FG Store and you will then have 30 days to ask for a full refund, no questions asked.

[TXCBoy36]

ok, thanks

[Raldanash]

You are correct. Just chose the "LAN" option as the host when you start your campaign. Note you can switch back and forth each time you start.

Just to help anyone do that on FGU and avoid my mistake. FGU needs UDP 1802 forwarded for the direct connection. I had configured the portforward as TCP only initially and it took a while for the penny to drop why it worked for FGC and not FGU. Now working fine, though.

[Danalli]

Hello all, I've recently decided to make the plunge into VTT D&D 5E, and have settled on FG as a platform. I'm currently struggling between whether to go with FGU or FGC. I've dug around a bit on the forums here, and it seems that most people are still suggesting using FGC on a monthly basis and upgrading to FGU when it becomes more stable. Ideally, I'd like to purchase a one time ultimate license right now though, and save myself a few months of sub costs, but don't really see the point in purchasing a one time FGC license if I'm eventually going to just upgrade to FGU anyway.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how FGU compares with FGC currently, and what specifically are the issues I'm likely to run into with FGU that FGC does not suffer from?

Thanks in advance for any input.


I have no basis with FGC so take that into account.

As a fairly new customer and with a group of players new to VTT's in general.

I chose FGU so that the players will learn the newer system. Because none of us have anything to compare too the so far minor issues around the Beta have not impacted us.

In fact since all of my players have played MMOs we are all pretty used to the vagaries of software choosing to not work today. So that may be an advantage my group has. Everyone saying your ability to live with issues may be a deciding factor are correct.

And everyone is saying that FGU will work the same as FGC but I have already ran into issues where some things built for FGC don't work in FGU. This enforces my choice to go with the new platform.

Just my thoughts on the subject.