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View Full Version : Why I'm leaving FG... (Information Gathering Thread)



RoleforFun
July 12th, 2020, 02:56
To be clear, this post isn't just about me. I'm a small and largely inconsequential drop in the community bucket and I'm absolutely okay with that. I believe a single thread compiling information for why people ultimately decided to stop using FG altogether may be helpful to the devs, forum mods, and community.

This is not meant to be a thread where people exchange ideas, or tips for fixing issues, or throw blame, or offer opinions on why things are they way they are.

I'm confident that some people who love FG may be leaving reluctantly (as I am), or at least with some sentiment that they would like to see FG become what they hope for and expect - so those people may share some information about themselves and their main issues.

If anyone would like to further discuss issues they're having, or are "considering" leaving FG but haven't done so yet, I strongly encourage you to participate here in the forums and hopefully find ways to rectify whatever issues you're experiencing so you can continue to use and enjoy FG to its fullest extent.

I hope this thread gets used and provides some insight to all involved, but request that it is done so in a positive and respectful way if at all possible. In order to facilitate information exchange and ease of use for viewers, I would suggest the following format for any posts in this thread and offer my own post following this one as an example:



Platforms: Unity or Classic and Unity

Experience: amount of experience you have using FG, or how long you've been actively using it - not necessarily the same thing as account age

Usage: how you've been using it - all of the features or just specific parts (maps/images for example), format (online / lan / tabletop)

Investment: license, what products, bundles, third-party modules, and/or approximate cost of investment

Primary Issues: brief bullet-point list of primary reasons FG is no longer your platform of choice. I'd recommend avoid being too nitty-gritty or long-winded while still communicating the issue, and only use other platform references to help illustrate the point you're making. Don't just bash FG, or promote other platforms, etc. I also recommend avoiding offering your opinions on to "why" something is the way it is. Just state the issue(s) and leave it at that.

Return: Are you open to returning to FG, if so under what circumstances, and why?

Other: Anything you'd like to share that isn't covered by the above prompts.



I recognize that this thread may not have the value I believe it will, and if so I have no issue at all with it being deleted by mods. If it does have value, then I think making it a sticky would be a great way to keep it active and working in FG's favor. I'd like to reiterate that commenting back and forth, arguing, trying to help people, etc. on this thread will only obfuscate the important information within. If you'd like to chat about issues, then direct messages or new individual threads are the best way to do that. Remember, the point of this thread is to gather and easily display information to help Smiteworks see and determine what the most critical issues are that make people leave FG - and hopefully leverage that to improve faster and easier for everyone. Much love to everyone, and happy gaming!

RoleforFun
July 12th, 2020, 02:58
Platforms: Classic and Unity

Experience: Began using it for weekly games in Spring 2018

Usage: Running weekly persistent online campaigns, campaign prep throughout the week, live-streaming weekly sessions since late 2018 - customization of official adventure modules, light homebrew creation, used all of FG's features extensively.

Investment: Ultimate License Holder, FGU Kickstarter Backer, D&D 5e Completionist Bundle, all of Rob2E's coding and other community modules

Primary Issues:
- Platform license more costly and restrictive than other platforms with similar / new features
- Difficult to learn / teach new users. UI seems outdated, unintuitive, and cumbersome to use relative to other programs.
- Unity development cycle has been painful to experience, even for a Beta. Too unreliable with game-stopping bugs considering cost of ultimate license for FGU and amount of time development has taken - no longer hopeful for acceptable speed/reliability any time soon.
- Benefits of 5e Automation and Invested time/money no longer outweigh the ease of use and modern interface/structure of a new platform I'm currently using.

Return: I'll always leave the door open since I do have so much money already invested in FG, but don't believe I'll return without major overhauls improving speed, reliability, user interface, and future-proofing so the same thing doesn't happen with the next version of FG.

Other: I love the community here on the forums and believe Smiteworks is working its little butt off to get things right and provide the best platform possible. I hope the platform becomes everything I think it can be. Unfortunately, sentiment and sympathy don't dictate the best platform for me to play TTRPGs on and FG no longer aligns with what is best for myself and my group.