Would you suggest Fantasy Grounds to me?

[Zulithe]

Hello everyone,

I've played around with the FG demos (various versions) here and there, but have yet to take the plunge and purchase it. I was wondering if the community here could help me decide if it is right for me.

I know we can't predict the future. I'm just asking for your thoughts, speculation and advice.

I notice that buyers of FGI got FGII upgrade for free. Is this correct or did I hear this wrong? If I buy FGII, would I be eligible for a free FGIII upgrade, when and if it comes? Or too early to say? What about a reduced price upgrade path?

I appreciate the breadth of fan-made rulesets that exist. My main interest at this point is in playing D&D 4th edition. I'm aware of the 4e ruleset being developed right now which is sure to improve more and more over time. however, I am a little concerned that the 4e player base will dry up once WotC launches their shiny new 3D virtual tabletop sometime in 2009. Should I be worried?

What is known about upcoming FG feature additions? Smiteworks seems pretty good about updating their product, but I can't find any changelogs of past versions, or a roadmap of upcoming features. Knowing these things could definitely help sway me.

Those are the big issues that come to mind. I wouldn't mind hearing your arguments as to why I should use FG over MapTool, either.

Thanks a lot everyone!

[Doswelk]

Hi Zulithe!

I'll try and answer some of these questions I am sure others are more qualified than me but here we go!


I notice that buyers of FGI got FGII upgrade for free. Is this correct or did I hear this wrong? If I buy FGII, would I be eligible for a free FGIII upgrade, when and if it comes? Or too early to say? What about a reduced price upgrade path?

FG1 users did get an upgrade to FGII for free, as to FGIII well no-one knows about that yet! (except maybe Smiteworks)


I appreciate the breadth of fan-made rulesets that exist. My main interest at this point is in playing D&D 4th edition. I'm aware of the 4e ruleset being developed right now which is sure to improve more and more over time. however, I am a little concerned that the 4e player base will dry up once WotC launches their shiny new 3D virtual tabletop sometime in 2009. Should I be worried?

Well from what I gather WotC will require a monthly subscription, FGII does not, WotC version will have all the rulebooks (you have bought) built in FGII does not but there are scripts on the FUM site (along with the 4e ruleset), so time will tell

Personally as I do not play D&D anymore I am biased to FGII, but there is quite a large number of FGII 4e D&D'ers so I think FGII is safe.


What is known about upcoming FG feature additions? Smiteworks seems pretty good about updating their product, but I can't find any changelogs of past versions, or a roadmap of upcoming features. Knowing these things could definitely help sway me.

There is a change list inside FGII (which is not much help if yo do not have it yet!), but I seem to recall that somewhere on this site whenever a patch is pushed out they list the changes there.


Those are the big issues that come to mind. I wouldn't mind hearing your arguments as to why I should use FG over MapTool, either.

Again I am not the best person to answer that as my useage of Maptools was only once and I could not get on with it (that was my lack of time with it not the tool itself), I'm too attached to FGII it seems! :D


Thanks a lot everyone!

Hope I was some help....

[zabulus]

Smiteworks seems pretty good about updating their product, but I can't find any changelogs of past versions,

If you search the House of Healing forum on this site for "update available", you will find several posts made by the developers with changelogs for released versions.


I wouldn't mind hearing your arguments as to why I should use FG over MapTool, either.

If you don't mind using VoIP chat and external parafernalia like character sheets and such, I guess MapTool could suit your needs for simple online AD&D interaction as well. I don't know MapTool, but from what I see online, it's a program to share maps with some extra die functionality built in.
FG is more than that, it has character sheet (I always like when me and the players see the same character sheet) and ruleset info in there as well (both adaptable by the community!), along with a combat tracker which is nice for a DM. Also, FG has pretty nice map tools, like markers where you can link story info to certain area's of the map. FG offers ways to "organize" your adventure as a DM, which I need very much *grin*

Plus, FG looks nice (hey, to me that's important, too!) :)

[EugeneZ]

I once read an interview somewhere with... Ged... I believe... one of the Smiteworks fellows, at any rate. One of the questions was what sets FG2 apart from other VTs. He said he wanted to make a VT that didn't look like a windows application. So as silly as it might sound at first that "FG looks nice," I think this is one of its most important features. It's all about immersion. FG makes players feel like they're at a TABLETOP, not some sort of image-sharing software.

Also, about the 4e thing, I just want to mention that even if WotC steals a number of 4e players frmo FG (I doubt it'll have a huge impact, but IF), the 4e rulesets already have more features than the built-in 3.5 ruleset, so no worries about that ruleset being useable or available.

[Griogre]

Most of the other questions were covered so I give you my thoughts on this one.

Those are the big issues that come to mind. I wouldn't mind hearing your arguments as to why I should use FG over MapTool, either.

This is a good question. I like the developer of MapTools very much. Trever is responsive and must be a god with Java to get a graphical app like MapTool to run so fast and trouble free. It's his personal baby and he puts in tons of effort.

So why do I play RPGs with FG? I use FG because I think it is better rounded for RPG play. As Zubulis mentioned the emphasis is different between the two programs. MapTool - like the name suggests - is all about the *map* and it does that very well. It displays them, allows you to do all sorts of maps of the fly, and has great LOS, lighting and other nifty features. I would use MapTools for playing a board game like Space Hulk online.

FG on the other hand is about RPGs - the core of the application is around the character sheet, Monsters/NPCs and the combat tracker. Its map features are not as awesome but resemble a battlemap at a table - sparse but adequate. It does a great job of *feeling* like you are around a table playing an RPG. The dice add to this feeling. Because Smitworks simulated a table in a face to face game it interface is very easy to understand for anyone who has played in a face to face game. This gives it an easier learning curve than most other VTT apps, including MapTool.

Basically, I think MapTool is a better app if you want to focus you game around the game map. On the other hand, I think FG is better if you want to play an RPG online with a similar feel to a face to face game. That's my 2 cents.

[Zulithe]

Thanks for your replies everyone!

Doswell: I'd say you were helpful, yes! I'll try to find those changelogs that you said are in threads... thanks.

zabulus: ahh, houses of healing. gotcha! VoIP software is useful, and I think a lot of groups would insist on using it these days. I know that when I play WoW it is almost essential. It speeds things up so well. I'm sure it would do wonders for a VTT as well.

EugeneZ: Well I can't argue there, it certainly is pretty.

Grigore: Sounds like a fair assessment to me. I agree that maptool excells as an easy-to-use map CREATION program, and I hope the developer focuses more on that strength in the future and expands on it. It doesn't have the nice built-in reference materials or character sheets, and from a usability pov is probably trailing FG somewhat.

[Xorn]

Regarding the 4E_JPG ruleset, if the DDi VT takes care of half what it does, then the DDi VT will be a good value. Of course it'll still only be doing half of what 4E_JPG does. Ruleset support for 4E is there already (and quite a few other systems).

I agree whole-heartedly with Griogre, too. MapTool has a very powerful set of tools for working with the map (BattlegroundsRPG is no slouch), but for the "complete" virtual tabletop experience, I get that from FG2.

Those are the reasons I would get FG2. For a sneak-peak of the 4E_JPG ruleset there's a link to a tutorial in my sig, but there have been a lot of new things added since I made it.

[ArthurLovat]

I don't have much to add to those very good comments, only this:

I think the price for FG is very reasonable and I after playing 7 sessions online, I got my moneys worth. It's well invested money.
So if you think that you'll use FG at least a couple of times, maybe host a game yourself, then just give it a go. If Insider really suits you better, you can still switch over. If it ever goes online, that is! :-)

[Master]

I would suggest it to you. Buy the full version!