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Well:
* i love FG dices rolls, makes me feel a little kid (bcuz i remember my first gameplay session).
* Fg is Stable,
* Always upgraded
* The char sheet is amazing
* Notes...
* you can improve ur role play with Ventrilo , so easy to creat a server to use a Voip, and the ventrilo not feed ur connection like skype
*And the DICES again!:D
I've been trying to get friends back into TT gaming, but it's been an uphill battle. For the times we can't get together, I've been evaluating VTT apps. Unfortunately, for a non-committed group, getting them to pony up cash for the app isn't going to happen.
Even though there's free tools out there (MapTools, etc), the thing I like the MOST about FG2 is the ability to have the adventure IN the tool. I can write the adventure and PLAY the adventure in one location. I don't need clumsy workarounds or multiple apps. Just FG2.
Maptools has a good mapper, BUT, only that, Maptools requires a lot of TIME of Game Master building MACROS, thats a boring works, and dont have a good Char Sheet. With Fg u need only sit in a chair, grab some images in ddi compedium, or buy some stuffs in store, and u r ready to play! :)
To invete people try Orkut, Facebook, flicker, ... , like me a lot of people dont have any other guy(s) to play in REAL (face to face) table top, but if u have REAL table top u can use the FG to manage ur game session with combat tracker effects modifiers...;)
I choose FG for playing RPGs online because it is character sheet centric. Most of the other VTTs are all based around manipulation/display of the map. I also chose it because it closely mimics an actual game table so it has a very low learning curve for new players who have played in a face to face game.
FG also has low data input requirements. It's quite possible to use FG to run a game with just a printed module or notes by the keyboard. With the more powerful combat trackers these days you do usually want to have the NPC's/Monster data input, but that is about all the data you really need input. A few map images is nice too, but you can just sketch stuff out on the battlemap if you want.
Finally, the lack of central server was important me for so I was not dependent on someone else's server to be able to run my game and have others connect. I didn't want to worry about down time or Smitework's financials.
FG was and is stable - almost all crashes are bandwidth or connection problems when you are using a mature ruleset.
Community size and third party support were also important factors for me. There are other good VTT's out there. I like MapTool and Battlegrounds - they both have very good developers. If you look at each VTT, most have something they are better at or they do that others don't. For me FG had the most right for running an RPG online.
That's hit the nail on the head for me there. I actually bought a full license without realising that my players needed their own player licenses. I had it in my head that they would just be able to connect but not be able to work offline. Turns out that's the ultimate license :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Scopique
It's nice that the ultimate license offers that. I've been able to get one of my tabletop group to play in another GMs game (Aracons CoC game) without having to buy yet and that's given him a chance to see how nice the package can be.
I understand the devs are working on guest licenses to allow people to play a limited number of games with their regular group and be converted over to the ways of FG2 - so that's been addressed.
That's something I like about FG2 most of all, beyond the obvious eye candy and tabletop feel - the fact that things get addressed. There's a very cool community here and I'm already loving my new online gaming group :)
edit: From my experience there's always been at least one or two people in my offline groups who have never bought an RPG book in their lives. Doesn't surprise me this extends to FG2 - The GM always shells out the most on his/her materials :)
I looked at several of them, but decided to with Fantasy Grounds II basically because they had the Castles & Crusades ruleset. That's what sold me. :)
Bcuz only that! :confused: :confused: :confused: and about the DICE?! :p
I like FG because it's just so beautiful and straightforward. I've tried many other VTTs and while they have all the functions you could possibly desire, the learning curve is generally steep and it feel like I'm playing a game full of windows on my PC.
Fantasy Grounds looks just the way it should -- like a table top. It has dice, your character sheet, and any handouts the DM wants to give you. It runs like a real D&D game, rather than PC software, and so even new players can jump right in and play. You don't have to sacrifice the game table atmosphere like with other VTT software.
I could list off all of the things I love about FG2, but all of them pale to the alpha and omega of my draws to it.
Them beautiful rolling dice. There's lots of other cool stuff--almost as cool as those dice!
I had a long time interest in Maptools and watched as the community around it just exploded in size and development; all kinds of rule-sets, macros, custom setups, dice rollers, etc.
Unfortunately, none of those things were straight-forward to use or create, unless you were coder-savvy.
While I DO love Maptools for it's battle-mat; token handling, light and line-of-sight, having an object layer (like a moving ship, a cart, trees) that allows flexible scaling of objects, et al. I don't like the fact that you need a macro to make anything useful to happen.
* Character sheets? You need a macro.
* Campaign/Story handout? You need a macro.
* Powers dice rolls with fluff text? You need a macro.
Unfortunately, if you run enough macros, it can slow down the software pretty badly.
With FG2, I paid for a full license, and within a week had entered in an entire module with story, links to maps, combat encounters, fluff text, character sheets, NPC stats, treasure parcels, etc.
I never would have been able to do this in Maptools, with the same speed or ease of use.
Many on the Maptools site argue that it's the best battle mat and most flexible (because its not rules specific) free VTT on the market and maybe they are right; it has many good qualities. Unfortunately, after using FG2 for a week, I found it lacked what I needed; a tool to get a game up and running quickly with everything I needed to run one.
I will admit that I had the demo of FG2 installed just for the dice rolling while playing the Dark Awakenings module. I would have loved the ability to zoom or scale the dice box window so my friends could see the dice rolls over the web. I am surprised SmiteWorks doesn't release just the dice rolling tool. I am sure it would have sold a ton if there wasn't one out already for the iPhone.
Consider me happily converted.