In the new "My Library" online viewer, in the drop-down to select a Game System, I noticed that Mutants & Masterminds is not listed. I understand their may not be and product transferred yet, but I see all other systems represented, even if content hasn't been transferred yet (such as Rolemaster).
Great news. Will my subscription stop billing automatically, or do I need to cancel it myself?
I applaud your move to F2P and as a long-time paid-up ultimate licence holder have enjoyed the benefits of use that I have had over the last 6 or so years.
For you to Recognise that we paid that money and giving us something, anything, this far down the track?
That's unheard of in my experience with software!
So thank you for that!
Another thought on the whole - "How many copies of all the books do we need in a group" debate.
Having just gone and claimed my reward credits and been given the option to gift my previous purchases to another user, could this be done in perpetuity?
So for example, a DMG, TCoE, XGtE etc is purchased and gifted back and forth amongst a group of friends so the "forever DM" gets a break and the new, license-free DM gets access to the books to host for adventure running and hosting for the players - no need to import character sheets or whatever so the experience for all users in that group is pretty seamless.
Could help foster new DMs and make FGU even more appealing?
Another thought that might be bounced off publishers - register a group and get a bulk discount - many of my TTRPG friends are book hoarders and will eventually want to own stuff - might make for a quicker sale and some even stickier loyalty if they knew that 5 copies got a modest discount if done together or within a registered group, perhaps?
Snarky McGee, I've canceled the subscription listed on your account.Quote:
Originally Posted by Snarky McGee
Thank you!Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGMSource
Same
Why I don't see my Dungeon Crawl Classics Ruleset in the online reader? because I bought it in the past on steam? Now I buy everything directly but would be nice to have everything I own on the reader.
No. Because the Reader is in Beta and as stated in the OP:Quote:
Originally Posted by *Neuro*
In short, it takes time for them to convert 20 years of content that was made in different formats and styles. They launched with something like 1600 of 4000 titles available. A week or so ago I think they said something like they were past 2000 titles. I'm sure they are doing the more recent and popular ones first. DCC might not be high on the list (I don't know).Quote:
It already supports hundreds of titles from popular publishers and systems, and SmiteWorks is actively working to expand that coverage throughout the beta period.
As LordEntrails states, we haven't converted it to the reader yet. We plan to add a mechanism that indicates whether you own something - perhaps with a 'Coming Soon' message of some kind. That way you will know that you will get it once the conversion process is complete.
This is great. I tend to buy my stuff on Steam, since that is where I had started getting stuff, but I know sometimes the FG store page doesn't always show that I already own stuff. Hopefully that doesn't translate into the library missing stuff as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by ddavison
Hi - Just wanted to say that I have seen my number of viewable books in the Online Digital Reader triple over the last week or so. Thank you for getting those into the system.
Im enjoying this so much and am so grateful to the coding wizards for adding it.
This feature couldnt come in a better time for me.
Whislist feature: I hope one day you integrate dmsguild purchases with account linkng too, at least a way to read our own campaign modules.
The online access is great. My Library keeps expanding!!
Question from a Forge Creator, will there be an option to have Forge items within the Library? If so, I think I will need to change how I did one of my manuals based on how the new Books work within FG. I should probably change anyway, but definitely if it goes to the online Library. (To explain, I did Header images on each page. With the new Book layouts, it is repetitive.)
I did peruse this thread, and I did not see the Forge mentioned. My apologize if I missed it.
Thanks
Thanks Marmus. That is a good question. The answer is "maybe... but not in the short-term".
We have been working for ways to automatically detect and remove some of the duplication from double-headers that arise from how some modules were created within FG. That may or may not be an issue in the future.
This is a good move. I wish more publishers would do what Paizo does and provide PDFs with the purchase of the FGU purchase. I usually end up ordering books direct from publishers... which means I have PDF downloads from a bunch of places... but having an HTML-ized version of the books is really good.
The Ultimate licence upgrade is still showing up on the store as purchaseable - currently discounted to $7.50. It's the first trending VTT Module on the store screen for me. Since the licence is now free, this is probably not intended behaviour?
Cheers, Hywel
Thanks for the report. We removed it.
Thank you all for the My Library reader. I'm getting good use from it
As a librarian who deals with ebooks, the solution publishers use in the academic library world is to sell multiple-user licenses (or not) and/or unlimited user licenses (or not). It varies by publisher and even within titles for a given publisher.Quote:
Originally Posted by Skie
If I could buy, say, a 5-user license that allowed players (accounts) I specify to use the book simultaneously, I'd pay for it happily if the cost were no more than $10 per user (with me owning a full-price license, then adding the additional user access licenses).
I too would gladly pay extra money per slot allowed to simply view. I've spent hundreds Nay thousands within the FG store and would love if some of my players could reference when I am not around to open the campaignQuote:
Originally Posted by sbonario
Hey there..encountered this and solved it! - Set up a standalone machine..remote into it..RDP..whatever you want. It stays running logged into your account as the GM. You have the library available to share. Any player can log in and see the library pre/post game session. BEFORE your session begins..You reboot your session and get updates.. this refreshes the machine..your players will update as well..and again..everybody is on the same version. The titles are always in your possession..the game is always running..and..that remote window you accessed the stand alone machine..enlarge to fill your screen or a portion and play out of that. Never bogging down your main machine. ;) Enjoy. feel free to explain any problems you encounter with this set-up. A diskless/SSD machine will do fine! Just need power and ethernet..
If users want to also view their character data offline (outside of FGU) ... I have a tool in "beta" that works for Paizo products.
... it currently loads/displays the character data, but much, much more is possible, including printing character sheets.
Looking for feedback / suggestions ... here is a quick link;
external Character viewer
Pretty cool.
Could there be a future use for this in the inverse, creating a character to import into FGU?Quote:
Originally Posted by sgtwhy
Where would the data come from?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravanazar
There was a tool that was decommissioned by Smite that did that. Took Herolab and PCGen output files and converted them to importable XML files. Was a great tool for 3.5/PF. Still use it from time to time when I don't want to manually make a character in FG. I know the Herolab output needed several tweaks in order for the tool to properly work (removing the archetype in PF for instance) and updated community modules to have spell data included.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravanazar
From the online character viewer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Laerun
If later it could do more than view it might allow you to edit a character or even build one from scratch.
My initial goal was to be able to load Starfinder characters then update them with exports from hero lab. Since the players were using Herolab to view and manage their toons outside of FGU.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravanazar
In the process, also added a few options I needed to manage my specific campaigns characters ... such as importing a FGU character, then changing its race or theme data, them re-exporting into FGU. It saved me from having to re-build entire characters from scratch or having to manually level them up. The tool adds all their new abilities and gear, memorized spells, etc.
Also, am happy to discuss any ideas further on the dedicated forum post.
Some of us from our old tabletop days are getting back together here on the Fantasy Grounds Virtual Table Top (FG VTT) with one of our buddies hosting an AD&D 2E Greyhawk based Campaign as our DM/GM (I think multiple people may have helped him buy the full 2E resource bundle and the content bundle(s)).Quote:
Originally Posted by SmackDaddy
Right now when I load the FG VTT "full/fat" client on my PC I go to 'Join a Game' and then via my 'History' I have a saved password for the 'Cloud game by name' (which matches our GM's name).
Once I click 'Play' on the Campaign and the files are synced, in the FG VTT "full/fat" client, I can see many books like the AD&D 2E Players Manual & many of the "Complete" books like the 'Complete Fighter's Handbook' & the 'Complete Book of Dwarves' (I think for all the races and classes he wants to allow us to play)...
1) Does this new 'Fantasy Grounds Online Reader' tool currently allow us players to be able to view the resources/books our DM/GM has given us access to in our Campaign?
2) If it doesn't currently, is that on the roadmap with an identified solution/approach?
Hi, and welcome to FGU!
1) The online reader tool allows only the owner of the content to read those books. It's separate from any material shared in game sessions.
2) I would guess not, since this is a licensing / IP issue. However, as long as the GM's game is running, you can read any books the GM shares.
3) The fancy custom dice are also owner specific. If you buy a dice pack, everyone in the game will see the cool dice when you roll them, but they can't use them. The same applies to your GM. Just like your favorite dice at the physical table that you won't let anyone else roll because they'll ruin the luck in them.
Also, don't fat shame FGU. It's not very nice. :)
Thanks for the rapid response. I had gleaned from the thread that those were likely the answers for my question 1) & question 2) but thought best to confirm.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Serfass
Regarding 2), in theory, if licensing/IP are such that the content can be shared in the FGU VTT then it should be doable via another client provided the right safeguards & tech is in place (maybe like the DRM via some streaming platforms working via some browsers but not others)... That of course is "in theory" and lots of other things are likely ahead of such requests via the development team (thanks for all y'all do!)...
Thanks for the bonus answer for 3) that I did not ask but appreciate you anticipating and great to know!
Regarding 4) and fat shaming FGU... Sorry about that... I am in IT and in some of my roles we call non web based clients 'fat clients' or 'fat Graphical User Interfaces' (fat GUIs)... I am surprised that the FGU full client can use so much of my GPU (55%-99%) even when minimized to the background on my PC... My main PC hardware is beefy but old (MSI MS-7A20 motherboard with i7-6900K, 128GB RAM, all NVMe, & 1070GTX GPU) and my GPU is often pegged since I loaded FGU so a thin web-client would be great...
Regarding #2, no, we really can't say that in theory it would be legal. Without knowing the actual language of the contract that allows FG to convert and sell content, there is no way to know what formats or restrictions are allowed. Contracts can have all types of clauses and specifics. For an example close to home, look at how the digital gaming license for Star Wars has prevented digital versions of the RPG products.
Besides, from a practical point of view, keeping a "generous" GM from sharing their books with everyone on the internet would be a challenge. Solvable, but a distinct cost to the business, all while reducing the number of products you would sell. Wouldn't be a particularly smart move for WotC or SW. My personal thought is TTRPGs are a pretty hard business to survive in, and the consumers should be willing to support the people who make all these things possible for us by being willing to pay a fair amount for the products.
Edit: look at the vsync option and other info in the GUI, your GPU shouldn't be doing that.
I can understand the desire to have that level of sharing on the online reader. For now, we have not chosen to investigate this further. We don't have any current plans to add a sharing capacity. We have a lot of contracts with publishers, and each would need to be evaluated to see if we could even do that. We have a majority of our contracts that use the same agreement and a handful of other, more specific ones that were normally drafted by our partners.
Beyond legal considerations, we further need to determine whether or not our partner wants us to add that sharing option. Shooting from the hip, I expect at least some of the major players would not. We generally try not to build out features that would upset our business partners. We want to remain a value-add for them so they continue to want to do business with us going forward.
Thanks for encouraging me to dive into the FGU GUI settings more (I have been tweaking the NVIDIA Control Panel and Windows settings over and over trying to reduce FGU GPU usage with minimal or no improvement)...Quote:
Originally Posted by LordEntrails
After your hint, under 'Settings > Display', I changed the following in my initial pass (may go back later and change 1 setting at a time) and things are much better GPU % usage wise (I don't know how much these changes will impact my usage of FGU yet as I am doing my MMO daily routines right now...):
A) Background Scrolling: Unchecked 'Enable';
B) Image Quality: Dropped from 100 to 25;
C) VSYNC: Changed from 0 (60 FPS fixed) to 2 (1/2 OS/Monitor frame rate);
Note: I left 'Launcher UI' at 100 and 'Campaign UI' at 200 as those allow me to not have to put on my reading glasses to use FGU...
The net effect of 1 or more of those 3 changes is my GPU is now static at <= ~29% for FGU instead of >= 55%+ for FGU (depending on whatever else my GPU is doing)... Instead of often pegging at 100% my overall GPU load is now ~32%-80% depending on whether I have my MMO client in the background or foreground (I have my MMO client running as close to 24x7 as possible) and whatever else I am doing at that time (or if the PC is otherwise essentially idle with as many things minimized to the "background" as possible)...
It seems like FGU has essentially the same GPU load whether it is minimized (to the background) or in the foreground/visible (or foreground/focused) which is not what I would expect but at least now it is a static >= ~29% with a high GPU watermark at ~80% instead of ~100%... Still higher than I would like but way, way better (generally I like to keep everything at <= 75%-80% max usage if at all possible).
Thanks again!!!
Sorry I didn't give you the link before. I assume you found this page on the wiki?
Reducing GPU Usage - Fantasy Grounds Customer Portal - Fantasy Grounds
Yes I had seen that WIKI page on 'Reducing GPU Usage' when doing my own research prior to your post but I had stopped reading when I got to the section on 'AMD Radeon Settings' and did not know there was a section below the AMD section titled:Quote:
Originally Posted by LordEntrails
'Adjusting vsync and image quality from the Launcher'
I only did what I did in my above post that triaged things for me due to your hint/encouragement... When I just now clicked on the link you sent after triaging, and got the familiar article, I kept scrolling down and saw for the first time the section 'Adjusting vsync and image quality from the Launcher' below AMD...
Thanks again.
Sure. Glad my comment was able to help prod you in the right direction :)
I am new and learning as I go but, after reading this full thread and researching things & working with the clients, my official first impression is that:Quote:
Originally Posted by ddavison
"Y'all rock!"
I don't know yet the people/organizations/etc involved, & while the FGU VTT full client still seems to use too much GPU resources (both in general & surprisingly even when minimized), so far I am very impressed with:
- -FGU VTT: It seems like it will be really good for gaming (GPU usage aside);
- -Content available in the FGU VTT: Amazing to have all of this AD&D 2E content available! Lots of other content as well but so far my focus has been on AD&D 2E and I am impressed!;
- -Online Digital Reader: Huge boon to those that have content (our DM but not players);
- -People: More impressive than the above... People that are working hard but still taking the time to read threads like this and give input and listening to users (even new ones who may not yet understand the nuances of their requests/posts)...
Note: When/if I have some time, as a Computer Scientist & Architect, I will try do a shared session with our DM and see our DM's administrative & permissions options to see if there is something that may be both leverageable and not prone to abuse (and likely has the underlying infrastructure data-model-wise to detect any abuse).