Originally Posted by
Rzach
I didn't want to derail this thread. I appreciate the advice but I had already considered these things. I don't enjoy switching between websites and FG the same way I dislike looking back and forth between a book and FG. I want to be able to open FG and just read my books and plan my games there. I like to sit on my couch with my gaming laptop and just plan out my sessions or read the new content. It's just what I like and I can understand that it may not make sense to you but this is what I like. Since this thread was about the status of the GM Guide I was making a note here that not having it affects my willingness to buy the game line.
As for automation... The optional rules in the DMG are not implemented in FG by default. If I want Sanity or Honor for instance, I have to use an extension for them. It's not just about automation for me. I am willing to run games without high levels of automation using FG. My intent when choosing a VTT is that I wanted a single program that had everything in it both for use in online gaming during the pandemic and for when I start running in person games again. At the time it was a choice between Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds. I didn't consider Foundry since their 5e support looked like it was based on piracy. The deciding factor for me was that Roll20 didn't consider the DMG necessary for running games since they had the SRD content in the program already. Fantasy Grounds had the DMG. So I went with FG. Once I had purchased my books in FG I sold my physical copies to a local bookshop. Now I only buy 5e stuff if it is for FG. I would like to do the same for Pathfinder 2e. My priorities when deciding to purchase a game line are in this order: 1) Are the books I want to have in my library available? 2) Does this make running my game easier?
While I feel I may be an edge case, there is always the possibility that I am not. As a note I have the same issue with M&M 3e. Several books I consider essential for me buying into the game line are not available in FG. I really want to be able to replace my whole book collection with FG.
On a technical note, I am a .Net fullstack web developer. I am curious what makes the automation take so long to implement in the products if you are allowed to explain?