Howdy

[Alkaven]

Bout a year ago, after getting all fed up with so much of the annoying layout and style of OpenRPG and mIRC, I was just about to settle for making my own virtual tabletop to ease the frustration. Well, just recently, I stumbled upon this application.

I have to say, I'm impressed... More than impressed... It's awesome!

Exactly what I wanted and more. No kidding. Everything feels alot like a real tabletop environment. The dice is there, the sheets are there, the chat is there, the monster list, maps, items, even NPC personality traits.

I've already budgeted to buy this application as soon as I can afford to, but I do have some questions.

One of the biggest things that concerns me is the price. I have to say, it's a very unfair price. I have to get that out there, because it's the honest truth. $35 for the full version, then $17 for every player. So with a standard D&D campaign of four players, that's $103... A bit much just to run a game online. Mind you, I think the developers deserve to get paid for something this great, but $103 per group? 80% of my players will ditch that idea.

Anyway, with this as my concern, is there like an online lobby included with this application? (can you go online in a chat room and find players to invite?). I like to DM campaigns, but if I can't find players, there's no point to this purchase.

[Razaan]

While the cost might be prohibitive for some... just tell your players that it's cheaper than buying their own copies of the PHB or something.

As for finding players, it always seems on these forums and several others, that DM's are in short supply, but there is an aple crowd of players looking to join a campaign.

[Cantstanzya]

First off, welcome to the Forums. If I seem like I'm going off on you , I'm not, it's is just that everytime I read a post like this I am amazed. How can 20 bucks for each player be too much? If money is that tight, skip a couple of meals. Any real gamer would do that. If you think they are charging too much take a look at it from the devleopers point of view.
Anyone that complains about the cost of the software needs to put it in perspective. If you make $30K per year (the average income in 2002 was 36K) a $20.00 purchase is .0006% of your salary. If there is a team of 5 developers, they would have to sell 7500 copies of the software a year to make the same 30K per year that you make. In other words they only ask for .0006% of your income (on average) so that they can make a living, and what you get in return is endless hours of gaming.
You've pointed out several alternatives, and the problem with those is mIRC was not designed for Online Role Playing and OpenRPG from what I've heard is too bloated and complicated too use.
You have to give these guys credit, they have done a fantastic job with the software and they are nice enough to sell a "Lite" version so that it makes it more affordable for the client. They could just sell the full version for $30.00 and not offer the lite version and actually make more money. But to make it affordable they do offer a lite version. There is no monthly charge (like some online games). It is a one time charge. Don't look at it as this is "X" amount of dollars my group has to spend, but look at it as this is "X" amount of dollars I am investing in a company that will allow you to continue to game with your friends even after they have moved away.
If you're players "ditch" the idea of paying the cash, I guarantee you can pick up a group in a couple of days. The biggest problems I see is that there are too many people wanting to play and not enough people that want to DM. But isn't that the way it always is? Once a DM always a DM?
Oh, by the way, what edition do you play?

[Alkaven]

I play 3.5 edition mostly since it came out. Although I don't really have alot of players. Any friends I know experienced in D&D tend to like overpowered campaigns. Like where you can have three ability scores of 18, and continually roll ability score generation until you get the perfect stats. I don't run campaigns that way, so I don't have much luck. I follow the rules almost as precisely as I can, with the standard flow of campaigns. Each session is usually 1 encounter, sometimes 2. And I tend to keep things within realistic bounds with lots and lots of fodder.

Actually, I am a software developer. So I've got the perspective right. Granted, your right, the investment made here clearly needs a profit margin to be successful, and the fact DMs are in low supply suddenly helps me understand why they went with the sales strategy they did.

I'm gonna give it a try at least when I get it.

[Alkaven]

Might I also add that I am VERY impressed with the layout of this Messageboard. Only five forums. Alot easier to keep track of than most (where there are like 15-30 different forums). The level of organization is kept simple and effective.

Now whatever you do... DON'T CHANGE IT, pleeeease...

[Snikle]

I just started my first D20 D&D campaing using FG, and I most likely will be running a d20 modern game using FG as well.
I think the DMs are out there, but as the previous posted said, getting that initial leap to spending money on a hobby is difficult for some people. Trust me, I have the money to buy this software, but taking that leap, and then getting 4 or 5 others to do it as well..... you know what I mean. Before I purchased it, I could see the hesitation in everyone purchasing the software, once I did however, I seriously doubt I will ever use anything else to run games again (till the next be leap in technology or something), for now, this is the biggest thing to hit PnP games since TSR was bought out by WotC I think.

One thought I had the other day, would be if the guys here at Smiteworks had a weekly demonstration campaign. Get one of them, or a trusted DM to run a weekly demonstration game that others go use the free demo version of the software to log in and watch an adventure. This would offer many to see first hand how amaing this system is. Perhaps they could even form a sort of sanctioned gaming league, have their own campaign going, get a few DMs around here to contribute and run occasional games, offer free 'add-ins' that you could download, I think that would open up the software to those unsure about it, and it could not really cost Smiteworks anything other than storage and bandwidth. Anyway, just an idea.

[Khartoum]

Actually Snikle, that sounds like a really cool idea.....I might not be thinking of all the consequences (in fact, I know I'm not), but after reading the modules available on the D&D site at wizards.com (check out the "downloads" section, or do a search for "cliffhangers") it's really got the creative juices flowing.

Some sort of observational weekly (or even monthly) game would be a really interesting way to showcase the product, though I don't know how they would allow "viewers" (or voyeuers) to just watch (and not participate).

Also, check out some of the homebrew campaign logs over at DDO.com under the "Campaigns and Roleplaying" Forums. There are about a half-dozen campaign logs being posted (I DM one, and play in another ).

Anyways, really cool idea if it could be implemented. I'm sure there's alot of "short-cuts" in FG that I'm not aware of and would love to learn about....

[Snikle]

Interesting, I will take a look at the sites later tonight.

I really like the idea of a running module, one that has chapters released every week or bi-weekly or something and are all connected. That is sort of what I was planning on doing on my site. I have a ong trip coming up in a few weeks and I am working on something really big for my local campaign, but I want to make it available online for others as well.

I do not think the demo software does not allow you to log in and watch games that are using a different version (and I believe I read somewhere that the demo would remain whatever version it is and would not be updated), so that is an obstacle that would need to be overcome. In addition to somehow setting it up so that they could be watchers, but not particpants. Actually for that matter, allowing them to participate would be better, maybe a time monitored demo instead of current method? It might be a good idea to get an introduction module available, could even possibly find someone to run it once a month or bi-weekly or something as an open introduction to FG.

[Alkaven]

Well, I just got it. Looks fantastic. Gonna see if I can put together an adventure.

Nice talking wit yah folks.