WotC Digital Gaming Table?

[Matchstick]

From the WotC site, here is the text of the survey they are presenting. Note the very last entry, about the Digital Gaming Table. Looks like they are going to move into competition with FG.

I did see the other thread that was sort of about this, but I thought it might be better to seperate this from the 4th Edition debate.

I have to say that this isn't something I would subscribe to, I don't go to the WotC site as it is.

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The Dungeons & Dragons Insider Package

Become a Dungeons & Dragons Insider and gain access to exclusive content designed specifically with D&D players in mind. As part of your monthly subscription, you gain access to features designed to enhance your D&D experience, including:

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-Product Previews (articles showcasing upcoming D&D products)
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D&D Product Enhancements (expanded content for D&D products you bought, including interactive content such as searchable indexes, extra features, behind the scenes articles, game designer and developer commentary, and more)

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- The Magic Shop, a virtual shop where you can outfit your D&D character

D&D Character Builder, a program that helps you create and manage your D&D characters. This program allows you to create a character for any D&D game, walking you through the process of rolling the dice and assigning your game statistics, as well as creating a visual version of your character using "paper doll" models and "drag and click" selections of armor and weapons. At the end, you can save your character and print out a character sheet, as well as go to any D&D tournament and call up your character for use, or use the character at the Virtual Gaming Table (see below). With this package, you get to create and store up to 10 different characters or up to 10 different versions of one character (your character at different levels), or some combination of the two.

-Exclusive D&D-related novels and short stories written by your favorite authors
-Real-World D&D Search Engines (find D&D gamers, game stores, tournaments, and events in your area)
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Digital Gaming Table, a program that allows you to play D&D using the Internet as your kitchen table, with a viewable play surface, dice rolling, virtual miniatures, and voice chat. Now you don't have to wait for your home gaming group to get together to play a game of D&D. You can still play your weekly face-to-face game, but now you can also play two or three more times a week by finding a game at the virtual table. Or, you might want to reconnect with your old gaming pals who long ago moved away-now you can all play together again on a regular basis! With this package, you get to play at the table 3 times per month.

[Malovech]

With this package, you get to play at the table 3 times per month.

3 Times per month? What a crock!

[Veilel]

Where did you find this info ?

[Matchstick]

It was posted on the front page of ENWorld (https://www.enworld.org) and has engendered some debate on the message boards there. I hadn't heard anything about them trying to do an online PnP app, and of course thought of FG right away, so I figured I'd post over here as well.

There has been no official announcement from WotC about this offering, or its price. That text, as I understand it, is the text from an online survey that you can get at the WotC site.

[LordTomar]

yeah it also sounds like its a pay per month kind of thing... since I dont need or want most of the benefits, I say no thanks.

[sunbeam60]

Ha ha ha ... things like this can only be a good thing, to be honest. If players start looking at this Digital Gaming Table, then surely the talk will turn to Fantasy Grounds too. Granted, there's the issue of data-availability, as in FG can only do SRD while the DGT can use all of WotC's product identity, but whatever the DGT is, it's bound to take a long time to catch up to FG.

Besides, I use FG because it rocks, not because it's the only one there. DGT, pffft bring it on.

[Veilel]

I am interested in it as well ...

[Cantstanzya]

The good thing about this is that all the people crying about the pricing of FG will realize that FG is a good deal.

[Matchstick]

Ha ha ha ... things like this can only be a good thing, to be honest. If players start looking at this Digital Gaming Table, then surely the talk will turn to Fantasy Grounds too. Granted, there's the issue of data-availability, as in FG can only do SRD while the DGT can use all of WotC's product identity, but whatever the DGT is, it's bound to take a long time to catch up to FG.

I agree regarding both the gaming table and the character generator. Up until this point WotC hasn't had a great (or even good) track record with the software they've tried to release, and I can't imagine these are going to be any better. I very much doubt that the gaming table will even approach the functionality of FG, at least initially. I'm thinking both of those pieces of software will be low functionality to begin with, just so they could be advertised.

[devinnight]

call me antagonistic, but if WOTC wanted to get into the game I think there app would be just as good as FG at launch... now, I think it won't be as good a deal if you have to pay to use it and are limited to certain times.

If they decide to make an app all they have to do is look at all the apps out there including this one, take notes on what works and what doesn't work, buy a few copies and reverse engineer out the parts they like and make their own app. (I know it's not that easy)

That is if they have been paying attention and really plan on doing this. They already have a huge market base, a large community of people that would pay for the use of their material, artists, writers, etc...
They could of course still screw it up, but I think they probably decided to get serious about it and have thier own team workin on it.

A lot of the work has already been done by other companies all they need to do is throw money and some talent at it and wham instant residual income.

I'll stick with FG's openesss and free playing.