Is FGU/FG unintuitive especially in 5e or is it me not getting it?

[ClutterGM]

There are several things I can not get across. Maybe a Dev oder Mod, or even a Veteran can point me to what I'm missing.
This is my first time creating a campaign as a DM in FG (FGU) and I switched from R20 because I like the idea of a p2p connection, no monthly fees and some other stuff.
Also I don't care much about bugs since it is alpha and it feels like there is active development.

But what bothers me, is the way the software wants to be used.

Edit: Trenloe provided a workaround for my first issue. It still exists, but the workaround is fine for now. For reference my original issue:

For example NPCs:
Having them is essential. They should display a quick overview with all their skills, actions, etc and help me roll them.
Lets have a look at what I get:
npc.png
A very long wall of text.
Anything that is more complex than the base attributes like HP, AC, STR, DEX, ... is plain text.
It is even impossible to fold text, so I cannot hide the description until I need it.
There is no way I find something fast:
When rolling on an NPC action I need to scroll through a long list of full text feats , spells etc. until I find the one i was looking for.
Then I need to scan the whole description with my mouse and try to find the clickable part for the rolls, effects and the damage.
Having more than one or two of those unique NPCs in a battle is a nightmare.
I would be quicker having real index cards for them and rolling dice by hand, which defeats the purpose of having a VTT.

PCs on the other hand, have what would solve this mess:
pc.png
I have a TABLE of actions categorized, however I want.
Shortcuts to rolls with a tooltip on mouseover.
And I can get the full description with a single click, if I need to.

IMHO NPCs would massively improve if they become stripped down versions of PCs.
Meaning actions and spells should move to a tab analog to PCs and having an inventory would be neat too.

The next point is how you add stuff in general.

FG is often analyzing plain text to find modifications, effects, rolls etc, which requires an exact wording.
While this is a cool feature on one hand, it is absolutely horrible on the other.
I'm not a native speaker, and all my physical books are in my mother tongue, so I simply cannot remember the exact wording for everything and have to look it up and copy/paste it.
In addition, there is a bug where copied text does not always sync to other clients and you cannot mark text with your mouse, to adjust it.
This makes it very hard to quickly add things, since they require a lot of work and preparation.

But it is not just the amount of time required to prepare stuff, it is also an issue while playing:
When playing we talk in our mother tongue of course, and still use english spell names and attributes, since the are labeled in english everywhere and this is totally fine for us.
The problem starts when playing with younger peeps or people in general who cannot speak english fluently. While they are still able to remember what the base attributes mean, the are not able to understand the description of all of their traits and feats and spells and so on, and keep asking "What did this do again?" "Can you translate that again?". But you can't blame a 14 yo for not speaking a foreign language good enough to understand feats and spells in it.
And since FG parses the exact wording of the text, we simply cannot translate them.

An alternative to the text parsing feature would make things so much easier ...
So the description of a Spell/Class etc does only matter if you really want it to parse the effects from text, but alternatively you could open a "modifications" tab and put all the modifications there, regardless of the text itself.
similar to the Effects notation:
- WIS +1 (max: 20)
- SPELL: [Cloud of Daggers] 1/long rest
- ACTION: EFF: [TRGT]; GRANTDISATK; [SELF]

In theory FG does that already internally, there is just no option to adjust the parsed values....

Do you guy experience the same, or is it just me? Am I missing something? Is there a chance FG will improve on this anytime soon?

[Trenloe]

A quick answer to your first point - if the NPC sheet has too much info in it, then don't roll from the NPC sheet. Put the NPC in the combat tracker and open the offense section (click the sword) - here are all of the actions and abilities summarized with double-click actions ready to go.

[ClutterGM]

Thanks! Did not notice that Maybe there is also a solution for my other problem ^^

[LordEntrails]

Some people find the UI not to be intuitive. Others do. No UI can work ideally for everyone.

That said, their is lots of information to help you learn FG. Their is the the wiki and YouTube videos, the User Manual and Tutorial campaign. Plus the forums here and FG College. All can help you learn what you want in the format you connect with best.

[merkvah]

The whole program has a very steep learning curve. I've taught several players and GMs to use it, and the vast majority of them still don't understand the program even after running / playing for six months or more.

Most of my groups have just devolved to me creating abilities on my character sheet and the GM dragging them to the players who need them. Even simple things like creating a Dragonborn's breath weapon, which (I'm quite surprised) is not, by default, a thing in the program.

Fantasy Grounds is not a program you can learn by just playing around with it. You need to read the Wikis, to watch the YouTube videos, and to have someone who knows it teach you what you missed.

[damned]

Everyone learns differently. Ive invited players 100% new to FG for one shots and not taught them anything until they actually needed to do something. After they have done a couple of things they need little or no instruction. Ive run game systems on MoreCore that none of my players have ever played in and people have tended to pick things up quickly and easily.

[TXCBoy36]

The whole program has a very steep learning curve. I've taught several players and GMs to use it, and the vast majority of them still don't understand the program even after running / playing for six months or more.

Most of my groups have just devolved to me creating abilities on my character sheet and the GM dragging them to the players who need them. Even simple things like creating a Dragonborn's breath weapon, which (I'm quite surprised) is not, by default, a thing in the program.

Fantasy Grounds is not a program you can learn by just playing around with it. You need to read the Wikis, to watch the YouTube videos, and to have someone who knows it teach you what you missed.

That is why I am very active on FG college. They are very knowledgeable in game play. You can actually request a one on one instructor session to walk you through different items that have become a challenge. I had heard about the high learning curve, but since I have been taking these free classes thru FG college, I am becoming more comfortable with game play. Not there yet, but I am more comfortable with it than I was when I first got my Ultimate License.

I am know looking into creating my own gaming modules....good luck!!

[ClutterGM]

Seems like you might be able to help me with my issue? Since it is not the UI I'm struggeling with, would you mind reading my initial problem:

FG is often analyzing plain text to find modifications, effects, rolls etc, which requires an exact wording.
While this is a cool feature on one hand, it is absolutely horrible on the other.
I'm not a native speaker, and all my physical books are in my mother tongue, so I simply cannot remember the exact wording for everything and have to look it up and copy/paste it.
[...]
This makes it very hard to quickly add things, since they require a lot of work and preparation.

But it is not just the amount of time required to prepare stuff, it is also an issue while playing:
When playing we talk in our mother tongue of course, and still use english spell names and attributes, since the are labeled in english everywhere and this is totally fine for us.
The problem starts when playing with younger peeps or people in general who cannot speak english fluently. While they are still able to remember what the base attributes mean, they are not able to understand the description of all of their traits and feats and spells and so on, and keep asking "What did this do again?" "Can you translate that again?". But you can't blame a 14 yo for not speaking a foreign language good enough to understand feats and spells in it.
And since FG parses the exact wording of the text, we simply cannot translate them, or FG would stop recognizing it.

An alternative to the text parsing feature would make things so much easier ...
So the description of a Spell/Class etc does only matter if you really want it to parse the effects from text, but alternatively you could open a "modifications" tab and put all the modifications there, regardless of the text itself.
similar to the Effects notation:
- WIS +1 (max: 20)
- SPELL: [Cloud of Daggers] 1/long rest
- ACTION: EFF: [TRGT]; GRANTDISATK; [SELF]

In theory FG does that already internally, there is just no option to adjust the parsed values....

[LordEntrails]

@ClutterGM text parsing is an issue, and the devs are aware of it and how it negatively impacts the ability of FG to be localized to different languages. It's not an easy, quick, or straightforward to 'fix' this. But it is something they would like to do if it becomes enough of a priority to do so.

You can vote on the related ideas on the Wish List;
- https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=40990
- https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=113353
- https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=84833
- https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=62364