I'll admit it, the full-page spector art caught my eye in this month's issue (Dungeon #121) but I kept reading because the thought of being able to play D&D online (and not that infernal MMORPG that I keep avoiding reading about at all costs) with friends sounded great.
Checking out the fledgling website the one thing I didn't care for was the subscription-based payments. I'd assumed it was a downloadable program, one-time-payment sort of thing. Not so (though I think there's something about one-shot games or something, I skimmed a little on the payment page.) Granted, $54/year isn't too high-priced I suppose ($42/year if one subscribes with the early bird special) but is it going to be worth it?
Which leads me to the question: has anyone used this yet? I imagine it's only the playtesters at this point, any of them willing to share any experiences (or are you even allowed to talk about anything yet? Damned non-disclosure contracts!)?
And while I'm at it, is there anything already existing out there that does this sort of thing? It's not always easy for me to meet for games (hell, I haven't gamed for months now...so yea, it's a little difficult to hit the gaming table) so something like this could be great tool. I was going to finally shell out the $$$ for Neverwinter Nights Platinum so I could game that way with a few people (though NWN2 is supposed to be in development) but have yet to do so (something about fearing the scripting language that seems to be needed...I never went past BASIC back in my Commodore 64 days.)
- Chris Shadowens
There's also Kloodge.werks, Fantasy Grounds, OpenRPG and ScreenMonkey.
Checking out the fledgling website the one thing I didn't care for was the subscription-based payments. I'd assumed it was a downloadable program, one-time-payment sort of thing. Not so (though I think there's something about one-shot games or something, I skimmed a little on the payment page.) Granted, $54/year isn't too high-priced I suppose ($42/year if one subscribes with the early bird special) but is it going to be worth it?
I doubt that GhostOrb is going to have much luck charging money for their site, especially the $6.00 per session rate for "professional games". The existing "tabletop roleplaying on the web" sites are all free, yet the ones that I've seen don't seem to be used very much, or at least not as much as one would think such sites would be used. One was even begging for donations last year to keep going.
Anways thats from someone on the inside that has been blown away. Now I go back to waiting to play with the client.
Whisper
So they still haven't released the client? What's the ETA for it? I'll still hold out for when people are actually playing on it before seriously considering plunking down some $$$.
Plus, there are some new Chessex dice that I'd rather spend my current gaming $$$ on.
- Chris Shadowens
232 members in 1-1/2 months isn't very impressive (the reason it jumped so much in two days is probably because that's when someone decided to update the membership number listing). At $5 or so per month that comes out to $1160, (and it's actually less for early bird). That's not even enough to pay one guy a decent salary. Nor is it enough to support a large number of ongoing games every night of the week (with "night" being defined across a large number of time zones), which IMHO is what you need to make this type of site attractive.
And while I'm at it, is there anything already existing out there that does this sort of thing? It's not always easy for me to meet for games (hell, I haven't gamed for months now...so yea, it's a little difficult to hit the gaming table) so something like this could be great tool.
I have a good friend who is pretty prolifically using OpenRPG. He likes it and I have played in one game there. I was about to start running a Call of Cthulhu game with it as well, but then got promoted twice and lost all time (even had to drop the orig game, so now I am not gaming at all).
They have fairly active boards with people looking for games.
Additionally I know he runs and hosts some play-by-post games on his personal boards (www.vallusgames.com) as well as records of sessions and such... not a bad idea to go poke around if you are interested.
Sean Mahoney
Personally I'm not concerned with the amount of people already enrolled into this new game "system". Personally, I say the fewer from the start the better. I hate to sound selfish but we all know what Role Playing turned into when it touched the internet... and that's the first thing I'd blame when you examine the low count of memebers. However, the only time I've ever seen anything giving GhostOrb a good name seems to be an advertiser of some sort the only problem is they admit they have nothing to advertise but forums. No prototype, no beta version, no nothing. Now seriously whose going to jump on a band wagon of message boards for $30 a month??
There is the fact that you can play Pro Games without signing up at all and there was that incredible 200 applicants for Pro GM's, but surprisingly there are no linked sights of these GM's making their own personal sights of games to come... I haven't found any information what so ever that this is even something more than some kids saying send me $1 for happiness. That may not make sense the way I worded it but hopefully you readers understand.
Now understand this information is only to the best of my knowledge and I must admit I am excited by the idea beyond belief. I have not yet sampled the other games but am afraid of losing interest in the whole idea of internet gaming. I guess what i"m saying is if anyone has evidence of this system in any way to please post it. I don't want to hear how great it is and see more quotes of features from the website...
I wanted to update what I said previous... I have so far tried OpenRPG and ScreenMonkey and I find ScreenMonkey to be more than acceptable for 5 years ago.. which is what I always kind of pictured online DnD to be. However I was spoiled by the functions of OpenRpg but do not recommend it unless you are a skillful programmer. I spent little time on it and was convinced that unlike ScreenMonkey the figures had to be map made by the GM and then loaded where ScreenMonkey moving could be manual by GM or PC. If this is not the case and someone could explain how to first create a map for OpenRpg and second how to get icons moving around on it then I would gladly try and return to it... and if the two were put togeter with voice and many of the other features "ghostorb" supposedly offers than I don't really think the amount of members matters the only thing that does is if your friends have computers. No more upsetting the wife with a living room full of friends.. So please any evidence of GhostOrb would be awesome!!!
However, the only time I've ever seen anything giving GhostOrb a good name seems to be an advertiser of some sort the only problem is they admit they have nothing to advertise but forums. No prototype, no beta version, no nothing.
Actually, there is a beta version. The early subscribers have been testing it.
Now seriously whose going to jump on a band wagon of message boards for $30 a month??
Nobody, probably. But GhostOrb is $27 for *6* months. That's a much better rate. :)
I guess what i"m saying is if anyone has evidence of this system in any way to please post it. I don't want to hear how great it is and see more quotes of features from the website...
I'd love to help you there, but I use a Mac, so I haven't seen the client.
I have been play testing ghostorb for a couple of months now with members of my gaming group here is what I noticed. Mind you I was only testing operability. I am still working on mapping and avatars.
1). The wife is not too angry with me, since she does not have to see my D&D friends.
2). Ghostorb requires a lot of prep time, mapping etc which we as a group are working on. No problem for the computer savy members of the group but our DM is a total computer idiot.
That is to say he can't type and cannot follow computer instructions, no other real computer skills necessary!
3). The client is very good, very similar to the Heroforge spreadsheet, but without the macros.
4). We found it to be very effective in playablity so far.
Now for Some drawbacks.
1). It is not that easy to tell the DM where you want your character. However as far as I know they are working on improving that type of thing. Right now the DM controls the entire map and characters so in the heat of battle much communication will be needed to tell the DM where you want to be. If you make sure your map has a grid it can be easier.
2). I have not figured out how to upload NPCs yet. This will be a problem down the road. I am assuming it is in the works because they have said so.
3). All graphics must be ".png" type and a certain size. That in itself is not a big deal I only mention it because of the possible investment of graphing SW. I am currently experimenting with Autoforge which is free, others have used Campaign Cartograher, and Dundjinni as well as Paint shop. Which leads me to...
4). Eventually you will need to make a graphic for all the monsters, and NPCs. On a side note I would accept help from anyone out there on this one. Again not a big deal just very labor intensive.
5). This one is not too obvious but you make sure that all your gaming group has the same resolution on their monitors. If not everyone will see a different amount of your map which will lead to more time in communications than is already needed.
6). The DM will need a hard copy of the map with him because there is no way to store a surprise for the players without them seeing it ahead of time. So for traps and ambushes, it must be worked out on the Master hard copy prior to playtime so the DM can spring it on them when the players move into position.
7). You are also supposed to be able to upload adventures but I have not figured that out either.
With all that said to use Ghostorb currently you must have worked out a lot with your players before hand. Communication is even more of a priority than in person. The DM has even more work to do than before but nothing that cannot be improved or worked around. I like using Ghostorb and look forward to doing a full blown adventure on it not just these test games. I have never used the other online programs nor have I heard of them. I would like to compare them though.
I hope that helps you.