(Edit: There's some wonkiness with getting this post to appear. Just seeing if it is a title issue. Sorry for double thread.)
I didn't realize how big of a deal the virtual game table was until the explosion of hate over the lack of it at 4e launch. (Of course, there's the internet fact that most angry customers post than happy ones, but geez, there's some serious hate and disappointment out there.)
Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel like WotC is failing at, Paizo should talk to Fantasy Grounds, or even Digital Adventures who converts other publisher's material to Fantasy Grounds format. Create a relationship there with Pathfinder products being quickly available for Fantasy Grounds and promote that as an alternative to waiting 6 months or more for a promises Virtual Game Table. Especially if you can get a company like Digital Adventures to do the conversion work, it needn't be a time burden which seems to often be an issue with the overworked Paizo staff. :)
I'm sure there's other software packages out there. It's just Fantasy Grounds is the one I've heard the most about.
Add in other people creating datasets for the various character generators (my groups uses DM Genie in particular), and the fact that you already regularly give monthly PDFs to your subscribers, and you already have nearly all of DDI available - tested, functional, and far from the DDI vaporware that might materialize over the next 6 months to year (if they improve their track record over Master/eTools and Magic Online 3).
I'm just saying tossing it out there. The software already exists. Make some partnerships and offer what WotC has failed at.
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I suspect that a lot of the hate and venting that you are seeing towards it is just in the fact that it was one of their really big, often touted features and then didn't show up. You tend to see this a lot(if you are techie nerdy) in software releases, especially operating systems and MMOs, where things can get pushed back and put out later in patches.
Whatever the feature, if its bragged about enough, companies still tend to think they can just kind of whistle and pretend no one knows about it if its not ready at launch time, and it will get the same reception later(once the fans are grouchy already, and holding much higher expectations since 'if it was kept back longer, they must have been making it -perfect-).
Now, with that pointless rambling said, I will point out that I think a virtual tabletop for 3p would be very cool. I keep sort of dancing around the idea of starting a PbP here on the boards, and I think that would pretty firmly set me in the idea of running a game on line, if we were able to balance out some of the tactical sides of it with a visual representation, since the game has become pretty reliant on a battlemat.
If this ever is an option, I would probably lean towards wanting to purchase the software and any future versions of it rather then having a subscription service, but since I already have subscriptions services with pathfinder and the modules and the like, it would not be a total turn off if it was done that way as well.
-Tarlane
(I saw your first post, had actually replied to it, then your post disapeared. Very wonky.)
I'm liking GlitterComm myself. Plus, a Paizo fan made it. :) Now if it were cross-platform...:D
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...GlitterComm...
Thanks for the link, Lilith. GlitterComm looks pretty slick ... I'll have to give it a shot.
-Skeld
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I have a feeling that a lot of it is people seeing Wizards repeating what they did with 3e. They promise this big software suite and failed to deliver. They even went after 3rd parties doing their own software for awhile because they were competing with Wizards.
Wizards never managed to produce anything even close to the AD&D Core Rules and a lot of people don't forget that.
Now you have this happening with 4e, not a good sign to many. Personally, it's been known since March though that the software end wouldn't be ready... so I don't understand why it's a surprise.
I've used Fantasy Grounds and think it's pretty cool. I'd love to see an official virtual table top product, but I'd rather it be something created by a real software company (not to take away from FG) and use the Pathfinder minis.. much like the 4e tools are "promising."
I'm currently using a modified version of Battlegrounds as my tabletop mapping program, even though it was developed for online gaming. It works pretty well. I'm also going to check into this Glittercomm product to see if it performs better for what I use them for.
I just want a program for display purposes only. No virtual minis, no bells and whistles, simply a reveal mapping program that can be used locally in conjunction with the tabletop game using real miniatures and props. Right now, Battlegrounds suffices to fill that role. We'll see if Glittercomm can meet my expectations.
Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel like WotC is failing at, Paizo should talk to Fantasy Grounds, or even Digital Adventures who converts other publisher's material to Fantasy Grounds format. Create a relationship there with Pathfinder products being quickly available for Fantasy Grounds and promote that as an alternative to waiting 6 months or more for a promises Virtual Game Table. Especially if you can get a company like Digital Adventures to do the conversion work, it needn't be a time burden which seems to often be an issue with the overworked Paizo staff. :)
I'm just saying tossing it out there. The software already exists. Make some partnerships and offer what WotC has failed at.
Hiya Ken! I just love Google Alerts. :)
In fact, I have sent an email to Mr. Mona regarding Fantasy Grounds and Pathfinder, but have yet to hear of a reply. Digital Adventures has gotten more than a few inquiries regarding an "official" Pathfinder conversion, and I can easily say that the Fantasy Grounds community would love the opportunity to have an official conversion of the PF products to play online. Fantasy Grounds was originally built to play a d20-ish game right out of the box, so I think this is a natural fit for this very cool looking game system.
Cheers!
Kevin Melka
Digital Adventures, LLC
kmelka@digitaladventures.net
Any further news on this ?
Currently using FG2 for a weekly gaming group and we're looking to swap over the Pathfinder soon as there's an FG2 Module for it