18 months on : FG vs. Roll20 vs Foundry

[Weissrolf]

Hardly, the table is the most powerful platform, because it allows multiple people to talk at the same time.

[Jiminimonka]

Hardly, the table is the most powerful platform, because it allows multiple people to talk at the same time.

Agreed!

I know....

[Weissrolf]

That's really my main beef with VTTs. Only 1 person can talk and everyone is disciplined to keep the voicechat free for the GM to talk. So interaction is down to a minimum and players waiting for another one's turn to finish can't even whisper with each other. Instead players browse the web, watch videos or do other stuff while waiting to do anything useful. This is why I am a proponent of "flash" to keep players' eyes on the VTT scene.

[Valyar]

That's really my main beef with VTTs. Only 1 person can talk and everyone is disciplined to keep the voicechat free for the GM to talk. So interaction is down to a minimum and players waiting for another one's turn to finish can't even whisper with each other. Instead players browse the web, watch videos or do other stuff while waiting to do anything useful. This is why I am a proponent of "flash" to keep players' eyes on the VTT scene.

+1. This is why visuals and the way you interact with the environment matters.

[HywelPhillips]

I agree that the main drawback of VTT play is not the VTT's fault - it's the "one person at a time" nature of voice & video chat. I've been trying to encourage people to use the VTT chat window for the in-character asides to keep them amused, but Twitter is right there...

I also agree that it's one of the reasons to provide immersive visuals via the VTT - if the map is showing relevant stuff, it helps keep player's attention on the game. Like making sure that the stuff depicted on the map can be used for clever ideas and manipulation of the environment (I jump on this stack of boxes and throw the torch to set fire to the barrels of oil, then swing on the rope across to the other side of the room). In person I went theatre of mind most of the time, but via VTT I definitely prefer really detailed maps for this reason. Ditto it helps to have LOS, lighting, etc..

What other techniques have people found useful to stop players' attention wandering?

Cheers, Hywel

[Egheal]

Cant we all just get along and agree that just using multi user voice call and imagination is the most powerfull platform

No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive. Like the Dark Side. Patiently learning the way of FGU you must.

[Weissrolf]

What other techniques have people found useful to stop players' attention wandering?

Make sure that sight blocking wall lines are within wall textures and not at the edge, else players only get to see blackness (often also missing windows and doors). And keep all walls see-through that don't hide other rooms, especially around the edges of maps and in caves and extradimensional pockets. Keep as much of the map graphics visible as possible (including crates not higher than PCs).

Outside (wall on the edge = black wall of nothing) vs. inside (can see atmospheric art outside):


Walls see-through, but still blocking sight around edges:

[Marquis_de_Taigeis]

No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive. Like the Dark Side. Patiently learning the way of FGU you must.

oh ive already learnt and enjoy using FG, i was just throwing in sarcasm at how ridiculous this thread and similar threads get

[similarly]

My biggest concern with foundry is still content. Apparently, there are extensions that allow you to import from D&D Beyond and even Fantasy Grounds (of dubious legality at best, and I've heard DDB is considering blocking this because WotC is uncomfortable with it), but I've heard that these extensions are tied to patreon subscription, which means I'd STILL be paying monthly fees above and beyond the cost of the software.

Quite frankly, I prefer to get my content by legitimate and legal means, and if I'm going to pay, I'd rather pay up front than pay a subscription, and would rather pay smiteworks than pay into someone's patreon.

[Weissrolf]

That concern is very system specific, mostly only concerning DnD. And it's more a problem of DnD's license than a problem of VTTs. Even without VTTs I prefer digital content to be available at a one-time fee and being usable for our private sessions in whatever form we like. Having to pay a subscription is the next step, but then I absolutely expect the content to be usable for private sessions in any form we like (including VTT usage).

For Pathfinder 2 we can automatically import PDF content, of which copying is explicitly allowed by Paizo. For other systems it needs to be done manually, like my Starfinder example, where I exported the map image from PDF, loaded it into Foundry and then build walls and lights on top of it (which then can be shared with others without the image file). For systems like Starfinder this means more work for GMs, though, as the VTT ready content is not available for buying and sharing of finished scenes within the community seems rather scarce.

There are systems like Warhammer or The Dark Eye where original publishers are offering Foundry content themselves.

This is the big plus of Fantasy Grounds (and I supposed Roll20), that you can buy content readymade to start playing right away. Less of a problem for Pathfinder 2 specifically, but more of a problem for all other systems.