As you may have heard, Wizards of the Coast has decided to stop hosting the Dungeons & Dragons Virtual Table. I am here to let you know that GameTable Online is in the process of adopting the VT platform and are preparing to host it at our new RPG portal. GTO coded and developed the VT so we are very familiar with the platform and are excited to be going live with this roleplaying game application.
The anticipated name for the new VT will be RPGTable Online and we have claimed the URL address of www.rpgtableonline.com. We have some work to do to prepare for the transition but expect to be back to hosting online RPG sessions by the end of July! The details are still be worked out but we will let you know how we envision the RPGTO moving forward.
A big concern for us was making sure that your existing VT Dungeons & Dragons campaigns are transferred to RPGTO. To transfer your active campaigns to RPGTable Online all you need to do is register at www.gametableonline.com before we go live and email your GTO User Name and VT Screen Name to support@gametableonline.com. When the transition to the GTO site goes forward, we will port them over so all of your campaigns will be waiting for you!
GTO has been hosting online board games, since 2003 so we know and love games. We are looking forward to the opportunity to expand our online games to include an RPG application.
Robert Eng, Vice-President GameTable Online
G
I hope GTO will give her more luv than her predecessor. (More Tokens and Tiles etc...)
Very happy that you retained the Campaign Manager as is too. Looking forward to play on your site !
This is great news on the back of the shock of the Broadcast telling us the VT was about to be closed down. So thanks for that. It might be too soon to say but do you plan/are you able to continue to support import of PCs and Monsters direct from our DDi accounts (whilst they remain valid)?
Cheers
Blakey
P.S. I have registered my new account already!
ive registered. i also had a lot of questions emailed to the support email but havent heard back. please chack those emails and respond when you can, thanks
When you get your replies, can you (within reason) post them here please? I'm sure we'd all be very interested in the responses you get...
Cheers!
ive registered. i also had a lot of questions emailed to the support email but havent heard back. please chack those emails and respond when you can, thanks
When you get your replies, can you (within reason) post them here please? I'm sure we'd all be very interested in the responses you get...
Cheers!
i will more likely pm them to you bc i have some questions that i dont want wizards privy too. i consider wotc to be a churlish, spiteful lot, so i would hate to see them to seek to punish this other business
also can we share adventures? upload our own images and tiles? how much will it cost? etc etc
i am still waiting on a respnse from the developer
Rob, if you guys do this right, and give attention to the half a dozen to a dozen issues that we've been screaming about for over a year now, you'll find that your company suddenly has a sizable cult following.
Key items I see again and again:
- Exporting and sharing maps. Exporting map packs as adventures would be icing on the cake but maps are the absolutely critical part.
- Importing images for maps and allowing a grid overlay.
- More tiles
- More tokens
- More robust drawing tools, in particular a freehand draw tool that doesn't destroy available table memory.
- More table memory
- Clean up of the severe table memory issues
And while this wasn't an issue for WotC it is a concern with GTO taking over:
- Integration with the DDI tools.
Nice to haves but nowhere near as critical as the above list:
- Custom tokens with image import.
- Custom tiles with image import.
I personally assure you that we are listening to all of your questions and will answer them when and as we can. We are currently ironing out the legal arrangements with Wizards, coding the changes needed to make the transition, and trying to address the general user response to Wizards' closing message with our message of hope. A lot is going on but we have been fighting for the VT for some time. We will try to keep y'all posted and as of now, I am viewing this forum thread as our primary communication channel for moving the VT to RPGTO.
rob. i pmed you and emailed/registered on the site. i just want to make sure that you guys know my handle on both sites is frothsof . i reallly dont want to lose my stuff, so please let me know as soon as you can ahead of time if there is going to be any kind of limit on the number of campaigns you will be able to port over. i am having to put all of my stuff on multiple open tables, i think its limited to 20-25 or so but i will have that many open when the switch happens so i dont lose all of my work.
if there are any other steps i need to take to make sure my campaigns arent lost, please tell me
also any updates on the monsters would be good, as im just pitifully loading all 547 pages of them onto a table for now
thanks for what youre doing. im going to load like 100 of my pcs on various campaigns over the rest of the week in hopes i will be able to store them thru your service later
as for the message of hope, dont you worry about that. if you can save us all of our work, allow us access to the tools, and do it at a reasonable price, then i promise you, we are going to blow you up
I have registered on the site and sent an email listing my registration name and this wizards display name (both are the same BTW,) I do hope to see this running ASAP, and am sorry this never worked out with Wizards. Like Froth, let us know if there is anything else we can do.
rob. i pmed you and emailed/registered on the site. i just want to make sure that you guys know my handle on both sites is frothsof.
I did receive your registration information along with a lot of others. I will be storing them in a spreadsheet for the campaign porting. In the next week, I will create a forum thread at the GTO site that will be a living list of everyone who has signed up. I will post the link here and everyone who sent me an email or message can verify.
rob. i pmed you and emailed/registered on the site. i just want to make sure that you guys know my handle on both sites is frothsof.
I did receive your registration information along with a lot of others. I will be storing them in a spreadsheet for the campaign porting. In the next week, I will create a forum thread at the GTO site that will be a living list of everyone who has signed up. I will post the link here and everyone who sent me an email or message can verify.
youre the man. i am actively trying to get some support moving your way. the players and dms of the vt are behind you 100%!!!
community.wizards.com/dndbeta/go/thread/...
Thanks for offering us a way to continue the VT. Before I sign up for GTO I just want to make sure that it will have monsters and characters like the old VT. Will we be able to continue importing characters from the character builder on the GTO VT? Will we still have all the monsters to import as DMs?
Thanks for your time,
Zaalnog
We will try to keep y'all posted and as of now, I am viewing this forum thread as our primary communication channel for moving the VT to RPGTO so stay subscribed!
Thanks Rob.
If nobody already did, let me offer to you , Rory and all the GTO Team our gratitude with virtual Whiskey, Chocolate and Cigars
Thanks again Robert.
The main reason I selected VT versus others was the legacy of D&D art as I want the art to match my monster and tile kit, and my power cards to be exactly the same as in the character builder and PH. I realize from reading posts that VT was lacking in the art/text/modules dept, and am hopeful that an art/text/modules license is offered to the GTO. For every tile/icon pack that exists there should be VT art, for every dungeon/dragon module there should be art, for every book there should be text/art. Maybe if GTO is paying a licensing fee rather than WOTC paying them as a subcontractor this will now be feasible. Am a bit concerned since porting of campaigns is mentioned, did that include characters and will existing art be available? Is this a one time port or will there be a cloud link back to DDI? Knowing answers to these questions is important for many in subbing for one or both of DDI and/or GTO.
I certainly would be willing to pay extra for art/text/modules packs if that is what it takes to keep GTO/VT updated - after all if I want them for pnp I have to go to the local game store and pay. The competitors certainly do well selling such packs - but they ain't D&D proper - it is why I came here to begin with.
I understand this likely cannot be commented on while a deal is worked out, but I hope both sides realize this could be a win/win for both sides and players.
Thanks a million, and looking forward to the new tables.
Jax
I will continue to patrol and answer questions on the Wizards forum board but I have started some forum boards in preparation for arrival of the RPGTable Online.
Should we point out if our username is misspelled on your list?
Sure but I see that i have one too many n's on your name.
i apologize for my inabillity to be very technical. i just want to make sure you know this will work
Like those that have posted above, I have joined the GTO website, and forum; and I have sent an email asking to move my tables, as few as they are, to the new system when it goes live.
Jax
keep following up with him bc i dotn see you on the list so far
www.gametableonline.com/forum/viewtopic....
WotC: If you are reading this, I just want to say that I'm a big fan of DDI and VT. 4e seems to have been designed from the ground up to be played with computer aids and a virtual table integrated with the character builder and monster builder (and a map builder and treasure generator) is a great way to play it. If a VT that is integrated with the character builder and monster builder dies, my subscription to DDI dies with it. So please do everything you can to make this happen.
I hope that Wizards at least works with GTO to make the transition work. Otherwise, this might be the final straw that pushes me to make the leap to Pathfinder.
are you going to be able to 'test' it before hand, at least just to see if you can 'see' our data to be sure you know you will be able to pull it over?
i apologize for my inabillity to be very technical. i just want to make sure you know this will work
As a fellow layperson, I am told that it will be a taking a copy of the VT data and reassigning it form Wizards' IDs to GTO IDs. I have some test campaigns so I will be the guinea pig. There will likely be a window of time when the VT access will be closed but still operating in the background. During that time we will make the transfer and I am guessing that we will not delete the VT data until we do the port and that will give us a 2nd chance. I have asked our programmer to try and put in an error report so we can see if the user ids don't match up on either side and we can try to fix those problems manually.
are you going to be able to 'test' it before hand, at least just to see if you can 'see' our data to be sure you know you will be able to pull it over?
i apologize for my inabillity to be very technical. i just want to make sure you know this will work
As a fellow layperson, I am told that it will be a taking a copy of the VT data and reassigning it form Wizards' IDs to GTO IDs. I have some test campaigns so I will be the guinea pig. There will likely be a window of time when the VT access will be closed but still operating in the background. During that time we will make the transfer and I am guessing that we will not delete the VT data until we do the port and that will give us a 2nd chance. I have asked our programmer to try and put in an error report so we can see if the user ids don't match up on either side and we can try to fix those problems manually.
thanks for the update. plz let us know when you figure out if we can stil use tiles, the tools, etc.
also any info about pricing, saving and sharing adventures etc
thanks again.
Re: DDI REFUGEES
by RobEng » 24 Jul 2012 15:55
drbell48 wrote:Any new updates? Closing in on the end of the Wizards hosted table. Hoping for good news.
were getting near the end. is there any more info? tiles? tools? is there anything you can confirm?
Yes it is getting close but we are still waiting to hear back from the wonderful Wizards. Here at GTO we are working hard to make the transition as smooth and as quick as possible
some positive news
Re: DDI REFUGEES
by RobEng » 25 Jul 2012 18:21
frothsof wrote:so i hate to say it but if they are shutting it off monday and you havent heard from them, are we done? is there any other news?
An update of where we are is that we put forth the first draft of the agreement (tried to use language from an agreement they were the primary authors of to minimize bumps), they came back to us with some changes 15 hours ago, we responded to their changes 10 hours ago, and are now waiting to hear back on that. I am hoping to have more concrete news by the end of business but the ball is currently in their court.
thanks for the update, we are all on your side
- Monday July 30, 2012 2 PM--Virtual Table closes down from the Wizards of the Coast website (access to campaigns will close at 11 AM, the campaigns and access to the VT pages will go down at 2)
- Tuesday July 31, 2012 12:01 PM--Deadline for VT users to submit their name for campaign transfer to RPGTable Online (see below)
- Wednesday August 1, 2012 from 9 AM to 3 PM--GameTable Online closes to prepare for the addition of RPGTable Online
- Thursday August 2, 2012 3 PM--RPGTable Online comes up for service!
Things are still not finalized with the legal department but I think we need to go forward with explaining our plans for next week's transition. You can read about the full explanation at www.gametableonline.com/forum/viewtopic.... but the quick synopsis is:
- Monday July 30, 2012 2 PM--Virtual Table closes down from the Wizards of the Coast website (access to campaigns will close at 11 AM, the campaigns and access to the VT pages will go down at 2)
- Tuesday July 31, 2012 12:01 PM--Deadline for VT users to submit their name for campaign transfer to RPGTable Online (see below)
- Wednesday August 1, 2012 from 9 AM to 3 PM--GameTable Online closes to prepare for the addition of RPGTable Online
- Thursday August 2, 2012 3 PM--RPGTable Online comes up for service!
this looks really promising
highlights-base membership is free. if you are just a player in a campaign, its totally free.
you can import a pc from your cpu onto it. this means eventually when they take down the tools for 5e, and screw over the rest of us, we can keep using our pcs, since wizards only allows you to store 20 as it is, and i have almost 400 on my cpu
being able to buy and upload images, share adventures, these are things we have asked for since day one and it looks like gto is ready to go, even if dms interested in these features have to pay a low monthly price. certainly worth it for me, and along the lines of what i would spend for a decent sandwich and beverage for a lunch
the promise that monster imports will be worked on, but i have work-arounds for that right now. becing able to share adventures softens this blow considerably, as any adventure you share or open will already have the monsters
all in all, sounds pretty killer, waiting for the go-ahead
I wish the tiles and tokens beyond the basic set had the virtual version for free if you buy the physical, but that could only happen if Wizards was on the ball and kept the VT as the virtual version of their game. I hope they get a license for the back catalog, some of the adventure maps use out of print tiles, with going prices on ebay of above $50 (which would not be that high if collectors did not buy!) And I hope it is not like the physical versions where you have to buy two to be able to make the suggested maps, and that it is drag and drop use as many of the same tile as you want. It would be good if not only map tiles, but foldup maps are supported. The press release did not make it clear if the extra catalog of tokens/tiles was D&D sourced or not.
The per monster pricing seems high if you do not get their stats and just the token, I hope they do monster packages that follow those of Wizards red box, DM set, monster vault, nentir vale expansion vault, and sets for adventures like Shadowfell, etc.
For other VT out there, you can get .zip files of everything that has been scanned and typed in, any art and text is available, simply because people want this stuff. Make it a moderate impulse price people will pay for it just to be sure it is authentic quality. It also reduces storage server costs compared to supporting everyones 'private' copy of same.
Does anyone know how to save Character Builder PCs to your PC so they can be import? I thought the whole point of the cloud version of Character Builder is it did not store your PC on PC. I like that feature because I can play with my characters while on my work lunch break. But I am clueless how to do the export/import. Of course it would be preferred if it was live sync. Since I joined DDI at the same time of the VT being dropped, I currently have nothing to export beyond PCs as I decided to wait it out.
all you do to export is open the cb, go to load pc, then at the bottom is an export button, highlight the pc, and export to your cpu. it cant really be any easier than that. cloud storage is easy, but they limit you to 20 pcs. that is far, far too low. atrocious really
they also indicate they are working on a monster agreement, so expect that to change. in the meantime, if someone shares an adventure, you get those monsters. seeing as how many of us have been waiting for the day to share again, you can expect a lot of that work to be done for you. i have about 30 delves and adventures i will be putting up, as well as tables full of monsters
also that part about wizards being 'on the ball' and doing something innovative with digital tools and tile sets, thanks for that laugh, i needed a good laugh today.
I am cautiously optimistic... I am not too keen on VT monthly subscription to get File Upload and Adventure Sharing dependning on the price. Many VT already offer this for free or one time charge. Is this info confirmed by Rob ?
Will see what other improvement VT gets before making my decision. It will need to get a considerable overhaul for me to rent it every month though.
Will wait and see.
Good news !
I am cautiously optimistic... I am not too keen on VT monthly subscription to get File Upload and Adventure Sharing dependning on the price. Many VT already offer this for free or one time charge. Is this info confirmed by Rob ?
Will see what other improvement VT gets before making my decision. It will need to get a considerable overhaul for me to rent it every month though.
Will wait and see.
while there is a price for certain functionality, keep in mind you can play for free. as a dm you can have 20 tables open for free, and can access all of the tile sets and tokens we have now for free. you can upload cb files, so even if they take down the tools you can still use your cb files. those are big deals. basically, anybody that just used the vt to play or casually dm will have no changes (except monsters)
the sharing and the like will really depend on the community. i love the idea of sharing adventures, and i would like to see micro-transactions that let a dm 'rent' a game for a session. i am not sure what everything will end up looking like. the good news is, what we have now, more or less, is free. they are still working on the monster builder; that is the only snag so far. but it wont affect your current tables, and i will be sharing tables with all of the monsters, so there is a stop-gap measure
plague, i know you are using a different table bc of wizards not letting 5e testing be on the vt. i think with this switch, they will allow it. you have done a lot to help build a lfr community on the vt, so i hope you continue to use it, even in you use roll20 as well
Also, we don't know how long WoTC will maintain the Character Builder, Monster Builder and other DDi Tools and i doubt this will transferred to GTO. So this will greatly impact the IMPORT function if its no longer available.
I also don't know if the VT will retain its current Library collection, as these are IP image from WoTC. Was this comfirmed by Rob ? If they don't then something will need to be done as they cannot keep the Library empty. And just the current selection is not enought as people have said for the past year.
Even though I use Google+ with the Roll20 app to Playtest 5E, its not suited for higher level 4E pick-up games without a lot of work for exemple, something that would not work for pick-up games. WoTC doesn't allow people to Playtest on Virtual Table and i doubt this will change if this VT changes hands over to GTO. I thought they would allow it for their VT but never considered it. If they do hurra! But i don't hold my breath. So i will need a VT for my other gaming needs anyway. Wether its the VT or some other product it will depends on a few things, including the cost, the features it offers, my gaming needs etc..i like to do pick-up games.
So i will wait and see. See what they do with it. See what other VT in the market are shaping up too. When more official info is released, i will be able to see more what is going on but i'd prefer to use the D&D VT for my other gaming need if it work for me of course!
How could i say it, Vittie is my first love...
Also, we don't know how long WoTC will maintain the Character Builder, Monster Builder and other DDi Tools and i doubt this will transferred to GTO. So this will greatly impact the IMPORT function if its no longer available.
plague. it doesnt import pcs from the cb, it imports cb FILES straight from your cpu. so even if the cb was shut down tomorrow, the character files from your cpu would work. thats whay im saying is a HUGE benefit. and that is free
monsters dont work as of yet though, but i have them all saved on tables and i can share the tables if thats the only way
Also, all the Monster File you are referring to are old IMPORT, don't support the latest added Features, such as the Automation and would have to be reworked to allow it. It may be missing some other mechanics too, in their write-ups.
This Feature is still good though. But only a shade of what it used to be under WoTC.
..."window.parent.tinyMCE.get('post_content').onLoad.dispatch();" contenteditable="true" />I also don't know if the VT will retain its current Library collection, as these are IP image from WoTC. Was this comfirmed by Rob ? If they don't then something will need to be done as they cannot keep the Library empty. And just the current selection is not enought as people have said for the past year.
im responding as i read. the basic three tile sets are apparently being kept. so they must have some agreement about the basic tile sets. it is unclear if the other images and tiles a premium user can buy are from wotc. BUT if the dm buys tokens and tiles, the pcs see them. they dont pay extra, it is free to be a player. as for the images, it actually sounds more like a community store type thing, bc he mentions people being able to sell their own stuff
" In time we plan to be reaching out to artists and game publishers to include objects to appeal to a variety RPGers."
you are right that the current selection isnt enough. but it IS enough for just free users and casual dms to get. then if you want the premium deal with 50 adventures, xtra tiles, and access to the library (and i think im going to want that premium ish, if only to share my stuff), you buy that.
It would allow you to IMPORT already created PCs, not what it currently do, which is to allow people to IMPORT newly created PC for a pick-up game.
Also, all the Monster File you are referring to are old IMPORT, don't support the latest added Features, such as the Automation and would have to be reworked to allow it.
as to the first part, its true, you would already have to have the file saved to your cpu. for me that isnt a problem, theres only 20 slots in the cloud. i have 350+ pcs on my cpu. i see this as a major benefit, since it doesnt matter if they shut the cb off, i can still import pcs. also, your pc in a current campaign transfers over, i know that for a fact, so you dont have to reimport anything currently on a table.
as to the second part re: monsters, i realize that, but rob has said they are still in the works with wizards on the monsters, so it is possible they are still ironing out a deal to use the mb. either way, your monsters on your current tables transfer, and i have 4 tables full of every single 4e monster ready to share almost immediately apon launch. but yes, hopefully they get an agreement. still, you wont lose any of your old stuff, and i know you have made a ton of adventures like i have.
ps just think of running 5e over there! for me! at an early hour!
Looking forward to Friday....
here is rob now, he can correct me on anything if i am wrong
Before answering all these questions, I apologize if my terminology is off as I am not that experienced with the VT and have been getting a crash course in the last month or two.
- To utilize DDi character builder, you will have to use DDi to save it to your computer and then via RPGTO pull up the characters from your computer.
- With the subscription you will be given 50 PC storage slots in the cloud. Subscriber or not you can purchase additional slots.
- Yes you will start with some basic tiles and tokens to get started and then we have a virtual store with a starting inventory of 80+ characters tokens, 200+ monsters, and 16 tile sets. We have more coming.
- At this point we have no plans for crowd sourcing art in favor of working with known artist to bring their work to RPGTO. Example: something like the Order of the Stick collection.
and will premium members be able to upload their own maps and images? those are the things i am not sure of.
can you say whether the 16 tile sets are wotc or not? bc if so, diagonal hallways, here i come
and will premium members be able to upload their own maps and images? those are the things i am not sure of.
Yes and yes.
can you say whether the 16 tile sets are wotc or not? bc if so, diagonal hallways, here i come
and will premium members be able to upload their own maps and images? those are the things i am not sure of.
Yes and yes.
killer. soooo killer
Are the tiles flippable for easy door opening on the map?
The campaign transfer has been completed. As far as we can tell it went off successfully with a couple of typos that we had to correct, taking a guess for one user (IO), and one user submitting their info too late.
great! you guys did an admirable job of giving as much lead time as you could, given wizards abrupt cancellation. so, while im sorry if someone didnt get their name to you in time, i know you did the best you could
rpgtableonline.com/campaigns.php
www.gametableonline.com/forum/viewforum....
current slots open
-1 slot in a level 8 4e one-shot
-3+ slots open in a new 3.5 campaign!
-mutliple slots on a test table to see how it works
im also looking for Basic/Expert, OD&D, 1e, and 2e players at community.wizards.com/retrogamingvtgroup you can play for free on the table, and i can point you at free retro-clones if you no longer have (or never did have) the rules
check out the forums, it looks like someone is trying to get a pathfinder game going, and i will have some call of cthulhu going shortly (i know its taken me forever)
www.gametableonline.com/forum/viewforum....
also check out the remnants of what used to be the vt forums
community.wizards.com/go/forum/view/7588...
so come to check it out
www.gametableonline.com/welcome.php
rpgtableonline.com/campaigns.php
adventures are already being shared! which if you guys is the wizard with maps? share your maps mang!