So, my question, perhaps it is elsewhere, but what happened to the Virtual Tabletop that looked sooooooooooooooooooooo cool?
Officially: Its not the top priority right now (They had a poll that wound up with DM tools being the next major project).
Unofficially: Some posters feel that the VTT is dead. I am not one of these. And in before the flames.
Lyon, France, July 18, 2007 – As part of the relaunch strategy announced by
the Group on June 21 and the Group’s plan to focus its investment on major
franchises with significant potential, Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext
5257) today announced the signing of a new agreement with Hasbro
concerning:
- the extension until 2017 of the exploitation of the intellectual property rights to
the Dungeons & Dragons universe, under an exclusive license covering all
interactive formats, including online and wireless.
The agreement covers all current and future products that are part of this
universe, including NeverWinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate, etc.
Two new games have already been announced for fiscal 2007-2008:
NeverWinter Nights 2 Expansion Pack for PC and Dungeons & Dragons Tactics
for PSP.
That I would say killed the game table in one fell-swoop, so with out a costly deal with Atari we won't see the table till 4.5/5th ed some time after 2017.
I really don't know the state of Atari/Infrogames at the moment but till the dust settles the game table steps on there "exclusive license covering all interactive formats, including online and wireless." rights. At lest thats the position that I can see Atari/Infrogames taking and the licence is of value to potential byers of Atari/Infrogames assets.
I really doubt that the Game Table is covered under that considering that it was announced after that agreement renewal was made, and the Character Builder would technically fall under the same category, but you haven't seen any problems with that.
I really don't know the state of Atari/Infrogames at the moment but till the dust settles the game table steps on there "exclusive license covering all interactive formats, including online and wireless." rights. At lest thats the position that I can see Atari/Infrogames taking and the licence is of value to potential byers of Atari/Infrogames assets.
Again: The last information was no rules were to be included, thus: No real infringment. Next, 'exclusive license' may mean that Hasbro/WotC is free to develop what they want, but no other company can without Atari/Infro signing
off on it, I am not near proficient in contract law, nor specifically this contract (as we don't have the exact wording). No word of CnD's from Infro means that this is not the cause of the delay in my mind.
The VTT is on "indefinite hold" until other projects are completed. I've never encountered a situation where anything, ever, came back from "indefinite hold" in any context, but there's a first time for everything.
Spiderman I was put on indefinite hold in the mid seventies and released in 2002.
Half-Life 2 I remember being in the air for years before being released.
Palladium Books is constantly releasing stuff that was in effective indefinite hold.
Spiderman I was put on indefinite hold in the mid seventies and released in 2002.
Half-Life 2 I remember being in the air for years before being released.
Palladium Books is constantly releasing stuff that was in effective indefinite hold.
And on the flipside, even after the entire production staff has been laid off, Duke Nukem Forever is still declared to technically be in production :D
So, my question, perhaps it is elsewhere, but what happened to the Virtual Tabletop that looked sooooooooooooooooooooo cool?
I bet you'll see D&D 4.5 long before you see the VTT.....
I hope this project just doesn't die away. They get this up and running, the gaming world will never die into the next generation, but expand even further!
I bet you'll see D&D 4.5 long before you see the VTT.....
There won't be an edition called 4.5. Or was that your point?
Personally, I AM holding my breath for the VTT, because I want to believe it will be available eventually.
Personally, I AM holding my breath for the VTT, because I want to believe it will be available eventually.
.....Can I have all your stuff then? I'm pretty sure the human body can't last more than a day without breath, and I'm fairly certain the VTT won't come out today. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m20AJvdzAdo
this was in august 2007... almost 2 years ago!!! and now what are they doing with it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m20AJvdzAdo
That was a demo, and obviously it hasn't reached a releasable stage yet. These are the only solid facts we've got; the rest is speculation.
Maybe WotC should release what they've got in Open Source mode, for its community to polish up...
Another thing that has to be remembered with regards to the Virtual Tabletop is that it basically requires all the other unreleased applications in order to be usable at all. If they really really wanted to they could make it work without the Character Visualizer by limiting PCs to 2d-tokens until the Visualizer is done, but that sort of removes half of the awesomeness. However it is pretty much worthless without some sort of dungeon building program. Hopefully the DM tools will take care of this requirement so we can be one step closer to a Virtual Table release.
The character visualizer would not be needed, and they wouldn't need 2D tokens. The screenshots showed digital renderings of the DDM minis line. They could use those.
The Dungeon Builder, however, would have to be done first.
The Dungeon Builder, however, would have to be done first.
Which they're working on. Like, right now =P IIRC, the campaign designer tools are to also envelope their current dungeon designer.
Until then, I mourn it as Vaporware.
Till then, post on.
And on the flipside, even after the entire production staff has been laid off, Duke Nukem Forever is still declared to technically be in production :D
Actually, it is still being worked on, according to the web sight. The suit brought about by Take 2, along with the deal they had tried to make with them falling through, made it so that 3dRealms could no longer afford to pay the crew.
I invoke my future telling powers and say that DNF will be released Xmas 2012, about the same time as the release of the Virtual Tabletop in the DDi.
Very few people available for development, and a hiring freeze, and given its status when Radiant handed it over, the VTT would likely need to be rewritten from scratch if they wanted to release it as part of the DDI.
I'll have to admit that main thing that attracted me to join the DND Insider is the Vitual Tabletop. I'm a Soldier that bounces from many locations and I have some really great friends that got me into the game. I'll love to be able to get back into the game with them, due to of their creatativity and knowledge of how to make their world just really interesting!
I hope this project just doesn't die away. They get this up and running, the gaming world will never die into the next generation, but expand even further!
I'm in the exact same boat - my buddies and I played when we were together, but now we live all over the country. I really hope they can make this happen - there are tons of us out there who would really love to be able to game together again.
Seriously, anyone looking for a VTT should head that way. Great program. Extremely versatile. Great community. The Main developer is a real nice guy. And, really anyone that wants to add some code.
I got back into D&D when it was announced at GenCon '07 that there would be a VTT. In March '08, I found MapTool and haven't looked back since. I have played 2 campaigns using it. THere are LFR RPGA games every weekend, and some weekdays. I even use it for my Face-to-face games as well.
It's a perfect replacement, and I think, personally, that's why there is no WotC VTT.
MapTool killed the WotC VTT and took its stuff.
Seriously, anyone looking for a VTT should head that way. Great program. Extremely versatile. Great community. The Main developer is a real nice guy. And, really anyone that wants to add some code.
I got back into D&D when it was announced at GenCon '07 that there would be a VTT. In March '08, I found MapTool and haven't looked back since. I have played 2 campaigns using it. THere are LFR RPGA games every weekend, and some weekdays. I even use it for my Face-to-face games as well.
It's a perfect replacement, and I think, personally, that's why there is no WotC VTT.
It's a good tool, but I think it's ridiculous to claim that WotC gave up on theirs because of MapTool.
WotC VTT isn't.
Like the NFL used to say, "You make the call."
Oblivon is.
Bioshock 2 isn't.
Like the NFL used to say, "You make the call."
Wow, when I say it, it sounds like a really, really stupid argument.
The Virtual Tabletop is a product. Products take time to build. Then they have to be perfected before release, which also costs time.
Wizards of the Coast has only so many employees, only so many hours in the day, and a Hasbro-mandated hiring freeze as well as an economy-mandated layoff.
They'll get to the tabletop eventually. And the visualizer. But they're taking things one step at a time. And we're seeing progress: just the other day, they released an ambitious program, the Monster Builder, which interacts with the huge Compendium database, as well as the complex monster building rules, all without crashing your computer. And the program REEKS of being compatible with the VTT, whenever that comes out.
I have faith in Wizards. Because they're making headway. They're keeping us up-to-date on their progress. They're interacting with their customers daily.
And because, as someone pointed out, the VTT is already half-done. It's a wiser investment to finish it off and make boatloads of money off it, then to trash it.
But hey. In every crowd, there's the conspiracy theorists. Sure sure, Wizards is out to lie and cheat and bilk you. Totally.
I expect the VTT to come out sometime, but it will be one of the last of the original applications released, most likely with another price hike.
MapTool is.
WotC VTT isn't.
Like the NFL used to say, "You make the call."
This has to be the greatest failed attempt at logic ever!!!!!!!!!!
I got one.
Water is;
Gnomes are not;
Like the NFL used to say, "You make the call"
or
I am;
Dinosaurs are not;
Like the NFL used to say, "You make the call"
or
Woman A. is pregnant;
Woman b isn't;
Like the NFL used to say, "You make the call"
I love blanket statements!!!!!!!!
I apologize.
All I said was that there is a MapTool VTT. And there isn't a WotC VTT.
That's not lying. That's not making anything up. That's the fact of the matter.
"It's a perfect replacement, and I think, personally, that's why there is no WotC VTT." That is a fact as well. "I think" cannot be taken any other way other then how I feel and my own personal opinion.
I did leave out the noun, "an actual product" from the "Blanket Statement" you are referring to because I thought it sounded more poetic.
You can't argue that MapTool is not an actual product and the WotC VTT is, because again, that's a fact.
I wasn't making some Blanket statement about the world, just that there is a VTT by MapTool and that there isn't one by WotC, one I might add that sold the game for me with the "promise" of one. It's advertised in the back of my Core books.
They'll get to the tabletop eventually. And the visualizer. But they're taking things one step at a time. And we're seeing progress: just the other day, they released an ambitious program, the Monster Builder, which interacts with the huge Compendium database, as well as the complex monster building rules, all without crashing your computer. And the program REEKS of being compatible with the VTT, whenever that comes out.
At the risk of being off topic, I didn't buy 4e so that I had a Monster Builder. I bought it because I was going to have the chance to play with my brother and sister who live 200 miles away. While I think the progress that WotC is great and I have bought many books, I had been told there was a VTT coming. And 2 years after that was announced, there still isn't one. That's why I suggest MapTool, because it is one and a good one.
Oh, and feel free to rip my thinking apart, and I would love a post from a Wizards R&D person. Oh, and if I am out of line please let me know, I would rather remove this post than get my account canceled, what is available is just too awesome to lose it.
In addition to all this. When they began rolling out parts of 4E at GENCon 2007, was the visualizer and VTT something that they showed? And wasn't it working, maybe not perfectly, with all the features, but did it not work?
Search through past posts of mine on the topic, as I've posted quite a bit about what happened (it's intimately linked to the death of Gleemax) as described to me by members of the DDI development team that took over when everything transferred back internally to WotC in-house, whereas the development on the VTT and the other yet-vaporware tools was done by an outsourced design studio called Radiant Machine (it no longer exists).
I love what they have done, and would rather they took their time and had a better product than rushed and had a bad product. I would just like to be able to mess around with what they have.
All I said was that there is a MapTool VTT. And there isn't a WotC VTT.
That's not lying. That's not making anything up. That's the fact of the matter.
So far, so good.
"It's a perfect replacement, and I think, personally, that's why there is no WotC VTT." That is a fact as well. "I think" cannot be taken any other way other then how I feel and my own personal opinion.
You used the word "think" to state speculation of fact, not state an opinion. Here's an example of the difference:
- Statement of OPINION: "I think pizza is the most delicious food."
- Speculation of FACT: "I think my car needs an oil change."
Now, remember how you said that you think the existence of MapTools' VTT is the reason for the current lack of a WotC VTT? That was you speculating as to the reason why there was no WotC VTT; in other words, it was a speculation of fact rather than a statement of opinion. After you made that statement, I pointed out that the reason you proposed is ridiculous -- later, we can go into the reasons why it's ridiculous, if you like -- and then you responded by pointing out what is, what isn't, and implied a connection between the two, despite not demonstrating it.
*snip*
Damn you, doc, stop being so damned knowledgeable. My love for you is reaching a possibly inappropriate level.
Damn you, doc, stop being so damned knowledgeable. My love for you is reaching a possibly inappropriate level.
Awesome! I do it for the attention. ;)
...You're Bar Rafaeli, right?
