One of my players wanted to write to Wizards to tell them how much he loved the interface. He wasn't sure how long it would take him to get used to using it, and within 45 minutes of futzing, he felt very comfortable. He loved that he could see all the information for his character on the table very easily, and he loved that he could customize the power descriptions and add new rolls to his character sheet as he needed. He liked begin able to take notes online, and he especially loved the integrated voice. With maptools, we used Teamspeak and Maptools simultaneously, a little more unweildy.
I loved it because I was able to recreate 5 or 6 maps complete with NPCs and monsters in only 2 or 3 hours. I enjoyed making the maps, importing the monsters and customizing monsters for each part of the adventures. It was a snap, and I feel like I was able to be a bit more creative (since I'm not a computer wiz) using the VTT. Working with NPCs and Monsters in VTT was much easier than trying to edit and use the maptool tokens. The VTT also performed much better technically. None of us had any problem with freeze up or ghost images, or slowing/lag of any kind.
I'm looking forward to my next session, and I'm really looking forward to a time when Wizards adds more tiles and token art.
What are your experiences with the VTT? Anything I should look out for in future sessions?
I had a lot of fun since i have access to it back in 2010 and played ton of fun D&D games with hundreads of people. i also discovered Living Forgotten Realms with the BETA, great concept that marry well with VT pick-up games !
I also think its very intuitive, easy to use and user friendly. The Import function is great and i like to customise or refluff monsters before importing them, by customizing them in the Monster Builder, i love building maps and i love the integrated voice chat. No need to download and run add on and other program needed for hosting games and connecting togheter etc...
Its still in developpement and has room for refinement and adding more Tiles/Maps and Tokens as well as allowing Adventure Sharing, Custom making of Tiles and Tokens are things that would greatly be valued by users.
But its getting better as weeks passes and i look forward to its release !
I was able to start up a dungeon and run it with my brother (who has a DDI subscription) the past two nights, and seperately (due to time constraints) with a friend who does not have an account. I had a lot of fun. Looking forward to doing a full group later this week.I have found the VTT to be easy to use. And believe me, I'm not very adept at using computers at all. This has gotten me very excited as I have begun running a play-by-post campaign (with old gaming friends who have all moved on) and would like to use the VTT to handle our combats.
Good gaming all and good luck with the new virtual table top.
Granted, adventure sharing is probably best used the way published adventures are, for quick starts, new DMs/Players to get the feel of the game, or for grabbing quick encounters to throw into your etablished game. But most of us feel that having the option to share adventures will help everyone, so we keep pushing for it (though it's been like pushing against a brick wall, but still we persist).
I am glad you had a positive experience with the VT, and keep on Gaming!
Agonar
When PC's attack you click on the attack dice and then click on the monster you are attacking. It lets you know if you hit and if so, you roll the damage and it subtracts the hp. But when the monsters attack, it is more of a manual process. Is this going to be fixed so that the die shows a hit or miss not just the dice roll?
Will we be able to import pictures to make maps? I'm trying to do some Chaos Scar games and would love to be able to import the pics straight into VT.
When VT is no longer Beta, are there plans to bring out Dungeon Magazine dungeons as Official Adventures that can be used "straight out of the box"?
Great job, it's going to be a hit.
Joe
Glad to hear you enjoyed the D&D VT. Let me try and answer some of your questions.
When PC's attack you click on the attack dice and then click on the monster you are attacking. It lets you know if you hit and if so, you roll the damage and it subtracts the hp. But when the monsters attack, it is more of a manual process. Is this going to be fixed so that the die shows a hit or miss not just the dice roll?
Monsters are supposed to work with the same automation that PC does. Attack should have blue dice and damage red dice. Now it happen that some monster or PC powers don't have such dice when complicated, or when the VT doesn't recognize it has an attack or damage roll.
Will we be able to import pictures to make maps?
It has been requested by many users but wether the D&D VT will be able to handle Custom Tiles & Tokens we don't know.
When VT is no longer Beta, are there plans to bring out Dungeon Magazine dungeons as Official Adventures that can be used "straight out of the box"?
We don't know. WoTC hasn't communicated any plans upon release of the D&D VT yet but it's something that would be very convenient for many users i concur. They have one currently uploaded in the Event Cloud called The Splintered Spring (Dungeon 179) and also many previous Ozganized Play Events used uploaded Dungeon adventures or other Event featured adventures, which indicate they tried their hand at it.
Previous Events include: Andok Sur (Dungeon 187), The Shrine of Glass-Spire Forest (Dungeon 175), The Brothers Gray (Dungeon 172) and Kalarel's Revenge (DDXP2011)
If you are looking to play more games you can find the BETA Forums for the D&D VT here:
Campaign Finder - Casual Events
Find a Campaign
Living Forgotten Realms
You may want to open a thicket with CustServ to report it.
... thicket with CustServ to report it....
I would recommend a ticket, not a thicket. I don't think the Customer Service people would be expecting rows of plants... ;)
I just moved my Sand's End Campaign (homebrew D&D 4e - 12th Session) from using Maptools to the D&D VTT. My players and I loved it.
One of my players wanted to write to Wizards to tell them how much he loved the interface. He wasn't sure how long it would take him to get used to using it, and within 45 minutes of futzing, he felt very comfortable. He loved that he could see all the information for his character on the table very easily, and he loved that he could customize the power descriptions and add new rolls to his character sheet as he needed. He liked begin able to take notes online, and he especially loved the integrated voice. With maptools, we used Teamspeak and Maptools simultaneously, a little more unweildy.
I loved it because I was able to recreate 5 or 6 maps complete with NPCs and monsters in only 2 or 3 hours. I enjoyed making the maps, importing the monsters and customizing monsters for each part of the adventures. It was a snap, and I feel like I was able to be a bit more creative (since I'm not a computer wiz) using the VTT. Working with NPCs and Monsters in VTT was much easier than trying to edit and use the maptool tokens. The VTT also performed much better technically. None of us had any problem with freeze up or ghost images, or slowing/lag of any kind.
I'm looking forward to my next session, and I'm really looking forward to a time when Wizards adds more tiles and token art.
What are your experiences with the VTT? Anything I should look out for in future sessions?
I've been running Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan on VT for a few weeks now and we're all really enjoying it.
A few things I'd rather happen in the system:
When a player chooses a power to attack and rolls for it the text below just says X rolls y+z vs def: Hit!
It would help so much of course if the players always said what attack power they were using, but it seems like VT could also very simply add the name of the power in this descriptor so we could all read it and know a little more of what happened (and be able to reference it later, a few rounds after). I'm thinking "Jad's Gloaming Strike (crossbow/ranged)...Hits/Misses" or "Ian's Slayer Song (short sword/melee)... Hits/Misses." That way I'm not asking what they used so I can figure out how to describe the action with flavor, and I also get a basic piece of information about whether I should be considering an opportunity attack or triggered reaction ("Ah, so Jad's bolt shoots and ..." or "Ian's short sword swings wildly and...").
It'd also be cool to have a Wake Up the Player button so I can recapture the attention of a specific player who has been distracted by a spouse or burning toast. Something that makes the screen blink an alarm.
Also: making conditions/effects automatically carry over to the hit victim would be sooooo cool. Of course, some are negated, but if DM and player could be prompted to confirm it somehow our lives would be so much more streamlined.
And if I could have the world it'd be sweet to be able to mute all other speakers except for specific players so I could privately chat with them about secret information. Otherwise I'm stuck texting wildly to let someone know something that the other players aren't privy to.
And, of course: more map tiles and tokens please! It's gonna be tough selling the idea that the heroes are in the desert with all the green grass on the tiles...
Issues I'd like to see improved:
1. Token graphics. A great job was done with the tiles. Furthermore, why not have some generic assigned graphics for certain monsters... if they had enough tokens, I'm sure I'd just use the default for "Goblin" rather than having to pick a similar token each time.
2. Game availability/sign up system. I don't have a great idea for this myself, but certainly some UI/usability expert would be able to come up with some great ideas. Something that will email me when changes occur in a game I'm a part of, or update my google calendar automatically, etc.
3. In line with #2, one of the biggest problems is flakey users. It seems like approx 10-15% of games are canceled at game time due to lack of participating and people showing up. Not much WOTC can do about this, but improvements to the signup system might help.
I agree with you on all counts. I got a chuckle out of the "wake up" button. It made me think of a cattle prod or shock stick.
Cheers.
When a player chooses a power to attack and rolls for it the text below just says X rolls y+z vs def: Hit!
It would help so much of course if the players always said what attack power they were using, but it seems like VT could also very simply add the name of the power in this descriptor so we could all read it and know a little more of what happened (and be able to reference it later, a few rounds after). I'm thinking "Jad's Gloaming Strike (crossbow/ranged)...Hits/Misses" or "Ian's Slayer Song (short sword/melee)... Hits/Misses." That way I'm not asking what they used so I can figure out how to describe the action with flavor, and I also get a basic piece of information about whether I should be considering an opportunity attack or triggered reaction ("Ah, so Jad's bolt shoots and ..." or "Ian's short sword swings wildly and...").
Carry this a bit further to also identify whom they are attempting to hit with each roll. Useful for any sort of multi-target power. Same for damage on multi-attacks.
...with a friend who does not have an account...
So I can invite players who do not have DDI accounts to play in my VT games?