As a content creator for a “competing” VTT and as a VTT Game master for the past decade I have a couple of thoughts on D&D’s Virtual Tabletop The first is the worry about people not trying out new systems and this will make them not want to try new systems more. While I think this a valid fear I don’t think it is WotC’s problem to fix. The next is the idea of going 3D. Personally I believe this is a full on mistake on Wizard’s of the Coast’s part. There is a reason why the top VTT right now are Roll20, FoundryVTT, and Fantasy Grounds are the first VTT’s people mention, and the likes of Talespire aren’t. Just the amount of DM prep work that needs to go into making a 3D map. In the previous mention I can just put down a white image, put the grid on above and use the draw tool and use it like an erasable battle map. Going 3D is like making every DM HAVE to use Dungeon Tiles for every single map. That’s my main fear is the prep work in using it. The next issue is the number of models that will come base with the VTT. Yeah 3D is awesome when every single monster has a model, but when all you have is dragons and kobolds it seriously limits what you can use. It’s one of the reason I’ve stayed away from Isometric, just not a lot of assets. I can fully see D&D beyond Integration with every single Monster and having each one has its own model, but the question is if they will do that. My next issue is how they are currently marketing it as an aid for Dungeon Masters in an in-person game. I think people will use it once as a cool gimmick and then never use it again. This is of course due to the issue of it being 3D. People have literally built TV’s into their DnD tables to use the awesome battlemaps people made, and WotC’s thought process was to make it 3D and have a computer off to the side to show your players? I don’t hate it, but I feel like it’s a major cash grab and not something people at WotC really sat down and thought about how people will use it.
It's speculation, but I DO think they're thought about how people will use it. And like many of the things they're doing, they're looking to broaden the D&D audience and make it larger and get more people into it and I think that is a big reason for this choice and why we might not see tons of customization or options. It's possible that we just aren't their target audience. You raise an excellent point that I didn't mention though about the level of prep work that might be involved. Maybe it'll have an option to just throw something together quickly on the fly, but we'll see what happens.
3D VTT options were available for a long while in forms of various RPG games offering DM mode. It never got popular because of the prep work involved. And then you are just playing video game. I really don't see that 3D VTT working out.
@@LazorJunkieninja I feel like the biggest unintuitive thing about FoundryVTT, is actually getting your players in a game together. You either have to pay the Forge to host it for you, or deal with portforwarding. Everything else I feel like has a direct counterpart from say Roll20.
the investment in VTT will generate revenue, some people just need a screen. BUT, amongst the remainder of the player base, it will be worse than JarJar Binks and WE KNOW as time passes they will increasingly reference the VTT in the paper media content to the point where it will be confusing, frustrating, and unplayable. MICRO TRANSACTIONS. We will be asked to buy every beard, belt, floor tile and torch sconce to customize the VTT. Mark me words. If this flops, for the investment money going in to it, look out below.
referencing the VTT frequently in paper media is an excellent point that I didn't even consider with the way these are meant to work together. Especially as page counts have been a little tighter in some of this year's releases.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster RIGHT, you can play the adventure without VTT but not the parts intended for VTT, but don't worry you can use your imagination and plug in anything you want.
I foresee (and dread) a subscription model. I don't like it. But I'm by default biased against VTT... however, the idea of competition forcing Roll20 to improve what essentially has been the same platform for 10 years does sound interesting.
I was forced to play online during the pannini and hated it so much that I got burned out (I was the DM). I have tried time after time to be a player online but I never enjoy it, I just don't get into the game... I need to be in a real space, see the faces of people!
There are other VTTs out there that are vastly superior to Roll20. I stumbled across Foundry VTT and switched to that(From Maptool) and havent looked back. Foundry does so much that most other VTTs I have tried dont even come close.
Shoutout to still having my friend's 3.5 character sheet from a campaign I was a player in in 2009. Does anyone else have D&D stuff they've kept that long or longer? (My oldest stuff my be from the 90's)
Your points are all valid. Developing a 3D Virtual tabletop is clever and will capture more video game players. The cost of the 3D Virtual tabletop will be high, with a subscription fees and micro-transactions because it's expensive to develop. The Internet resources and computing power will be high. May people will not be able to run the 3D Virtual tabletop without huge lagging issues, regular server crashes and computers crashing due to the load on CPU's. Good times ahead. Nice video.
Thanks for the kind words! This: "The Internet resources and computing power will be high" Is an excellent point I missed. Someone in one of my groups usually plays with us via chromebook. We were doing a oneshot and tried using D&D beyond and even that was a bit much for him, so a 3d VTT is definitely going to impact folks like that. But there are also people who are willing and able to spend way more that have insane gaming tables and custom DM screens and even though I'm not a user of them, I don't necessarily have a problem with them existing. But those things are customs, third-party stuff. Not the default by the largest publisher of a TTRPG.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster unless the VTT runs smoothly with 60 fps etc, no gamer will touch it really. If you go 3D, you need to meet modern 3D game standards.
Am I the only one who remembers being in a comic store in December 2007, running various 4e D&D games and fielding a ton of hype from players, only to have the fabled WotC fail to promise not only a VTT, online character creator, online rule books, etc. and see some silly subscription thing which was basically Dragon magazine articles and some tools? Sorry, WotC shouldn't tie D&D to any online system until 6e is released, accepted, working, etc. WotC shredded their credit in the digital space back then. I wouldn't pay a cent based on digital content.
I see where you're coming from, but WotC isn't trying to work off their past 'credit' and I feel reasonably confident they will launch these things close together. Their goal is new customers and widening the base. Their name recognition is the only credit they need and they want to capture an audience who this 3d VTT captures their attention.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster I felt confident in 2007. WotC showed online demos of the VTT, models, and hyped it as various conventions. There goal then was new customers and widening its base back then and they were certainly going based on name recognition. And still... 4e disappoints, their VTT was never released, and their entire online digital offering was DOA. I never would have guessed it back then either. I see nothing different this time.
The whole new One D&D rules is what will put me off trying this VTT 'if' it even comes out. I got about as far in as finding out player races no longer affect attributes and rage quit. That and I have invested a significant amount of money in 5e and begrudge buying new books ect. 5e works fine for me and the folks I play with so no real need to change.
If 3D VTT becomes popular and WotC will want to monetise assets, thein main competitor might be Baldurs gate 3 with mods and DM mode. Pretty sure they will offer all the function except modding scene will make all extra assets, terrain, classes, rules etc, free.
Before One D&D's VTT even gets released, the 3D Menyr VTT by NOG Studio will be available much sooner and will be far better than One D&D's VTT version. The Menyr VTT will be "FREE" and supported by micro sales from public 3D asset builders. Plus Menyr allows you to import your own 3D assets if you want. Your own 3D assets or mods will not be held under a corporate paywall!
Honestly, as a player, I don’t really care about competition. I just hate playing with people face-to-face so this is the only way that I can play D&D.
How do you mean though? It's not the only virtual tabletop option that doesn't require you to play face-to-face? Perhaps I've missed part of the appeal for you. In fact, this one isn't out yet, so it's not even currently an option.
@@Nopenotyoumyguy Roll20, Foundry VTT, Owlbear Rodeo are a couple of platforms you might want to look into possibly. There's definitely a whole world of TTRPG where you wouldn't have to do face-to-face, if that's what you fancy. None of those are 3D, but I do believe a 3D one already exists too. Lemme know if you want to know about any more resources that might help.
The issue is, if Wizards allows outside maps and minis to be imported, then what's stopping players from using models of meme characters in a campaign?
Group agreement on the tone and direction of the campaign? If people WANT to play with meme characters, is that necessarily problematic? People can do that on Roll20 and other VTT and I I wouldn't necessarily want to play in that game but I don't see it necessarily being outright bad if people enjoy it.
One of my current players doesn't even have a computer, she uses her phone and a tablet, so I think there is definitely gonna be a limiting factor for who can play depending on what sort of equipment they are using. Personally I exclusively use D&D Beyond & the Above VTT browser extension for all of my D&D games. It's super easy to use and learn, and it utilizes all of your D&D Beyond content, including your compendium, character sheets and even your digital dice. It is the smoothest experience I have ever had with the system and I cannot see myself changing when this comes out. I am concerned about whether Wizards will do something to block Above VTT in the future to remove competition, though.
Computing power is definitely a concern, there's one player in our group that has a chromebook with minimal specs and D&DB gets it struggling as it is.
Personally, I really really enjoy it. As someone who's never played D&D in person (im a covid d&d baby), having just a sliver of "yea! this sorta feels like real life!" Is so so welcome to me. I don't think Wizards of the Coast should be faulted for coming out with a product that's very polished like this. TTRPG players SHOULD try out other systems, but I don't think that should be apart of the argument against that. It would be so hype if we got some kinda mod-support for this like a steam game, though
Definitely hoping for some kind of mod support or a relatively open platform. It's an option, one of many, we don't have to use it, but hopefully they make it cool! Pre-alpha footage at least looks promising.
Its too late i already dont want to migrate. I love pathfinder but i never play it because printing out sheets, manually rolling stats, and creating characters is so slow id rather just use dndbeyond. Having to find some PDF somewhere and search through the book manually instead of having the descriptions or explanations for things is too hard. I believe the popular notion "all DMs want to be lazy" lol first time DMs will step into something that requires ten times the effort of 5e. If dndbeyond wants to continue i think they should start bringing other systems onto their platform and other editions. Monetizations for those systems go to their systems owners in the name of producing new players. Dndbeyond would take a small cut letting them on their website but itd revolutionize it
It's hard for me to envision Wizards trying to do anything that promotes other systems. It would be great if a third party platform did this really well and allow many other systems to integrate. The type of thing anyone not playing D&D would *love* to use. You're right, streamlining rules and making them as fast and painless as possible and putting story and roleplay forward is my preferred way to play now.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster just the other day i went and searched homebrew races on dndbeyond. I made Stumpy the Balrog XD a literal Balrog. Hes the complete opposite of a Balrog. He cries when you hit him and he does everything he can not to fight. He'll save kittens and leave them singed afterward. He'll scare away some bandits to try and save someone and the person theyre trying to rob gets frightened and runs off with them.
It could be. Though I don't think DMs should shoulder all the financial responsibility. I would encourage all players who love their game and group and want to see it going for years to ask how to support their DM, who might not be asking themselves. Be it financial support, breaks, etc.
Nope, it's absolutely the smart move for D&D. If they had just quietly rolled this out it would have made any discussion about the OSL irrelevant. They would have simply walked their customers into their walled garden and away from the Rollplaying Game Hobby, and any third party agents that could be making money off their customer base. D&D One's tabletop is designed specifically so you can't use outside docs or even import edits of files. You buy your D&D from Wizards only, and no competing products gain any market advantage from D&D players. It is a masterful move that would have torpedo'd the hobby but still made Hasbro Billions. We're very lucky someone leaked the updates to the OGL.
I refuse to use any VTT that has long term monetization. Thats the only reason WotC is doing this, to monetize our imagination. I'll stick with the theatre of the mind.
Lol. Right now they're just having us buy entire books when there are sometimes only small sections that would be relevant to us as players or DMs. I'm not sure microtransactions are necessarily worse.
Probably just incrementally more than the game does now. What you're going to see is a minuscule monthly charge that will almost certainly have a free introduction rate. And you'll find a lot of great looking skins and cool effects you can get for drastic upcharges.
I've been looking for a random encounter map service, that would just spit out a random arena for combat encounters. Still, with this system I worry about giving the developer way too much power over how we play.
Yeah I also think 3D is a mistake. Like Villainous Foundry says... but I also think that with 3D it is inherently harder to get a quick overview. People who play with any kind of VTT usually enjoy the tactical options it brings. But in 3D it becomes so much harder to discern as you have to rotate your view to see everything. It is almost unusable if it is the whole group watching one screen at the gametable. It is also A LOT harder to create your own stuff if that is even going to be allowed (if they are hoping to sell us virtual minis... I think it is a hard pass). But the difference between creating a 2D token for Roll20 and creating a 3D model is staggering. Propably outside most peoples skills. I do not think I am not going to be using this at all.
I think individual players will probably have camera control. If they offer an isometric view that is relatively locked and rotatable, I'm not as worried about the tactical view there. There are free and purchasable 3d .obj files and other stuff that you can find out there. Making a beautiful battle map is outside most people's skillsets, but for $5 a month, I can get access to a ton on Patreon. I can see it costing more, but I think there will be a 3rd party market if Wizard's allows it in this platform, and they ought to. Something is always outside of our skillset as players and DMs but like most storytellers, including filmmakers, we're curating a vision we have, and that empowers us, even if we didn't create every single asset. Those are some counterpoints, but to be honest, I generally agree with you and am fairly skeptical of all this, as you heard in the video, I just think there is still potential for it to go well too.
They want to do what they tried to do in fourth. Force us to play with miniatures except now it will be a subscription model with micro transactions who probably wont work half the time.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster i can definitely talk more on discord. I create more characters than the one youve seen. Name a number between 1 and 15 ill give you a character with a playable backstory across any campaign.
As a content creator for a “competing” VTT and as a VTT Game master for the past decade I have a couple of thoughts on D&D’s Virtual Tabletop
The first is the worry about people not trying out new systems and this will make them not want to try new systems more. While I think this a valid fear I don’t think it is WotC’s problem to fix.
The next is the idea of going 3D. Personally I believe this is a full on mistake on Wizard’s of the Coast’s part. There is a reason why the top VTT right now are Roll20, FoundryVTT, and Fantasy Grounds are the first VTT’s people mention, and the likes of Talespire aren’t.
Just the amount of DM prep work that needs to go into making a 3D map. In the previous mention I can just put down a white image, put the grid on above and use the draw tool and use it like an erasable battle map. Going 3D is like making every DM HAVE to use Dungeon Tiles for every single map.
That’s my main fear is the prep work in using it.
The next issue is the number of models that will come base with the VTT. Yeah 3D is awesome when every single monster has a model, but when all you have is dragons and kobolds it seriously limits what you can use. It’s one of the reason I’ve stayed away from Isometric, just not a lot of assets. I can fully see D&D beyond Integration with every single Monster and having each one has its own model, but the question is if they will do that.
My next issue is how they are currently marketing it as an aid for Dungeon Masters in an in-person game. I think people will use it once as a cool gimmick and then never use it again. This is of course due to the issue of it being 3D. People have literally built TV’s into their DnD tables to use the awesome battlemaps people made, and WotC’s thought process was to make it 3D and have a computer off to the side to show your players?
I don’t hate it, but I feel like it’s a major cash grab and not something people at WotC really sat down and thought about how people will use it.
It's speculation, but I DO think they're thought about how people will use it. And like many of the things they're doing, they're looking to broaden the D&D audience and make it larger and get more people into it and I think that is a big reason for this choice and why we might not see tons of customization or options. It's possible that we just aren't their target audience.
You raise an excellent point that I didn't mention though about the level of prep work that might be involved. Maybe it'll have an option to just throw something together quickly on the fly, but we'll see what happens.
3D VTT options were available for a long while in forms of various RPG games offering DM mode. It never got popular because of the prep work involved. And then you are just playing video game. I really don't see that 3D VTT working out.
I feel that its going to be about buying modules from them - already pre built. Prep time minimal.
I can't wait for the DND Virtual Tabletop. Looks amazing.
Foundry vtt is the best out there
This is what I hear most often. I'll probably give it a shot after we finished the current campaign where I've paid for a module.
True. But its crazy unintuitive. Feels like you need to do a whole course to even try and run a game on the thing.
@@LazorJunkieninja I feel like the biggest unintuitive thing about FoundryVTT, is actually getting your players in a game together. You either have to pay the Forge to host it for you, or deal with portforwarding. Everything else I feel like has a direct counterpart from say Roll20.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster it definitely has a learning curve but is worth migration.
@@VillainousFoundry 100% agree
At this point there are enough
These are the mods and how the set them up
Vids to get up and running pretty fast
the investment in VTT will generate revenue, some people just need a screen.
BUT, amongst the remainder of the player base, it will be worse than JarJar Binks and WE KNOW as time passes they will increasingly reference the VTT in the paper media content to the point where it will be confusing, frustrating, and unplayable.
MICRO TRANSACTIONS. We will be asked to buy every beard, belt, floor tile and torch sconce to customize the VTT. Mark me words.
If this flops, for the investment money going in to it, look out below.
referencing the VTT frequently in paper media is an excellent point that I didn't even consider with the way these are meant to work together. Especially as page counts have been a little tighter in some of this year's releases.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster RIGHT, you can play the adventure without VTT but not the parts intended for VTT, but don't worry you can use your imagination and plug in anything you want.
I have been looking at Talspire for my 3d tabletop fix. it is still in 'early access', but shows some signs of promise.
more competition should be a good thing.
I foresee (and dread) a subscription model. I don't like it. But I'm by default biased against VTT... however, the idea of competition forcing Roll20 to improve what essentially has been the same platform for 10 years does sound interesting.
Right? If you're biased against VTT, do you primarily play in person or just forgo it completely while playing online?
I was forced to play online during the pannini and hated it so much that I got burned out (I was the DM). I have tried time after time to be a player online but I never enjoy it, I just don't get into the game... I need to be in a real space, see the faces of people!
There are other VTTs out there that are vastly superior to Roll20. I stumbled across Foundry VTT and switched to that(From Maptool) and havent looked back.
Foundry does so much that most other VTTs I have tried dont even come close.
Shoutout to still having my friend's 3.5 character sheet from a campaign I was a player in in 2009. Does anyone else have D&D stuff they've kept that long or longer? (My oldest stuff my be from the 90's)
I still have my first 3.5 character sheet as well. 2009 as well. Summer after I graduated high school. Good memories
nice!
Your points are all valid. Developing a 3D Virtual tabletop is clever and will capture more video game players. The cost of the 3D Virtual tabletop will be high, with a subscription fees and micro-transactions because it's expensive to develop. The Internet resources and computing power will be high. May people will not be able to run the 3D Virtual tabletop without huge lagging issues, regular server crashes and computers crashing due to the load on CPU's. Good times ahead. Nice video.
Thanks for the kind words!
This: "The Internet resources and computing power will be high"
Is an excellent point I missed. Someone in one of my groups usually plays with us via chromebook. We were doing a oneshot and tried using D&D beyond and even that was a bit much for him, so a 3d VTT is definitely going to impact folks like that.
But there are also people who are willing and able to spend way more that have insane gaming tables and custom DM screens and even though I'm not a user of them, I don't necessarily have a problem with them existing. But those things are customs, third-party stuff. Not the default by the largest publisher of a TTRPG.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster Yes.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster unless the VTT runs smoothly with 60 fps etc, no gamer will touch it really. If you go 3D, you need to meet modern 3D game standards.
Am I the only one who remembers being in a comic store in December 2007, running various 4e D&D games and fielding a ton of hype from players, only to have the fabled WotC fail to promise not only a VTT, online character creator, online rule books, etc. and see some silly subscription thing which was basically Dragon magazine articles and some tools?
Sorry, WotC shouldn't tie D&D to any online system until 6e is released, accepted, working, etc. WotC shredded their credit in the digital space back then. I wouldn't pay a cent based on digital content.
I see where you're coming from, but WotC isn't trying to work off their past 'credit' and I feel reasonably confident they will launch these things close together. Their goal is new customers and widening the base. Their name recognition is the only credit they need and they want to capture an audience who this 3d VTT captures their attention.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster I felt confident in 2007. WotC showed online demos of the VTT, models, and hyped it as various conventions. There goal then was new customers and widening its base back then and they were certainly going based on name recognition. And still... 4e disappoints, their VTT was never released, and their entire online digital offering was DOA. I never would have guessed it back then either. I see nothing different this time.
The whole new One D&D rules is what will put me off trying this VTT 'if' it even comes out.
I got about as far in as finding out player races no longer affect attributes and rage quit.
That and I have invested a significant amount of money in 5e and begrudge buying new books ect.
5e works fine for me and the folks I play with so no real need to change.
get ready for DLC and season pass and loot boxes. all the things we hate about video games to press more money out of you.
I definitely could see it happening.
If 3D VTT becomes popular and WotC will want to monetise assets, thein main competitor might be Baldurs gate 3 with mods and DM mode. Pretty sure they will offer all the function except modding scene will make all extra assets, terrain, classes, rules etc, free.
Before One D&D's VTT even gets released, the 3D Menyr VTT by NOG Studio will be available much sooner and will be far better than One D&D's VTT version. The Menyr VTT will be "FREE" and supported by micro sales from public 3D asset builders. Plus Menyr allows you to import your own 3D assets if you want. Your own 3D assets or mods will not be held under a corporate paywall!
Honestly, as a player, I don’t really care about competition. I just hate playing with people face-to-face so this is the only way that I can play D&D.
How do you mean though? It's not the only virtual tabletop option that doesn't require you to play face-to-face? Perhaps I've missed part of the appeal for you. In fact, this one isn't out yet, so it's not even currently an option.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster I mean in the future, OBVIOUSLY it’s not out yet.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster also I don’t know of any virtual tabletop
@@Nopenotyoumyguy Roll20, Foundry VTT, Owlbear Rodeo are a couple of platforms you might want to look into possibly. There's definitely a whole world of TTRPG where you wouldn't have to do face-to-face, if that's what you fancy. None of those are 3D, but I do believe a 3D one already exists too. Lemme know if you want to know about any more resources that might help.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster I wasn’t aware Roll20 was anything like that, I thought it was just a character sheet
The issue is, if Wizards allows outside maps and minis to be imported, then what's stopping players from using models of meme characters in a campaign?
Group agreement on the tone and direction of the campaign? If people WANT to play with meme characters, is that necessarily problematic? People can do that on Roll20 and other VTT and I I wouldn't necessarily want to play in that game but I don't see it necessarily being outright bad if people enjoy it.
There's nothing stopping that now.
One of my current players doesn't even have a computer, she uses her phone and a tablet, so I think there is definitely gonna be a limiting factor for who can play depending on what sort of equipment they are using. Personally I exclusively use D&D Beyond & the Above VTT browser extension for all of my D&D games. It's super easy to use and learn, and it utilizes all of your D&D Beyond content, including your compendium, character sheets and even your digital dice. It is the smoothest experience I have ever had with the system and I cannot see myself changing when this comes out.
I am concerned about whether Wizards will do something to block Above VTT in the future to remove competition, though.
Computing power is definitely a concern, there's one player in our group that has a chromebook with minimal specs and D&DB gets it struggling as it is.
Personally, I really really enjoy it. As someone who's never played D&D in person (im a covid d&d baby), having just a sliver of "yea! this sorta feels like real life!" Is so so welcome to me. I don't think Wizards of the Coast should be faulted for coming out with a product that's very polished like this. TTRPG players SHOULD try out other systems, but I don't think that should be apart of the argument against that.
It would be so hype if we got some kinda mod-support for this like a steam game, though
Definitely hoping for some kind of mod support or a relatively open platform. It's an option, one of many, we don't have to use it, but hopefully they make it cool! Pre-alpha footage at least looks promising.
Its too late i already dont want to migrate. I love pathfinder but i never play it because printing out sheets, manually rolling stats, and creating characters is so slow id rather just use dndbeyond. Having to find some PDF somewhere and search through the book manually instead of having the descriptions or explanations for things is too hard. I believe the popular notion "all DMs want to be lazy" lol first time DMs will step into something that requires ten times the effort of 5e. If dndbeyond wants to continue i think they should start bringing other systems onto their platform and other editions. Monetizations for those systems go to their systems owners in the name of producing new players. Dndbeyond would take a small cut letting them on their website but itd revolutionize it
It's hard for me to envision Wizards trying to do anything that promotes other systems. It would be great if a third party platform did this really well and allow many other systems to integrate. The type of thing anyone not playing D&D would *love* to use. You're right, streamlining rules and making them as fast and painless as possible and putting story and roleplay forward is my preferred way to play now.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster just the other day i went and searched homebrew races on dndbeyond. I made Stumpy the Balrog XD a literal Balrog. Hes the complete opposite of a Balrog. He cries when you hit him and he does everything he can not to fight. He'll save kittens and leave them singed afterward. He'll scare away some bandits to try and save someone and the person theyre trying to rob gets frightened and runs off with them.
I hoped for 5E spelljammer and now that we got it, very disappointed. it had nothing the old rules had and did it even worse in a very hap hazard way.
Going to be pricey for DM'S
It could be. Though I don't think DMs should shoulder all the financial responsibility. I would encourage all players who love their game and group and want to see it going for years to ask how to support their DM, who might not be asking themselves. Be it financial support, breaks, etc.
Nope, it's absolutely the smart move for D&D. If they had just quietly rolled this out it would have made any discussion about the OSL irrelevant. They would have simply walked their customers into their walled garden and away from the Rollplaying Game Hobby, and any third party agents that could be making money off their customer base. D&D One's tabletop is designed specifically so you can't use outside docs or even import edits of files. You buy your D&D from Wizards only, and no competing products gain any market advantage from D&D players. It is a masterful move that would have torpedo'd the hobby but still made Hasbro Billions. We're very lucky someone leaked the updates to the OGL.
I refuse to use any VTT that has long term monetization. Thats the only reason WotC is doing this, to monetize our imagination. I'll stick with the theatre of the mind.
theatre of the mind always has and always will work for sure. Good for you!
Dungeons & Microtransactions: The game
Lol. Right now they're just having us buy entire books when there are sometimes only small sections that would be relevant to us as players or DMs. I'm not sure microtransactions are necessarily worse.
I see what you’re saying about other RPGs
I just wonder how much it’s going to cost
Exactly.
Probably just incrementally more than the game does now. What you're going to see is a minuscule monthly charge that will almost certainly have a free introduction rate. And you'll find a lot of great looking skins and cool effects you can get for drastic upcharges.
I've been looking for a random encounter map service, that would just spit out a random arena for combat encounters. Still, with this system I worry about giving the developer way too much power over how we play.
Yeah I also think 3D is a mistake. Like Villainous Foundry says... but I also think that with 3D it is inherently harder to get a quick overview.
People who play with any kind of VTT usually enjoy the tactical options it brings. But in 3D it becomes so much harder to discern as you have to rotate your view to see everything. It is almost unusable if it is the whole group watching one screen at the gametable.
It is also A LOT harder to create your own stuff if that is even going to be allowed (if they are hoping to sell us virtual minis... I think it is a hard pass). But the difference between creating a 2D token for Roll20 and creating a 3D model is staggering. Propably outside most peoples skills.
I do not think I am not going to be using this at all.
I think individual players will probably have camera control. If they offer an isometric view that is relatively locked and rotatable, I'm not as worried about the tactical view there.
There are free and purchasable 3d .obj files and other stuff that you can find out there. Making a beautiful battle map is outside most people's skillsets, but for $5 a month, I can get access to a ton on Patreon. I can see it costing more, but I think there will be a 3rd party market if Wizard's allows it in this platform, and they ought to. Something is always outside of our skillset as players and DMs but like most storytellers, including filmmakers, we're curating a vision we have, and that empowers us, even if we didn't create every single asset. Those are some counterpoints, but to be honest, I generally agree with you and am fairly skeptical of all this, as you heard in the video, I just think there is still potential for it to go well too.
This will kill homebrew and indie development. By design.
Very real possibility. Though I hope we're wrong.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster just wait for Wizards to cancel the third party open licence, or to try to monetize third party development.
They want to do what they tried to do in fourth. Force us to play with miniatures except now it will be a subscription model with micro transactions who probably wont work half the time.
Time will tell.
Meh. I will pass.
Do you have a discord?
I haven't started a server for the channel yet. Maybe it's getting to be about time, eh?
@@TheEssentialGameMaster i can definitely talk more on discord. I create more characters than the one youve seen. Name a number between 1 and 15 ill give you a character with a playable backstory across any campaign.
@@TheEssentialGameMaster i cant wait for discord im excited