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The Reviews For The VTT Are Not Good (Patreon)

Published:
2023-09-17 15:57:42
Imported:
2026-06
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Videos

Content

PDM an analyzes the latest D&D VTT news. Includes  bonus content.

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Previews only

VTT Issues

Comments

RUNEHAMMER

the implied meta of terrain is very very very real

Lee Caddick

Some people are just really hungry for DnD - I play in 2 groups and some of the other players in those groups try to get 3 or 4 games a week. These guys have incomes, and they won't mind spending the money if it means they get a game. WoTC will make money quite easily I think.

Aridale Belmont

I think it'll be pretty successful just because its official. Thats all it'll take for the majority to jump on board if they have any interest in vtts at all. I think people already using vtts and like them will maybe try it and if its not as good as what they're used to they wont stick with it.

SJBehindtheScreen

I kinda want to disagree...but I can't think of a good reason why you're wrong. The VTT sure looks like a path to drag D&D players to a video game (both visually and monetarily) model. My groups plays a LOT with Fantasy Grounds, but we're all convinced it has no future with wotc products. Which is also fine, since we stopped playing 5e.

Masterhit

We will continue to use digital tools like Roll20 and Foundry for general ease and some quality-of-life stuff. Being a miniatures/skirmish/tabletop gamer, I love a nice tabletop setup for a memorable encounter or epic/boss fights. It's just too much effort for the regular game night for us. Maps online with computational tools and lookups are in pretty heavy use but I still like to roll the bones in person far more when possible. I am in a game with a guy on the opposite side of the world - so that one is all on Foundry and is fun but distinctly lacks what a table group offers and I absolutely find in-person superior regardless of props vs. TotM.

Smarting

"Few women play videogames" -> "Few women play videogames that require more than a smartphone or a touchpad", there is a big market for games like Candy Crush and the like. However, if we talk about our hobby, there has been a video, that really got the essential point of TTRPGs: It is literature as performance! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66KDR4zrtr4) This is, what the VTT has to capture, if it wants to bind people to it. Yes, people want to play D&D. However, they want to play D&D to imitate Critical Role and other famous groups. They want to able to perform themselves!

Matthew Crismali

I find the image at time-marker 11:13 to be sad but also interesting in that it only shows traditional fantasy RPGs. I think there is another wall beyond the first wall that has all of the non-trad-fantasy RPGs behind it, games like Call of Cthulhu, Monster of the Week (and other PbtA games), Traveller, Starforged, Feng Shui, and a thousand others. I truly wish these walls didn't exist and that people would be completely open to trying new games both of different genres and mechanics.

Bryan Stephens

I don't need all the integration on a vtt. And my group does not play, and will never play 5e. So they can do what they want. In the long run, D&Dtm is no longer an RPG hobby. It is a mass market game. Good riddence. Let the normies go play it, and us hobbieists can go in with our RPGs. We played rpgs online in the 1990s using Mush software. We don't need graphics.

Jonny Himes

The Wizbro VTT looks clunky. It's like video game heroes who are shackled by big platforms on their feet -- trying to replicate miniatures with "plastic" bases looks weird when the rest of the game world is hyper realistic. If they're going to emulate Table Top, they might as well imitate the slice of pizza on the side of the game board and the Doritos residue that gloms onto the figurines!

Smarting
>>117739649

According to this statistic here (https://quanticfoundry.com/2017/01/19/female-gamers-by-genre/#), 36% of players of MMO with an High Fantasy theme are female. Of course, as usual, such studies must be taken with a tablespoon of salt. However, I would say that hardware is the true issue here. Most women don't seem to spend thousands of dollars for high-end PCs to enjoy hyperrealistic graphics. And this is there I see another flaw in WotCs VTT: Their focus on the visuals shows a certain assumptions about who they plan to monetize and I think, that assumption will cost them most of their newer players, that joined the hobby in the last 7-9 years.

James C

I'll add my two copper.,, I think it will be successful but not because it is good but because the player base has changed. I venture to guess that most of the people on this patreon are old school type tabletop gamers so the poll results were expected. But beyond this site, I think most players embrace online and video game style play. As PDM mentioned, WotC will have to decide on whether VTT goes more wargamey (grids, miniatures with bases) or more video game (special effects, more like BG3). That will happen with time. I know many don't care but they really should. I hear and see a lot of "I got mine so I'll do my thing and leave me alone" attitude here and elsewhere on all types of social and cultural shifts. But that's how D&D has gotten to where it is now. Old school gamers will be marginalized if video game style play becomes the norm. Some don't care because again, they got what they want, but it would be sad to see tabletop play fall into the history books. I'd like to see my kids and other kids carry the torch onto the future which is why I always appreciated PDM going out of his way to play and teach younger generations of players of old school style tabletop. But not gonna lie, the future of tech is intriguing. Imagine a decade or so from now and you can create a 3D holographic image at your table? All those cool Lost City sets we just watched could be built rapidly. You can gather at the table AND have cool visuals. But we need future gamers wanting to sit at the table together and not facing computer screens...

Ben McInnis

I have to say from the point of view of someone who has not played on the Wizards VTT and likely will never play on it, I think Tabletop Simulator is far superior at this point of development. While Tabletops Simulator can be difficult to use (particularly for those of us who are not tech savvy), I think it offers a far superior experience. I personally prefer minimal use of VTT; I'm one of those Theater of the Mind types, but I also will occasionally use platforms like Owlbear Rodeo if the terrain matters enough that it needs to be physically seen. I feel like I can adequately describe a scene to my players so they can form a picture in their minds. I've very rarely had anyone not be able to visualize it and in those cases, I default to the VTT.

Mark Hanson

For me, it's not an issue of "either / or" vtt or face to face, it's a case of using both. I run a bi weekly face to face game of Castles and Crusades, and it's great. I also play in a weekly 2E game virtually via Fantasy Grounds, and it is great as well. That game is played with people from all over the country. It is different, but still fun, and our DM is one of the best DMs I've ever played with. I don't need my VTT to look like a video game, with animations and fancy graphics.. Just give me a simple battle map and tokens to move around, and a voice program like Discord. I don't need a ton of automation. It's still a game being run with other human beings, which is what sets it apart from video and computer games. I think personally this is a silly argument, along the lines of "why are you driving an automatic car? Everyone knows a stick shift is the REAL driving experience?"...

RUNEHAMMER
>>117734257

no, it sends a weird meta message to players that 'things should happen here... cuz i built it'

Navin Weeraratne

The bifurcation between D&D and other RPGs has already happened. I'm in Sri Lanka, where most players just use pirated PDFs to play 5th Edition. Many of them will not play anything else, and are very disgruntled when you point out to them that there are other games they can play. It costs them nothing either way because they're most likely to use free or pirated materials, bu they'll stick pick D&D. I have a friend in Singapore who talked to me about a related problem. There, people pay for 5th ed books. Most don't have to time to make their own games so they play WoTC modules. However, GMs can't get players to try different games, because the players still prefer 5th edition, and are not keen to fork out money to invest in other games. They don't see buying different games as adding to their hobby. Instead, they double down on D&D, as if seeing themselves in a sunk cost dilemma. D&D is not a gateway game to RPGing, its a trap game. The GW parallel is very apt.

guitaRN.246

My plan is to NOT purchase any new items from WOTC/Hasbro. I’m letting DnD Beyond ride for right now for convenience sake. As soon as they up the price I’m out. I have physical 5e PHB. I am currently looking for used 5e DMG and MM. These are for reference to use converted to Shadowdark, Deathbringer…and anything else from The Way-More-Than-Four Horsemen of the Table Top-ocolypse … PDM, Kelsey D, Hankerin F, Necrotic G, Questing B, The Dutters, and The Hickmans. That’s where my money will be going.

Jay

PDM, you did a superb job in giving a fair and balanced assessment of the VTT using poling data and easy to understand metrics. For me, I prefer gaming at a table with real people and terrain with mini’s, yet theater of the mind can be just as good if the game stuff isn’t available. Video game tabletops aren’t for me, and I have quite a few video games. What I don’t like is grids, rolling for initiative, perception checks, charisma checks, and anything else that could break immersion. Rolling dice only when something interesting might happen or is necessary seems the right way to go. We enjoy the stories the players make along their journey and the narrative. It keeps things moving and less boring. Great video and thanks for all the work you put into it.

William Schorr

Is there any way to message you or email you? I have a site with literally every D&D publication - from basic to 5th addition - dragon and dungeon magazines (every issue) all modules, core rule books, third party publications, etc. … all in PDF format. If you’re interested please let me know how to best contact you. Thanks for your time and consideration.