I've been really disappointed with a lot for the responses that seem to come when it comes to integrating with VTTs. The option is there, extensions and add one made independently have shown it's possible but then we see people like the amazing Astral VTT folk reaching out to try and get something going and getting nowhere.
The only reason I can think of for this is wanting to eventually have their own VTT platform within D&D Beyond. Thoughts?
I've been really disappointed with a lot for the responses that seem to come when it comes to integrating with VTTs. The option is there, extensions and add one made independently have shown it's possible but then we see people like the amazing Astral VTT folk reaching out to try and get something going and getting nowhere.
The only reason I can think of for this is wanting to eventually have their own VTT platform within D&D Beyond. Thoughts?
considering people have literally been begging for a DDB VTT, to the point where it is now on the longterm roadmap and being worked on, that is in fact the case.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
DevanAvalon is right that a VTT like environment is something that DDB has on its roadmap, although I think Adam prefers to call it something other than VTT; don’t remember the term he uses.
That said, I can think of several other reasons why .they haven’t pursued integration with existing VTTs:
-originally DDB wasn’t envisioned as providing a VTT experience—or at the very least that’s now how it was described or marketed. It was pitched as a toolset that could enhance your play experience at in-person games. I’m sure they realized those playing online would find it helpful, too. But in the beginning they were clear that they didn’t intend to be a VTT, and weren’t going to try to duplicate that feature set. That has changed, in great part due to customer demand, but they are still working on accomplishing things they planned before VTT features got added to the roadmap.
-As stated above, they are still working on added lots of features to DDB; in order to add VTT integration, they would have to take a team off of work on other features.
-In part because their customer base is growing far faster than they projected, they are having to do massive backend code rewrites. The service was originally one monolithic thing running on/within a nearly obsolete service/structure. They realized a while back that they were going to quickly outgrow capacity and that having one monolithic service was creating major issues with development. So they are “deconstructing the monolith” piece by piece. The new character sheet backend is part of that. Those changes often break the extensions fans have made to add features (like Beyond20 that integrates with Roll 20). Which means it would break “official” integration, and create more load on the developers and make for a bad customer experience; better to wait until the backend rewrites are done.
I've been really disappointed with a lot for the responses that seem to come when it comes to integrating with VTTs. The option is there, extensions and add one made independently have shown it's possible but then we see people like the amazing Astral VTT folk reaching out to try and get something going and getting nowhere.
The only reason I can think of for this is wanting to eventually have their own VTT platform within D&D Beyond. Thoughts?
considering people have literally been begging for a DDB VTT, to the point where it is now on the longterm roadmap and being worked on, that is in fact the case.
Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
DevanAvalon is right that a VTT like environment is something that DDB has on its roadmap, although I think Adam prefers to call it something other than VTT; don’t remember the term he uses.
That said, I can think of several other reasons why .they haven’t pursued integration with existing VTTs:
-originally DDB wasn’t envisioned as providing a VTT experience—or at the very least that’s now how it was described or marketed. It was pitched as a toolset that could enhance your play experience at in-person games. I’m sure they realized those playing online would find it helpful, too. But in the beginning they were clear that they didn’t intend to be a VTT, and weren’t going to try to duplicate that feature set. That has changed, in great part due to customer demand, but they are still working on accomplishing things they planned before VTT features got added to the roadmap.
-As stated above, they are still working on added lots of features to DDB; in order to add VTT integration, they would have to take a team off of work on other features.
-In part because their customer base is growing far faster than they projected, they are having to do massive backend code rewrites. The service was originally one monolithic thing running on/within a nearly obsolete service/structure. They realized a while back that they were going to quickly outgrow capacity and that having one monolithic service was creating major issues with development. So they are “deconstructing the monolith” piece by piece. The new character sheet backend is part of that. Those changes often break the extensions fans have made to add features (like Beyond20 that integrates with Roll 20). Which means it would break “official” integration, and create more load on the developers and make for a bad customer experience; better to wait until the backend rewrites are done.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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