Hello I started playing DND probably around 2018, and have had a very, very good time with playing online. It does change the experience, but it has some major advantages that I think are well worth trying it out for.
1. You are not beholden to the locals of your town. You may be isolated from people physically, have few gathering places, or just be new to an area, and not know who to game with. A VTT platform is like a funnel of all the possible people playing online, then it gets divvied up between sessions with time zones. Once you find games within your time zone you filter for people.
2a.Do you think you get along with these people? Generally you'll figure it out within a session or two, you can set guidelines very easily with the application of people and expectations. Sometimes its good to be bold in certain points. Are you a human centric DM? Do you want an anime infused game? What sort of flavor fits your taste and sell it as a big flag saying hey, if this isn't for you, that's ok, but please look elsewhere. Sometimes you're just looking to play a specific adventure and want people to be on board. That's cool too.
2b. You aren't getting along, guess what, its ok, that happens. You go your separate ways, and you don't see much of each other after you find another group, after all odds are you won't cycle out of a campaign at the same exact time as this person or even group. You don't ruin a gathering place by having a different style of play, or a different taste for fantasy and put off other groups.
3. You can meet different cultures of people so easily! The power of the web! I play with a few European folks and its wonderful. For them the session is a late night experience for me its a morning session to inspire the rest of my night. I love it, they're absolutely nice and excited to play with, and its very heartening to know more about what fantasy means to them.
4. Age brackets, its very easy for younger folks to stick together as well if you feel that young folk get a bit rowdy you can set yourself apart and play with older folks, its great.
5. You don't have to have a big gathering place, to play with a big group. You don't have to clean up and host a party. You are just committed to a timeslot, an enthusiastic attitude, and a willingness to listen to others and work to making the session your groups kind of fun. Potentially a request would be a good microphone and some people really bond with web cams so they can see you emote and enjoy a feeling of having the presence of someone else there.
I think a lot of value is there for WoTC to host a VTT and for the hobby. I absolutely could not play as often as I do without a VTT and it has been a great time.
I hope that WoTC seriously consider their VTT and look at what the community of devs and affiliates have produced. I am over the moon to hear that a VTT is in the works. I hope you guys know that it will be a challenge well worth figuring out!
How have VTTs improved your DND experience? What are your favorite features of a VTT and what would you dearly miss out on if DND's VTT didn't have?
I’m excited. We have plenty of good 2D VTTs. One that is 3D and obviously fully D&D compatible sounds awesome. It won’t be for everyone but I’ll be all in.
I have one criteria I look for in a VTT. Ease of use. Owlbear Rodeo comes the closet but even that has more setup than I like. 😂. The rest of them aren’t even in the ballpark.
I want a VTT I can buy and just start using with reading a bunch of instructions or watching YouTube videos. I want a VTT that is as easy to use as DDB. Jo want to buy access to a VTT in th afternoon and run an adventure that night.
I see major problems with trying to quickly through a homebrew encounter map together.
WOTC will publish maps for their adventures, but presumably leave it to DMs to spend their game preparation time just setting up 3D environments (setting up 2D maps in existing VTTs already eats into preparation time).
Hello I started playing DND probably around 2018, and have had a very, very good time with playing online. It does change the experience, but it has some major advantages that I think are well worth trying it out for.
1. You are not beholden to the locals of your town. You may be isolated from people physically, have few gathering places, or just be new to an area, and not know who to game with. A VTT platform is like a funnel of all the possible people playing online, then it gets divvied up between sessions with time zones. Once you find games within your time zone you filter for people.
2a.Do you think you get along with these people? Generally you'll figure it out within a session or two, you can set guidelines very easily with the application of people and expectations. Sometimes its good to be bold in certain points. Are you a human centric DM? Do you want an anime infused game? What sort of flavor fits your taste and sell it as a big flag saying hey, if this isn't for you, that's ok, but please look elsewhere. Sometimes you're just looking to play a specific adventure and want people to be on board. That's cool too.
2b. You aren't getting along, guess what, its ok, that happens. You go your separate ways, and you don't see much of each other after you find another group, after all odds are you won't cycle out of a campaign at the same exact time as this person or even group. You don't ruin a gathering place by having a different style of play, or a different taste for fantasy and put off other groups.
3. You can meet different cultures of people so easily! The power of the web! I play with a few European folks and its wonderful. For them the session is a late night experience for me its a morning session to inspire the rest of my night. I love it, they're absolutely nice and excited to play with, and its very heartening to know more about what fantasy means to them.
4. Age brackets, its very easy for younger folks to stick together as well if you feel that young folk get a bit rowdy you can set yourself apart and play with older folks, its great.
5. You don't have to have a big gathering place, to play with a big group. You don't have to clean up and host a party. You are just committed to a timeslot, an enthusiastic attitude, and a willingness to listen to others and work to making the session your groups kind of fun. Potentially a request would be a good microphone and some people really bond with web cams so they can see you emote and enjoy a feeling of having the presence of someone else there.
I think a lot of value is there for WoTC to host a VTT and for the hobby. I absolutely could not play as often as I do without a VTT and it has been a great time.
I hope that WoTC seriously consider their VTT and look at what the community of devs and affiliates have produced. I am over the moon to hear that a VTT is in the works. I hope you guys know that it will be a challenge well worth figuring out!
How have VTTs improved your DND experience? What are your favorite features of a VTT and what would you dearly miss out on if DND's VTT didn't have?
I’m excited. We have plenty of good 2D VTTs. One that is 3D and obviously fully D&D compatible sounds awesome. It won’t be for everyone but I’ll be all in.
I have one criteria I look for in a VTT. Ease of use. Owlbear Rodeo comes the closet but even that has more setup than I like. 😂. The rest of them aren’t even in the ballpark.
I want a VTT I can buy and just start using with reading a bunch of instructions or watching YouTube videos. I want a VTT that is as easy to use as DDB. Jo want to buy access to a VTT in th afternoon and run an adventure that night.
I see major problems with trying to quickly through a homebrew encounter map together.
WOTC will publish maps for their adventures, but presumably leave it to DMs to spend their game preparation time just setting up 3D environments (setting up 2D maps in existing VTTs already eats into preparation time).
This is really my only concern. Otherwise it sounds awesome.