No, this post is not going to give you an update on the status of WotC’s Virtual Table Top Program. Sorry to disappoint you. I know that some people are eagerly awaiting the announcement that it is complete and will be rolled out on a specific day. I, unfortunately, cannot give you that news.
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This post is in response to one of my friends asking me “What ever happened to that virtual table thingy?” Here is my response to him: I think they (WotC) realized that they didn’t have the time nor the money to develop a suitable virtual tabletop.
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The top three reasons I imagine are:
1) WotC figured out that there are already several good programs out there that are doing the job just fine (for a good list, see this site and this one) and many of them are doing it for free. Offering it for free is something with which WotC cannot compete.
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2) They also figured out that many many people would want to log onto the system and they cannot possibly control all of the server content as much as they want to in that situation. Even if they set up a system like MapTools, where each individual game is hosted by one of the players, they would still have a lot of traffic going through their system. It takes time and money to maintain an infrastructure like that. I think they decided it wasn’t worth it.
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3) They figured out that, if they want to keep many people subscribing, they cannot really charge very much more for the DDI subscription than the price point that has been set already. So, even if they implement the Virtual Table Top, they would have to charge extra for it, and why would people do that if there are already plenty of other options out there?
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In other words, there are lots of reasons to axe the project and not very many to keep it alive. Now, I don’t have insider information, and the latest word is that it is on the “back-burner,” but they still intend to develop and release it eventually. In my opinion, it is probably dead.
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In my opinion, they made the right choice from a business perspective. The Character Builder and Monster Builder programs are wildly popular and WotC would be expected to keep up that level of updating and expanding, making every new talent, skill, and miniature profile available for use on the virtual table-top – that is extremely work intensive. That would be a tall order to fill, and since they already have a hefty production schedule of D&D books… well, it makes more sense for them to spend money on the stuff they will make money on rather than the unknown.
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Do I have a problem with this? No. I have been wanting (and asking for and praying for) the makers of Dungeons and Dragons to make DMing my favorite game easier for years… with 4e they have given me what I asked for. Add the Character Builder and Monster Builder to my repertoire of tools and I have what I need to DM my group effectively and, more importantly – I have a lot of fun doing it. WotC scrapping the virtual table-top doesn’t change that at all.
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Call me a luddite, but I don’t generally let my players even have a laptop at the table – I make them print their character sheet and put the computer away. I’ve played games online with ventrilo and maptools and it just isn’t the same experience. I still had a lot of fun – and I appreciate the guys I played with – they are a bunch of stand-up guys. But the truth is that I vastly prefer to have a face-to-face game over an online one.
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That being said, I do appreciate the availability of tools to allow this because I know some people that have no chance at getting a group together to play face-to-face on a regular basis. For them, the online tools are great – but the “back-burner” status of the virtual table-top doesn’t change that because they can use one of the other, already released and supported, programs that allow them to experience it.
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That’s where I stand – where do you stand?
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Until next time, I wish you good gaming!
~DM Samuel
Don’t forget to send me an email (GamerDMSamuel AT yahoo DOT com) with your favorite adventure hook to win a Free copy of Martial Power 2 – see my last post for details!
I actually prefer online games to face to face games, if you remove all the video and microphone doohickeys and just play in a text chat with a map (in fact when possible, cut the map, though in 4e that’s not possible0. Raw text (and in the case of visual media, I vastly prefer comics to movies because of the still images) has always inflamed my imagination much more than speech or video. And to me gaming is about the games primarily, so I don’t really care about getting together with people.
That being said I always thought the WOTC game table was a waste of their resources.
Hmmm. Interesting perspective.
I think I might like it via text-only as well. One of the things that is most difficult for me playing online is the background noise picked up by voice-chat programs. The second hard thing is the fact that you get cut-off if two people talk at the same time and I have trouble keeping track.
Doing it text-only would solve that problem.
For me, a big component of the game is the player interaction in-game and meta-game – so I like sitting around a table with 4-5 other people and playing. I appreciate that aspect of it and prefer that – but I do see where you might prefer not to have that if your focus is solely on the game.