BFRPG Online?

[Hywaywolf]

No matter how simple you make maptools, someone who has never used it has to download it and input the server data. And if you use a voice chat you have to set that up to. With roll20 you get sent a link and you click on it. That takes you straight to the game and you are in. I don't know what advert you mean unless you mean the short delay they set in the log in for free users. That doesn't bother me at all. And if the GM is a paid member no one in his game gets the delay.

Like I said though, once the game gets going, I can't tell you which is better since I have only played a few sessions on mapquest. The one I joined recently (who had been using maptools for his game for over a year) switched over to roll20 when I told him about it. He's very happy with the change.

[Hywaywolf]

The good thing about both of them is that they are free. Its easy to check them both out and decide for yourself.

[Metroknight]

I tried maptools and thought it was good but it was when I was skimming their forums for help that I noticed alot of people that needed help and asked were ridiculed and belittled. That turned me away from using that software. Things might have changed since then but I have not felt the need to return there yet.

Traipse and roll20 is good enough to run live games and forum boards are good for pbp games.

[teluria]

Since I'm the GM that Hyway talked about earlier, I'll put in my two cents.

We tried Maptools and Mumble for Teluria which worked halfway decently, however the amount of work required to actually take advantage of the tools was substantial.

I also found that it wasn't nearly as user friendly for people who are not particularly computer savvy, since it required several different programs to be installed to get it to work properly (Maptools, Java) I had the same issues with Traipse. Wasn't much of a problem for me, but it wasn't something I wanted to go through with every player that wasn't able to figure it out on their own.

We also tried ScreenMonkey (since I own the other NBOS Tools, I thought it might work). Unfortunately it just wasn't the right solution.

I also looked at about every other virtual table top out there including, Kloogewerks, Fantasy Grounds, The various whiteboards, shared tabletops, iTabletop (was promising but way too hard to add content) and etc.

After Hyway introduced me to Roll20 it took me 1 session to decide to make the switch. I'm a subscribed mentor, which means I have all the storage I really need and everything's on the cloud so my maps and so forth are immediately available to my players, without dealing with resource files or anything else.

The dynamic lighting works pretty well and I found it much more intuitive than the vision blocking layer in MapTools, I love the ability to use sound files in my game, being a former radio personality, being able to use drop ins to punctuate something or add ambiance to a scene really help make my game more vivid not only to me but to my players as well. My campaign is pretty heavy on the humor, so being able to throw in the odd funny sound effect is pretty helpful.

Roll 20 also has virtual dice, a pretty good sized library of tokens (I can add more tokens anytime I want) and sound. I've found that the Dundjinni files I've created for maps translate pretty well, with little work required on my part to resize them etc.

Game mechanics are pretty system neutral and the die rolling mechanic is very versatile and powerful.

Audio works pretty well and consistently, though people with slower connections may not be as happy with it. We have one player who has trouble with drop outs occasionally, but for the most part we get a long really well.

Overall, I can't recommend roll20 enough. The beautiful part is that it doesn't really require a big chunk of cash to use being as it's free unless you want more storage area to put maps and so forth. Other than the occasional glitch, it seems to work consistently and without me having to think about it too much. Try it, you'll definitely like it.

[JoeCarr28]

A quick question on Roll20 as I'm thinking of giving it a go ...

I understand that it has its own integrated voice and video functions. Why, therefore, do some people use it in conjuction with 3rd party apps? For example, Metronight in another thread mentioned that he uses it with Skype. And the roll20.net website mentions that it can be integrated with Google+.

Do the 3rd party apps provide better quality voice/video? Or lower bandwith voice/video? Or what?

[Hywaywolf]

I think its because it is what people are used to. I have played in a game that used google+ on roll20 and it didn't seem any better to me than the roll20 audio/video. The game I am in now we just use the audio function and not the video, but I have played in games with video as well. What I like best about the A/V funtion on roll20 is that I can control the volume on my computer for all the other players individually. So if one person is coming in loud, I can turn them down or even mute them if they have a big feedback echo. Or sometimes people speak to soft. I can turn their volume up.

If you want, I can meet you in a gameroom and we can play with the features.

[Metroknight]

I use skype in my game because the voice/chat software that is integrated into roll20 is still buggy. That software is called tokbox. The second thread on http://community.roll20.net/categories/help-support is about tokbox and problems along with work arounds. I just find that skype is smoother and easier to use also but I also only use it for OOC chatter and not game play. I still prefer to have the game held in text still. This allows me to post game logs on another forum.

With the voice added to the game, it feels more like being at a table with a group of friends and al ot of people say that adding video is even better but most of my players don't have a web camera. I have one that is about 10 yrs old and it still works ok but I don't use it much.

[Hywaywolf]

I was hesitant about video at first, but its actually works really well to give that sitting around a table feel. See people laugh when something funny happens, or grimace in mock fear when a blob drops from the ceiling.

[JoeCarr28]

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm thinking of resurrecting my Sunday game. I'm tempted to give Roll20 a try to see if it's a more attractive proposition for would-be players than MapTool.

[Metroknight]

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm thinking of resurrecting my Sunday game. I'm tempted to give Roll20 a try to see if it's a more attractive proposition for would-be players than MapTool.

I would suggest that you play with the site first for a short bit just to get the feel of it. I'm still learning things about the site. Read the forums also. you will find alot of suggestions, help, and tips in there. The roll20 team are constantly improving the roll20 application so never feel afraid or be hesitate about posting suggestions or such to their forums either.

Today they are updating their forum software so it might be down sooner or later today for awhile but the update is because they are listening and taking our suggestions to help make their forums and roll20 better.