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lowew79
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Old April 1st, 2014, 09:06 PM
I read the FAQ and saw the reasoning, but I am not real impressed with any of the VTTs out there really.

Since Realm Works can seemingly combine my campaign notes, maps, and hero lab character sheets in one place, why not go ahead and add the functionality to have player controlled move-able tokens on the map? Not rules execution (like d20 pro) but just player controlled move-able tokens.

Then I wouldn't have to be alt-tabbing constantly to switch from the map, to the notes, to hero lab.

just my .02$
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Venger
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Old April 2nd, 2014, 08:20 AM
I won't be getting rid of my current VTT, RPGTool's Maptool until something like grids can be implemented for battle maps. Hex grids in particular for us.

For overall maps to display areas revealed RW will work well.
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mirtos
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Old April 2nd, 2014, 08:58 AM
Even with grids, i wouldnt get rid of my VTT. it would require me to run a server, and personally, i think a lightweight VTT is always going to be a better choice than a large integrated product for a VTT.

I use realms works to display campaign maps, just not battlemaps. I personally dont understand why people want one single tool to do everything. I think Realmsworks is awesome as intended. I would worry abouta lot of things if they decided to do a VTT, not the least is could everyone safely run it, and how would a server run.
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Venger
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Old April 2nd, 2014, 09:07 AM
ditto Mirtos
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AEIOU
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Old April 2nd, 2014, 12:47 PM
I'd rather RW be a repository for maps and HL portfolios with my favorite VTT accessing that information. One place to store, edit and organize. Another place to display, manage rules and play.

I'm hoping LW and the various VTT's can collaborate on common file formats and data access to allow this....
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jacook
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Old April 2nd, 2014, 01:13 PM
While I agree with most here that RW should remain a standalone data repository, I do think it would "round out the suite" so to speak if maybe LWD took on a VTT project as their next Kickstarter.

Having a chargen, data repository and VTT under one framework would be magical.
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mirtos
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Old April 2nd, 2014, 02:11 PM
As a separate program? Sure, maybe, but honestly, i dont see the draw in going with one "suite". I guess if its better than the existing VTTs I might change my mind.

The reason I love RealmsWorks is it offers something that was completely brand new. HeroLab was not the first character creator, but its the best, which is why I pay for it. Its certainly feasable that LWD could create a better VTT than the ones out there, but thats a tall order.

Especially because they would have to handle the people who like other places to host their VTT (like D20pro does), and people who want to run it on their own LAN (like you can with MapTool) and who want to host it but make it available to the internet (like MapTool).

They're going to need to support all computers because unlike RealmWorks, a VTT is pointless unless everyone who would use a VTT can use it.

So while I absolutely believe that they can create a competitor to VTTs out there, I would rather see them spending time and effort improving on the core pieces of RealmsWorks, as there is so much that can be done.
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Parody
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Old April 2nd, 2014, 04:35 PM
The draw would be integration, just like Microsoft Office or Adobe's Creative Suites/Cloud. Right-click on an encounter in Realm Works and pick "Start" and the encounter map pops up in Lone Wolf's VTT complete with tokens and stats from the various Hero Lab sheets and integrated content packs. No need to do another step of importing the map or tokens to set up the encounter, fog of war is automatically remembered and can be seen back in Realm Works, etc.

People could still use other systems if they wanted, but convenience and combined functionality can trump better features.

Personally I don't need a VTT; at present I'm running a Pathfinder campaign on a table whose tablecloth is a grid (a Chessex Mondomat - that guy also hosts a Champions campaign) and we're all set for minis. I can see the appeal of an integrated one and I think it's a logical long-term goal for the company, but for now they've probably got their hands full. :)
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Chemlak
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Old April 3rd, 2014, 04:36 AM
Just to mention, in the context of this thread: I believe that LWD have (and may still be) had talks with a number of VTT publishers with respect to tighter available integration of LWD products with VTTs (I'm not aware of the technical terminology) to simplify porting things like Hero Lab portfolios into those products. I would be frankly amazed if such discussions didn't also include leveraging Realm Works.

Imagine, if you will, being able to click a button in Realm Works to export a map, or a portfolio, then click another button in the VTT to import that map/portfolio, in full, seamlessly.

That level of data transparency would be incredibly useful, and would allow LWD to do what they do best, without reinventing the wheel: the design and creation of tracking/management software, as opposed to live play software.

I believe it is entirely possible to achieve, but would not necessarily be easy, and requires pushing from both sides: LWD need to know that we, their customers, want this sort of feature, and the VTT publishers need to know it, too.

Speaking as someone who uses a VTT (Roll20 in my case), I have neither the time nor the desire to learn the technical aspects of another VTT application. I want my existing VTT to work with HL and RW. So that's where I'm going to put my effort: persuading those involved to work on simplifying such integration, on making the apps "talk" to each other.

Well, after I work on persuading LWD that the custom calendar feature in RW should be more important than anything else, that is.
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rob
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Old April 4th, 2014, 11:58 PM
FYI, I talked with one of the VTT publishers at length yesterday, and they were confident that the way we've set stuff up would allow for a pretty clean level of integration between Realm Works and the VTT. So I expect they will be adding suitable functionality on their end in the upcoming months.

We still need to talk to the other VTT publishers, but we'd really like to work WITH them and avoid re-inventing the wheel. That way, we can focus our energies on providing NEW features for Realm Works that make the whole play experience better for everyone instead of just creating a DIFFERENT way of doing things that are already possible through the various VTTs out there.
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