Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

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mrobviousjosh
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Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

Post by mrobviousjosh »

Just wondering. I've seen a ton of virtual tabletops kickstarted. Here's another: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ma ... ef=popular

It's hard to beat what we've got, but I wonder if kickstarting would help aid some aspects of development. Thoughts?

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aliasmask
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Re: Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

Post by aliasmask »

I'm waiting to see what the MOTE guys do. I think they'll have something for the public soon.

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Full Bleed
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Re: Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

Post by Full Bleed »

mrobviousjosh wrote:Just wondering. I've seen a ton of virtual tabletops kickstarted. Here's another: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ma ... ef=popular
I was looking at this, but unless it hits its 50K stretch goal (which I seriously doubt) it still falls woefully behind MT in light/vision/los. And while the "unlimited" monsters and rules might be somewhat of a consolation prize for more powerful scripting like we have in MT, it's still trying to catch-up in this regard.

My theory is that they will release the "shadowcasting and FoW" features soon after the kickstarter features as some kind of "premium feature" with a monthly fee. They tried that before with some poorly performing "light" features.

But it's still a pretty looking program with an easier learning curve than MT and I do hope it continues development.
It's hard to beat what we've got, but I wonder if kickstarting would help aid some aspects of development. Thoughts?
None of the so-called "core" guys are developing or even participating any more.

MT's future lies with MOTE, and it had a Kickstarter earlier this year: http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24863

It's behind schedule, but if it can release something stable by the end of the year we could very easily see another kickstarter to fund more features and development.
Maptool is the Millennium Falcon of VTT's -- "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

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JamzTheMan
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Re: Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

Post by JamzTheMan »

Actually, they moved the ShadowCasting up to the 20 or 30k goal. But it still has a way to go and most likely 2015 before we see end results.
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Full Bleed
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Re: Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

Post by Full Bleed »

JamzTheMan wrote:Actually, they moved the ShadowCasting up to the 20 or 30k goal. But it still has a way to go and most likely 2015 before we see end results.
They moved it from 75k to 50k noting that it was a feature that people *really* wanted.

But they aren't going to hit 50k. ;)
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Re: Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

Post by JamzTheMan »

Full Bleed wrote:
JamzTheMan wrote:Actually, they moved the ShadowCasting up to the 20 or 30k goal. But it still has a way to go and most likely 2015 before we see end results.
They moved it from 75k to 50k noting that it was a feature that people *really* wanted.

But they aren't going to hit 50k. ;)
Oh, ah. Ya, I read that wrong then, thanks. Ya, not sure what they are thinking. It should be part of the product, not a stretch goal anyway. And until it handles "Darkness" I would be sticking with my build anyway. The #1 reason we use MT at the table for F2F games is FoW, and VBL/Lighting/Darkness is very important in those aspects for Pathfinder IMO.
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Full Bleed
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Re: Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

Post by Full Bleed »

JamzTheMan wrote:Oh, ah. Ya, I read that wrong then, thanks. Ya, not sure what they are thinking. It should be part of the product, not a stretch goal anyway.
Well, they say they are going to work on it anyway... that it will just take longer to develop. But, like I mentioned earlier, I worry about its performance and whether or not they will position it as a "premium" type feature for a monthly fee if/when it does come out. They did that before with a light system that just wasn't that good (no vision or sight and bad performance). And if it's popular enough to move 25K down their stretch goal list (which strikes me more as a promotional move than a legitimate goal at this point), it might be popular enough to try and squeeze some monthly cash out of people's pockets. I know my players aren't interested in recurring fees for our games.

I understand that they need to fund development, but I'm with you in that a VTT feels incomplete without those features once you've gotten used to having them.
Maptool is the Millennium Falcon of VTT's -- "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

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Dervish
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Re: Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

Post by Dervish »

I don't think D20ro has ever done recurring fees for anything as far as i know they are not planning i asked in the kickstarter and am waiting for an answer

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ma ... p/comments

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Full Bleed
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Re: Any thoughts about a kickstarter to aid development?

Post by Full Bleed »

Dervish wrote:I don't think D20ro has ever done recurring fees for anything as far as i know they are not planning i asked in the kickstarter and am waiting for an answer
I stand corrected. I was thinking of "Roll20". They have a subscription for their "Dynamic Lighting" effects (which is/was pretty useless). All these VTT kickstarters are starting to get confusing. ;)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ri ... ls-a-story
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/62 ... op-content
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ma ... l-tabletop


So I'll be waiting for to see when D20Pro's shadowcasting actually materializes. That program has been around since 2008, so it will be nice to see if it can catch up to some of MT's core functionality.
Maptool is the Millennium Falcon of VTT's -- "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

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