Glad to hear that this will stay freeware
too bad Wotc couldn't give you some support to get the online gaming community jump started. Even though I am pretty conventional when it comes to my gaming style, I have defiently become an addict of map tools in my games and really enjoy the versitility and creativity that it offers me when it comes to making battle maps.
As things stand now I am pretty happy with the way map tools works. Some tweeking on light & vision would be nice (I know it's on the "to do" list) and inclusion of a voice chat fetaure, but other than that it certainly meets my needs for an online gaming platform.
I have to agree about the bloating issue. Sometimes you can have too many options. Unfortunelty that relates to what I said earlier about gaming styles. What might be right for me is incomplete and trivial to others.
Pretty maps and cool looking functions are nice, but it really is about roleplaying. There once was a time when all I had were some notebook paper, cheap dice, a #2 pencil and a few paper back books and I was in roleplaying heaven! My how times have changed...
Anybody rememeber when keep on the borderlands and isle of dread first appeared?