Keeping GM Notes Private

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MikeLemmer
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Keeping GM Notes Private

Post by MikeLemmer »

A friend & I were testing out what the Player can see in 1.3.b28. As a player, I could see the GM Name & GM Notes on any token I clicked. Is this a bug? If not, how do I keep my players from seeing them?

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Post by dorpond »

When the GM hosts his session, he needs to check the box called Strict Token Management. When that is checked, that means the players can only interact with the tokens they own.
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MikeLemmer
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Post by MikeLemmer »

Would they still be able to see the GM Name & GM Notes on tokens they own?

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Post by Phergus »

Yes.

Just FYI but you can check a lot of this yourself. Start one instance of MapTool as the GM and start a server. Then start another instance of MapTool and connect to the server as a player. You can easily see how something looks and behaves as player and GM that way.

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Post by emirikol »

This is one of those "little known facts" that belongs somehow easier to see location or maybe how it's described. Maybe even "what happens with strict token ownership help files?"
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Full Bleed
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Post by Full Bleed »

dorpond wrote:When the GM hosts his session, he needs to check the box called Strict Token Management. When that is checked, that means the players can only interact with the tokens they own.
Perhaps this should be default... as it seems it's the behavior most people expect and are shocked by when it doesn't "work."

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Post by Phergus »

Full Bleed wrote:
dorpond wrote:When the GM hosts his session, he needs to check the box called Strict Token Management. When that is checked, that means the players can only interact with the tokens they own.
Perhaps this should be default... as it seems it's the behavior most people expect and are shocked by when it doesn't "work."
That's always been my opinion.

Though I have no doubt an equal number of people would then be shocked that no one can access or move tokens.

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Post by Steel Rat »

Personally I think those who are players should not be able to see the GM notes fields regardless of whether they own the token. What if the GM wants to place info there because it's relevant to the character, but the character isn't supposed to know, like a cursed sword, being watched, will explode in 10 mins, etc....
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Post by Phergus »

I think it was that way at one point.

Shouldn't be a problem to hide the GM info from players.

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Full Bleed
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Post by Full Bleed »

Phergus wrote:Shouldn't be a problem to hide the GM info from players.
This would be very useful and perform like I suspect most people expect.

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RPMiller
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Post by RPMiller »

I would have to concur. I've been trying to figure out the useful of that particular field for sometime now. It is good to know that at one time it actually was For GM's Eyes Only.

One question though. Since players can save their tokens now. Couldn't a dishonest player simply save his token and then open it in his own MT session to see what was in the GM Notes?
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Post by Naryt »

RPMiller wrote:Couldn't a dishonest player simply save his token and then open it in his own MT session to see what was in the GM Notes?
Absolutely and, unless you want to prevent players from saving tokens or encrypt the GM field in some way, there really isn't a way to prevent that.

"Cheating" like this never ceases to amaze me. Who is such a player actually cheating? The only reason I keep anything secret (as a GM or as a player) is the surprise factor when it comes out in play. Cheating like this really just kills the enjoyment factor.

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Steel Rat
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Post by Steel Rat »

Not being familiar with the token save option, couldn't it just ignore the GM notes upon saving? Or as mentioned, a simple encryption? Of course you're never going to stop a determined cheater. It might not even be worth worrying about.
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Naryt
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Post by Naryt »

Steel Rat wrote:Not being familiar with the token save option, couldn't it just ignore the GM notes upon saving? Or as mentioned, a simple encryption? Of course you're never going to stop a determined cheater. It might not even be worth worrying about.
So only save the GM notes if the player saving has GM rights, that would actually be trivial to do now that you mention it.
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RPMiller
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Post by RPMiller »

Naryt wrote:
Steel Rat wrote:Not being familiar with the token save option, couldn't it just ignore the GM notes upon saving? Or as mentioned, a simple encryption? Of course you're never going to stop a determined cheater. It might not even be worth worrying about.
So only save the GM notes if the player saving has GM rights, that would actually be trivial to do now that you mention it.
Yes, that would be a great work around!

I'm very fortunate that in all my years of gaming I've only had to deal with two cheaters and it was dice rolling cheating and they were discovered and pointed out pretty quickly thanks to the other players being very honest. I never understood it either. It is far more fun to deal with failures than to simply walk through the scenario without incident.
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