The Role virtual tabletop was my favourite place to game. The early product vision placed people at the heart of the design through very good video conferencing integration. This really set Role apart and gave it an intriguing USP that set it apart, and drew me in early. I realy loved the way that video was centre, that there were tools for creating your own playsheets, to the extent that I skirted around the paucity of features for maps and tokens. It came at a great time, with the lock downs adding to the need for something, somewhere, comfortable to play, with face to face being so difficult.
The end of year update for Role VTT wasn’t what I was expecting, and possibly wasn’t what the Role team had envisaged either. With development absent for almost half a year, there was growing concern that the VTT might actually have been abandoned. With some contacts I knew this wasn’t the case, but equally I had little idea what the future might hold.
The Role team have now provided their close of 2023 update. They are to integrate with Owlbear Rodeo 2.1 for maps, which had been anticipated. This will greatly improve the map functionality. However, the update kicked off with the bombshell; their audio visual third party, Twilio, are to drop their communication platform as a service in December 2024. Role have taken the decision to withdraw their sound and video services at the end of this year, I assume to release them from an annual charge. They have also decided to open source the product, leaving some hope that someone might fill the void and integrate new services that deliver at least as much as the exiting Twilio.
One of the co-owners, Elle, has posted on the community Discord:
We tried to take an honest look at how various groups use Role. And while it might sound surprising, we actually found that many rooms play without video at all, and instead use our basic map tools or just use the middle area for imagery. We recognize that some games are very video-centric, but we also want to focus our limited resources on a path that benefits the widest range of play groups. Our hope is that developers within the community will likely make various video plugins that will allow video-centric groups to choose their favorite option for play. Video integration and optimization is time consuming, and we don’t want that to block people’s ability to create with Role. We’ll have many more details on Open Source early next year. In the meantime, we hope you’ll use Discord or other video chat tools to augment your games.
I’m a little surprised by this, though I’m not going to argue the data. I wish the Role team every success and hope their move to open source helps to springboard more rapid development of the platform. I have reflected since the announcement, to the conclusion that it is time for me to move on from Role. I will continue to watch and support, but for now I think my gaming will be found elsewhere.
This took me back to my other gaming play space, Foundry VTT, to see if I could create my own sheets there. The Custom System Builder module gives me some options, though the outputs will be functional and utilitarian.
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| Beginning of an Action Tales! sheet |
Ah well, it has been a great journey. I am not very quietly hopeful that my sojourn away from Role will be short lived, and that the 2024 developments will entice me back soon.
A cursory look at the VTT landscape took me to the Icelandic Quest Portal. This feels early stages in places, but already has simple fog of war in its rudimentary map and token system. The AI assistant and art is likely to put off a large swathe of people, but I find myself drawn to this as a possible light supplement to Foundry, much as Role has been. Scene creation and sound look good, with a custom sheet builder that has broader dice functions than Role, if not as yet integrated with the sheet values themselves.
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| Quest Portal |
Webcams have yet to be added to the platform, so I would still be left with a gap that I’d need to fill with something like Discord or Jitsi.
Ah well, the work on building a custom sheet in Foundry was a nice distraction for the day, and made it feel like I was doing something to shake off my disappointment with Role. Foundry will continue to be a key VTT, for those games that have systems on that platform. I may even get to the point where I can offer my own Foundry custom sheets, if I stick at it.
Bah humbug, and Merry Xmas!