Wants, Wishes, & Suggestions

I've recently completed my first twenty-four hours of use of roll20, and I don't mean I've used it for a day, I mean over six game sessions we've ranked up over twenty four hours of use of the program. Im sure people have played more than my group, but beyond my initial impressions I posted in the first experience thread I have intentionally not posted any further reactions until I could think through the ideas fully. It should be said I love this program thus far it It has given me many hours of enjoyment in an activity that I have not had the opportunity to enjoy for many years, due to time money or family interference. I feel no regret for backing this project at all and I am continually impressed by the progress it is making both as a community and as a business. This still being a Beta period though I felt it pertinent that I provide at least some feedback on how things are right now. I know certain features are coming and I've tried to avoid mentioning them as I am not concerned so much with coming features, as the functionality and improvement of the features currently implemented. I personally love the concept of a system agnostic true 'tabletop' online and appreciate the features already implemented. I do feel however, that some features can be improved and that is why we as a community are here. I decided to do this as a Tab by Tab response as each section has its strengths and weaknesses. Issues with Tokbox I wont cover since that is a separate can of worms and Id like to keep this about the interface specifically. It is worth noting though that though these opinions really are more mostly wants, almost all my needs as a GM have been met by this program and I enjoy using it immensely. Tools Bar- There are lots of threads on the drawing tools and whatnot so I'm really only going to touch on the one tool that is usually only mentioned due to handle how it measures diagonals. Measuring tool Color: I like black or charcoal gray as much as the next guy but could we have a way to change this tools color please? I mentioned it in my first experience post and honestly its still a pain to deal with on dark backgrounds or pure white/black 'drawn' style background tiles I like to use. Even making it match the players draw/ping color would be nice as then it can be altered to stand out against the background. Chat & Chat log- Works as intended, is functional, reliable and I don't notice much lag. It is easy to see when someone is about to respond, and the different highlights make it easy to tell the intentions of each entry (whisper, emote, roll, etc) not much to say here except it works as intended. There are a few changes that could be made but other than Chat log issues the rest are mostly opinions and 'wants.' Chat Log: I know others have brought this up so I wot linger on it; but it is all sorts of messed up. For me its not an issue of being 'backwards' (newer posts first) it is that whole sections are out of order and it makes the chat log functionally useless to me and my campaign. Starter Tab: Specifically the green backed mini-tutorial for chat that loads every time you load/reload the campaign. Great for first time users, long and redundant after the first few times it fills up the chat log. I don't really have a suggestion about this but it seems like more pertinent information could go here, a direct link to the help section, or we'll... I'll be honest I don't know it just seems like a pretty big thing to scroll past if you have to reload and it kinda gets in the way once you are familiar with the chat functions. Player Game Link: This is purely my opinion but I feel this link should be under settings and not in the chat at all. For one I don't have to scroll up to find it if someone disconnects and needs the link again, and I don't need to worry about searching for it in the middle of the campaign when other people are still chatting. If it is at the top of the Settings tab its a quick flip to it and back to grab the link paste it to their MSN/AIM/etc. and then go back to chat. If it still needs a blackout bar for livestream security than that's fine, but better player controls and settings organization would help remove most of those issues. Searching/Loading Tokens & Marketplace- I love it, you obviously have the right ideas in mind as this feature seems to get better every update. Marketplace is smooth and neat, as it should be. The image library though occasionally suffers from duplicates but otherwise works as intended and I haven't had any issues in uploading images from my own computer. In general I like it and though I am sure there are ways to optimize it I will leave that to those smarter and more experienced than I.

Characters & Handouts- Overall this section is extremely useful but at the same time I'm critical of it only because I spend so much time using it. Not that I want to spend so much time using it but it is beyond maps/tokens the true core of long-term information about the game rests here. Random Name Generation: I love that when I create a New character sheet that it generates a random name for it, but I would prefer it if it weren't so obviously foreign/fantasy. 'John/Jane Smith' would be more functional I think in most campaigns than 'Quooghuphai Laogrot' which I've actually received as a starter name. Ideally you could choose your campaigns genre from the launch page when creating a campaign to set the type of name generated but to say this is more of a 'want' than a need is an understatement, but a streamlining of this feature would be nice. Token-Character Integration: I love how smooth tokens work in this system, the bars, the auras, the ability as a GM to set auras for detection and range of effect but not tip the players off is a great boon, but there is a bit of a disconnect when using tokens and character sheets which I think would be easily fixed by some form of Token-Character link, there is already a player-token link and player-character link but connecting the token to the character would allow for quicker 'do you even have that skill?' checks. Currently you have to change tabs to character hunt down the character in the unsorted character list of PC's and Non-PC's click the character and scroll down to the part of the character sheet needed. The quickest fix I can think of is to add a new radial menu button to the token that can be linked to the character sheet. That allows for simply clicking the token and then the radial menu button to go straight to the character page without taking your eyes off chat and the rolls and or whispers a GM usually manages during a game and especially during combat. Likewise a pull-down menu in the token 'name' area to select from existing characters would make token control and token naming much quicker in my opinion. Player Character (PC) Recognition: A simple 'wish or want' suggestions but it would be nice if when a character is designated as a 'PC' in their character page that the Characters name becomes either bold, starred, or otherwise differentiated from other characters listed in the character list. Though I know the names of my NPC's such differentiation speeds up picking out character names. Re-Sorting/Re-Ordering Characters: Im sorry but this definitely falls under the 'need' section there should be a way to reorder character pages once they are created, if not drag and drop, then something. I'll take anything; even pull-down 'order' numbers for characters ala PHP forum reordering. This would sincerely help since I have regular players (and thus characters) and a few definitely not regular players. That said either PC recognition or Token-Character integration would lessen but not remove the need for this feature a bit. Uploaded Handout Image Scrolling: I currently have a handout that is slightly too tall for my widescreen monitor that when zoomed in cuts off the top and bottom of the handout. I'm not sure if this is a glitch and unique to my campaign or if this is just how the code is, but it would be if it is just how its coded, than the ability to scroll or move around the image on the screen would help a lot. In this particular case the handout image was a Legal letter that contained clues a few clues in the letterhead and date/address of the sender which were cut off of the image when zoomed forcing me to paste the letters contents into the description, somewhat defeating the point of uploading and creating an image for the handout. Jukebox- Arguably one of the defining features of Roll20, the Jukebox adds a lot of atmosphere without much fuss or set-up. I am personally fine with using whats on Soundcloud, the quality is good and there are lots of options. That said though this feature could use a serious once over if only to make it even better. Names/Renaming: Many songs and sound effects have either long names (song name-artist-uploader) which can make even a short sound effect take up a significant chunk of space. Allowing us to rename a song would help a bit but even a shortened form of the original name with mouse over for the full song name would cut down on the vertical height of each entry. Song Length/Progress: A simple text readout of 0:38 of 2:36 would be fine but some way to know where a song is in its play-through would help me with cues. A sound of glass breaking for example sounds good if played once, but without memorizing the sound effect you don't know when it will repeat. Having to memorize sound effect cues in order to not drive your players crazy somewhat defeats Roll 20's quick set up idea. The Repeat/non-repeat suggestion below would remove most of my issues concerning unintended repeating sound effects. Repeat/Non-Repeat: A simple checkbox next to the volume bar would be nifty, as the same battle song over and over again though practical can get annoying, worse still is a short 2-3 second sound effect going off repeatedly is maddening. Progressive Volume Fade-in/out: Pleassssee, seriously though I love the current selective volume, but this falls under a definite 'want' not a need by any stretch of the imagination.

Settings- I think this tab gives me the most issues and seems the most backwards to me, it functions decently (despite video options not saving) but I think it could be better used and organized. Voice/Video Options not Saving: This might be a bug, it might be how its actually set up , I don't know but I usually play with voice only. Now I do that mostly for latency issue but the most annoying part about logging in is resetting the voice and video options every time I open or refresh the campaign. If this needs a 'save settings' button I'm all for it but please some way to make our preferences stay the same would be much appreciated. Master Music Volume Level: Why is this in settings? This really really should be in jukebox. If you need to leave the chat beep checkbox in settings please move it with voice/video options Order: Macro's and Decks should be under 'My Settings' in my opinion, dont misunderstand me; I love both features but settings are where it needs to focus and start. The settings tab altogether is not very long anyways so scrolling down to them should not be a huge issue. Having to scroll down to video/voice options to try and quickly reset the voice/video settings before my camera pops on is a pain. Based on my previous suggestions this what Id would Suggest order-wise: Player Game link (blacked out) Copy link button [space] Display Name Save Name Button Broadcast Options Receive Options Chat beep checkbox (?) Video/Avatar Options Save Settings Button (!) [space] Decks Section Decks list [space] Macros Macros List Display Macros checkbox [space] Exit Game Button I make no allusions that nay of these suggestions are 'easy' or 'simple' as I am not a programmer and make no inference that I am. I have tried to keep the concepts simple in order to improve functionality. I make no attempt at saying these are all possible, I truly don't know, this is merely a list of suggestions I've compiled from myself and my group. Sorry for the multiple posts, character limit hit me hard. TL;DR: I love this program I cant wait to see what it will become in the future.

Good read and insightful post. Roll20 is still far from perfect, but it is definitely moving the right direction towards there. A lot of people have been requesting some kind of save setting for the audio, I run mine through the Google hangout integration with no problem, but it does seem a request seen often. I think Macros and Decks should be under their own tab, because they are not a setting ... but something different.

Thanks, I agree completely, they are definitely on the right track. I wouldn't mind Macros and Decks being a separate tab, but if they are going to be under the Settings tab, I feel the actual control settings should come first.

I wish that they would make it possible to import and size images like in "Tabletop Forge"

It's pretty easy to import an image ... i mean and upload button would be nice for those that do not know to Drag and Drop (I was one of those people,) but once you figure that out it's pretty easy. If there is anything from "Tabletop Forge" that I would want here it would be the pictures behind the dice rolls and the ability reorder them.

I don't want to start a new discussion on something J.Biggs has already mentioned, so I just wanted to reiterate what he said in the 'Chat Log', 'Starter Tab' and 'Player Game Link' sections of his first post. I would personally prefer if the starter tab and player game link were removed from the chat box entirely so that it feels a little more seamless when you reenter the game. I think this would help a lot for people who want to try to do a more play-by-post style game, where players come and go on their own schedule. I'm not sure where I'd like to see the information from the starter tab moved to though. Maybe it could be displayed as is the first time someone connects to the game, and then is removed? Or have an option in the settings tab to disable it, so that when the player feels then know all the information already they can just turn it off? With regard to the player game link, I agree with J.Biggs and think it would be better suited in the settings tab.

I would personally prefer if the starter tab and player game link were removed from the chat box entirely so that it feels a little more seamless when you reenter the game. I think this would help a lot for people who want to try to do a more play-by-post style game, where players come and go on their own schedule. I would prefer to have it n the popup with the video tutorial that is already there.

I would prefer to have it n the popup with the video tutorial that is already there. This makes a lot more sense to me than showing it every time we log in.

I would prefer to have it n the popup with the video tutorial that is already there. This makes a lot more sense to me than showing it every time we log in. Yeah, I agree. I think this sounds like a really good idea.

It's pretty easy to import an image ... i mean and upload button would be nice for those that do not know to Drag and Drop (I was one of those people,) but once you figure that out it's pretty easy. If there is anything from "Tabletop Forge" that I would want here it would be the pictures behind the dice rolls and the ability reorder them. You've obviously never tried uploading a larger pic on Roll20. TabletopForge has the ability to give a certain URL to upload pics from the internet (while not costing space) and allowing users to give the dimension in pixles that they want the pic to be at.... so no dragging the pic around to match the grid.

About the image url suggestion, I don't think people realize also how much this helps Roll20 themselves as they do not have to worry about storage space.

Something that occurred to me last session, it'd be nice to be able to make all whispers visible to the GM.

to be able to up load pdfs I have a tone of pdf that I have bought as digital downloads and I would like to use the maps from them.

I would like a macro for dice rolls used often. If they could be saved to a specific PC that'd be even better.