First of all let me say that I really like roll20s interface, it works really smoothly and being able to double click handouts has made life easier. So dont say I hate roll20 in any way I really do like it. Now for my issue: The DM for one of the games I was playing in was either hacked and had his account deleted or was permanently banned from roll20. That caused everything on the game page to become automatically deleted. The handouts, the chat history, everything. That means that all of a DMs hard work can be gone in an instant, even if its not his fault. Furthermore, if the DM was banned, no notifications or reasons are given to the players. If my dm condordm was banned for a reason, i was not made aware of it. I still have contact with this dm and he claims he wasnt given a reason for the ban or account deletion. As much as I trust him i have no way of confirming if that is the truth because again, roll20 hasnt told me anything. Luckily we backed up most of our game on pen and paper, text documents, and other chats but we still lost some valuable information. This was devastating in ways that havent even shown up yet. The consequences will catch up with us in time, we could lose a character that could have lived if this mess hadn't happened. If you had played condordm's game or seen his sessions you would agree that the game is run beautifully. Cause and effect and realism techniques make the game come alive in so many ways. After a battle ends, you sometimes have to watch out: was that all? Is the enemy truly dead? Most of the time the players find that the lever they pulled two rooms ago will have released a trap that make the walls close in on them, they must now use their wit to escape. Or the elf rogue that they slew just now actually pickpocketed some gold from them while they were drinking at the tavern, the city guards now have his corpse, do you move on or sneak in to get it back? Or that the battle isnt really over because what the party has just killed is a clone, the rogue is disguised as a friendly npc and now is waiting to act deviously at an opportune moment. None of this is hidden from the players in the game, if you pay attention as a player you are made aware of it, then you must find a way for your character to be made aware of the problem and guide them into trying to solve it or utterly failing, but even that is entertaining. None of this is Dm vs the player, most of the time he works for the player, not against them. You really get a feeling he wishes you to succeed, but death and minor setbacks can still happen because hes strict about the game rules. condordm proudly stated his opinions to a moderator/developer on roll20, and i was told by the dm that was why he was banned, because the dev disliked him and disagreed with him. if this is true, then it is tragic. Someone who hasnt even been in the game cant understand the situations in which condors rules actually work. Even a player who left the game for personal reasons came on the forums, tried to complain, and still admitted that the game was good and he wished he could still play it. I saw this post with my own eyes before it was deleted for being too off topic. but how am i supposed to know if my dm was telling the truth about his ban? Again, my main point is as a player i havent beem told anything from roll20. how am i supposed to stay on and game after this incident? When a dm for a game im playing in can be banned and all the content deleted, and roll20 throws it all away expecting the players to not care at all or to take the same punishment as the dm without doing anything against the rules, or being informed of the reason. If I wanted to dm someday the same could happen to me. If a new, fair and friendly dm comes to roll20 and the moderators dont like her the same could happen to her. Then her players will wake up one day with the game that they have all played on as a little community to be gone and no messages at all from roll20. condordm will continue the game on another platform called openrpg, and later maptool maybe. We all admit it will be inferior to roll20, but this incident has left a sour taste in his mouth and it would be near impossible to convince him to rejoin. This post is my attempt to get people to address these issues, but i am leaning towards leaving as well. How many countless times will this happen to other players and dms afterwards until this place is dead? I hope not because roll20 has its merits, it just needs to give more leeway to the dms so that they actually want to stay. one dm having fun= many players' fun one dm getting banned= many players not finding a game which equation would you rather multiply, roll20?
