I've had sort of an on-again, off-again relationship with the Obsidian Portal website. On one hand, I think it's a tremendous resource, and a fun site to help organize and host a campaign. On the other hand, I've sometimes been frustrated, because it just seems like a lot of work to get everything on there (which would seem counter to the purpose of making a GM's life easier).
Still, I'm using Obsidian Portal for my upcoming RQ 6 game--it hosts a world wiki (still under construction), house rules, the tweaks we made to chargen, maps, links to downloads, and even a campaign calendar (our gaming circle has quite a few campaigns elsewhere, so this is handy).
It's going to be a work in progress, but it's here, for the curious: http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/the-middle-isles (http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/the-middle-isles)
So is anyone else using Obsidian Portal? How about another website handy for your campaign (I know LordVreeg has his Celtricia site (http://celtricia.pbworks.com/), which is all sorts of tremendous). Any links to your campaigns so I can bask in your genius? :)
Set up my Neverwinter Nights campaign on Obsidian Portal, including PC backgrounds and NPCs. Added the first two session reports, then got lazy and said fuck it. My players also weren't really reading it, so no point. But I can see how it would be cool for groups where everyone wanted to get psyched up between sessions. My guys pretty much aren't into D&D mode until about 30 minutes after they sit at the table and they have a beer or two in them.
I have set up one for my Eclipse Phase game at http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/fastball-express-inc/adventure-log It's been up since 2010.
Been trying to use it but only two of my players could be arsed to read it. Had a hard time even getting people to sign up for the site.
Though it's mostly a futile effort in my group, I like having a public place to track or document one's RPG campaign.
A bit (http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/le-ballet-de-l-acier).
Tried using it once. Couldn't get any of the players to use it.
Use a custom wiki for a different campaign that one of the player set up, so I have no idea why some of the same players had a massive "meh" reaction to Obsidian Portal.
Now I'm waiting for RealmWorks, which I'm hoping will fill a similar niche but with a lot more utility.
I do have a paid account (http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/vytzka). I think it's worth it.
Honestly, I think Obsidian Portal a huge mess and too costly. There are far better alternatives out there that are free to use.
Here's an example of the one I use for my personal campaign wiki at pbworks.com. Just a warning; it's HUGE @ 1,633 pages (1 GB) - http://deismaar.pbworks.com
I just use a Facebook group for my games, both for communications and posting NPCs, maps, etc. etc.
Quote from: ZWEIHÄNDER;686440There are far better alternatives out there that are free to use.
There's no cost for Obsidian Portal.
I use the Keep myself (http://www.nbos.com/products/keep/keep.htm) and while it is $$$ program it can be kept on a USB thumb drive.
Quote from: ZWEIHÄNDER;686440Here's an example of the one I use for my personal campaign wiki at pbworks.com. Just a warning; it's HUGE @ 1,633 pages (1 GB) - http://deismaar.pbworks.com
Does PBworks give everyone a free GB of wiki space or is that something you have to upgrade to?
Quote from: Monster Manuel;686716Does PBworks give everyone a free GB of wiki space or is that something you have to upgrade to?
Select Academic package. It's 2 GB total space: https://plans.pbworks.com/academic
Quote from: Haffrung;686315Set up my Neverwinter Nights campaign on Obsidian Portal, including PC backgrounds and NPCs. Added the first two session reports, then got lazy and said fuck it. My players also weren't really reading it, so no point. But I can see how it would be cool for groups where everyone wanted to get psyched up between sessions. My guys pretty much aren't into D&D mode until about 30 minutes after they sit at the table and they have a beer or two in them.
Pretty much the same for my players. I think it's a cool toy but if the players aren't involved, it's pretty pointless. I've tried using it for two different campaigns (fantasy and supers) and actually found I was spending more time uploading and writing stuff that no one would ever see than was worth the time.
I've got a website of my own already, so it's just as easy for me to add pages there and link to them from the game. I agree that documentation on the game is probably a good idea, but I doubt my players read it much.
Quote from: ZWEIHÄNDER;686850Select Academic package. It's 2 GB total space: https://plans.pbworks.com/academic
Thanks.
When I was running a Labyrinth Lord game for the neighborhood kids, it was a good way to share session summaries & prod them to write. (Homeschool parent, can't miss a chance to encourage the kids to write.) It was also a good place to keep canonical records of XP and GP. We tried using it to track who they knew & what they commonly knew, but the game only ran 7 sessions, so it didn't get particularly political - this was B2.
Quote from: Naburimannu;687020When I was running a Labyrinth Lord game for the neighborhood kids, it was a good way to share session summaries & prod them to write. (Homeschool parent, can't miss a chance to encourage the kids to write.) It was also a good place to keep canonical records of XP and GP. We tried using it to track who they knew & what they commonly knew, but the game only ran 7 sessions, so it didn't get particularly political - this was B2.
Homeschooling parent here, too! I hadn't thought of that, but as my daughter gets more into gaming, that might be a good reason to set aside some space on there for that.
I wonder if there is a disproportionate representation of homeschooling families among gamers.
I use Obsidian Portal. I'm cheap, so I only use the free version, but I've found it really handy.
Happily, my players seem to actually quite like it (except one, who despite much prodding refuses to sign up for it, although he's never said why).
Also, because my long term campaign is run over the internet, usign a chatroom, and using my own rules, it makes a convenient place to post all of my rules as well (since the wiki site I was using drowned under a flood of spam). I type up play sessions, and send them the link to the last one at the starts of each session. (Which reminds me...)
Links to both my campaign and my rules are in my sig.
Quote from: RPGPundit;687383I wonder if there is a disproportionate representation of homeschooling families among gamers.
I've certainly met my share, but am not sure. In my part of the country, homeschooling (and homeschool co-ops) aren't super-rare, though not precisely common, either.
I tried the free version but didn't like it. Nowadays I use Blogger, which is excellent for my needs, especially that I can throw stuff up without need for sorting/ordering. Recently even used the Post Comments for PBP!
Don't use it. The ones who run it are out for money, not facilitating good rpg gamers, and they don't give a damn about solving problems on it even if your paying money for it (I speak from personal experience). At face value its a nice site, but once you start using it in depth, you'll find its not worth the cost they try to run people for, and the free version doesn't allow use of it in any manner you couldn't achieve with some PHP or Google Docs. My advice: Find a free alternative; save your money for something deserving.
I used for a bit but I grew disastified.
1) The calendar function has no way to create repeat events. Vital to a regular group. Serious misstep here.
2) Making custom character sheets requires some programming and submission/approval. It's not impossible, but it's finicky. Also, I'm a programmer. I have no idea how non-programers navigate this.
3) The markup language has parans and brackets reserved, and I find working in OP's markup a pain in the ass.
I moved all my groups organization to Facebook. I have hosting via Siteground, so I'm putting together a setting brief via my site (I'm publishing this setting, so the work will serve double duty). I'm also looking at supporting Realm Works with my setting in that Market Place (If I can get in...).
Obsidian Portal sounds like the title of a bad fantasy novel. I've never tried it but I read some of Black Vulmea's Le Ballet de l'Acier on there. I found navigation to be user-unfriendly, but I don't know if Le Ballet de l'Acier uses the default settings or what or if that was just because I'm trying to read it rather than compose on it.
Quote from: estar;686550I use the Keep myself (http://www.nbos.com/products/keep/keep.htm) and while it is $$$ program it can be kept on a USB thumb drive.
The Keep actually looks really good. It seems much easier to use than Realm Works. With the integration to the character sheet creator and the inspiration pad pro, a nice bargain at $35. I wonder if I can hack together an HTML calendar plugin... At that rate it would replace my Realm Works (I keep dreading trying to learn it...). Also, you can share stuff on a 2nd screen!
Quote from: Dumarest;966966I found navigation to be user-unfriendly . . .
In what ways?
Quote from: Dumarest;966966. . . I don't know if Le Ballet de l'Acier uses the default settings or what . . .
It does, and a long line of half-interested developers have ratfucked my wiki six ways from Sunday, which is why I stopped updating it.
Quote from: Black Vulmea;972334In what ways?
I just tried to visit it so I could give you the exact reasons I said that, but now it seems to not work at all and a bunch of the images are down as well.
Quote from: Dumarest;972341. . . a bunch of the images are down as well.
Photobucket's terms of service, updated just two days ago, do not allow 3rd party hosting without paying Photobucket four hundred bucks a year for the privilege.
Fuck those fucking fuckers.
Quote from: Black Vulmea;972378Fuck those fucking fuckers.
"Don't mince words, Bones. What do you really think?"
Still nope.
Quote from: trechriron;967078The Keep actually looks really good. It seems much easier to use than Realm Works. With the integration to the character sheet creator and the inspiration pad pro, a nice bargain at $35. I wonder if I can hack together an HTML calendar plugin... At that rate it would replace my Realm Works (I keep dreading trying to learn it...). Also, you can share stuff on a 2nd screen!
A while back Fantasy Grounds added a manual dice roller so you could use it for face to face games. That makes it quite useful for campaign management. It's a bit pricey but it's good at what it does.