(First time poster) Saw this on sale today for those interested in getting, I'm looking into it as a potential Roll20 alternative. Note that this is just the regular license that means if you are a host/DM you'd need everyone you host to have a license. Alternatively if you buy the Ultimate License, you get unlimited licenses.
Roll 20 is a great VTT, but the voice and video features could use a lot of work. And getting your own music into it is very annoying. I like to use music to set the mood/the scene but they don't have native Spotify integration.
Otherwise it's actually very good, officially licensed and a decent experience once you've set it up
From what I've read, Roll20 is fine but more expensive in the long run (assuming you're using paid features) as it's a subscription service. FG is more expensive up front but cheaper long term. Note that a Unity version of FG is in development, which should be compatible with DLC (i.e. rulesets and such) but will require an additional purchase if you want to use the new version (they've mentioned a cheaper upgrade option but I don't think any prices have been announced).
There's also a whole lot of up and coming software in that realm, such as Foundry, Astral, TaleSpire, and probably more that I've forgotten.
I have not used Fantasy Grounds, but I've used Roll20 for almost 6 years and found it excellent. My regular group mostly plays D&D 5E, but I've also used it for Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, Coriolis, Shadowrun, The Sprawl (Apocalypse World System) and Warhammer 40k.
It is quite viable with a free subscription. For the last four years I've paid for a Pro subscription because a) we play pretty much every week, and b) I find the benefits it gives worth it, particularly with regard to designing and customising character sheets, but also for the capacity of assets that it allows you to incorporate if/when you start running multiple games. However, all my regular players still use free accounts and are perfectly happy with them. (Several of them throw a few dollars my way each year to contribute to the cost, so I truly do not find it cumbersome.)
We use voice only through Skype or Discord, although you can use voice with or without video through the browser. Apart from very occasional lag with screen updating (that usually appears to be more a consequence of connection quality than the VTT application) we've never had any video problems, so I'm curious what zimboking believes "could use a lot of work".
I would say that managing resources that you upload yourself (art, music, sound effects, etc.) is clunky and less than satisfactory, although what I've read suggests this common to most of the available VTTs. These things are on the Roll20 development road map and, for what it's worth, Roll20 is constantly being updated and tweaked, usually for the better, with developers fairly responsive to user feedback. I have no idea what, if any, ongoing development or support occurs with Fantasy Grounds. I understand that Astral, being quite new, also free at the basic level and competing with very well established alternatives, frequently has features improved or added.
I agree with Diji that paying an annual subscription long term will likely be more expensive than buying an application outright although, as noted above, only a GM gets really gets much benefit from a paid subscription. Also, you don't need to buy any rulesets or such to use Roll20 - it supports (in that there are character sheets and dice mechanics for) literally hundreds of game systems, and a Pro user can design a completely customised system and/or character sheet very easily.
I decided to go with Roll20 after spending a couple of weeks evaluating the choices back in 2014. The market has developed a lot since then, but I don't regret my decision in the slightest, and neither does my group.
I've just had a lot of issues when running my groups, it might just be due to poor internet but I've run several sessions where someone just drops out, their voice cuts out, or something happens server side that makes them have to restart the session
![[PC] Steam - Fantasy Grounds Base Software $14.23 AUD @ Steam Store](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/27/524827.jpg?h=d43d8dc2)
Is Roll20 no good? Given the current progressive isolation measures Im trying to get an online session going and Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds are being considered