Guest Review - Role Gate (Play by Chat Platform)

I've failed as a player in Play by Post in the past. There just never seemed to be a platform that was a good fit and I think you need a strong GM to make it work well. I want to thank Valdus for directing me (and The Tavern's readers) to Role Gate. While it still has a few kinks to work out, I think the potential is damn near limitless.

Now, onward to our guest review - Tenkar

Here in New Orleans, I am a lonely gamer, living in a place where people live out their fantasies not on the tabletop but in the streets. In my 20+ years of searching for a satisfying online gaming environment, I came across a lot of hacks and snake oil merchants. Platforms like Fantasy Grounds sell you a product then string you along with an endless parade of modules and rules. I even went so far as starting my own play by post site which was quickly run completely amok.

Recent online resources have come into the picture. But both Roll20 and Discord, while great for most, tend to demand either a learning curve or sitting in a chatroom waiting for people to play what you want to play, let alone a willing game master.

But RoleGate looks different.

RoleGate.com is an RPG in-browser platform that offers a suite of rpg chat elements. Far more user-friendly than Discord or Roll20, RoleGate comes ready-made for some serious gaming. Running and syncing instantly from any platform (PC, phone or Pad) that has a browser, RoleGate allows players and GM's to chat, threading a dialogue with tabs for characters, game settings, and an index where the GM can divide their game into chapters, acts and scenes.

Yeah but let's face it, all online RPG aids, no matter play-by-post or virtual tabletop, come down to the dice roller right? RoleGate has a wealth of dice combination and options for easy macro codes to roll stats with a simple cut and paste. And more customizable dice are on the way.

So why not just log onto Discord? I did both. On Discord I set up my own room, invited a bunch a people and tried to set up bots for dice rollers, and quite frankly had trouble with the flow of dice macros and making a private room in the channel wasn't the easiest thing in the world. Go ahead call me an OSRIC-Idiot.

RoleGate had everything ready-made, it's all there without any restrictions even on my Basic account- which I upgraded to copper. RoleGate's fantasy economy works on tips given when someone writes or plays well, in the form of coins, the metal (from copper to platinum- sound familiar) corresponds with the tiers of subscription. These tiers correspond to a library of icons for use in chat. 

Schooled in 1980's loose-leaf character sheets or later on, the easy user interface of the classic Neverwinter Nights, I'm not big on the learning curve. RoleGate is an online RPG version of "plug in and play." The community is strong on Reddit and Discord, and if you're willing to GM you can run a game on just about anything. I am running a World of Dungeons campaign.

RoleGate.com is a great playing platform, a great base with many features coming in the future (members can use their coin to vote for suggested features). Whether you are a free basic member, copper or platinum, the platform offers the same gaming features. Think of these coins as just membership 'bling' and does not affect the gaming experience.

So for this lonely gamer, RoleGate.com may be my go-to virtual tabletop, when I'm not slaying paper-mache dragons in the streets of New Orleans.  - Valdus

The Tavern is always looking for reviews and guest posters from the community.