My opinion FGU vs Foundry 4 years later

[Morenu]

First off NOT LOOKING TO BASH EITHER VTT. (and this got long winded, so good luck)

I am just going to give my first impressions of Foundry vs FG(U) both from 4 years ago and my best guess of it now.

4 years ago during the Plague, I decided to dive into VTTs because I was DMing for my daughter's friend group for 5 months prior to the outbreak.

I looked at Roll20 (I am leaving that out as I only remember I dropped that option right away), Foundry and Fantasy Grounds (classic), and I peeked at many others since then out of curiosity.

Foundry was very new and I know that was one of my major concerns, would it survive and what would their focus be? I knew I would want to be able to mod things and take advantage of the computer's abilities in automation, database and so on. I was NOT looking for a video Game experience, I have those already.

Once I narrowed it down to 2 choices I began asking questions in the communities. The FG community was easy to find, friendly and helpful all in an above average way compared to what I see across the normal internet. For Foundry? I found it extremely difficult to even find a place to ask, let alone receive help on questions.

So, with my questions happily answered, I ultimately chose FG for its long history, its adaptability and Its user base & developers interaction.

Fast Forward 4 years...
FG has become FGU. Updates and bug fixes, as well as store content are consistent and typically well done.
I had to pay for another Ultimate License (I fell right outside the refunding of some of my classic purchase), not all that concerning as I snagged FG and FGU ultimates on sale.
The major upgrade from FG to FGU as far as I can tell was amazing in that all FG material essentially moved to FGU mostly painlessly (not extensions I am sure).
The addition of the Forge IMO is huge as I no longer have to search forums and DMsguild for updates and manually DL and install them.
I continue after 4 years to be amazed at the community and developers. Even when there are disagreements on how SW does something, they respond and as much as they can, they do express their reasoning.
The fact that I can run 30 - 50 extensions to improve the QoL for both my DM and our players and have VERY few issues (yes I am aware of the past month) is amazing. we have missed 2 play sessions in 4 years due to broken extensions that we couldn't play without. most I can turn off and reload and play is fine, there are only 3-5 extensions that can truly shut us down.

So yes, I am extremely happy with my choice 4 years ago. I own thousands of dollars in FGU related items. 3 ultimate licenses (FG & FGUx2), several hundred in extensions (5e mostly), A LOT of books to play campaigns in D&D 2e & 5e, PFrpg, PF2, and more.

But I recently got curious... I hear people say that FGU is hard to learn... so I went back to foundry a week ago to poke around (I got 6 foundry adventures in my last Humble Bundle)

I wanted to see how quickly I could setup and play a PF2 adventure using a purchased Adventure Path.

its been 4 years.... and yet I definitely had to use my understanding of computers and such to to find and figure out how to DL and install PF2 (FYI, I could not find a PFRPG option). It was barely any easier than it was 4 years ago. Getting my 7 owned adventures to show up was clunky. and after 3 hours, I gave up trying to open even 1 of the APs I owned just to look around. Are there people that would disagree with my assessment? I am sure. and I am positive that if it is running right it would be a good experience. but if someone with my 30+ years of computer experience from DOS to Windows and MacOS plus other dabbling, can't get a bought adventure up enough to READ it in 3 hours, then I do not want to hear about FGU being difficult.

I am impressed with the balance SW seems to have in its approach. yes I am partial to the TT feel and have little need for the more video game / VR like qualities other VTTs strive for. But I do honestly love that we have choices, that the game I lived for as a kid, that gave me SO much that I didn't realize until much later in life, has seemingly again become popular in so many ways.

It is my genuine hope that there is enough room for all of the quality VTTs to coexist, each meeting the needs of the users.

Thank you to everyone that has made my time here, fulfilling and enjoyable.