This was very much intentional. For us when playing online, a focus element was missing, something to gather around (I know that sounds a bit vague). We were looking for something that felt a bit like being inside a video game, but allowing the flexibility of a TTRPG system. Help with game mechanics or organization felt secondary, and it still does in our games. There is of course a lot of different players out there. And we are looking into doing some rules integrations. It will unlikely go the route of full automatization though. Being able to build/play/share together, make changes to the board in real time, and the feel of playing is going to take precedence.
TaleSpire isn't going to be right for everyone. Luckily the TTRPG space is incredibly diverse and have excellent creators with different priorities. So it has a lot of people covered.
1) This is an area that needs a whole lot iteration. The current Hide Volume approach has been more of a patch while we figure things out. This is certainly one area 3D has complicated things significantly. Looking forward to diving back into it.
2) As you mentioned, this is certainly on the horizon, we've already started dipping our toes into this area and hope to have an ETA by the end of the year.
3) Audio streaming is also something we're looking into.
4) The pricing model has been in discussion a lot. We're trying to avoid maintaining two different builds, so a player only version isn't something we'd like to do. We have been discussing potential pricing models, but, this is likely a conversation which will resume once the full release is imminent. (Post Early-Access)
Foundry and Dungeondraft are both excellent. They pair great together. Our goal with TaleSpire has been one of immersion into the board. Making the interaction with the board feel tactile and fun. And of course being able to both build and play together. Nothing out there quite scratched that itch for us. I now selfishly get this from playing TaleSpire. We still have a good ways to go however.
Thank you very much for your feedback. I would love to see you join us in TaleSpire sometime in the future once these things have been addressed.
TaleSpire isn't going to be right for everyone. Luckily the TTRPG space is incredibly diverse and have excellent creators with different priorities. So it has a lot of people covered.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the game!