Long Time, No See
Hello everyone! It’s been a while since our last Developer Update, but we’ve been busy behind the scenes and have a lot to share with you. Since our last livestream, a number of exciting things have happened at The Forge.
We released the second part of our in-depth interview with Youness Alaoui, The Forge's founder and lead developer, as part of the Stars of the VTT Galaxy series. In this conversation, KaKaRoTo shared his thoughts on community, creativity, and the challenges of building in the digital tabletop space. If you haven’t checked it out yet, we highly recommend giving it a read.
We also launched the Dungeon Run Challenge, a fun community event built around Dungeon Solitaire, our new card-crawling challenge. Players tested their luck (and wits) against randomized dungeon decks, with some winning Forge gift cards along the way. If you missed this round, don’t worry—more contests and events are on the horizon. Keep an eye on our announcements and socials so you don’t miss your chance at prizes and bragging rights! 😎
Terms of Service Update: Sanctioned Jurisdictions and Service Restrictions
The largest topic in this livestream, and what we know has been on many of your minds, is our recent Terms of Service update. This change affects users in certain regions due to international laws and sanctions that impact how we are legally able to provide services.
We know this was a difficult announcement, and we’ve received a mix of criticism, concern, and support. Today’s stream gave us a chance to expand on the reasoning behind the update, clarify how it affects Forge users, and respond to your most frequently asked questions.
For those who want more detail, we’ve also published a dedicated blog post that digs deeper into the “why” behind these changes and directly addresses community feedback. We encourage you to read it to get the full picture.
Foundry VTT Version 13 is now recommended on The Forge
We’re excited to announce that Foundry VTT Version 13 is now recommended on The Forge! 🎉
Getting to this point took a lot of work behind the scenes. V13 introduced a number of under-the-hood changes, and we wanted to make sure the Forge experience stayed smooth and reliable before giving it our full endorsement. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been ironing out issues and improving compatibility, including:
- Updated the invitation link application in Foundry V13.
- Fixed bugs around package installations in the setup page, with clearer feedback and UI updates after installation or updates.
- Corrected an issue that sometimes caused packages to update to the wrong version when installed from the Foundry setup page or via manifest URL.
- Fixed an error preventing token wildcards from working properly in Foundry v13 (requires Foundry v13.346 or newer).
- Standardized and clarified the labeling of the “Return to Setup” and “Back to The Forge” buttons for a smoother user experience.
- And updating LiveKit to work for V13 on The Forge.
We know many of you have been waiting eagerly to upgrade, and we’re confident that with these improvements, v13 is ready for your games. If you’ve been holding off until now, this is your green light to dive in.
If you are ready to update, please go ahead and follow our guide on updating your Foundry version. Make sure to check out the Bazaar to update your systems and modules to the latest available versions. As always, we highly recommend that you back up your Forge Worlds and Compendium Modules before updating.
Growing the Team
Since our last update, we’ve welcomed a number of new faces to The Forge team. Each of them brings valuable skills that will help us support our users and push the platform forward:
- Arijan Krkić (a.k.a. AkiFSM) — Customer Support
- Adrian D'Alimonte (a.k.a. adrianD) — Senior UI/UX Designer
- Andie Sacchi Font (a.k.a. Andie) — UI/UX Designer
- Julie USKI-BILLIEUX (a.k.a. Julicorne) — Administrative Assistant
- Josh Olsen (a.k.a. zeel) — Software Developer
We’re excited to have them on board, and you can learn more about their backgrounds and roles in our Meet the New Party Members at The Forge blog post.
We also want to give a special shoutout to Ticiano Herrera — DevOps, the newest member of our dedicated team.
Bazaar Card Redesign
Our Bazaar package cards have a fresh new look! This redesign is part of our ongoing overhaul of the Bazaar, aimed at making browsing and purchasing easier. The updated cards now prioritize the most relevant information at a glance, reducing clutter and letting you focus on what matters most.
This is just one more step in our effort to make the Bazaar an intuitive, modern, and enjoyable marketplace for all your VTT needs.
Notification System Improvements
We’ve been polishing The Forge’s notification system as well. A new “Notification Channels” tab has been added to user profiles, letting you opt into optional channels and customize the updates you receive.
We also fixed a rare race condition that could produce cryptic error messages instead of loading notifications. With these updates, staying informed on The Forge should feel easier and more reliable.
D&D Beyond Converter Update
Our D&D Beyond converter has been refreshed with support for more books. Several previously unavailable titles have now been restored, while a number of new ones have been added. This means smoother character and content transfers for your campaigns.
The Asset Library
Lastly, we’ve made significant optimizations to how premium packages interact with the Asset Library. These improvements reduce storage demands on user accounts. For example, Ember now takes up around 870 MB less user data due to additional asset file types being migrated to the Assets Library.
These kinds of behind-the-scenes optimizations might not always be flashy, but they help keep your storage lean and your games running smoothly.
Wrapping Up
That’s it for this round of Forge updates! We know the Terms of Service change has been the big story this month, but as you can see, plenty of other improvements and new features have also landed since our last livestream. If you miss our Bazaar showcase, we will be doing one on the next livestream.
As always, thank you for being part of The Forge community. Your support, feedback, and passion keep us motivated to keep improving and innovating.
Stay tuned and follow us on these social media channels for more news and updates about The Forge:
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