Foundry and 5e Version Poll
Added 2023-11-19 16:36:26 +0000 UTCWith the release of 5e 2.4 I'm going through some of the changes to bring the importer up to date. it's becoming increasingly difficult to support such a wide berth of system and Foundry versions. (And will be several days till a version that has much more native support for 2.4 changes is released).
The upside for supporting versions is that those folk with older versions or who don't make big updates during campaigns get new features (although arguably, these folk are lest likely to need to remunch things). The downsides of supporting more versions is that the code can get quite messy/complicated, and it slows down development and new features.
I'd love to get your input to help gauge upcoming development effort, and possible support paths.
Comments
Lol, where is the Foundry 9 option 🤣. I probably should update my kids game some time soon!
Adrian Hungate
2023-12-26 01:20:44 +0000 UTCI always save, update everything, run a game and power through any issues. I don't rely on any particular modules to run a game. I guess if someone is maybe charging for a certain experience then this may be more of a concern for you than me.
David Asnicar
2023-11-28 04:21:46 +0000 UTCversion 2.4 broke a bunch of modules so I’m staying with 2.3.x for awhile
Jeff Anderson
2023-11-23 05:42:11 +0000 UTCSadly, my answer is kind of "all of the above". I'm actually running 4 different instances and they're all in different states based on where I am in the campaigns on those instances.
Gaëtan Perrault
2023-11-20 22:59:24 +0000 UTCHoly heck, I'm number 12 in all-time commits... with 5 of them in 2020. https://github.com/foundryvtt/dnd5e/graphs/contributors @ChalkOne, this is what I mean when I talk about how shallow the pool is for this thing. BTW, for comparison, the PF2e system has *way* more public contributors. My 5 commits would rank me as the 80th contributor. https://github.com/foundryvtt/pf2e/graphs/contributors At some level, the only real solution to this is to find a way to better fund the dnd5e code. Or to round up a lot more volunteers.
Gaëtan Perrault
2023-11-20 22:58:26 +0000 UTCAs someone who has contributed to the 5e system quite a few times, since before it was on GitHub, the whole situation is really complicated. Looking at the last two weeks of merges, there is like one official member "Kim Mantas" and a couple of community members (Jeff Hitchcock and zhell) and you know they're both community members because they have Patreons in their GitHub accounts. So what you're calling the "dnd5e team" is really just a bunch of volunteers and one paid staffer. They have 50 open PRs and nearly 400 issues. That's the definition of an understaffed team. On top of this, 5e is the oldest system for Foundry. I've been using it since V4. Foundry had way less features then, things like effects and targeting and inline items didn't exist in Foundry at all, so the system wasn't designed around them. If you were to rebuild dnd5e from scratch today, it would probably look at lot more like the Pathfinder 2e system which inherently leverages those features. To top it off, the 5e implementation really suffered from the fact that it didn't actually implement the RAW. It implemented some really simplified version of the system that kind of looked like the characters sheets and kind of looked like the basic rules. So everywhere you looked there was some rule that had been implemented in a "simplified way", but could never be fixed. I mean, it's been years now and Magic Missile and Flame Blade still don't upcast correctly. And they never will. Like I said, it's complicated. And there is no easy way out. It's an understaffed team of mostly volunteers delivering an open source product for free. So we can't exactly expect enterprise-grade features.
Gaëtan Perrault
2023-11-20 22:52:44 +0000 UTCI updated to v2.4.0 and it broke some modules so I had to restore a backup. That said, I'll be holding off on the update until everything has settled, though updating to the latest version of anything is always in consideration for me!
RiffraffDC
2023-11-20 22:22:25 +0000 UTCThat was true like 6 months ago sure. But all the major module developers got upgraded in a few weeks to be fully compatible with V11. This isn't like the old days where Foundry drops an update out of nowhere. They've very open about changes ahead of time and devs have time to get ready.
CJ
2023-11-20 15:43:52 +0000 UTCI just updated to v2.4.0 and it broke any weapon that uses ammo. I’m going to revert to the last patch for the time being.
keats Montrose
2023-11-20 15:27:21 +0000 UTCI also want to say thanks for all your hard work and this is an amazing module that saves me a lot of manual effort!!
Nelson Waters
2023-11-20 15:19:52 +0000 UTCI updated to 11 for security reasons and didn't pay attention and updated to 2.4 right after. All previously imported from ddb are working. Just having issues with updating but no need to remunch right now anyway.
Nelson Waters
2023-11-20 15:18:52 +0000 UTCin an ideal world, yeah similar to a few above, once the addons i've grown dependent on update, i'll probably migrate. Sooner rather than later, soon as im able, anyway.
Dan Gragert
2023-11-20 10:46:24 +0000 UTCI want to echo what several others have said - if you want to constrain your version to “best known good” configuration(s) and focus your development on that/those long term to reduce the churn, I’d be behind that 100%.
Richard Carter
2023-11-20 08:57:51 +0000 UTCUnfortunately had updated to 2.4 before realizing most 9f the mods I use would have major updates needed... but my most "needed" are working currently
Thomas Wood
2023-11-19 23:20:20 +0000 UTCI have always tried to stay up to date but it really is a chore. However, I can say that with the newest release of foundry that allows for quickly backing up anything from a system, to a module to a campaign, it makes things a lot easier to roll back changes if there are problems.
Gage Eakins
2023-11-19 22:32:51 +0000 UTCI never realised that I shouldn't keep the 5e system immediately up to date like one should modules. I see now that that's a mistake. Thanks for the lesson.
Liam Brown
2023-11-19 22:26:53 +0000 UTCits not in the voting option, but I think many of us would be willing to stick on a version you consider Long term support if it means the modules work to import
James Elms
2023-11-19 22:12:41 +0000 UTCI'll goto 2.4 when all the mods I use will support 2.4 w/o error.
Luvac Zantor
2023-11-19 21:45:41 +0000 UTCOk. Will have a look at `htop` while migrating and try to adopt accordingly.
Martine Lenders
2023-11-19 21:36:03 +0000 UTCExactly the same
TinaTurnerUniversity
2023-11-19 21:28:47 +0000 UTCThe Importer will work for most things currently, just not as flashed out as it could be! If you're having problems migrating it might be your server needs a little bit more memory to run the migration
MrPrimate
2023-11-19 21:06:36 +0000 UTCI'm actually in the same boat with one of my campaigns as it's nearing its end and an still on v10 there. I think there are probably more people than you think using older foundry versions with no updates (the old API endpoints that ate hit on my server indicate a fairly consistent bunch of folks still using V8 and V9 of Foundry
MrPrimate
2023-11-19 20:54:19 +0000 UTCI plan to to try to go v2.4 again end of this week. Last time I tried, Foundry crashed shortly after it finished migrating the DDB Monster Compendium. Luckily, I had backups, so we just played todays session with 2.3. Not sure of the cause though, since there is no usable log output. Currently just trying to reimport the Monster Compendium again. Tomorrow I'll be AFK for a few days and after that the plan was to try again to update. But now that I see this post, should I rather hold out and wait/abandon this plan?
Martine Lenders
2023-11-19 20:29:49 +0000 UTCHow is it so many of you are on 11. Every time I upgrade it is a headache to get things back to how I like them ...
Kolentiv
2023-11-19 20:25:19 +0000 UTCThis is a difficult one, the 5e system is in desperate need of improvements and overhaul, and the improvements they make are broadly positive, but they could probably do with a bit of a release window to give devs some time to test once changes get merged and release fixed. Often there is a push to merge PRs and its out the door in a couple of days with very little earning/timeline. I think broadly the impact would be lessened by better communication of dates and changes up front as well as a bit of time for testing, especially for these bigger releases.
MrPrimate
2023-11-19 20:10:48 +0000 UTCI’m with Geof and Scott - once I have a stable build with modules that meet my needs, I stay there for quite a while because I want to focus my time and attention on player immersion and enriching the evolving story of my campaign. Updates inevitably create changes or issues that distract from the beauty of the game, so I want to minimize/bundle them into infrequent planned breaks.
Richard Carter
2023-11-19 18:33:12 +0000 UTCHonestly, until seeing this post, I never even considered not updating...yet I won't be going to windows 11 until dragged kicking and screaming.
Tom Sargant
2023-11-19 18:24:34 +0000 UTCI see from the voting that I am in the minority in my thinking.
Dr. Feargood
2023-11-19 17:50:51 +0000 UTCI want to upgrade to the latest version, but I am willing to wait for a period of time. I waited 6 months to update to version 11 FoundryVTT. I am fatigued with the constant changes and trying to keep up with them, and then when things don't work or break something else, it's just frustrating. I had to roll back 3 modules because that update broke things, so I am not doing any module updates for at least 4 months.
Dr. Feargood
2023-11-19 17:49:27 +0000 UTCI just ran a session zero for my new campaign this last week. I made the unfortunate decision to update right before running it, not realizing it was such a major update and that it'd break so many modules. I ended up downgrading and everything is fine now. I just recently updated to v11 after finishing my last campaign, so while I'm sure I'll experiment with it, my plan is to try to find a stable version I can work with for as long as possible once the campaign is running. I love playing around with modules, but it can also be a huge headache when it breaks something in the middle of a session.
James R Alday II
2023-11-19 17:47:43 +0000 UTCSame here!
Kirsten Wollam
2023-11-19 17:35:22 +0000 UTCSame here. I'm still on Foundry 9, and don't plan on upgrading until my campaign ends.
Scott Butwina
2023-11-19 17:30:01 +0000 UTCWell, all 5e development is public so module devs can pull the repo. That said, I really wish Foundry supported multiple release channels for systems like the core software, so we could do a testing release that only goes out to players who opt-in. Right now any system release goes out to everyone at once and there is no way to let players know that this is a “major release” ahead of their updating.
Jeff Hitchcock
2023-11-19 17:28:15 +0000 UTCI'm newer to foundry but I plan to try to keep up to date. I will now make sure roll backs are on first :D
Jonah Clausen
2023-11-19 17:18:00 +0000 UTCI stopped updating Foundry and everything else associated with it because too much stuff was changing. I wanted to keep my modules up to date, but features added to Foundry, making mods less useful made a ton of rework for me. I quit upgrading until Foundry reaches a more stable, feature-complete version, where every release doesn't result in Earth Shattering changes for the mod and adventure scene. I'm in the minority and I recognize that.
Geof Fang
2023-11-19 16:51:44 +0000 UTCAlso, if you were to decide to only support a certain version for sanity, I’m super content with locking in my version for the long haul. Your module is key to my setup!
Asa Engleman
2023-11-19 16:50:49 +0000 UTCI feel your pain in maintaining versions as I too experience this for work! Please know that we all deeply appreciate the love and time you put into this module. I update my system (Ubuntu/foundry/modules/game system) weekly and was caught off guard when I updated 5e to 2.4 on Friday only to realize it broke opening character sheets. That’s like core functionality that seemed to blow by a regression test 😂 First time I had to roll back but fortunately my setup is built around recovery so I had it reverted in about 3 minutes ❤️
Asa Engleman
2023-11-19 16:49:03 +0000 UTCOr bundle them into More Major releases that drop independently from Minor maintenance releases. Give devs access to beta versions of majors so they can prepare. That said I appreciate that this is all hobby work and most of these folks have full time jobs. So will adjust to whatever they can provide.
Richard Jones
2023-11-19 16:45:06 +0000 UTCI switched to Pf2e so I don't have any concerns either way for this :)
iczer1
2023-11-19 16:43:30 +0000 UTCI really wish the dnd5e team in particular would cut down on the number of breaking changes that frankly have little benefit for end users and only make module developers’ lives more difficult. Source: module dev that dreads every system update.
ChalkOne
2023-11-19 16:42:40 +0000 UTCI really need to update foundry
Nathaniel Kreiman
2023-11-19 16:42:38 +0000 UTCI'm fine with not getting new features with an older version of the mod for an older version of Foundry/5e.
flourishingcharlie
2023-11-19 16:40:11 +0000 UTC
