A few comments: In Pros for self-hosting, you missed a few points: You have "unlimited" storage. Only limited by your hard drive/SSD, and extra space doesn't cost you extra. You control when the server is up or down and aren't subject to some companies maintenance schedules or downtime. You will probably have a better and faster machine than you will get from cloud-hosted options. Many gigs of ram, faster, processor, etc. A con, is that some ISPs have configurations that prevent you from self-hosting at all, and port forwarding will not work. (As is my case, and I have gigabit fiber 😞) I host in the cloud, but on AWS using an EC2 instance and S3 storage. Definitely harder to set up and maintain. I knew nothing about configuring a Linux server in the cloud, but was able to follow a guide I found on the Foundry subreddit a couple of years ago. Cost is about $10 per month after the free year ended, S3 storage makes up less than a dollar of that and I have a lot of animated maps, music, images, etc. I love it. Amazon has had no noticeable downtime since I started using it. I control every aspect of updates, access, etc. Players have no issues connecting, and Foundry runs smoothly for everyone. Storage is dirt cheap and I am only limited by what I am willing to pay for.
I host from my PC and use NGROK for dealing with all that port forwarding nonsense. It's easy to set up and I just have to start the Ngrok program and share the link with my players. I had really loved Forge, but my games had just too much stuff in them and I had to keep buying more space on their servers. It just because too expensive. Now I'm running Foundry for free and have not had any problems at all. One major advantage you didn't mention for hosting on your PC is that setting up the game is so much easier as you're just transferring files on your hard drive. If the players do something unexpected, you can load in new maps or art fairly quickly, as opposed to having to upload them to Forge and then load them into your game.
There are a lot of little advantages to both that I didn't mention to try to keep the video shorter, but you're 100% right about that being a big advantage and I probably should have mentioned it briefly.
I host from my PC with multiple backups. We play in person, but I can spin up a tunnel using ngrok when I need to for remote play. Has worked pretty seamlessly so far!
Only if you care about having unlimited storage, not being held at the whims of an online server, and not being slowly bled dry, while having to pay monthly for a product you already own and could otherwise run for free...
This is so interesting to hear when I first tried running foundry at home it was slower right off the bat than running it from the forge so I just ended up there as it was my best bet at the time.
I've always ran Foundry locally, and once I sorted out port forwarding on my router was good to go. One thing you don't mention with self hosting is security. Setting up a certificate to use Https is quite a bit more complicated than port forwarding, and without it you have unencrypted connections. Chances are you'll be ok, but if vulnerabilities were discovered in Foundry you could be at risk. To overcome this I run Foundry in a Docker container, it's easy enough to set up, there are scripts out there for it, and any potential harm is limited to the container which you can easily destroy and rebuild. I recently came across a YT video on setting up in free Oracle Cloud hosting, I'm tempted to try that.
Last week I tried Forge and it was awkward experience. It felt like I have no control over my own stuff and when I tried to add Abomination vaults Add-on, Forge had to download it (it's Paizo's premium content, so it was annoying, but not surprising - however it ate my spoace like nothing) and when I launched it, not a single asset was available (including scenes). After that I quickly decidetdthat it's not worth paying for and told my players we won't use cloud in forseeable future. The idea is great, the execution needs way more time. Maybe If I was playing smaller games, it wouldn't be an issue, but I won't spend money to test that theory.
I was hosting my Foundry game. It became a pain in the arse. Especially when my ISP did something that screwed with my port forwarding. I switched to The Forge and it has been smooth sailing ever since and it is so much easier to manage using their services.
It seems to be a lot better than when I initially tried it out (I want to say in late 2020). It's been very convenient with no issues since coming back.
why did you put a image infront of the computer to simulate a screen instead of just putting a green image on the actual screen and chroma keying it??????
There are some really nice terraform and cloudformation scripts to deploy to AWS, Oracle, etc if you want to go that route too and have the technical knowhow. I do this with AWS and go a bit beyond the free tier and my monthly price is pretty comparable to Forge prices on top of getting more storage space
Very nice videos, as the others! I’m hosting on my PC (MacBook Air M1, 2020?), all runs smoothly excepts that I never managed to get the built-in A/V feat working properly. How is your experience with that? Do you think that hosting Foundry from the Cloud would solve the issue (I guess sheer amount of data being exchanged)? Or do you have any suggestion? The dedicated Reddit community didn’t offer much help… Thanks a lot in advance and keep up the good job!
A/V is a pain in Foundry. There was a way to do it a while ago but I don't know if it still works. I use Discord so I haven't tried it while running it from the cloud but I'll look into it.
I just use Discord, me and my core group have been using it so long it would feel weird to use something else haha (Sorry I took so long to answer, holidays got kinda crazy and I'm just getting back on. Thanks for the comment!)
You may not be paying for the hosting, but that doesn't make it free. You still have to pay for the domain name, at the very least. Also, keep in mind that some people are not capable, or willing, to learn how to set all that up themselves. Services like the Forge are a god-send for people like this.
I am running on Oracle and it has been great. Not bad to setup and it has been completely free. If for any reason that changes it will more than likely be a Raspberry Pi4 just sitting on a shelf somewhere in my house.
A few comments:
In Pros for self-hosting, you missed a few points:
You have "unlimited" storage. Only limited by your hard drive/SSD, and extra space doesn't cost you extra.
You control when the server is up or down and aren't subject to some companies maintenance schedules or downtime.
You will probably have a better and faster machine than you will get from cloud-hosted options. Many gigs of ram, faster, processor, etc.
A con, is that some ISPs have configurations that prevent you from self-hosting at all, and port forwarding will not work. (As is my case, and I have gigabit fiber 😞)
I host in the cloud, but on AWS using an EC2 instance and S3 storage. Definitely harder to set up and maintain. I knew nothing about configuring a Linux server in the cloud, but was able to follow a guide I found on the Foundry subreddit a couple of years ago.
Cost is about $10 per month after the free year ended, S3 storage makes up less than a dollar of that and I have a lot of animated maps, music, images, etc.
I love it. Amazon has had no noticeable downtime since I started using it. I control every aspect of updates, access, etc. Players have no issues connecting, and Foundry runs smoothly for everyone. Storage is dirt cheap and I am only limited by what I am willing to pay for.
I host from my PC and use NGROK for dealing with all that port forwarding nonsense. It's easy to set up and I just have to start the Ngrok program and share the link with my players. I had really loved Forge, but my games had just too much stuff in them and I had to keep buying more space on their servers. It just because too expensive. Now I'm running Foundry for free and have not had any problems at all.
One major advantage you didn't mention for hosting on your PC is that setting up the game is so much easier as you're just transferring files on your hard drive. If the players do something unexpected, you can load in new maps or art fairly quickly, as opposed to having to upload them to Forge and then load them into your game.
There are a lot of little advantages to both that I didn't mention to try to keep the video shorter, but you're 100% right about that being a big advantage and I probably should have mentioned it briefly.
Almost feels like this channel is sponsored by Forge or he's invested in it. Feels kinda shady...
I host from my PC with multiple backups. We play in person, but I can spin up a tunnel using ngrok when I need to for remote play. Has worked pretty seamlessly so far!
Only if you care about having unlimited storage, not being held at the whims of an online server, and not being slowly bled dry, while having to pay monthly for a product you already own and could otherwise run for free...
This is so interesting to hear when I first tried running foundry at home it was slower right off the bat than running it from the forge so I just ended up there as it was my best bet at the time.
I should say that I do have 1Gb internet so my speeds are pretty good for hosting.
@@DungeonMasterJosh I suffer from 2MB/s upload speeds despite having like 150MB/s download.
@@LaBlueSkuld unfortunately I think that's common with copper. I was 300/50 before swapping to fibre and was shocked that it's 1:1
1:48 The "oh... try now" struggle is real 😆
It happens 😂
I've always ran Foundry locally, and once I sorted out port forwarding on my router was good to go. One thing you don't mention with self hosting is security. Setting up a certificate to use Https is quite a bit more complicated than port forwarding, and without it you have unencrypted connections. Chances are you'll be ok, but if vulnerabilities were discovered in Foundry you could be at risk. To overcome this I run Foundry in a Docker container, it's easy enough to set up, there are scripts out there for it, and any potential harm is limited to the container which you can easily destroy and rebuild.
I recently came across a YT video on setting up in free Oracle Cloud hosting, I'm tempted to try that.
Great video! I hope services like cloud these help D&D be played by more people
Yeah, it's good to see it becoming very accessible.
We move from Roll20 to Foundry VTT local and then to Forge 1 year ago, and we love the change. We are happy in Forge
I've only been back on Forge since I started working on this video and I've been enjoying it. Speeds have really not been an issue so far.
i just transitioned from roll 20 to forge it feels kind of weird love the customization of it
Last week I tried Forge and it was awkward experience. It felt like I have no control over my own stuff and when I tried to add Abomination vaults Add-on, Forge had to download it (it's Paizo's premium content, so it was annoying, but not surprising - however it ate my spoace like nothing) and when I launched it, not a single asset was available (including scenes).
After that I quickly decidetdthat it's not worth paying for and told my players we won't use cloud in forseeable future.
The idea is great, the execution needs way more time. Maybe If I was playing smaller games, it wouldn't be an issue, but I won't spend money to test that theory.
I was hosting my Foundry game. It became a pain in the arse. Especially when my ISP did something that screwed with my port forwarding. I switched to The Forge and it has been smooth sailing ever since and it is so much easier to manage using their services.
It seems to be a lot better than when I initially tried it out (I want to say in late 2020).
It's been very convenient with no issues since coming back.
@@DungeonMasterJosh Both The Forge and the Foundry VTT have come a long way since then.
why did you put a image infront of the computer to simulate a screen instead of just putting a green image on the actual screen and chroma keying it??????
There are some really nice terraform and cloudformation scripts to deploy to AWS, Oracle, etc if you want to go that route too and have the technical knowhow. I do this with AWS and go a bit beyond the free tier and my monthly price is pretty comparable to Forge prices on top of getting more storage space
Very nice videos, as the others! I’m hosting on my PC (MacBook Air M1, 2020?), all runs smoothly excepts that I never managed to get the built-in A/V feat working properly. How is your experience with that?
Do you think that hosting Foundry from the Cloud would solve the issue (I guess sheer amount of data being exchanged)?
Or do you have any suggestion?
The dedicated Reddit community didn’t offer much help…
Thanks a lot in advance and keep up the good job!
A/V is a pain in Foundry. There was a way to do it a while ago but I don't know if it still works. I use Discord so I haven't tried it while running it from the cloud but I'll look into it.
@@DungeonMasterJosh Thanks! And if you find a solution, it might be the subject for a new video :-)
Hi! Do you have a tutorial of how to use "The Forge" please? I don't understand ow does it work
Sadly no, I actually use oracle cloud hosting these days which is awesome if you don't mind spending an hour or 2 to set it up initially
Good vid. What do you use for AV?
I just use Discord, me and my core group have been using it so long it would feel weird to use something else haha (Sorry I took so long to answer, holidays got kinda crazy and I'm just getting back on. Thanks for the comment!)
would be better to just be able to CONNECT!! without having to resort to such....discouraging methods.
Never pay for Foundry hosting. It's free with Oracle Always Free, and you get better specs than The Forge.
I might need to make a video about other hosting options because some of these I had never heard of when I made this.
You may not be paying for the hosting, but that doesn't make it free. You still have to pay for the domain name, at the very least. Also, keep in mind that some people are not capable, or willing, to learn how to set all that up themselves. Services like the Forge are a god-send for people like this.
@@blaydsong people usually pay for a domain name, but you don't have to. Working from the IP address is fine.
I am running on Oracle and it has been great. Not bad to setup and it has been completely free. If for any reason that changes it will more than likely be a Raspberry Pi4 just sitting on a shelf somewhere in my house.
Yeah I've been using oracle lately and it's been great