Smoother Roll20xDemiplane login is live, with major character sheet performance improvements and snappier in-game interactions coming soon.
Hello everyone! Earlier last week, Roll20 CTO Mike Todd shared a broader update on ongoing performance work happening across the Roll20 organization. In that post, Mike called out three areas of focus that the Demiplane Integration team has been concentrating on: enabling a frictionless login experience when using the Virtual Tabletop, delivering snappier in-sheet interactions, and overall faster load times. As we approach the end of these three projects, I’m excited to share a bit more about how each project is setting the foundation for a better experience.
Frictionless Login – Live Now!
Let’s start with the update that is already out in the world (surprise!): our new streamlined login flow for users of Demiplane products on the Roll20 VTT is officially live today!
Starting today, new users accessing Demiplane-powered content such as Pathfinder 2e, Daggerheart, Cosmere RPG, Starfinder 2e, and more through the Roll20 VTT can now use their Roll20 account to access the content by default, creating a clean path into the experience. For many people, that means less friction getting a game started and fewer moments where the login process feels like it stands between you and your game night.
An important note, this change has not altered how Roll20 and Demiplane’s Cross-Platform Sync or Shared Subscription Benefits work for new or existing users. Additionally, if you already have your account linked with Demiplane, you should not notice anything wildly different here – this update is primarily about making the path smoother for new users while preserving the benefits and account connections that are already in place.
In the hopper: Long-term Performance Enhancements Nearing Completion
In addition to the login improvements, we’re pleased to be approaching the finish line on two broad performance-related initiatives: addressing long loading times for Demiplane sheets and enabling a more responsive sheet while loaded. These improvements were the #1 and #3 area of focus (login flow was #2) based on Integration feedback that we received. We’re now in the final stages of these initiatives (they are not quite ready for release yet) and the early signs are encouraging:
Faster Load Time Performance for Character Sheets
We have been focused on one area that we heard very clearly needed attention: initial character sheet load times.
Load times were not where we wanted them to be, but we knew there were specific levers we could pull to improve them. After we scoped everything between September and October, our work kicked off in earnest last November. That work is now starting to show results in our development environments.
Using the same character referenced above, the current system delivers a character sheet opened for the first time in around 20 seconds. At the current stage of the enhancement process, we’re seeing load time reductions of more than 50% for that same sheet running on the new performance technology, with room to improve. For Non-Player Character sheets, the gains can be even more dramatic: In some game systems, we’re seeing loading time reductions of nearly 70% for NPC / Creature / Monster / Adversary sheets.
When launched, these benefits will impact everyone using Demiplane-powered sheets, whether you are using them at the table in person or opening them inside the Roll20 Virtual Tabletop.
Snappier Builder + Interactions
Another area of long-term performance goals has been to make Demiplane-powered sheets feel snappier once you are in your game. The impact of “snappier interactions” is admittedly a little tricky to quantify – the way you build a character versus the way you play your character takes you down different paths and interactions. To help us quantify progress, one of the ways we’ve looked at the impact is by measuring how long it takes to create a character that we already know we want to build. It’s not perfect, but it helps quantify how much time dead time was spent waiting.
Using Cosmere RPG as one example, we’re currently seeing around a 14% reduction in total time from start to finish inside the Cosmere RPG Character Builder:
- Existing System time to Completion: 1 minute 51 seconds
- New performance system: 1 minute 37 seconds
Final performance numbers will vary from these initial tests, but Cosmere RPG acts as a great example because it has a lot of fun interoperating systems players can choose from when building their character. Again – this test is pretty un-scientific, but it highlights that the work underway is intended to address the core aspect of the character experience.
Thank You & What Comes Next
As I wrap up today’s message, I want to share a huge thank you to everyone who shared feedback throughout the beta period. Your feedback has mattered a great deal! A lot of the work described above exists because the community made it very clear where improvements are most needed. Once these updates are all live, we’ll be revisiting to collect feedback on what efforts remain.
We’re excited to get these enhancements to all of you, and I’ll be back in touch when the remainder of the Demiplane Performance Updates are ready to roll!
See you at the table!
Peter