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karpomatic
January 4th, 2013, 07:10 AM
Now that its no longer 'Late 2012' and is now 'early 2013' I had a few questions.

1. Is there a realistic release time frame for Realm Works and if so, what is it?

2. Is there any idea of how much its going to cost?

I've been waiting since you announced this project and would just like some clear answers. Thanks!

John
January 4th, 2013, 10:25 AM
Hi!

In our last newsletter (http://www.wolflair.com/index.php?context=newsletter&page=december_2012#realmworks), we announced that Realm Works will be released in July 2013.

As you'll see in the newsletter, we're going to be announcing a Kickstarter so we can pack even more features into the initial release. As part of the Kickstarter, there will also be the chance for backers to get pre-release access to Realm Works. We'll be providing more detail as soon as the Kickstarter is ready to go.

We have not yet established the cost for purchasing Realm Works when it is released. We'll provide information on this closer to the release date.

mirtos
January 4th, 2013, 11:50 AM
Hi!

In our last newsletter (http://www.wolflair.com/index.php?context=newsletter&page=december_2012#realmworks), we announced that Realm Works will be released in July 2013.

As you'll see in the newsletter, we're going to be announcing a Kickstarter so we can pack even more features into the initial release. As part of the Kickstarter, there will also be the chance for backers to get pre-release access to Realm Works. We'll be providing more detail as soon as the Kickstarter is ready to go.

We have not yet established the cost for purchasing Realm Works when it is released. We'll provide information on this closer to the release date.

Do you have to do kickstarter? the problem with kickstarter is its all or nothing. Is indiegogo an option?

rob
January 4th, 2013, 03:02 PM
@karpomatic: The biggest delay has been due to wanting to get this thing right. We're doing stuff with Realm Works that nobody has done before. So we've been getting lots of great feedback from the pilot testing team on what we've missed and how we could do things better. We've made some major changes to the product based on that feedback. This process takes big chunks of time - much bigger than we anticipated - but the net result is a vastly better product in the end.

@karpomatic: At this point, all we have is "best guesses" regarding pricing. There are still major unknowns associated with server performance, bandwidth needs, and storage requirements - unknowns that significantly impact pricing. Those details should become clearer over the upcoming months, but we don't expect to know anything definitive until 2nd quarter.

@mirtos: Kickstarter makes most sense for our situation. If we don't succeed in the Kickstarter, Realm Works will still be rolling out in July - just without some cool features we really want to include. The reason for the Kickstarter is to pack in more features than our current staffing budget allows. To accomplish that objective, we need to hire additional staff. If only raise a small amount, we won't be able to hire somebody, so it won't actually accelerate anything. We really need to hit a minimum goal to make the extra hire and add the extra features. Based on that, Kickstarter works well. It also has the greatest visibility in the gaming community, so that's another feather in its cap for our purposes.

Hope this helps! And thanks for your patience!!

mirtos
January 4th, 2013, 10:47 PM
@karpomatic: The biggest delay has been due to wanting to get this thing right. We're doing stuff with Realm Works that nobody has done before. So we've been getting lots of great feedback from the pilot testing team on what we've missed and how we could do things better. We've made some major changes to the product based on that feedback. This process takes big chunks of time - much bigger than we anticipated - but the net result is a vastly better product in the end.

@karpomatic: At this point, all we have is "best guesses" regarding pricing. There are still major unknowns associated with server performance, bandwidth needs, and storage requirements - unknowns that significantly impact pricing. Those details should become clearer over the upcoming months, but we don't expect to know anything definitive until 2nd quarter.

@mirtos: Kickstarter makes most sense for our situation. If we don't succeed in the Kickstarter, Realm Works will still be rolling out in July - just without some cool features we really want to include. The reason for the Kickstarter is to pack in more features than our current staffing budget allows. To accomplish that objective, we need to hire additional staff. If only raise a small amount, we won't be able to hire somebody, so it won't actually accelerate anything. We really need to hit a minimum goal to make the extra hire and add the extra features. Based on that, Kickstarter works well. It also has the greatest visibility in the gaming community, so that's another feather in its cap for our purposes.

Hope this helps! And thanks for your patience!!

Fair enouh, i just know that only about 50% of kickstarter campaigns are actually succesful (its something ive spend a lot of time and effort looking into). .. and sometimes it can suck just missing your goal. Good luck on your campaign. FWIW, ive put together kickstarter videos for other people before, and if you want advice on that front feel free to contact me offline. (to be clear, im not asking to do the video, we live on opposite coasts, but i would like to offer any advice to help make the kickstarter campaign more succesful... after all, if its succesful, i get to buy a better product *grins*)

Fox Lee
January 6th, 2013, 11:10 PM
Fair enouh, i just know that only about 50% of kickstarter campaigns are actually succesful (its something ive spend a lot of time and effort looking into). .. and sometimes it can suck just missing your goal.
It may not be a problem in this case, since the Kickstarter is effectively all stretch goals. Since RW will launch with or without it, the actual goal for the Kickstarter project could pretty much be arbitrarily low - or rather, as low as the estimated cost of their most attainable stretch goal. Everthing after that is bonuses, for both us and LWD :D

Not that I know how they'll plan it - just considering one possibility that might ease your concerns.

Kendall-DM
January 7th, 2013, 07:39 PM
Oo, oo, Mr. Carter. Yeah, I would love to work on this project with you guys, I should throw my resume into the mix. Don't know much about cloud servers, but the rest sounds very much doable. I've been desperately wanting to move to Cali...

rob
January 8th, 2013, 04:11 AM
Shouldn't that be Mistah Kahtur?

Send away, Arnie. Just hope that Vinnie doesn't get there first. :)

All joking aside, definitely send me a resume via email - please *not* a PM if you want me to see it this year, since I never remember to look at those (I typically use email with these forums).

rob
January 8th, 2013, 04:18 AM
FWIW, ive put together kickstarter videos for other people before, and if you want advice on that front feel free to contact me offline. (to be clear, im not asking to do the video, we live on opposite coasts, but i would like to offer any advice to help make the kickstarter campaign more succesful... after all, if its succesful, i get to buy a better product *grins*)

Doing a good video is a huge timesink. I've been living that for awhile now. I'm still not finished with it, and we're striving to get this thing launched early next week. So I could run it past you, but there won't be an opportunity to do massive overhauls before we launch. I'll keep my fingers crossed it comes out reasonably well on the first cut. :)

Please send me your contact info via email at rob at wolflair dot com. If we've got time for revisions, I'll send it to you for feedback. Thanks!

mirtos
January 8th, 2013, 07:08 PM
Sent. I completely get the timesink issue.. completely get it.

Precisi
January 9th, 2013, 09:14 AM
I'll definitely be spreading the word once the Kickstart is up and running. :) :)

Ladyofdragons
January 10th, 2013, 05:55 AM
will there be any further inclusions of new beta testers before July? I either didn't make it into the first 2 rounds of beta testing or I never got the email, but I'm still dying to give this a try.

Last game session we were restarting our 16-year-running campaign after a two year break, and trying to sit there and remember all the statuses to get started again was painful. I had been hoping to get realm works before we started up again, and still hoping to possibly get a copy before I restart my own campaign in April.

rob
January 10th, 2013, 01:36 PM
Based on the current plan, there will be two options tied to the Kickstarter for getting access to Realm Works earlier than July. So stay tuned for those for details. :)

EberronKnight
January 10th, 2013, 07:36 PM
Based on the current plan, there will be two options tied to the Kickstarter for getting access to Realm Works earlier than July. So stay tuned for those for details. :)

You're killing me Rob, I keep checking KS everyday hoping to jump on this. I am so ready for the Realm Works KS!

EK

mirtos
January 10th, 2013, 08:48 PM
same here....

karpomatic
January 11th, 2013, 10:23 AM
Thanks for the honest responses. I absoultely love HL and if I had any programming talent I would offer my services. As it is I am confounded by boostraps and creating a prestige class in 3.5. I can only hope its not super expensive. RW seems to be the program of many RPGers dreams. I can't wait till July!

rob
January 11th, 2013, 01:32 PM
You're killing me Rob, I keep checking KS everyday hoping to jump on this. I am so ready for the Realm Works KS!

No need to keep checking KS daily. We'll absolutely be posting here when we have a concrete date for going live. We should be submitting to KS for review on Monday. <fingers crossed> After that, it will take a few days to get KS approval, plus any last-minute tweaks we want to make. So I'm guessing late next week at this point.

EberronKnight
January 12th, 2013, 09:58 AM
No need to keep checking KS daily. We'll absolutely be posting here when we have a concrete date for going live. We should be submitting to KS for review on Monday. <fingers crossed> After that, it will take a few days to get KS approval, plus any last-minute tweaks we want to make. So I'm guessing late next week at this point.

I know I don't have to check KS daily :) It just keeps me busy while I wait for the official news here. Very psyched for it that's all!

EK

EberronKnight
January 18th, 2013, 01:16 PM
I figured to wait as far "late week" as possible. :)

Hopefully the Kickstarter goes off this weekend?

EK

rob
January 18th, 2013, 02:13 PM
All the big pieces are in place, except one that is almost wrapped. We're also going through and re-checking all the details before launch. So I'm guessing either Monday or Tuesday for official launch of the KS.

I have to admit that I'm incredibly nervous. We've put so much work into the product - and the KS now. I hope we've done justice to the product with the way we're structuring the KS. <fingers crossed>