I still think a way to save characters and having a "reader" portion or app of HLO would be preferable, a way to have a character sheet without having to be tethered to being online.

Having to access the app online then have a holding pattern for offline use is not going to have a way to access characters when having no access to the net. The print out should have all the info needed to play the character, but it is missing some things with the Organized Play such as Factions that the character is in, what nationality the human character is, and what school training the character has and what points are put into where.

The format is also off, having the Starfinder Stamina and Hit Points in the wrong spots and having the PF2 stat scores in very tiny print at the side.

Really, one needs to write down the info that is missing once the sheet is printed.

Hopefully, this will improve over time, but it is a concern for the current use of the app.

A friend of mine uses HLO to play Starfinder and aside from the lack of ship stuff the last time we played, she was fairly happy with it. The character creator itself works pretty well and better device portability is a big plus.

But, of the three cons I played Pathfinder at last year, two of them had no or very poor Internet. For my PF1 games I used Hero Lab Classic, and for my PF2 games I used... paper. That might cease to be a problem one day (either because everywhere has good connectivity or an offline mode appears), but it's an issue right now.

The licensing is also an issue since the website says you need to pay for content and also for access (although I learned form this thread they haven't bee charging that), and that just doesn't sit well with a lot of people. I know I'd much prefer an all-in subscription that includes all the content for the game for so long as I'm subscribed.

That would obviously cost more per month, but then I'm not thinking about separate purchases of content and such and there's little upfront cost to get going in a new game. Whereas right now I'm looking at the rule system purchase, plus backgrounds from the AP in question, plus any extra books I need abilities from, plus the subscription fee (at some point). As opposed to "oh HLO for PF2 costs $4/month and I can make my character immediately and start playing." That's a very low barrier to entry and it's relatively easy to get someone to start using it, at which point they're a lot more likely to keep it.

It also makes it a lot easier if my wife (who plays in some of the same campaigns as me) wants to use it as well, because that's just an extra sub for her instead of paying this large upfront cost twice, which frankly we can't afford (a concurrent use license for HLO would help that with the current pricing, but that also doesn't exist right now).

Those two things are what keep me from using it, at the end of the day. SaaS products tend to have zero to no upfront cost and make their money on the fees (imagine having to buy Word, Excel, and Powerpoint on top of paying for Office 365!). I really hope HLO looks at the pricing model they're using now and adjusts it to something simpler, I think it'd help a lot.

This morning's maintenance is a prime example of why an offline mode is absolutely mandatory before I would recommend someone pay for HLO. If the service is unavailable for any reason (whether at the host or because local conditions preclude access) then a scheduled game session is suddenly cancelled. I hadn't noticed the announcement and just went to update a character, and found I couldn't for an hour. In this case it's a minor inconvenience, but if I had a game scheduled, I would be unable to play if I used HLO as my primary source.

This is an honest question that I haven't seen answered: How can LW consider this product usable for live, in-game play if there is no facility for an offline mode for these circumstances? The circumstance will just become worse when they try to get people to adopt the Campaigns module, as then the GM will be tied to web access as well.

Hlo
 

I have purchased both PF2 as well as Starfinder and the absolute killer for me is the fact that it updates the server with just about everything you do. Its It's extremely frustrating for me to have it pausing for a second or three every time I make even the tiniest changes. I unfortunately quit using both rather quickly after purchasing as did the other person in our group who had purchased both as well (although he quit using it for different reasons)

The response time has improved as the team makes improvements, but even classic has some pauses between tabs at some points with so much information being processed.

From my perspective, it isn't immediately apparent that there is other areas needed to go into from the beginning page, to choose other choices that won't come up in the main. Once going through it, one can fumble through, but the first glance makes for a frustrating few minutes before realizing the added information needed is in different sections of the App.