Realm Works 1.0.26 and 1.0.27 Now Available!

Aside: In case you're wondering, yes, you can turn off Signatures in the User Control Panel. (Edit Options, Thread Display Options.)

Sadly, I don't have anything else to say about the thread topic or diversion into update day. (I already posted my preference.)

I really like Friday releases as it gives me a new toy for the weekend. But I also want to respect the LWD team's time off. If something goes sideways on a weekend, they have always sacrificed their personal time to fix it. Please, always make time for family and relaxation. That might mean Mon/Tue releases....

Have to say I'm with Parody on this one.
I would add that more often than not the updates are required or are revisited due to unforeseen problems after there release. a Monday / Tuesday release would better mitigate this impact to the end user.

Since LWD has a habit of missed or extended dates of releases with little to no notice as to when they will actually occur, I would find it annoying to open RW on a game day only to find " I have to download the update to even use it".

Dark Lord Galen said:

Since LWD has a habit of missed or extended dates of releases with little to no notice as to when they will actually occur, ...

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That's actually a good point that's easier to overlook if you're a developer or in the Beta group. Those of us who aren't in those groups normally have no idea when an update will come, so the devs shouldn't feel rushed to "get it out this week" because of missed expectations on our part. We don't have any!

On the flip side, we don't know what all conventions and other events LWD is attending either. When I last worked on a retail project, our trade show demos were usually running an older build. The advantage there was not having a server component, so we just had to give lead time to let marketing come up with files that showed whatever features they wanted to emphasize. (Or, as is often the case, lie about having. :(

Dark Lord Galen said:

Have to say I'm with Parody on this one.
I would add that more often than not the updates are required or are revisited due to unforeseen problems after there release. a Monday / Tuesday release would better mitigate this impact to the end user.

Since LWD has a habit of missed or extended dates of releases with little to no notice as to when they will actually occur, I would find it annoying to open RW on a game day only to find " I have to download the update to even use it".

Click to expand...

DLG, the majority of the releases should have a work offline button option. Would that not work for you if you want to wait to update?

liz said:

DLG, the majority of the releases should have a work offline button option. Would that not work for you if you want to wait to update?

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That's fine, unless you use a different computer for game day and didn't bring a manual backup of your current database. My gaming groups don't meet at my house, and I have a very nice desktop machine where I do most of my work rather than using a laptop. (Others have posted that they also use multiple machines.)

On our parts, we should all learn to sync more often and make manual backups before game day. The eventual Web client would mitigate things somewhat, unless you use Player View.

Parody said:

On our parts, we should all learn to sync more often and make manual backups before game day.

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Or just sync after you've finished working on the realm on your main PC, rather than waiting until an hour or so before game time.

Isn't that "sync more often"? :)

liz said:

DLG, the majority of the releases should have a work offline button option. Would that not work for you if you want to wait to update?

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Miss Liz, yes, that does work, partly / mostly....

As Parody points out some (not all of us) do work on one machine and game on another.
I often am on the road for work and utilize my airport wait time to do my game planning. Which is the "supposed flexibility" of RW.

While the majority of updates have the button, not all do. To clarify, it is those I make main reference to. Without notice we, the DM end product users, have no means to plan for it, and such cases render doing those "updates" at the game table which is hazardous at best. The problem is further amplified with the Player version because players often update just prior to game sessions to get the changes from the previous session (that I have made during the week). So working "offline" leaves them without latest info unless they do the update.
There's no simple solution, but the one that would probably please most would be a Monday / Tuesday release with the option to not have to do so & not being forced into an update at what ever time LWD gets around to releasing. I realize as a passive programmer that there are times you want all to be running the latest build. It is also to that I am addressing. If there is going to be a mandatory update, it could be better planed just as your server outages.

Just as Herolab flags updates you can choose to do them or not. And just as your latest server outage, LWD actually managed to announce on "the night of.....the server will be down to move location" That seemed to have worked without any "apparent" issues (at least from the public side). It is these type of transparent communications that are productive and helpful.

If I know on Thursday the server will be down, I plan accordingly... If I know that a mandatory update for the latest build is on Thursday .... I can plan accordingly. I would also suggest that this announcement be integrated into the mail system that way all users are aware, DMs & Players....

My two CP
DLG

A day's notice for patches with full patch notes in the forums would be helpful.

There's a big difference in our confidence levels between "bug fixes only this time" versus "rolling out both calendars and printing in this update". The former I'd install right away and expect no issues. The latter I'd smile till it hurt and then hold my breath...and if I was going to have a game that week I'd watch the forums rather than install.