Player Participation and the web version

[bnickelsen]

Will the players have more access to making note and sharing between user?
How far away is the web version?

[MaxSupernova]

"nobody actually needs that information until further down the line"

http://forums.wolflair.com/showpost....8&postcount=14

[bnickelsen]

Just saying, that the program as it sits is useless to me. my players won't touch it. I wasted my money so far.
As far as nobody needs to know,,, bull I need to know because I am looking for something that works now.
I like what this might be able to do, but in teh mean time I need something now. SO my question still stands, when.

I am guessing if they are that quite about it then likely the program is doomed. I am not going to sit and wait for something that might not happen.

[MaxSupernova]

I asked a question about web version capabilities for the same reason you did, and that's the response I got.

[MNBlockHead]

They have not been quiet about it. If you look at the entire thread for the post that MaxSupernova linked to, you'll see that Rob provided a great deal of information. The web version, however, is still in the early stages of development and they understandably want to be careful not to promise anything until they are sure they can deliver.

Yes, I would really like to know more about what the free Web version will support. I wish that they would give even more answers now. But the fact that they are careful about what information they release does not mean that "the program is doomed." It is actively developed, frequently updated, and supported by developers who openly engage with their customers.

Also, when you bought it, were you unclear about what functionality it provided? If it is useless to you, shouldn't you have known that before you bought it? If all you need is something to keep session notes, I think RealmWorks is overkill. Google Docs, Evernote, and other tools will do that just fine. RW's greatest benefit is helping GM build and track their campaigns. Currently, I'm not using RW to share any content with my players. It is still an invaluable GM tool for me.

[Farling]

Originally Posted by bnickelsen

Just saying, that the program as it sits is useless to me. my players won't touch it. I wasted my money so far.

The program's primary aim is to help the GM/ref manage his campaign information; not to share information with players.

[Viking2054]

Originally Posted by Farling

The program's primary aim is to help the GM/ref manage his campaign information; not to share information with players.

I would argue that the primary purpose of Realm Works is both for the GM to develop the game world and for the players to be able to refresh their memory as to revealed material by the GM. LWD's business model requires active GM's while they hope to rope in players in the campaigns of those active GM's as well.

Unfortunately for the OP, you will have to wait along with the rest of us for 'player made notes' and a myriad of other features we want to make it into Realm Works. But at least the program is being actively developed and the company is aware of our desires for the program.

[bnickelsen]

Originally Posted by MNBlockHead

They have not been quiet about it. If you look at the entire thread for the post that MaxSupernova linked to, you'll see that Rob provided a great deal of information. The web version, however, is still in the early stages of development and they understandably want to be careful not to promise anything until they are sure they can deliver.

Yes, I would really like to know more about what the free Web version will support. I wish that they would give even more answers now. But the fact that they are careful about what information they release does not mean that "the program is doomed." It is actively developed, frequently updated, and supported by developers who openly engage with their customers.

Also, when you bought it, were you unclear about what functionality it provided? If it is useless to you, shouldn't you have known that before you bought it? If all you need is something to keep session notes, I think RealmWorks is overkill. Google Docs, Evernote, and other tools will do that just fine. RW's greatest benefit is helping GM build and track their campaigns. Currently, I'm not using RW to share any content with my players. It is still an invaluable GM tool for me.

http://www.wolflair.com/realmworks/f...layer-edition/

[MNBlockHead]

What functionality do they describe on that page that is not available in the players addition? I don't want this to turn into an argument, I'm just not sure what makes it useless to you and your players. What did you expect it to do based on the web page that it does not do? Perhaps RW should update the language if it is misleading.

Why won't your players touch it? I agree that it would be nice if players could add their own notes to any revealed snippets and could choose to share or NOT share their notes with other players and the GM, but there is still a lot of value to having access to the revealed content. Certainly worth ten bucks. The cost is the same as two decent minis or one really nice mini. If five players pitch in, it is only $6 per player copy.

Also, why does it bother you that your players won't touch it? I'm happy to send my players an invite if they buy the players version, and I think they would benefit from having access to all the revealed info, but I don't care if they don't. Their having or not having the product doesn't affect my use of it.

Again, I don't mean to challenge your desired use of the product, especially if the marketing mislead you into thinking it would support your desired use, when it did not.

I would encourage you to get over your initial buyers remorse and give it one more chance before ditching it. One reason that I switched to RW from MasterPlan is that I (incorrectly) believed that RW supported multiple, custom-made calendars. I saw a video of a beta version of RW, quickly read over the feature list, and bought it. I experienced quite a bit of buyers remorse when I learned that that beta calendar functionality was removed and I was also a overwhelmed buy how to get started.

Since I couldn't return it, and hadn't found anything better, I decided to at least make a real effort to use it and after the initial learning curve, it has become an indispensable, daily tool for managing my campaign data. It may not do everything that I want (calendars, collaborative comments/notes on topics and articles), but it does so much else that I need and does it better than any other solution I've tried.

I do think that LWD should offer a demo or return policy. According to their FAQs the nature of the technology makes offering a demo difficult, but I'm not sure how that prevents a return policy. In LWD's defense, I don't think they are trying to trick people into buying the product. They offer demos of their other products and a return policy would probably be in their favor as it would encourage impulse buys, where the lack of demo or return policy probably drives some people away as they don't want to have to read a bunch of documentation and watch videos to see if it is something that would work for them.

[liz]

bnickelsen, I'm sorry to hear that Player Edition does not meet your (or your players needs) right now.

To be clear, there is a 60-day "no questions asked" return policy for Realm Works (as is the case for all of our products). This is explicitly stated in the license agreement that every user agrees to when purchasing the product.

I also encourage you to look at the whole post Rob wrote recently about the cloud service, not just the one post that MaxSupernova linked to. It provides a lot more detail. Additionally, you can get an idea of how some features are coming along here: http://www.wolflair.com/realmworks/2...ks-on-the-web/.