3rd Party - how does it work

[DeadOrc]

Hi,

Looking at 3rd party stuff such as http://www.enginepublishing.com/mask...leplaying-game

How does it work? When I buy form them, will it provide a Realms update?

- Richard.

[AEIOU]

If you buy the PDF, you probably still need to buy the RW version. Likewise, if you buy the RW version, you probably do not automatically get the PDF or print versions. If what you seek is also available for HeroLab, you have the opportunity to pay for the same thing 4 times. If you are very lucky and the content you seek is also offered for sale by your favorite VTT maker, you could actually buy it 5 times. Isn't capitalism fun?

[NeoEvaX]

I think the only thing we can hope for, at least in the long run, is a discount between HeroLab and the RW.. Everything else is pure Capitalism, as AEIOU said

[wurzel]

Originally Posted by AEIOU

If you buy the PDF, you probably still need to buy the RW version. Likewise, if you buy the RW version, you probably do not automatically get the PDF or print versions. If what you seek is also available for HeroLab, you have the opportunity to pay for the same thing 4 times. If you are very lucky and the content you seek is also offered for sale by your favorite VTT maker, you could actually buy it 5 times. Isn't capitalism fun?

Reading can sometimes be funny too. Engine Publishing states they have a "never buy content twice" policy on the site linked above. Although in that statement they only mention print and pdf, a declaration like that should include every form of content. And just a few lines below the are proud partners of RealmWorks... wait and see.

[DeadOrc]

Going to some of the 3rd parties listed on the site, I can't see RW listed as an option.....

[AEIOU]

@Wurzel: I read the OP as saying "such as" not "specifically" meaning in general for 3rd party publishers. My statement fits the current general practice for the majority of publishers that have material available on LWD software. Engine Publishing will be a welcome exception to the norm and I really look forward to receiving my hard copy and PDF from them.

@DeadOrc: Engine Publishing is the only one that I know of that lists RW support already. My guess for other publishers is that announcing early doesn't drive sales but rather would just result in support calls asking when folks can get it.

[Silveras]

First, until the Content Market is released, I doubt you will see much detail from any potential partners (as AEIOU mentioned observed).

The medium for delivery of any purchased content for RealmWorks is the Content Market.. it will almost certainly not be in the form of stand-alone files you can download from a partner's site. It may be a key that you can use to unlock content in the Content Market.. but that's just a guess... we won't know until the Content Market is available.

RealmWorks, as I have observed before, is a new medium for publishers to use. It is another alternative on the list of choices for the consumer... what was "Print or PDF" becomes "Print, PDF, or RealmWorks Realm".

Just as different publishers have different policies regarding Print and PDF products, they will need to decide how Realms fit into that. Some give a free PDF with on-line Print purchases.. some discount the PDF... some keep them totally separate. What worked for them with regard to PDFs and Print may not be the same decision as regards RealmWorks... in part because the process of preparing for Print and PDF is the same up to a point... then different formats of PDF are created for the print shop and the consumer. That won't be true of RealmWorks at all, so that will undoubtedly influence decisions about bundled purchases.

But the short answer remains "we won't know much until the Content Market is released".