New Pathfinder release - Pathfinder Bestiary I package now available!

[rob]

Originally Posted by seeks4truth

How do you justify the extra cost of $15 for the simple addition of monsters? To me the idea of Core is the Player's guide, DM guide, and monster manual (bestiary). Core should be covered by the initial $20 and the adventure paths should be extra. That would be a MUCH better licensing (money making) scheme.

The Bestiary add-on is completely optional. Hero Lab includes all the mechanics to create your own creatures, and you can create whatever creatures out of the Bestiary when you need them. So you already have those capabilities in the core data files.

The value of the Bestiary add-on package all depends on how much money versus free time that you've got. For lots of users, they want the convenience of having all the creatures accessible with a few mouse clicks, and they don't want to spend the time entering those creatures themselves, so the $15 is a worthwhile investment. But that's not going to be true for all users, and there's no requirement the Bestiary be purchased.

Originally Posted by seeks4truth

Either way, $15 is too much for an optional addon. Its only $5 shy of a complete Hero Lab module yet its only an add on book for Pathfinder. Oh, I can add it to d20? Still not a value to me. This would be a much better sell if you used the scheme I mentioned above or this "module" was priced at $10. Maybe if you had put in more features geared towards a GM (NPC generators, encounter calcs, etc.) and packaged it as a GM module for Pathfinder, THEN, maybe I could see it being worth $15.

Everybody has their own cost/value comparison that they make for any product in existence. The only way we can make everyone happy is to make it free, but we have mortgages that need to be paid and the like. Things like the core data files are useful to *all* users, while the Bestiary is only useful to a small subset - GMs. Our goal with the Bestiary pricing is to make it a worthwhile value to the majority of Pathfinder GMs. Based on the comments we've received thus far, we've succeeded in that goal. For some users, they'll choose to skip on the Bestiary and add the creatures themselves, which is a perfectly valid option. For many more, the Bestiary add-on will be worth the investment.

[Baraccus]

I purchased the add on the day it was released and, I for one, think that it was well worth it. Great job! I know it was a lot of work. There are a few minor issues I see with the import to d20pro (which I brought forward to the d20 guys) that someone is going to need to sort out, but over all...Fantastic Job.

[chiefweasel]

ok, call me stupid, but I cant find the link to buy the Beatiary. Can someone post it please.

[Virtue]

Hey why cant I copy and edit the monsters from the bestiary in the Editor? (just learning to use the editor so I might be jacking somthing up)

[rob]

Originally Posted by chiefweasel

ok, call me stupid, but I cant find the link to buy the Beatiary. Can someone post it please.

From within Hero Lab, go to the License menu and select the Purchase Data Package option. Once you login with your license, you'll be shown the various options that are available and purchase the ones you want.

[seeks4truth]

Originally Posted by rob

The value of the Bestiary add-on package all depends on how much money versus free time that you've got. For lots of users, they want the convenience of having all the creatures accessible with a few mouse clicks, and they don't want to spend the time entering those creatures themselves, so the $15 is a worthwhile investment. But that's not going to be true for all users, and there's no requirement the Bestiary be purchased.

Thanks, Rob, for your response. I understand it is optional and I do understand that your team put a lot of work into this optional product.
I was merely expressing my opinion on the matter. I am a big supporter of capitalism and by no means think all your products should be free. I simply would have like to see it priced differently is all and clearly I am in the minority.
To be clear, I do enjoy the simplistic interface hero lab provides and the time savings it provides and promote Hero Lab any chance I get. Thus, GREAT work on the product so far and I guess I'll have to do a lot of thinking on whether the Bestiary and future add-ons will be worth the time and money.

Do you think that the Advanced Player's Guide will be considered an add-on when it is converted to Hero Lab?

[Mathias]

Originally Posted by Virtue

Hey why cant I copy and edit the monsters from the bestiary in the Editor? (just learning to use the editor so I might be jacking somthing up)

The contents of an add-on package can't be copied and saved.

[Virtue]

Originally Posted by Mathias

The contents of an add-on package can't be copied and saved.

What is the reason for this I want to make all age levels of the dragons since you guys only put three for each but It will take me forever without being able to copy the original dragons

and alot of abilities that I maybe could copy and edit now I cant

[Mathias]

Once a thing is copied, the information linking it to its package is lost.

Adding the dragon age categories that didn't have Bestiary statblocks is of course on my to-do list, but it may be a while before I get to that.

[Virtue]

Yeah because some of thouse Age catagories have special abilities that advancing them wont give them.

Are you guys going to do a servey on what we would like to see you guys do next on Pathfinder or are you guys going to tell what the plans on until the APG is ready to go