Addressing @adzling, His Demeanor, and the Points He Raises

[Gord]

As usual, a very well thought out explanation and rebuttal Rob. Like just about everybody else on the forums, I have my own issues with certain aspects of the software. I also realize that some of these issues are particular to the way I do things and to the lack of effort I have put in to utilize some sections properly. The learning curve is moderately steep but I can at least do something for my game while I am figuring out how things should be done. (Much easier of more use than software like Photoshop or Campaign Cartographer for me, in any case).

The reality is that the $50.00 purchase price is an amazing deal when you actually use the software. If you don't like it, you can get your money back, which is not something you can do after a bad movie or meal that cost you the same. Most good software companies give you a week or two to try things out. You give 60 days (if I remember correctly). The investment per hour of enjoyment I have had out of using RW is immense. Admittedly, I got it for free as a beta tester but I also put in $100 when the kickstarter came out just to support it. I know you said that beta testers got it for free and would continue to do so but my conscience wouldn't let me do this.

I'm sure that some comments in forums or perhaps review bother you. (and I'm aware that most comments are from people who love RW but are frustrated at the moment). It is no different for me when I see a bad review about our store because somebody thinks that I should match Amazon discounts and give free shipping. Sometimes there is a good point in all the cruft of a review like that and that is what I try to take from it. Most of my customers love what we do and rave about the store. It is the same with yours. Don't ever forget it. You are one of the most intelligent and enthusiastic people I have ever met when you talk about what you are doing. Keep it up.

There are a few people who I don't see at trade shows any more and I'm sadder because of it. You are one of them.

Gord (The Sentry Box)

[JustinThomason]

I'd say the comparison to a tool like Photoshop is really on point. Realm Works is not a tool that you can just pick up and use - you have to invest some time in learning how it works.

I know from my experience, taking the time to watch the tutorial videos and reading through the manual were a good investment of time. Much like Photoshop, there is no way to shortcut the time needed to master the interface. Unfortunately, unlike Photoshop there isn't really a good way to learn individual pieces. For Photoshop you can find tutorials that teach you individual tools and tool sets that build up the user's knowledge over time.

I think the biggest barrier to Realm Works is the problem of the blank canvas. There are many options and ways of doing things it leads to paralysis. I think having the Market available to acquire and share content will greatly facilitate learning the program. Being able to see concrete examples of how other people approached their prep will be of great value to new users starting out.

And if I know this community, there will be a lot of awesome content shared for free to help with exactly this sort of thing.

[Chemlak]

Got to agree with Gord and Justin. RW is a complex tool with an admittedly sharp learning curve. I'm no stranger to software like that: I use Campaign Cartographer, too, and hoo-boy was that a tough cookie to even scratch the surface on.

My wife is standing next to me as I write this, and she mentioned that as a player with RW:PE, she finds it an absolute doddle to use - some of that is because the software is easy to figure out, and some of that is because I, the GM, put in the effort to make a cohesive Realm.

I won't harp on about things, though I could, but I agree with what Rob says, because I've taken the time to learn at least the basics (I'm by no means a RW power-user!) and spend some time playing around seeing how I can construct things to suit me. I can see that RW is able to handle not just my style, but probably any style of GM Campaign Management out there. No, it might not be perfect for any particular vision, but it's flat-out the best tool that exists for every vision.

[ReddofNonnac]

I just wanted to chime in with my vote of support as well for what it's worth . I was tentative at first but I watched the videos and decided to give it a shot. I have to say at first I had the 'where the **** do I start?' moment looking at everything and reading the PDFs but I just started small entering a few NPCs in and expanded from there as I learned the program. Now I love the program, I'm still figuring things out but I love the ability to link events, people, and places together so that I don't have to search though various notes/word docs/excel spreadsheets so when someone asks I can just immediately bring up the info.

Are there things that could be improved? With this type of software and it being recently released there always are. I would love the ability to recheck for links for the entire realm given how I seem to be using the 'scatter brained effect' to entering data but I know you guys are working hard on quashing bugs and improving the product. This is one of those types products that is very involved and as you said has to work for multiple GM styles.

Rob I appreciate all of your well thought out comments on the forums, it gives me confidence and hopefully a lot of other people confidence as well in Realm Works.

[Farling]

Originally Posted by JustinThomason

I think the biggest barrier to Realm Works is the problem of the blank canvas. There are many options and ways of doing things it leads to paralysis. I think having the Market available to acquire and share content will greatly facilitate learning the program. Being able to see concrete examples of how other people approached their prep will be of great value to new users starting out.

Section 1 "Getting Started" of the Realm Works World Builder's Guide (pdf) is your best friend here. It describes 5 different possible approaches to building your world - the choice is up to you.

[Grey Mage]

It is nice to see a moderator taking the time (especially when his own is so constrained) to address not only issues but the method in which those issues are conveyed.

RW is an iceberg of a program. And getting bigger (beneath the surface) all the time. Each update brings small things to us as users and every few updates we get a big one...

Rob, Liz, all the other members of the Academy (errr... I mean LWD team) thank you for the time and effort so far. I eagerly await the arrival of the rest of the iceberg!

[Zaphod Beebledoc]

Originally Posted by Grey Mage

Rob, Liz, all the other members of the Academy (errr... I mean LWD team) thank you for the time and effort so far. I eagerly await the arrival of the rest of the iceberg!

See now all I've got in my head is the image of some PC's scrabbling up the sloping deck of the Titanic, after hitting (insert your own thing), with James Horners soundtrack playing in the background.

[adzling]

1). Ugh, I'm sorry i upset you and the community so much you had to spend to so much time responding to my posts. It's a waste of your time.

2). Mea Culpa. My posts were borne of frustration with the interface and I did not consider how they would impact others. I was raging against the ether.

3). I do think you have to work on easier entry points for beginners and the U.I. is a big component of this. I also appreciate that the needs of the noob should not eclipse the needs of the expert but these elements can live alongside one another.

4). I do think you guys are hardworking, honest, engaged developers trying to do something very difficult (build software for a tiny, fragmented market) and your challenges are legion. I own both Realmworks and Herolab and use both heavily. I am getting my players to purchase the Player edition to get the most out of it. I appreciate your products and your dedication.

5). Hey I learned a whole lot from your series of posts above. Your business model makes a whole lot more sense to me now.

6). Good luck with your future endeavors, I'm looking forward to the web interface.

[monsterfurby]

Very interesting response @rob - having been increasingly critical of the software, I appreciate the clarity and transparency. Of course, it can't be all things to all people, but the key challenge here seems to be balancing pure value (i.e. developing UI and customizability) against business considerations (i.e. content market). Then again, prioritizing the feature that gives both - viable business and value for the majority of users - seems sensible.

A question mark on the business model part though, Rob: as someone having worked in the industry and still maintaining contact with quite a few people who I believe have a fairly good understanding of more recent developments, I'd be interested in where the idea that people want pre-written content is coming from. That's still somewhat true in the American market - the largest one by several degrees of magnitude, admittedly - but does indeed miss the reality of gaming groups here in Europe. Even in the US, the tendency seems to be going more towards custom content with universal systems. The only space where published content is really going to thrive is going to remain online (because groups are generally lower-commitment affairs there, though Fantasy Grounds suffered heavily from bad customizability and an over-reliance on published content). Of course, the sample of people using the software right now is skewed towards the latter and I'm sure you guys have done your homework there, but I'm a bit worried that while the strategy as a whole is sound, the underlying assumptions especially methodically [via the surveys] still bear a degree of uncertainty.

I could make my obligatory point about Roll20-API-integration being able to open up a whole new target group, but just consider that my "ceterum censeo carthaginem esse delendam"

[Parody]

Originally Posted by monsterfurby

I'd be interested in where the idea that people want pre-written content is coming from. That's still somewhat true in the American market - the largest one by several degrees of magnitude, admittedly - but does indeed miss the reality of gaming groups here in Europe. Even in the US, the tendency seems to be going more towards custom content with universal systems.

I only have anecdotal information from the US, of course, but I can point at a few things:

For at least 10 years, my various home gaming groups have been based on pre-written content in not-really-universal systems. Working backwards through time: Pathfinder, Shadowrun 3rd, D&D 3.5, Hackmaster 4th, AD&D 2nd, Shadowrun 4th (very short), D&D 3.0. Then you hit Gear Krieg, whose adventures I believe were written by the GM. It's not far past that where I was in a Feng Shui game with rotating GMs and self-written adventures, but that puts me back into the 90s or very early 2000s.

In the last few years I've GMed both pre-written (in Pathfinder) and self-written (in Paranoia) adventures. The majority of my GMing has been Pathfinder, both in a home game and in Society. The last home campaign I ran was Kingmaker, one of Paizo's Adventure Paths.

Nobody I know runs using a truly universal system. As you can tell from the above I don't really consider D&D 3.x/Pathfinder a universal system at this point, and neither do the other GMs I know. Even if you discount that, nobody I know runs using any system that's more universal about their system, so to speak. (Ex: GURPS, Fate, Savage Worlds.)

Paizo's website isn't working for me right now (I keep getting the "too many accesses" error), but I believe I've read that the monthly Adventure Path has long been their biggest seller and that Pathfinder was created so they'd have a system in print for which to produce AP issues. (My guess is that this'd be in the company retrospective blog posts from not too long ago?)

The practical upshot of all this is that I can easily believe that pre-written content is likely to be the major sales driver even if that's not everyone's experience. Whether that's how it works out is yet to be seen; selling a new content platform is hard. It should be interesting, though!

PS: I hear Realm Works is already decent at helping you create that custom content for your home campaign in a universal system. ;)