Reality Check

[karpomatic]

Now that its no longer 'Late 2012' and is now 'early 2013' I had a few questions.

1. Is there a realistic release time frame for Realm Works and if so, what is it?

2. Is there any idea of how much its going to cost?

I've been waiting since you announced this project and would just like some clear answers. Thanks!

[John]

Hi!

In our last newsletter, we announced that Realm Works will be released in July 2013.

As you'll see in the newsletter, we're going to be announcing a Kickstarter so we can pack even more features into the initial release. As part of the Kickstarter, there will also be the chance for backers to get pre-release access to Realm Works. We'll be providing more detail as soon as the Kickstarter is ready to go.

We have not yet established the cost for purchasing Realm Works when it is released. We'll provide information on this closer to the release date.

[mirtos]

Originally Posted by John

Hi!

In our last newsletter, we announced that Realm Works will be released in July 2013.

As you'll see in the newsletter, we're going to be announcing a Kickstarter so we can pack even more features into the initial release. As part of the Kickstarter, there will also be the chance for backers to get pre-release access to Realm Works. We'll be providing more detail as soon as the Kickstarter is ready to go.

We have not yet established the cost for purchasing Realm Works when it is released. We'll provide information on this closer to the release date.

Do you have to do kickstarter? the problem with kickstarter is its all or nothing. Is indiegogo an option?

[rob]

@karpomatic: The biggest delay has been due to wanting to get this thing right. We're doing stuff with Realm Works that nobody has done before. So we've been getting lots of great feedback from the pilot testing team on what we've missed and how we could do things better. We've made some major changes to the product based on that feedback. This process takes big chunks of time - much bigger than we anticipated - but the net result is a vastly better product in the end.

@karpomatic: At this point, all we have is "best guesses" regarding pricing. There are still major unknowns associated with server performance, bandwidth needs, and storage requirements - unknowns that significantly impact pricing. Those details should become clearer over the upcoming months, but we don't expect to know anything definitive until 2nd quarter.

@mirtos: Kickstarter makes most sense for our situation. If we don't succeed in the Kickstarter, Realm Works will still be rolling out in July - just without some cool features we really want to include. The reason for the Kickstarter is to pack in more features than our current staffing budget allows. To accomplish that objective, we need to hire additional staff. If only raise a small amount, we won't be able to hire somebody, so it won't actually accelerate anything. We really need to hit a minimum goal to make the extra hire and add the extra features. Based on that, Kickstarter works well. It also has the greatest visibility in the gaming community, so that's another feather in its cap for our purposes.

Hope this helps! And thanks for your patience!!

[mirtos]

Originally Posted by rob

@karpomatic: The biggest delay has been due to wanting to get this thing right. We're doing stuff with Realm Works that nobody has done before. So we've been getting lots of great feedback from the pilot testing team on what we've missed and how we could do things better. We've made some major changes to the product based on that feedback. This process takes big chunks of time - much bigger than we anticipated - but the net result is a vastly better product in the end.

@karpomatic: At this point, all we have is "best guesses" regarding pricing. There are still major unknowns associated with server performance, bandwidth needs, and storage requirements - unknowns that significantly impact pricing. Those details should become clearer over the upcoming months, but we don't expect to know anything definitive until 2nd quarter.

@mirtos: Kickstarter makes most sense for our situation. If we don't succeed in the Kickstarter, Realm Works will still be rolling out in July - just without some cool features we really want to include. The reason for the Kickstarter is to pack in more features than our current staffing budget allows. To accomplish that objective, we need to hire additional staff. If only raise a small amount, we won't be able to hire somebody, so it won't actually accelerate anything. We really need to hit a minimum goal to make the extra hire and add the extra features. Based on that, Kickstarter works well. It also has the greatest visibility in the gaming community, so that's another feather in its cap for our purposes.

Hope this helps! And thanks for your patience!!

Fair enouh, i just know that only about 50% of kickstarter campaigns are actually succesful (its something ive spend a lot of time and effort looking into). .. and sometimes it can suck just missing your goal. Good luck on your campaign. FWIW, ive put together kickstarter videos for other people before, and if you want advice on that front feel free to contact me offline. (to be clear, im not asking to do the video, we live on opposite coasts, but i would like to offer any advice to help make the kickstarter campaign more succesful... after all, if its succesful, i get to buy a better product *grins*)

[Fox Lee]

Originally Posted by mirtos

Fair enouh, i just know that only about 50% of kickstarter campaigns are actually succesful (its something ive spend a lot of time and effort looking into). .. and sometimes it can suck just missing your goal.

It may not be a problem in this case, since the Kickstarter is effectively all stretch goals. Since RW will launch with or without it, the actual goal for the Kickstarter project could pretty much be arbitrarily low - or rather, as low as the estimated cost of their most attainable stretch goal. Everthing after that is bonuses, for both us and LWD

Not that I know how they'll plan it - just considering one possibility that might ease your concerns.

[Kendall-DM]

Oo, oo, Mr. Carter. Yeah, I would love to work on this project with you guys, I should throw my resume into the mix. Don't know much about cloud servers, but the rest sounds very much doable. I've been desperately wanting to move to Cali...

[rob]

Shouldn't that be Mistah Kahtur?

Send away, Arnie. Just hope that Vinnie doesn't get there first.

All joking aside, definitely send me a resume via email - please *not* a PM if you want me to see it this year, since I never remember to look at those (I typically use email with these forums).

[rob]

Originally Posted by mirtos

FWIW, ive put together kickstarter videos for other people before, and if you want advice on that front feel free to contact me offline. (to be clear, im not asking to do the video, we live on opposite coasts, but i would like to offer any advice to help make the kickstarter campaign more succesful... after all, if its succesful, i get to buy a better product *grins*)

Doing a good video is a huge timesink. I've been living that for awhile now. I'm still not finished with it, and we're striving to get this thing launched early next week. So I could run it past you, but there won't be an opportunity to do massive overhauls before we launch. I'll keep my fingers crossed it comes out reasonably well on the first cut.

Please send me your contact info via email at rob at wolflair dot com. If we've got time for revisions, I'll send it to you for feedback. Thanks!

[mirtos]

Sent. I completely get the timesink issue.. completely get it.