Realm Works Player Edition Update

[mirtos]

most of mine prefer paper. Sortof. They design their own character sheets, but like having the print outs. i guess it depends on how long you've been playing.

And i understand wanting to keep a gaming table laptop free.

[Ladyofdragons]

Originally Posted by ruhar

I didn't realize there were players who didn't want to join the electronic age. I guess I'm pretty lucky, most of my players use their laptops. Only one prefers paper, though he finally broke down and got Hero Lab, and one doesn't have a laptop.

It's not so much not wanting to be electronic, just not wanting to pay for it. Humorously the one who said pay tools were not "worth it" is in IT. For his campaign he uses a wiki for campaign data and an online character sheet to collect characters from players.

I'm more the type to invest in expansion books and tools for our group, though at $120+ for hero lab data packages just for pathfinder, plus the price of the books themselves, plus the cost of RW, I have to admit he has a tad of a point. I do not make this a cheap hobby.

[Exmortis]

Originally Posted by Ladyofdragons

It's not so much not wanting to be electronic, just not wanting to pay for it. Humorously the one who said pay tools were not "worth it" is in IT. For his campaign he uses a wiki for campaign data and an online character sheet to collect characters from players.

I'm more the type to invest in expansion books and tools for our group, though at $120+ for hero lab data packages just for pathfinder, plus the price of the books themselves, plus the cost of RW, I have to admit he has a tad of a point. I do not make this a cheap hobby.

Every hobby has a cost, and seriously anyone who thinks they are free needs to step back and take a good look at the world around them. No hobby is free, some are far more expensive than others, I have a tremendous amount invested in fishing, far more than I have ever spent on D&D Basic to Pathfinder now, including the fact I just bought a Surface Pro 3 for running HL almost exclusively.

However saying that I understand the need to keep it all within budget and reason, even if I often lack that on a day to day basis. My entire group uses laptops, and HL with exception of one player not using HL, though I believe before the end of the year he will convert.

For my campaign he will have to buy HL or sit out, also he will have to buy Player view for RW. I am building a custom campaign with custom races, spells, gods, etc all loosely based on the world of Telon. I am already 100+ hours down range, not to mention buying add-ons for HL and buying RW to make sure I deliver the best possible experience. I have an HL user file done now for everyone to use, eveyrhting is predone for them (man is HL great or what!!). I do not believe it is too much to ask, that a player buy HL and RW player view. Now my group is 40+ all with solid employment, so I understand that does change things, we are blessed and lucky. As a GM I spend far more than any player, I own every book, every bestiary, every HL add-on from paizo, etc. to ensure I deliver the best player experience possible, but for this I also have some expectations to my players. I also do not think that is unreasonable.

As a GM I have always invest more money, time and effort than players, its part of the job, I accept this as reality. However I thik its fair GMs have expectations on players as well, and that will include some money to be spent.

You can certainly play and have great fun for less than I have invested, but when it comes to your hobby and enjoyment, I am less inclined to worry about cost, when it enhances that which makes life wonderful. We all work, we all eat, sleep have crappy responsibilities. So when you have the time to enjoy that which we do for the pure fun and enjoyment of it? Why cheap out? In my humble opinion your only cheating yourself, cheating your self of what makes life worth living....Hobbies we do for the sake of fun and enjoyment, for the sake of our own state of mind....

[Exmortis]

Originally Posted by mirtos

most of mine prefer paper. Sortof. They design their own character sheets, but like having the print outs. i guess it depends on how long you've been playing.

And i understand wanting to keep a gaming table laptop free.

I have found, this again is just myself and our group, that the change to having laptops and electronic gaming aids has improved the game. I found that players have far less errors, the gaming play goes smoother with easier access to information.

I also waste less paper, as we so rarely print anything anymore.

I have been playing since D&D basic edition was the shiznat, maybe I am living proof you can teach old dogs new tricks?

[Venger]

Hello
My 2 cents worth here.

At first, I wasn't too interested in the Player Edition. I use RW to manage my realm and thats really all I needed.

We play live (as opposed to online) and I display(ed) maps out of my laptop's external video port. Well my video card is dying, and I can only run in Safe mode with network support. Hence, the drivers for external video do not load.

I'm saving for another laptop but a purchase won't be possible for months. But, another solution comes to mind.

Once the Player Edition is released I will buy a copy and have it installed on one of my player's laptops so I can run the game off my laptop and he will manage the player client and display to the TV from his laptop.

Sooo consider this a poke to release the Player Edition soon

[Farling]

Originally Posted by Venger

Hello
Once the Player Edition is released I will buy a copy and have it installed on one of my player's laptops so I can run the game off my laptop and he will manage the player client and display to the TV from his laptop.

Sooo consider this a poke to release the Player Edition soon

I hope you realise that the Player Edition isn't a live copy of the realm. The GM will have to sync his changes to the server, and then the player will have to sync his realm with the server, before the player can display it on his screen.

[EightBitz]

I don't understand why people expect free software. I love free software, but when I find a free application that does something I want, I feel grateful rather than entitled.

Yeah, it's a lot to buy the Hero Lab stuff for Pathfinder. But you only really have to buy the core package. All the expansions, you can have those for free if you do all the coding and data entry yourself.

Considering all the time it would take for you to do that yourself puts that $120 in perspective, right?

Even with that, though, you only need the core package to play. You don't need all the expansions. If you're buying those books, though, how much are you spending for those?

[EightBitz]

Any group I've played with, give us a first edition AD&D player's handbook and DMG, and we'll have fun. One of the guys I play with started with the three original pamphlets. I'm not coming down on all the expansions, but get some perspective. If you have the core rulebook and core data package, you're already much more advanced than many of us were when we started. Remember that the point of gaming is to have fun, not to have all everythang.

[MaxSupernova]

>Every hobby has a cost, and seriously anyone who thinks they are free needs to step back and take a good look at the world around them. No hobby is free

>Why cheap out? In my humble opinion your only cheating yourself, cheating your self of what makes life worth living....Hobbies we do for the sake of fun and enjoyment, for the sake of our own state of mind....

We've been playing D6 Space and FUDGE almost exclusively for years now. We've played many different campaigns in different genres and with different GMs and wildly differing styles. Haven't paid a cent for any of it.

We've had a great amount of fun and while I don't do this because I *can't* pay for it, why would I if I don't need to?

I'm not "cheaping out". I'm not spending money that doesn't need to be spent. Horses for courses.

[MaxSupernova]

My paying for RW was an attempt to bring some order to my GM notes, not really as an actual at-the-table gaming tool. If my players can have free web access to my notes, then I'll probably use that ability, but we likely won't be paying for the player version, especially given the timeframe of product rollout and feature completeness.

It's coming up on a year since I started waiting for the base product (remember the "What does 'Fall 2013' mean exactly?" threads?) and I'm still limited by promised features that are not implemented. If we purchase the player version it will be after I'm confident that the product is indeed complete enough to execute everything that I want to do with it, not just that these features are "scheduled".