Will there be Lifetime Licenses available?

[jerrycnh]

I'm definitely not in for the million, of course.

But I happily purchased an ultimate license Fantasy Grounds for $150, and I could easily see doing up to $300 for a lifetime cloud subscription to Realm Works.

[daleperchn]

I was thinking in maybe a ballpark of around $250. Maybe a little more, because the $250 was for backers who paid early, so they got it at a slight discount. Maybe a little less, because the $250 backers also got early access, which would've been worth quite a bit to me. It's driving me crazy not being able to play around with it.

So what would people think if it's in the $200-300 range for top tier lifetime access?

And maybe they could offer a cheaper lifetime access at a lower tier as well, maybe in the $100-$150 range. I know it's hard to tell, without being able to play around with it, but just wondering what people's thoughts are.

And Lone Wolf, feel free to give your two cents...

[Grey Mage]

Definitely would be interested in this range...

[Aleslosh]

I would definitely have to wait until I had a chance to play around with the system, but I do not think that $100 - $300 (using the two tier explanation above to explain ranges) would be out of my ballpark if I really got hooked. For goodness sakes... I spend over $100 on a pair of shoes that only last for a year and half so the rationalization would be fairly easy.

Yes...yes...I did actually do a comparison between the cost of shoes and the potential cost of this software lifetime membership. (Ah well, recent purchase and all...lol)

[Aaron]

Shoes are for suckers, I wrap my feet in banana peels. Not only does it keep them soft and fragrant, it's also a balance improver.

Ehhh... Sorry all, I am feeling tired and slightly loopy this week. I think I am coming down with something.

On a more serious note, I like the idea of a lifetime buy-in, but it ultimately comes down to the economics of how expensive hosting the data and syncing computers will be. Which A, I have no knowledge of and B, wouldn't be my call anyway. I guess that's a long way of saying hang tight and I am sure someone more in the know will give you an answer eventually.

[Jaynay27]

Hey no way!
I paid for that lifetime/early access as a kickstarter only exclusive offer and no-one should be able to get lifetime access now, blah, blah, blah elitism etc.....just kidding.

As an Alpha Wolf I wouldn't mind the offer being extended, but the price should at least be the same as what we paid during the KS campaign, to be fair.
Yeah, we got early access, but it was late and we had to help iron out the bugs. Realistically I haven't started using RW in game yet because of these factors.

Still, the more the merrier I say.

[daleperchn]

Actually, according to what I saw on the main KS page, nothing was said about the lifetime access as being KS exclusive.

You could also argue that you were only supposed to get two months of early access, and you've actually gotten more than that. Many of us that are waiting would've been glad to help out with debuggng things. I know better than to get my hopes up too much about the stability of a product that is in Beta testing. You also got the nifty Alpha Wolf badge, and get to be listed as a supporter.

And I'm just playing devil's advocate. I'm not saying that it should be cheaper than $250. I actually think that $250 is a pretty fair price. . . Although it's hard to tell, without knowing more details about what's included in the highest tier, and without being able to actually play around with the software.

[Jaynay27]

@daleperchn - Yeah - I wasn't really serious (you knew that though).

I have played with the software a fair bit (probably less than some others) and consider the $250 to be money well spent (anticipating cloud access and player sharing).

Not everyone will be able to afford this or will want to, so tiered pricing if definitely the way to go, but for those who will use the program regularly it will be worth it IMHO.

What I am waiting to see is the pricing for actual game content from publishers/developers, which will be in addition to any costs incurred for the cloud access.
One of the main reasons I pushed myself to get the $250 together for lifetime cloud access is so that I don't have to pay ongoing monthly costs, and then pay again for any content, as that could turn out costly on a month to month basis.

Well hopefully 1.0 public release is not too far away and we will get some more info on pricing to see how it all fits together.

[daleperchn]

Yeah, I had picked up on that.

I was actually just reading about the extras that you guys get, along with the extra content that people can publish, and about the planned integration with VTTs (and D20 Pro in particular). Sigh, why do I torture myself and end up getting excited. . .

I noticed that their website still says that it's going to be available early 2014, so I'm trying to figure out what is the latest month that would qualify as "early". Professionally I'm a programmer, so I understand how easy it is to overlook the impact of bugs, and to be too optimistic on release dates, and what can be accomplished for a particular release. Still, it's hard to wait, and not second-guess things...

The sad thing is that I'm a grad student in my spare time, so I don't have a lot of free time. I just want the software now so that I can start entering information. I probably wouldn't actually be using it for gm'ing until Jan, 2015 at the earliest. And I'm in a dual-Master's program, so that's also assuming that I delay starting that second degree...

[Maidhc O Casain]

Originally Posted by Jaynay27

As an Alpha Wolf I wouldn't mind the offer being extended, but the price should at least be the same as what we paid during the KS campaign, to be fair.

. . . the more the merrier I say.

This, only I think it should be at least a little more expensive than it was during the Kickstarter. The lifetime "highest tier" cloud service was the entire reason I pledged at this level. Pre-release access and all of the stretch goals were available at a much lower pledge level, and the other stuff - badges and whatnot - are nice but not what I paid for.

Plus, there's the whole idea that taking a chance on a new product and "getting in on the ground floor" should be worth something. $250 was not easy for me to come up with at the time and within the time frame of the Kickstarter. It would have been MUCH easier to sock away a few bucks a week over the next six months. But I chose to give up a few things with the idea that I was getting a reward for taking that chance. If it turns out I could've gotten those things then and still gotten the lifetime cloud for the same price later I'm honestly gonna be a little upset. Flaming, rip-roaring mad? Nope, far from it. But it'll leave a bad taste.