Any recent updates on the progress of Content Market

[Dark Lord Galen]

Originally Posted by kbs666

An actual statement explaining why they're waiting for Paizo would go a long way as well. A lot of us would be much more content if we knew they had a contractual obligation.

Exactly..... Why does LWD 's world revolve around Paizo anyway? Talking with people I know in Paizo, this is certainly not the case. LWD is one of many......

[Bidmaron]

WotC will probably never license 5e because they don't want to threaten D&DB and any of their other digital dreams for their on-line content. Paizo is the next biggest game in town. Therefore....

[Dark Lord Galen]

Very True, but the ironic part is that in the "real world" the result is mostly exactly the opposite... WOC and sad to say, TSR back in the day, have the "corporate mentality" that if they constrict the supply and availability that its a cure to control the market, when in fact the reverse is usually true, especially when it comes to luring consumable income.

Having been a participant, supporter, writer, supplier and end product customer for nearly 40 years in the RPG / Gaming genre, we are, right now in a monumental upswing of RPG / Gaming choices.

Back in the Day you had companies like Mayfair, Judges Guild, etc supplying some niche elements, but wow look at all the choices now when examining the D20 OGL result... The list of good quality deverse gaming is at an alltime high.

It's ironic they can't seem to see the obvious, to restrict things to the point of isolation will mean that the masses (ie end customer) will utilize their disposable income (cause that's really where the $$ comes from) elsewhere.

When I wore a younger man's clothes, that's why we started gaming... we couldn't find a more economical means of entertainment for 10 people.

As to Niche companies like LWD, they are hitching their wagons to the wrong train.. IMO...
Gaming itself is a niche form of entertainment, and when your entire business model is a "niche of a niche" supporting that, it makes your market window very small.... The only reason that LWD has survived this long is the market is not in the downflux "lean" portion of the $$ window.

Don't misread what I mean. I hope they do survive and prosper. I know many of them and a few are even personal friends. Further I think it's a great conceptual idea that brings alot to helping me manage a game, but if they are struggling during the boon times... what happens when things (As they always do) swing towards bust?

Just a thought....
DLG

[MNBlockHead]

Originally Posted by Bidmaron

WotC will probably never license 5e because they don't want to threaten D&DB and any of their other digital dreams for their on-line content. Paizo is the next biggest game in town. Therefore....

WoTC is licensing 5e all over the place. While they have not budged on PDF versions of core 5e content, to the consternation of a large subset of the fandom, they have licensed out 5e in almost every other arena. From multiple online sources (D&D Beyond, Roll20, Fantasy Flight) to games aids for main APs (e.g., Beadle & Grimm), to clothing (e.g. Joe Manganiello's Death Save's line).

AFAIK, none of these companies have to connect their POS systems to WoTC's.

Never would have thought that I would see the day when Paizo looked more unreasonable and more of a poor partner than WoTC.

And, just a pet peeve of mine, but for those that don't know: DnD Beyond is NOT PART OF WOTC. DnD Beyond is owned by Twitch, which in turn is owned by Amazon.

WoTC is owned by Hasbro.

DnD Beyond is NOT the only digital source of Core Rules content for 5e. Roll20 and Fantasy Flight offer it as well. And NO, the fact that, e.g., Roll20 started as a VTT service, does not differentiate its offering so that you can argue that DnD Beyond is somehow an exclusive provider.

Roll20's new Compendium feature is an online, searchable, book with hyperlinked cross-references, just like D&D Beyond.

Given this, I see NO reason why WoTC would not make its content available for Realmworks other than:

1. Price (but why wouldn't LWD just offer it at a high price anyway, other companies have shown that there a good number of people who will pay)

2. WoTC doesn't trust RW's ability to protect their IP. The original excuse for the delay in the CM release was that content providers were not comfortable and LWD had to put in more anti-piracy measures (which also prevents the ability to print), but if Paizo is not comfortable, I would think it would be acceptable to WoTC as well.

3. Loyalty and/or contractual obligations to Paizo. LWD may be holding off on D&D content to focus on Pathfinder. I think this is the most likely reason.

I've never been a big consumer of Paizo products, but I've always admired how they ran their company and how they treated their fans. Also, I don't generally get too worked up over businesses making business decisions. They are not selling medicine or food. I can shrug my shoulders and not buy their product. Lots of other options out there for getting my game on.

But I can't help but resent Paizo over the long delay of the CM release.

[Valyar]

Originally Posted by MNBlockHead

But I can't help but resent Paizo over the long delay of the CM release.

This and the sheer surprise why LWD locked themselves in such legal agreement that literally killed their software's inertia... If this is the case it was not the best business decision. You always have to plan for the worst and be prepared.

[Toblakai]

Originally Posted by MNBlockHead

But I can't help but resent Paizo over the long delay of the CM release.

The Paizo link is to save RW users money. If a user has already bought the PDF from Paizo then LWD will charge less for the data package, and if user hasn't bought the PDF they will get the PDF added to their Paizo account.

Fantasy grounds does this also, I bought Strange Aeons AP #1 on FG and it only cost me $10 instead of the the $25 price because I already had the PDF.

Now why the FG link works and the LWD link does not is a mystery.

[MNBlockHead]

Originally Posted by Toblakai

The Paizo link is to save RW users money. If a user has already bought the PDF from Paizo then LWD will charge less for the data package, and if user hasn't bought the PDF they will get the PDF added to their Paizo account.

Fantasy grounds does this also, I bought Strange Aeons AP #1 on FG and it only cost me $10 instead of the the $25 price because I already had the PDF.

Now why the FG link works and the LWD link does not is a mystery.

Okay, well that's nice, but boy has it cost LWD a lot of goodwill.

[Rone]

Originally Posted by Bidmaron

Thanks, Rone for throwing us some bones, here. It would be really wonderful if that were to continue without us making a lot of noise. A little comms goes a long way, even if it is "Hey, we haven't forgotten about you guys, but we are still in a holding pattern with Paizo."

I do understand and I'm looking to help get us there, Bidmaron. Thank you for your comment. I've been wearing a couple of hats these first eight months on the job, but the company considers communication priority enough that they've recently made it easier for me to have the time to contribute in that area.

Big ships take time to turn around, and we're spinning the wheel now.

I got a chance at Gen Con to interview fans of Realm Works and Hero Lab, from gamers walking through the exhibition hall to the folks at Paizo and Jason M. Hardy from Shadowrun. I'm very much looking forward to creating more video assets for us and for you in the coming weeks, months and years, and in helping BJ to deliver more frequent newsletters that address the topics our wolfpack cares about most.

[MaxSupernova]

Originally Posted by Rone

the company considers communication priority enough

Seriously?

Have you seen the dozens of posts *begging* for updates, even if there's no new information? Not just recently, but literally for years.

Sorry, but communication is very, very obviously NOT a priority of this company.

Saying you have priorities is all well and good, but "priorities" are useless unless they inform actual action.

[BJ]

Hello everyone!

My sincere apologies for missing last month's check-in. The fault is mine. I kept meaning to stop in and say that there wasn't anything to really report at the very least, but the days just ran together as I tried to get as much done as possible. Now that I’m back from Gen Con and recovered from the mad dash to get prepped for it I wanted to let everyone know, I haven’t forgotten you. I’m still pushing to get the Content Market released and bug fixes in place.

Paizo has been kind enough to address the remaining issues with their API and we have several weeks worth of extra work to do to make it viable on our end. Devs will be testing everything to ensure it all goes smoothly and providing nothing explodes, we are targeting September for the Content Market release and hopefully some bug updates.

We did quite a few RW demos in our booth this year and we hope to be doing even more at PAX Unplugged!

I haven’t taken a vacation in years and my doctors have dictated I take a mental health holiday to relieve stress and perpetual exhaustion. While I have tried to put this off for as long as possible, I can't any longer. So I will be out for the next week and will hopefully return with renewed energy and ideas. Please try to be nice to Rone while I’m away. 😉

I hope you’re all having a fabulous summer!