Calendar

[Acenoid]

For me neither the Calendar update nor the player edition would change alot.

The Calender I can track also via a few dedicated topics and links if I want to. (But the complexity of my games is probably just a 1/100th of what you guys are all up to

The player edition is probably of zero use to me as well. Iam almost 100% sure that none of the players in my group would like to spent money on this product. And why should I buy it for them? They are making their own notes during the games and if they want to know something, I can still look it up in RW (or my own notes). But this is completely my own point of view and it is no problem at all for me if this is the "next big feature" that is being released. I'm happy if you're having a success story with your product.
Also I don't plan to use the cloud service as well, so I will miss out on a few great features I think as well, but a monthly for storing my own data, that no one else will ever look at? I would share my stories / campaigns for free though if it would be posisble to make partial imports into other Databases. I hope that such support will be added one day.

Well just a short comment from me about this no harm done

 

[rob]

If Kickstarter can create time or provide programmers that are already up-to-speed, I'm sure they'd be all over it.... Money is always good but I don't think it's the limiter right now.

I couldn't have said it any better...

 

[rob]

True, and while its easy to wish for the moon, its another to plan the trip.... perhaps Liz could set up a polling to at least be a weather vane of other features and there importance to the community?

This already exists in the form of the "Feature Requests" forum. The more +1's that a particular feature gets, the higher it ends up on our priority list. Of course, there are other factors at play that I mention in my earlier post, so it's not the ONLY criteria we use, but that forum is a major influence.

Although I am personally confused, on the release of the RW Kickstarter the calendar was listed as "nearly complete" even the beta testers have seen it... where did it digress so from "nearly complete" to " what sounds like total rebuild?

There are two distinct pieces to the calendar. There's the inner mechanisms that drive it and there's the interface that users will leverage to create and customize their personal calendars. The inner mechanisms are basically done, needing on a few tweaks based on feedback from the Beta team. The interface, however, is really poor and needs a complete rewrite. So we need to redo PART of the calendars mechanism - not the whole thing.

 

[rob]

Whilst I'm keen to have an in-game Calendar, it is only to tag diary/journal entries. I've no interest in linking calendars together, I just want to be able to enter a date into RW in a "world calendar" format.

All the logic for linking calendars together is completed and working well. So that's not going to slow anything down. We need to redo the interface for letting users create and customize their personal calendars. And that's fundamental to supporting custom calendars in any manner whatsoever.

 

[ruhar]

All the logic for linking calendars together is completed and working well. So that's not going to slow anything down. We need to redo the interface for letting users create and customize their personal calendars. And that's fundamental to supporting custom calendars in any manner whatsoever.

And as fate would have it, rob, the features that users are begging for are the ones that give you the most design/programming problems.

 

[boojumbunn]

Well, drat. I guess add my name to those looking forward to the Calendar feature. I was just about to start entering world data for Golaria in for the Emerald Spire game I'm going to be starting in a few months and the first thing I went to was Calendar.

 

[Dark Lord Galen]

There are two distinct pieces to the calendar. There's the inner mechanisms that drive it and there's the interface that users will leverage to create and customize their personal calendars. The inner mechanisms are basically done, needing on a few tweaks based on feedback from the Beta team. The interface, however, is really poor and needs a complete rewrite. So we need to redo PART of the calendars mechanism - not the whole thing.

Ah... Thanks Rob, for clarifiying......that sheds alot of light on calendar status...
Side bar, indirect question......

Once the calendar aspects come to fruition, will they also be incorporated into the player software?

Clarifying,,, Say I have a player that has one character that keeps a diary but uses the elvish calendar, while another character (used by same Player) uses the common calendar (ie local) for the same purpose.... would this be possible?
Curently in my campaign, we have 7 different calendars based on different cultures.

 

[rob]

Once the calendar aspects come to fruition, will they also be incorporated into the player software?

Calendars are considered "structure". That means they are treated like categories and tags. If they are defined, they exist everywhere for the content to build upon. So yes, players will have full access to calendars and will be able to leverage different ones for journals. That's something the Beta team had access to before we realized that journals needed a revamp to be more versatile and flexible, and it will definitely be included once calendars and journals get their needed overhauls.

 

[weogarth]

Just read the stuff in the July email. I have been, and still am, an enthusiastic proponent and backer of this program and I think rob and his team are doing great work and I almost never say anything negative.

However, given how important calendars and time are to campaigns and given the extensive response here, not to mention that this was at one point a 1.0 feature, I must confess deep disappointment that the calendars are not listed in the Path Forward area.

I really hope that this functionality makes it to us by end of summer.

 

[rob]

Calendars are part of the "other valuable features in parallel" that are mentioned in the Path Forward section. The biggest and highest profile capabilities are the two that were called out specifically. Then there is "everything else", and that list needs to be prioritized AFTER we get Player Edition out the door. That stuff will be worked on in parallel with the big capabilities. So absolutely nothing has changed from what I've indicated previously.

Please don't read into the newsletter anything extra. It's a high-level overview suitable for users of all of our products and kept brief for the massive newsletter.

 

[Chemlak]

Thanks, Rob.

I have to say that I've been pretty silent on the calendar feature for a while now, simply because I understand that getting stuff (read: shed load of coding that would be gibberish to me) ready for sharing is important. Really, really, REALLY important. So the calendar takes a back seat to some fundamental architecture because right now it is more important to get player edition live. And to get the community repository live. And the marketplace. And... well, you get the idea.

Those features will make RW a more desirable application to more people. Which means more money for LWD. The calendar is effectively a QoL feature. A really important one, but still QoL, rather than marketable.

And I'm positive that LWD know how important the calendar is as a QoL feature. I just won't begrudge them trying to make more money from features that sell.

 

[weogarth]

Thank you for the very prompt reply, rob; sorry it took a day or so to get back here to say so.

It is heartening to know that it is being worked on, even if not specifically stated.

I also acknowledge the points that Chemlak made, and like him, I DO want this marketable to as many peeps as possible.

So I'll just try very hard to chillax, and enjoy what we get and try to keep the 'really-want-calendar-twitching' under control.

 

[Dark Lord Galen]

..........Those features will make RW a more desirable application to more people. Which means more money for LWD. The calendar is effectively a QoL feature. A really important one, but still QoL, rather than marketable.

And I'm positive that LWD know how important the calendar is as a QoL feature. I just won't begrudge them trying to make more money from features that sell.

&

So I'll just try very hard to chillax, and enjoy what we get and try to keep the 'really-want-calendar-twitching' under control

Like Chemlak, I wont begrudge LWD from trying to create capital from selling their products (we all sell something, that is why we are in business), BUT unlike Chemlak, I have not been quite as quiet about the calendar issue.

I would only add, that LWD products will only be desirable in the long run if they deliver on promises already made before progressing to new promises.

They have defined their focus to be the release of the player addition (which will produce revenue (from myself included)), We have Rob's assurances that the other promises of the kickstarter will be addressed after the player edition release (calendar, print capabilities, etc).... time will tell.

And like Weogarth, I'll just try to "chill" awaiting and enjoying what we do get.

 

[Mettius]

+1 also. Need to be able to "make live" custom calendars.

 

[Exmortis]

Can't remember if I posted for this thread, but it is the single most important feature for me next to player vew.

As a GM I always have calendar, as well as a player calender for tracking time/events important to the story and plots. The idea of that being in RW is just drool worthy and one of the main reasons i bought RW.

Now like many I was midly disappointed it was not there, however I am bulding a campaigh right now from ground up, so I have load sof time before I "need" a calendar feature, or even player view for that matter. However I did buy it on the ideal that those would be there and usable.

Once player edition is done, please put this to the top of the pile, how can one have the premiere campaign management software, if it can't track time passing?

Keep up the great work LWD!! Between HL and RW, you have the market cornered!

 

[kad]

Can't remember if I posted for this thread, but it is the single most important feature for me next to player view.

I have to say, for me the calendar feature is FAR more important than the player view. The lack of a working custom calendar system is preventing me from properly loading at least half of the data I need to. And having to go back and update all the calendar entries later is going to be a major pain the a$$. Besides the lack of a bulk import method, I'm loving the software otherwise.

Just my $0.02

-K

 

[Dark Lord Galen]

I have to say, for me the calendar feature is FAR more important than the player view. The lack of a working custom calendar system is preventing me from properly loading at least half of the data I need to. And having to go back and update all the calendar entries later is going to be a major pain the a$$. Besides the lack of a bulk import method, I'm loving the software otherwise.

Just my $0.02

-K

Your 2cp & mine are right together,

As the "fast approaching" players addition is on the horizon, it will arrive with a thud if players can't utilize a journal feature WITH custom calendars. It wold render it near worthless without such.
Defining where I traveled, what I found, who I met is ALL dependent on WHEN such events occurred.

It is comparable to taking a good book (RW in this case)and removing the page numbers and shuffling them like cards and then "revealing" only some of the characters and plot points to the reader (player) and expecting them to know what came first and how it relates.

LW suggests the player version is the highest demand ( jury still out on this one) combing all the reviews, feedback, comments I could glean from all public sources, I can say ( posted in another thread) that there were comments and requests for player support, but hardly a landslide. The lack of a custom calendar system and printing where covered equally as much.
First and foremost RW is suppose to be a campaign management tool. Not a Vertual Table Top, nor a map maker, etc, but a campaign manager.

How can DMs ( or GMs for you younger gen groups) "manage" a world that has rounds, turns, hours, days, weeks, months, seasons, holidays with no tool to manage the passing of time?
Hopefully for Christmas we will be pleasantly surprised.
Till then as others have mentioned . I utilize RW solely for consolidating data, not displaying it, as it is a cake not quite finished baking.

 

[Exmortis]

Your 2cp & mine are right together,

As the "fast approaching" players addition is on the horizon, it will arrive with a thud if players can't utilize a journal feature WITH custom calendars. It wold render it near worthless without such.
Defining where I traveled, what I found, who I met is ALL dependent on WHEN such events occurred.

It is comparable to taking a good book (RW in this case)and removing the page numbers and shuffling them like cards and then "revealing" only some of the characters and plot points to the reader (player) and expecting them to know what came first and how it relates.

LW suggests the player version is the highest demand ( jury still out on this one) combing all the reviews, feedback, comments I could glean from all public sources, I can say ( posted in another thread) that there were comments and requests for player support, but hardly a landslide. The lack of a custom calendar system and printing where covered equally as much.
First and foremost RW is suppose to be a campaign management tool. Not a Vertual Table Top, nor a map maker, etc, but a campaign manager.

How can DMs ( or GMs for you younger gen groups) "manage" a world that has rounds, turns, hours, days, weeks, months, seasons, holidays with no tool to manage the passing of time?
Hopefully for Christmas we will be pleasantly surprised.
Till then as others have mentioned . I utilize RW solely for consolidating data, not displaying it, as it is a cake not quite finished baking.

I am surprised at the demand for printing, I myself cannot wait for RW player view so I never ever ever ever have to print a single thing again. With so many tools available to me, from paint to catography programs, to my hand drawn/written stuff scanned in and then shared through a electronic means, why would anyone want to return to the mess of papers of ye olde days?

RW has already meant that I can now forgo all printed info, I already provide players with a campaign document in word format, now all the information and would be handouts/maps will be handled by RW and player view, outstanding! No loss of paper, no player not showing up with right piece, no messy pile of shrapnel laying all over the game table. Clean organized play!

But each to their own.

 

[MaxSupernova]

RW has already meant that I can now forgo all printed info, I already provide players with a campaign document in word format, now all the information and would be handouts/maps will be handled by RW and player view, outstanding! No loss of paper, no player not showing up with right piece, no messy pile of shrapnel laying all over the game table. Clean organized play!

It's not necessarily about printing so much as export.

If we could export to text, and then print from another program, awesome. If we could select all the text in a topic and copy it en masse and get a reasonably formatted text block on the clipboard, cool. If we could export a realm as an HTML document, fantastic. If we could create a PDF of our almanac and get it in a "One Topic Per Page" dump, marvelous.

We could take any of those things and print or publish or save as we want.

I truly believe that the call for printing is not so much that people desperately want paper at the table (though that's true for some), it's that I've put all of this information IN to realmworks and I have absolutely no way of getting it OUT.

 

[ruhar]

The lack of a custom calendar system and printing where covered equally as much.
First and foremost RW is suppose to be a campaign management tool. Not a Vertual Table Top, nor a map maker, etc, but a campaign manager.

How can DMs ( or GMs for you younger gen groups) "manage" a world that has rounds, turns, hours, days, weeks, months, seasons, holidays with no tool to manage the passing of time?
Hopefully for Christmas we will be pleasantly surprised.
Till then as others have mentioned . I utilize RW solely for consolidating data, not displaying it, as it is a cake not quite finished baking.

I'm right there with everyone else wanting the calendar. My PCs will be battling werewolves soon and you know the importance of a calendar and moon phases with werewolves. But we need to realize that LW is busting their butts trying to get all parts done. They are a small company which means a small amount of employees. They aren't like Micro$oft (thank goodness) who has millions of dollars and thousands of employees to do the coding so it will take time. Unlike Micro$oft LW wants to make sure there are as few bugs as possible when they release a feature.

I met the LW team at GenCon, went to their seminars and even dragged my laptop in Sunday to get help from them. They were always helpful, friendly and willing to answer any questions people had. By Sunday they looked exhausted but Rob took the time to help me with a question I had when I brought my laptop in (many thanks Rob, your explanation really helped). Yes, we all want and need the calendar plus any number of promised features that we're waiting for, but realize how much we already have to work with.

We also need to realize that LW is basically inventing a wheel that has never been invented before. I'm sure in a few years there will be copycats releasing their versions, but LW is breaking the ground for a program that we GMs only dreamed of. Bravo LW!!!