This is why instructional and demo videos for RW is critical. It is difficult for many people to get started using only print guides. I almost gave up on RW when I first got it and had to make a huge investment of time into watching the gen con videos, reading the PDF guides, and spending a lot of time on the forums. But what was the most helpful was meeting with DMs who were RW users in my area to share how we use RW. The screen caps that some users shared on the forums were also very helpful.

It would have been SOOOO nice to have these videos when I started. Daplunk is doing a great service to the user community with these videos and I am sure that many people who may have given up on RW will give it a go and stick with it because these videos exist.

The world building video was great, pretty much what I was looking for. Faerun is a world similar in history to Palladium Rifts. It is a pretty big undertaking, but after your videos it is encouraging me to take the plunge.

Salcor

Really can't wait for the ability to copy realms. I've got so many modules copied into a single realm which means I've got 3 copies of Neverwinter, 3 copies of winter deep, etc. They all contain information specific to the module though and I like having the information stored with the module chapter content. But this video has really made me rethink all that. Slowly merging all the duplication into a single article and consolidating all the unique information from the official modules. Should be an awesome resource once I'm done.

Can we sticky this?
 

Can we sticky this?

I second the sticky motion!

That's a lot easier said than done! But it's a really good idea!

There are two primary problems that I see. First, there's a huge chunk of time involved in putting together high-quality videos. Second, I can honestly say that the thinking behind it all is deeply ingrained at this point, so it would actually be quite hard to identify the very long list of things and then explain it all.

Probably the best compromise I can think of would be for me to do an online seminar where I cover some basics and then field questions from users. I assume those questions would flag the majority of aspects that I just take for granted at this point, and then I could answer them. Obviously, the seminar would be recorded and then made available for everyone to watch afterwards.

This would yield something less formal, so the need for polish, along with the corresponding multiple takes and edits, would be obviated. It would also ensure that I cover lots of areas where I might not otherwise think about them.

The big gotcha with this approach is scheduling. Some of our most avid and insightful users are scattered across the globe, ranging from the States, to Europe, to Down Under. I would vastly prefer something that could be attended by the vast majority of those folks. That's one thing that I have no even decent solution for at this point. :(

Schedule a Skype Group call? Schedule it in and I'll certainly set my alarm for the middle of the night to attend. Would be better on a weekend given we would all need to come from different time-zones. Less chance of conflicting with work schedules that way.

And if you need active passionate users to do some beta testing... well just let me know.

Or, at the next Gen Con have a panel with some LWD staff, some content owners, and some power users/independent contractors talk about how they build their realms and prepare the content for the content market.

I think it would be preferable to add another top level forum for tutorials and request for tutorials. Then you could put in some 'official' tutorials and some user made tutorials. Add in a few themed question threads or requests threads that could be turned into tutorials either from users or from LWD staffers.

Anyway, giving us a separate forum or two for 'Tutorials' and 'How To' requests would at least streamline the forums and searching the forums. Those threads deemed most helpful by the users and LWD could then earn sticky status in the Tutorials forum.

I'll just add a reply into the Tips and Tricks sticky that already exists.