It sounds like HeroLab Online won't fit
your particular requirements. That hardly qualifies it as 'Bad'.
Yes, just like HL Classic, you'll have to buy data packages for rules or rules supplements that you'd like to use with it. They've been quite clear that when PF1 finally makes its appearance on HL Online, that there will be a small, nominal fee to transfer
all the packages you've purchased for HLC over to HLO. So it's not like you have to buy them
again.
Yes, there is a small yearly fee of about $25 to continue using the software. Welcome to the modern world of SaS. It
is a web application so they have to pay for hosting and the data pipe
somehow. In the realm of SaS, $2 a month isn't even a rounding error. This leads to the next item ...
Yes, it's a web application instead of an installed binary. The two items have different strengths and weaknesses. For some people, one works better than the other. In my case, neither of the FtF games I play ever get together without good internet access and I
love being able to look at/modify my characters from
any device with a connection. If you regularly play in places without connectivity (
shudder), then it doesn't seem like it would be the tool for you - that also doesn't qualify it as 'Bad'.
As an interesting note - I'm really,
really looking forward to PF1 on HLO. I've noticed that I can load/switch between characters on HLO in a
tenth of the amount of time it takes to do the same on HLC. There are some individual actions that take a
little longer in HLO, but for the most part, I spend less time doing the same things in HLO.
Don't get me wrong, HLO isn't perfect, but then neither was HLC in
its early stages (and
still isn't in some cases). I just can't wait till I can make the complete transition.
