Hero Lab Online and Starfinder Q&A

[Mystic Lemur]

$300 on what? They don't have Starfinder content to buy.

Hardcover rulebooks and adventures, I imagine. It's more than a bit dishonest to claim that he only bought the stuff because of Hero Lab, though. Especially with the rules being Open Game content. He bought them because he wanted to play the system, and is now claiming he can't play without Hero Lab.

 

[rob]

One thing I haven't seen talked about that I still really want to know.

I have 5 licenses for my fairly large group of data sets. If I roll into HLO are we going to be able to use something like concurrent log in up to our license count or is this a crafty way to get me to pay 5 subscriptions? I am fond of using good tools to make my gaming enjoyable but if this is addressed poorly I'm going to be a sad panda.

This was specifically addressed in the FAQ, which you will find here:
http://www.wolflair.com/hero-lab-online-faq/

Please see the question entitled:"How will my Hero Lab Classic secondary licenses transfer to Hero Lab Online?"

 

[Toblakai]

Hardcover rulebooks and adventures, I imagine. It's more than a bit dishonest to claim that he only bought the stuff because of Hero Lab, though. Especially with the rules being Open Game content. He bought them because he wanted to play the system, and is now claiming he can't play without Hero Lab.

I am not sure that is the case if you read his post:

I bought into starfinder to the tune of over $300 ONLY because you promised us Starfinder support, at the time I made those purchases via HLC and at the end of the month.

He says he bought it via HLC... I have no idea what Starfinder products he bought via HLC.

 

[Ruka]

Totally missed that. I claim reading on a phone while drinking...

 

[charlieluce]

(I think this might have gotten missed, reposting)

 

[nylanfs]

We don't have plans to do this ourselves, but definitely stay tuned for more on this very subject in the upcoming months...

If I didn't think it would irritate some already irritable users I'd suggest what I do and use this.

Soon(TM)

 

[rob]

If I didn't think it would irritate some already irritable users I'd suggest what I do and use this.

Soon(TM)

Really, Paul?!?! There was only one sentence there to read, yet you conveniently chose to ignore the first half of it. After your earlier (read: disrespectful) antics in the other thread and now this, you need to take a timeout. Give it some thought, come back as a Hero Lab user, and stop trying to surreptitiously pimp your wares/agenda on our forums. I'm being dead serious here.

Thank you for your cooperation...

 

[noobzor]

...

My 2 cents...

I have been working in software development for a long time, and this is the most open and honest discussion about the realities of application development that I have ever seen. Since I first bought Hero Lab years ago, these developers have always been this way. This kind of candor and respect for the community is something I have come to really appreciate about Lone Wolf Development. These folks work harder and care more about their work than any developer I have worked with, and it is evident in the things they create. They can't be in it for the money...if so, they are doing it all wrong. You just don't get software of this complexity and quality out of a tiny development studio without passion and sacrifice and highly skilled developers.

So, even though I am old and crotchety and impatient and generally afraid of change, I am content to wait and see what the future of Hero Lab (and other Lone Wolf stuff) has in store. Nobody wants this to be great more than Lone Wolf, and I trust that they are capable of making that happen.

 

[MNBlockHead]

That isn't fair, he didn't say that anyone was immature, just that they didn't like change. Which quite frankly a LOT of humans don't like change.

Edit: and I started to reply and then had to do some work stuff and then replied after you clarified.

Exactly. It was an observation, not a judgment. There is nothing necessarily wrong with being resistant to change. But if you need to change to meet your goals, you may have to leave behind those that are not interested in making the change with you.

 

[Merion]

Realm Works Integration

First of thanks for the exhaustive answers! While not everything is completely to my liking, I understand the need of a company and appreciate the honesty.

I am mainly a Realm Works user and bought HL only for the Tactical Console. Basically as an expensive Initiative Tracker. I have a Player Character Topic in which I have a HL portfolio with all my chars.
Will I be able to automatically update this with HLO? When all chars of the group are in the cloud, can I pull the information into RW instead of doing it manually after level up?

At the beginning of each session I load the PCs portfolio into HL and each enounter I add the opponents and remove them after the fight. Works pretty fine.
Will this still work with HLO? Will there be a tactical console? Can Realm Works interact with HLO in the browser?

 

[rob]

I am mainly a Realm Works user and bought HL only for the Tactical Console. Basically as an expensive Initiative Tracker. I have a Player Character Topic in which I have a HL portfolio with all my chars.
Will I be able to automatically update this with HLO? When all chars of the group are in the cloud, can I pull the information into RW instead of doing it manually after level up?

At the beginning of each session I load the PCs portfolio into HL and each enounter I add the opponents and remove them after the fight. Works pretty fine.
Will this still work with HLO? Will there be a tactical console? Can Realm Works interact with HLO in the browser?

In principle, you should ultimately be able to do what you've outlined in HLOnline, although I expect it to work quite a bit differently in practice. There will definitely be a Tactical Console that will behave similarly to HLClassic, but certainly not the same. In addition, since HLO will be web-based, you won't be pulling portfolios out of it to store in RW. You'll instead be tracking URLs that represent the various PCs and enemies. The overall net result will be largely the same as with HLClassic. However, the specifics will be quite different due to the disparity in the technologies involved on the HL side.

Hope this helps!

 

[Xorez]

Hello,

do you have more information about how HLO will be deployed?
For example, if you use AWS, to which regions will you deploy your service.
I fear that the user experience outside the US might be bad because of higher latency.

Thanks.

 

[nylanfs]

Really, Paul?!?! There was only one sentence there to read, yet you conveniently chose to ignore the first half of it. After your earlier (read: disrespectful) antics in the other thread and now this, you need to take a timeout. Give it some thought, come back as a Hero Lab user, and stop trying to surreptitiously pimp your wares/agenda on our forums. I'm being dead serious here.

Thank you for your cooperation...

I thought I had apologized for my original post on the 20th. But after reviewing that thread I hadn't before you locked it so I will honestly apologize for that post, it was definitely out of line.

And in the case you were referring to the link in my signature I has taken that off as of this post. And clarified how I am a HL user.

My next three posts were strictly as a Hero Lab user.
I do not like not having control of the data that I would make.
I am glad that HLC will not be going away any time soon.
I do not care for subscription types of services where I would lose access to my previous purchases if I stop my sub.
I expressed appreciation for the FAQ, it answered clarified quite a bit of mine and people's questions.

And the post you directly quoted I can understand the anger with if you are taking a quick glance at it because it does resemble my previous post on the 20th. And I am quite sure that you are busy enough right now that you can't take an indepth look at each post. . But in this case the link actually goes to here (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealSoonNow), which is a software development tactic where you are saying that there are these features that you will definitely be coming out with, but do not have a concrete time frame you can or do not want to limit yourself to because of eventual bumps in the road.

 

[boojumbunn]

Heh.. The online Star Finder game I am going to be playing in will be starting soon. I keep logging in here to see if they are ready to start the beta so I can apply (or to sell it so I can buy it.) Hopefully it will happen soon.
Boojum the brown bunny

 

[talsharien]

Hello,

do you have more information about how HLO will be deployed?
For example, if you use AWS, to which regions will you deploy your service.
I fear that the user experience outside the US might be bad because of higher latency.

Thanks.

This is a concern for me also, I run two online games that incorporate people from different sides of the world and this could be an issue.

 

[Merion]

In principle, you should ultimately be able to do what you've outlined in HLOnline, although I expect it to work quite a bit differently in practice. There will definitely be a Tactical Console that will behave similarly to HLClassic, but certainly not the same. In addition, since HLO will be web-based, you won't be pulling portfolios out of it to store in RW. You'll instead be tracking URLs that represent the various PCs and enemies. The overall net result will be largely the same as with HLClassic. However, the specifics will be quite different due to the disparity in the technologies involved on the HL side.

Hope this helps!

Sounds very promising. I didn't expect it to work exactly alike, but as long as the results are comparible, I'm happy. Heck, it will likely be better than what we have now, as the tactical console is powerful but a bit clunky and old. So excited to see what you come up with when starting with a blank sheet again.

Hello,

do you have more information about how HLO will be deployed?
For example, if you use AWS, to which regions will you deploy your service.
I fear that the user experience outside the US might be bad because of higher latency.

Thanks.

Being in europe, this is definitely of interest for me too.

 

[rob]

do you have more information about how HLO will be deployed?
For example, if you use AWS, to which regions will you deploy your service.
I fear that the user experience outside the US might be bad because of higher latency.

Latency is an excellent question! And I can't answer it definitively right now. This is one of the contributing reasons that made us choose the Open Beta approach. We'll be profiling everything during the Open Beta period and working to make the necessary adjustments for things like this. The performance here in the States (where we're doing all our development) is very responsive. How everything performs elsewhere is an open question right now.

 

[rob]

Heh.. The online Star Finder game I am going to be playing in will be starting soon. I keep logging in here to see if they are ready to start the beta so I can apply (or to sell it so I can buy it.) Hopefully it will happen soon.

I recommend subscribing to our monthly newsletter and making sure to get notified of updates on our Facebook page. When we officially open up the Beta sign-ups, we'll be announcing it in those places for sure (among others).

 

[rob]

I thought I had apologized for my original post on the 20th. But after reviewing that thread I hadn't before you locked it so I will honestly apologize for that post, it was definitely out of line.

And in the case you were referring to the link in my signature I has taken that off as of this post. And clarified how I am a HL user.

My next three posts were strictly as a Hero Lab user.
I do not like not having control of the data that I would make.
I am glad that HLC will not be going away any time soon.
I do not care for subscription types of services where I would lose access to my previous purchases if I stop my sub.
I expressed appreciation for the FAQ, it answered clarified quite a bit of mine and people's questions.

And the post you directly quoted I can understand the anger with if you are taking a quick glance at it because it does resemble my previous post on the 20th. And I am quite sure that you are busy enough right now that you can't take an indepth look at each post. . But in this case the link actually goes to here (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealSoonNow), which is a software development tactic where you are saying that there are these features that you will definitely be coming out with, but do not have a concrete time frame you can or do not want to limit yourself to because of eventual bumps in the road.

Apology accepted.

I still haven't kicked the Con Crud I got upon return from GenCon (over two weeks now). And I'm extremely frazzled with everything coming together at the same time for both RW and HL. So I'm very edgy and doing all I can to retain my composure at times. To quote BJ, it's best not to "poke the bear" right now.

The mapping tool I referenced is being developed by another company. As such, it's actually going to be available very soon now - not way in the distant future. We're simply planning to work closely with them so that RW can integrate very smoothly with the mapping tool.

 

[DeltaMasterMind]

The mapping tool I referenced is being developed by another company. As such, it's actually going to be available very soon now - not way in the distant future. We're simply planning to work closely with them so that RW can integrate very smoothly with the mapping tool.

Sweet! Looking forward to this!