How long, Really?

[Madmaxneo]

I do not know about anyone else but this content market thing has been taking a long time to get done, in fact it is taking to long. I am going to Gencon but at this point I want to avoid the Realm Works booth because I do not want to see yet another preview of features that have not been implemented yet as I have done for the "last two years".

Yes, it was two years ago that I first purchased Realm Works and then went to Gencon and saw the demo for the calendar and was really excited for it and other features. In fact they mentioned it would be implemented soon and then it got thrown to the back burner. They also talked about the content market but it did not seem that important at the time.

I know your answer is probably going to be "soon" or you are not sure and can't even give an estimate. As it stands right now that makes me think it will be more than a year plus till we see the content market and who knows how long till we see the calendar feature.

 

[Dubya]

The calendar is what made RW stand out for me as well. This is the guesstimate that we were given by Rob back on February 3rd 2015:

"It’s highly unlikely that calendars will be available before the end of this year. It’s much more likely that they will finally be available in the first half of 2016. That’s a complete GUESS, but it’s based on what I know about our current timelines and projections, as well as the survey results. At this point, I can’t do anything better than this guess, and there are lots of things that could occur between now and then that could shift things around some."

Who knows?

 

[Greebo]

I can understand their approach, since the ability to sell modules instantly creates additional revenue.
And I might even buy one or two generic supplements, someday.

But still, in my eyes the long-time-ago-promised abilities to create custom calendars and to share my own data within my realms is way more usefull than getting commercial datas to me / us. And it would do wonders for building and sustaining a stable user base.

 

[MaxSupernova]

You've been waiting two whole years?





Pfft. Amateur.

 

[Madmaxneo]

You've been waiting two whole years?





Pfft. Amateur.

LOL...yeah that is when "I got sucked in". That may be a harsh statement but that is essentially how I feel. I really like RW but there are some things that are really needed that are still missing that were talked about at least 2 years ago that I know of.

BTW, did the player edition ever get the option to add player summaries or notes? I remember hearing about that and is one of the things that got my players interested. Though TBH I have to really prod (cattle prod) them to even glance at the updates I do.....lol.

 

[DMG]

With the way I use RW, it's been stagnant from my point of view for a couple of years. I rarely even use it now.

Yes, I know there has been lots going on & the dev team are working hard on it. There have been massive changes behind the scenes. But from my usage it hasn't changed much at all.

 

[Mithosaurion]

It is a sad state of affairs, but I am holding out hope. But you are correct on many points. I have a hard time recommending it to others when I get asked about it. I do and I warn them about the long wait for updates, but I feel bad about doing so...

 

[Asmo]

I'm also a bit disappointed. I want to use the campaign i'm dm'ing for friends with my kids, but there is no way to copy it.
Tempted to look for alternatives.

 

[wurzel]

Tempted to look for alternatives.

I think many people here are looking for alternatives. But as far as I know there are none. Not yet.

 

[ruhar]

I supported the Kickstarter and found the calendar appealing also so I and other Kickstarter supporters have been disappointed for a very long time. But probably not as long as the creators who had to put it on the back burner. Yes, I'm disappointed that other abilities got higher priority (did the players REALLY have to be included in the survey that skewed the priorities? ;-) but you have to remember that they are basically inventing a wheel when a wheel has never been invented. Despite not having the calendar that I've waited for I have found the program a very valuable tool for me as a DM. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water, or would that be burn the castle with the dragon? At least they work with us and keep us informed. Try to get Microsoft to do that. LMAO Also remember that they are a very, very small company which means they don't have a lot of people to work on all of the different desired features not to mention they didn't initially understand the complexity of what they wanted to accomplish and the time frame needed to successfully finish a desired feature in order to give us a better ETA.

With all that said that doesn't mean I'm not going to @$^%$& on occasion when something doesn't go my way. And sometimes they'll get frustrated with our #$^*% and will @!^& back at us. I just try to keep everything I said above in mind when I want to &%#!*. Also, think back two, three, five years ago on goals you had set. Did you accomplish all of them? On time? I'm just saying...

Madmaxneo, I hope you stop by their booth this weekend and talk to them. But don't do it with a chip on your shoulder, go to talk with them about the product; ask questions about desired features and what happened. Also talk to them about their desires for the program and your desires. While you're at it ask them about their kids, their last gaming adventure, and how GenCon is going for them.

 

[Vargr]

I, too, long for all the features that we do not yet have.

And while longing I sometimes forget all that I have already gotten.

I have finally found a system that allows me to work on my world and my campaign in an easy way without having to worry too much about structure (RW handles it by itself more or less). It is actually fun developing my world.

In short, people tend to forget that RW does what no other software does, it does it well - in fact so well that people forget it and just focus on the things that it does not do - yet.

So I am with ruhar on this one. Be careful not letting the frustration get the better of you (I have to remind myself of that too once in a while).

 

[MNBlockHead]

I'm also a bit disappointed. I want to use the campaign i'm dm'ing for friends with my kids, but there is no way to copy it.
Tempted to look for alternatives.

I'm constantly looking at software that will enhance my game prep and play. There just isn't anything out there that meets my needs like RW.

 

[Pollution]

Deleted

 

[Dark Lord Galen]

............ (did the players REALLY have to be included in the survey that skewed the priorities? ;-) ..........

To Quote Rob's Quote...
"THIS" ... or perhaps the now more infamous "Soon"

As for myself, I have repeatedly asked this same question and it still amazes that LW can't see the error in having Players casting a vote on a tool primarily designed for DMs... If there was no "realm" created in RW there would be NO NEED for a "players version".

And to then hide behind a flawed polling with .. "well that's what the "public voted"" is simply without good merit.

............Also, think back two, three, five years ago on goals you had set. Did you accomplish all of them? On time? I'm just saying...

Rob Quote #2.. the end user simply don't understand the complexities of what it takes.. that's why we can't convey when it will happen.

Again, many have repeatedly asked this, with the LW response, "hey we are working hard..."
Great, glad they are... but there comes a time when the customer voice should be addressed with REAL deliverables.

As MNB and others have said, I too am always on the lookout for new softwares to improve my gaming table's experience... that is what led me to RW to begin with, via HeroLab... Both, unfortunately with all their collective warts, still have the possibility of being the standard.

My apologies to Liz, that I would resist the urge to post on the RW side in critique. But since this thread and the fact that the SECOND QUARTER of 2016 has now came and went (no surprise), I don't think "early 2016" is in the picture any longer and even her departure for greener fields has caused me to pick up the banner once more.

 

[AEIOU]

I'm hoping the next survey captures GM vs player and whether person has purchased. And I'd really like each question on the survey to have a number of "widgets" assigned to it, where a widget is a vague idea of how much time/effort each survey question is estimated to be. And by widgets, I mean just an abstract difficulty or timeframe to give us a sense of what to expect. Perhaps give each person a number of widget points to make final choices with.

It would be nice to group questions by how many months/years it will take to accomplish them based on current estimates.

It would be fantastic to group questions by contingencies -- kinda like skill trees in games. Show the big end goals and what it'll take to get there. It's easier to swallow a long development time if we can see that in order to implement X Lonewolf needs to first do A through W.

I have to wonder whether the voting would have fallen the way it did if people understood how much time was necessary to accomplish what was voted for. I bet knowing the length of time would impact the next voting to create more realistic expectations.

 

[EightBitz]

I'm constantly looking at software that will enhance my game prep and play. There just isn't anything out there that meets my needs like RW.

That depends on what features you want. I want the ability to print what I write. There are many things out there that meet my needs better than RW.

Right now, I'm using RW to run RotRL, but I already have that in printed form. But for the stuff I create, I will use anything else. Word, OneNote, Scrivener, Evernote. Because, hey, look, I can print!

 

[MNBlockHead]

That depends on what features you want. I want the ability to print what I write. There are many things out there that meet my needs better than RW.

Right now, I'm using RW to run RotRL, but I already have that in printed form. But for the stuff I create, I will use anything else. Word, OneNote, Scrivener, Evernote. Because, hey, look, I can print!

Well, sure. If I *needed* to print or *needed* to export, I wouldn't be using RW. I run a single campaign from RW, for a game I run from my home, and it has served me well. After HL started to support 5e, the RW&HL combo have been a great set of tools for me. I don't know that I would want to DM without them.

I am a heavy user of Evernote for both business and personal use, including storing various gaming material. I've looked at Aeon Timeline, Onenote, Wikis, Google Drive, etc. and I like RW because I don't have to juggle multiple tools. All the stuff for my campaign are in one place.

I thought I needed calendars, and almost asked for a refund during the money-back period after realizing the demo video I saw was showing a feature not yet released. Calendars have become much less important than I had wanted them to be in my campaign because of this, but I've gotten over it. Calendars are now a nice to have than a must have and I'm more interested in export and print, but I'm still putting hours of time in RW every week because nothing else comes close to meeting my needs for campaign management.

 

[MNBlockHead]

Yikes, AEIOU... that would be cool...but the amount of time to design and digest responses from such a survey would seem to be enough to develop some new features instead.

If I were RW, I would keep it simple. I would have a separate questionnaire for each edition, player's and GM's. The first question on both should be:

1. Do you own a copy of RW?

If not, I would have some questions asking why they have not bought it. What features are keeping them from buying it? Give some options based on commonly cited reasons, but allow respondents to fill in their own answers.

I would expect the number one reason for most GMs not buying RW will be lack of printing and exporting capabilities. Inability to reuse/copy realms would likely be number 3. For players, it would almost certainly be "my GM doesn't use it." Nobody will buy the players edition if they don't participate in a came where their GM is using it. If the survey answers bear this out then GM responses and requests should be weighted accordingly.

If you do own a copy, next question:

2. Do you actively use RW?

If not, why?

Again, I'll bet you'll see the same reasons those who have not purchased the game will give for not buying it. Printing, export, my DM doesn't use it.

I'm hoping the next survey captures GM vs player and whether person has purchased. And I'd really like each question on the survey to have a number of "widgets" assigned to it, where a widget is a vague idea of how much time/effort each survey question is estimated to be. And by widgets, I mean just an abstract difficulty or timeframe to give us a sense of what to expect. Perhaps give each person a number of widget points to make final choices with.

It would be nice to group questions by how many months/years it will take to accomplish them based on current estimates.

It would be fantastic to group questions by contingencies -- kinda like skill trees in games. Show the big end goals and what it'll take to get there. It's easier to swallow a long development time if we can see that in order to implement X Lonewolf needs to first do A through W.

I have to wonder whether the voting would have fallen the way it did if people understood how much time was necessary to accomplish what was voted for. I bet knowing the length of time would impact the next voting to create more realistic expectations.

 

[AEIOU]

Heck, Liz could easily whip up those survey items before she had her morning coffee. I'm sure our new person could do it in a day or two.

 

[Pollution]

Deleted