Print/Export created content.

[hollowheel]

Any basis for that??
Seriously, as you have noted their focus (and they haven't been shy on saying such) has been directed toward the PE of RW.

As to an expected deliverable on print capabilities... I would expect that (and other features) will be defined based on the poll results.... Which based on Liz's update, the poll is to follow next. Sooooooo, be sure to register your email to get the poll and get your vote cast..... I myself and hoping for calendars next.

I like to check back every few months, so I'm sorry I missed your post.

My only basis was an educated guess based on my interactions with the team at GenCon. When I originally made my prediction it sounded to some that I was being too negative. By the looks of it's prioritization on the survey and it being listed as a challenging addition, I'm adjusting my prediction to April (which may still be too optimistic).

I'm still using the program, and am hopeful that I'll eventually be able to export my content. It just might be awhile. These days I'm also asking Santa for better performance and UI.

Oh... And happy New Year forums and LW crew.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

+1 for Printing and Exporting!

Given the survey reports and their response to it, it looks like any form of data export is pretty much off the table for Realm Works, unfortunately. That pretty much kills the product for me.

I would be happy to get a simple downloadable data dump of the database tables for my realms. I can work with that. That would be quick and simple to implement - I have done it for corporate clients who work with third-party product databases. They could just put in a "dump and download my data" button that runs a couple of SQL scripts. If it's all in XML, it's even easier - just put in a "ZIP up my XML files and download them" button.

Unfortunately, until there's some method for backing up my data in a form that I can access, I'm just not willing to use the product. Promises that the data would be made available if the company went under are all well and good, but nobody knows what can happen in the future. I've been burned too many times in the past.

 

[Dark Lord Galen]

Can't say I disagree with your disappointment and assessment.
While the ability to print is not a big deal to me, being able to export the data I have spent MY time inputting and BELONGS to ME and NOT being able to remove it is a disservice to the end user (aka us).

This and LWD continued lack of making good on other features (calendars) that were "supposedly already there" and weak promises of "soon" for other features that extend weeks, months, and even years past their "promised delivery" is making me reevaluate my decision to support as well.

 

[Ace Fortune]

I have been interested in this program since it's been released but I am one of the "If I cant print, I wont buy" I have a lot of players who dont use computers for gaming, I use mine to keep tabs on my campaign and the features of Realmworks seem sooo cool, but I dont use a computer at the gaming table either so printing out the stuff I need is essential, I'll check back at the end of the year to see if it will work for me.

 

[Dervish]

I am irritated plain and simple, no calendars no print/export but i should not mind after all i got a players view i am never going to use and a market place that is virtually useless to me as i create my own content. I do not want nor care about the players edition,the market place or even their cloud service it could cost 1.50 per six months span and i still don't want to pay for it.

 

[AEIOU]

Marketplace does matter to everyone. It's how we can move stuff between our own realms. So it's absolutely critical.

Marketplace will also be nice for grabbing "stuff" from others. I imagine there will be NPCs and maps that I'll import, rework and make my own. I'm hoping that there is a good community of sandbox/DIY GMs that are willing to trade material outside of the official module world. This will also be helpful for introducing others to this very satisfying RPG way-to-play.

As for export, there is absolutely no other excuse for not making export one of the top priorities. I've said my piece before and Rob appears to know it's important or he wouldn't have addressed it right along with calendars. My only hope is it becomes someone's pet project at this point.

 

[phloog]

I think that they were quite clear about their survey data, but I wonder if they may be viewing it incorrectly. Printing/export did not make the TOP lists, but it had very polarized answers.

Imagine there is a feature that has a (making up a scale here) score of 3.6 on average, because lots of people gave it a 3, and lots gave it a four, but no one gave it a five or a 1 (where 5 is highest). That is indeed a popular feature.

Compare that to a feature in the 'middle of the pack' because 50% of your users said it was not needed at all (1), and 50% said it was absolutely critical (5)...so the average is only 3....but 50% of your users will drop your product without it.

That's where I'm at...I know how RW was INTENDED to be used...but that's not how I want to use it..and without export/print I have no reason to stick with it. I think it's probably great for what people need it to do, but I'm not paying for cloud access without this feature.

Sadly, this falls on heels of me moving to 5th edition, which seems to have no licensing plans, so I may find that I'm not using HL anymore either.

I wish you guys all the best, and I will keep lurking in case you're able to meet my needs in the future.

....(edit) Also, I'm pretty sure that their desire to have a Marketplace where major companies post stuff for sale will effectively kills export, but perhaps not (watermarked) printing.

 

[ethernetguru]

I have been interested in this program since it's been released but I am one of the "If I cant print, I wont buy" I have a lot of players who dont use computers for gaming, I use mine to keep tabs on my campaign and the features of Realmworks seem sooo cool, but I dont use a computer at the gaming table either so printing out the stuff I need is essential, I'll check back at the end of the year to see if it will work for me.

this is me as well. I was originally going to purchase this and I am glad that I had issues with getting my account set up. There is no mention about the lack of import export data in any of their literature.

no export = no purchase

I find electronics at the game table take away from the play.

 

[Farling]

I find electronics at the game table take away from the play.

From a GM point of view, revealing a new part of a RW map in a player view window is significantly quicker than drawing the extra bits by hand on a piece of paper; and looking up something related to your current encounter/situation is just a click away rather than taking the time to search through one or more books to find the reference.

 

[Chemlak]

I find that devices on the table do not detract from gameplay, unless the player uses the device for something other than gameplay.

For example, I have one friend who will pull out a netbook, browse the Internet, find funny videos, and all sorts of other things, rather than getting engaged in the game.

I have another friend who uses a laptop for rules searches on Paizo.com, and an iPad for character management using Hero Lab, and remains engaged in the game the whole time.

As a GM, it's very telling to me how interested someone is in the game by how distracted they are by the electronics they bring to the table.

It's a bit harder when playing online using a VTT, but you can still get a good idea.

 

[storeyl]

Marketplace does matter to everyone. It's how we can move stuff between our own realms.

Market place doesn't matter to everyone, and it isn't how you move stuff. Just because market place will need to move stuff doesn't mean it is how you move stuff, nor make it important to those who just want to move stuff. If they were being agile about it they would provide the method to move stuff as a feature a lot of people want in its own right and they will need for the market place, then worry about the rest of the market place (money transfer, ownership etc).

It matters even less to those who don't want export, but do want print. For myself I'm more interested in a useful at the table print out. Not just some export format like xml or some proprietary stuff. Marketplace may provide the latter to get into other people realm works, but not a useful print out for the table.

 

[storeyl]

I think that they were quite clear about their survey data, but I wonder if they may be viewing it incorrectly. Printing/export did not make the TOP lists, but it had very polarized answers.

Imagine there is a feature that has a (making up a scale here) score of 3.6 on average, because lots of people gave it a 3, and lots gave it a four, but no one gave it a five or a 1 (where 5 is highest). That is indeed a popular feature.

Compare that to a feature in the 'middle of the pack' because 50% of your users said it was not needed at all (1), and 50% said it was absolutely critical (5)...so the average is only 3....but 50% of your users will drop your product without it.

I was thinking that as well. There's a difference between providing something that makes lots of people go 'Yay!' and providing features that stop people saying 'goodbye'.

I also wonder about the difference between GM and players. As a GM I just can't see myself investing much more effort in Realm Works when I can't print stuff off (in a useful form at the table, not just xml dumps). My players don't care for that, but the lack of individual player reveal (I don't care for so much, though do want it) or collaborative journals (I do really want as well) is a knacker for them.

That last bit gave me an issue with the survey, scoring bits I want, and scoring bits that my players want, I really need both for realm works to be useful.

 

[Warunsun]

+1 Printing and Exporting

+1 to these. Printing and exporting are important. I haven't bought RW yet because I am waiting for the ability to print my hard work or export it somehow. I Dungeon Master at another person's home and sometimes at game stores. We don't have ready access to a computer at our game table. The closest computer is in the next room. The same is true of of the other DM in our group. He has an amazing game room setup but no computer there.

I used Mastertools for a while in 4E and would love something similar or better to use with D&D (any edition) or C&C. Mastertools is awesome but very 4E specific.

I manually create my own campaign game summaries that I hand out to the players at every session. It sounds like RW has tools for this but only for online gaming. I am not an online gamer with tabletop games. I am glad that folks enjoy it but our local group of roughly 12 to 14 players don't do it.

I want to spend money on this! Please give me printing or at-least PDF exports. Good Gaming!

 

[Farling]

It sounds like RW has tools for this but only for online gaming. I am not an online gamer with tabletop games. I am glad that folks enjoy it but our local group of roughly 12 to 14 players don't do it.

RW is a computer-based GM aid, it isn't a tool for online gaming.

You would only use the online component after the game is finished (e.g. when you get home with your laptop).

 

[AEIOU]

I think I might be using a different RW? Or I'm misunderstanding how it's supposed to be used?

Don't get me wrong, I need printing and want exporting. There are times when a computer may not be possible at a table. Or much more often in my case, when you want to prep things off-the-grid. But RW is not for pre/post prep only.

RW is a GM aid that allows the GM to organize for all manners of RPG play through a database that magically create linkages between data points. Play can happen at a table or via VTT or like in my case, a combination of both.

RW can be used at the table as a reference in exactly the same way manuals and modules have always been used -- except it's digital, can be searched, can have tabs opened in advance and can be modified easily. Indeed, RW excels and surpasses traditional material as you can input a race or class or creature or module or adventure or adventure path or quest or mission from any published source AND MODIFY IT to seamlessly fit your group or campaign. No more sticky notes, highlighter markups, index cards, coffee stains, illegible changes, writings in the margins. No more binders!

RW can be used for campaign management and adventure design before, DURING and after sessions. Adding a random NPC or a new clue or an adventure seed is quick and easy AND IT LINKS to existing material. If the players throw a curveball, write it down and integrate it.

RW can be used to display material during a table-top session to players. Maps can be updated in near real-time by the GM using a second monitor. Handouts, photos, sketches, puzzles....

RW can be used to access HL files during a table-top session to track initiatives, combat stats, spells, conditions....

RW can be used by players at a tabletop session to reference known material. And if the GM updates material, everyone can restart and resynch and have the information at their fingertips pretty quick. No need to wait for someone to do a writeup later or to get home to login to the blog page.

 

[EightBitz]

I think I might be using a different RW? Or I'm misunderstanding how it's supposed to be used?

Neither, I think. I think it's more the case that you're overlooking the fact that different GMs have different GMing styles, different groups have different playing styles, and different GMs have different writing/preparation styles.

There are times when I like to go some place quiet, away from home, with just a notebook (the paper kind) and a pen, to work on whatever ideas I have. There are times when I explicitly want just paper and pen. No phone. No tablet. No desktop. No laptop. No tech.

If I can log into RW beforehand, and print out, say, selected topics, or if it's a small realm, print out all topics, then I have a reference doc to take with me so I can do some continuity checking as I write new material, or read through the old material to inspire new ideas. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that aspect of that character ... I can build an adventure off of that ..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytPchkiwII

 

[ggeilman]

I am a new user and have to give a big thumbs up to print and export. It won't stop me from using it , but it will add to the functionality of it for me.

 

[storeyl]

I think I might be using a different RW? Or I'm misunderstanding how it's supposed to be used?

RW is a GM aid that allows the GM to organize for all manners of RPG play through a database that magically create linkages between data points. Play can happen at a table or via VTT or like in my case, a combination of both.

I bought into it based on what the web site seemed to be say. In particular:

About Realm Works

How many times have you struggled with keeping everything in your campaigns organized? Have you ever lost track of what your players have and haven’t learned? Is real life limiting the amount of time you have to prepare for your campaigns?

[...]
Use Realm Works to run and prepare RPG sessions for any game system.

The first bit sounded great if RW was about solving those problems.

Maybe I put too much emphasis on the 'prepare' and not enough on the 'run', or didn't properly account for the 'and' rather than an 'or' meaning literally you can only do one if you do the other.

I tried sharing my realm, for use off line for players to recap and prepare as well (lack of other features makes that a bit meh at the moment). However, as others have noted, realm works is not something I'd ever want to use at the table. I've thought about it but just can't see how it would physically fit in the environment I play in. Nor does everyone have tablets/phones etc (me included). Nor do I want sessions to become people staring at such devices flicking between links instead of playing the game.

What I was assuming is that it would allow me to do all the prep at any point in time, with the fancy links, organisation and other nice stuff, that I would then be able to print off the bits I want for the next session. In other words it was campaign management system, and not more akin to a virtual table top. My fault of course for not reading into it enough.

Brought to you by the creators of Hero Lab®, Realm Works is the tool every Game Master has dreamed about for managing campaigns.

Clearly not.


Not to say I don't like the looks of RW. I like the idea of what it could be given more work. I keep tinkering with it, but have largely given up on using it for real.

If it is intended to be used by players as well as GMs then there is a bucket load of work to do. As it stands it doesn't do what I'd like from a GM point of view, and it doesn't do things that we need from a player point of view.

If however we could print (not mere data export) then it would really go a long way to making it a great GM tool. Sure there'd be stuff still needed for players to find it really useful, but at least as a GM I'd have a clear reason to want to use it, and until that happens it is irrelevant whether my players might want it.

Maps can be updated in near real-time by the GM using a second monitor.

I like how you assume a first monitor of course! Not everyone has such luxuries as they sit around the kitchen table or game club room.

 

[AEIOU]

What I was assuming is that it would allow me to do all the prep at any point in time, with the fancy links, organisation and other nice stuff, that I would then be able to print off the bits I want for the next session. In other words it was campaign management system, and not more akin to a virtual table top. My fault of course for not reading into it enough.

RW is not a VTT and LWD is not intending for it to be. I use d20pro for my VTT (others use Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds or MapTools). I use RW as my campaign/module/ adventure management before, during and after. My point is YOU CAN use it during a session; not that you have to. You have chosen not to do it during your sessions rather than it being a limitation of RW. By not using RW at the table you have made a personal decision not to leverage it's functionality -- and that's perfectly ok as making room for friends at the table rather than computers is definitely a good choice. Play and have fun.

As I'm sure a quick scroll through the forums will show, I have been one of the louder voices advocating for printing and export. I definitely want it just as much as many others do. Unfortunately, it's likely a year or so out based on the survey results. I have a strong suspicion that most folks that insist on printing have voted with their dollars and weren't represented in the survey -- LWD's loss (and ours).

 

[Farling]

RW is not a VTT and LWD is not intending for it to be. I use d20pro for my VTT (others use Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds or MapTools). I use RW as my campaign/module/ adventure management before, during and after. My point is YOU CAN use it during a session; not that you have to. You have chosen not to do it during your sessions rather than it being a limitation of RW.

RW is intended to replace most of the books and notes that you have at the table as a GM, making it much quicker to access the information (instead of having to remember which book some information is in).

A single laptop for the GM doesn't really equate to a table full of computers.