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Quick Update on Hero Lab Online from GenCon

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I was told at GenCon that it would require a live connection, which makes sense if you think about it. It is a web browser app after all as I understand it.

My deciding factor will be, if the current product is the "offline" mode and the migration is NOT one way so i can use either product, then I'm a happy camper!

Its how they handled the iPad (as a license and not its own product) so I have confidence that Rob is going to make us happy and not sad :)
 
Jamz said:
I was told at GenCon that it would require a live connection, which makes sense if you think about it. It is a web browser app after all as I understand it.

My deciding factor will be, if the current product is the "offline" mode and the migration is NOT one way so i can use either product, then I'm a happy camper!

Its how they handled the iPad (as a license and not its own product) so I have confidence that Rob is going to make us happy and not sad :)
Click to expand...

If it's like this then perfect. While I'm a fan of cloud-based products, I prefer having the local client to be able to use it both ways.
 
The question about sharing between the web app and the offline app is where the character data is stored.
 
I'm going to wager a guess it will be online only. There will be no client. It will be a website you log into.
 
daplunk said:
I'm going to wager a guess it will be online only. There will be no client. It will be a website you log into.
Click to expand...

I think so too. Everything else is wishful thinking. Look at the speed of LWD developing - no disrespect, just being realistic - they're happy to have programmed the web app. Any additional offline client or integration into the old, clunky standalone application would mean a lot of development time they'd better invest elsewhere.

My guess is that they'll just let the two coexist. Most we can hope for is to be able to use both with the same license plus the cloud hosting cost.
 
Doubt it. I think they are looking to the future. Hero Lab is how old? 19 is you go by the copyright. The old software is holding them back in terms of market share and usability. It would make more sense for them to release Starfinder on Hero Lab Online and slowly transition everything else over to it making it their primary platform moving forward.

Just like you can't buy Windows XP anymore software companies need to move forward or be left behind.
 
I think someone posted over on the Paizo forums and indicated they Starfinder was only going to released fro HL Online, at this time. IIRC, they were in attendance at the GenCon seminar.
 
I suspect it depends on how confident they are that they'll gain more people than they lose by going to an entirely online tool. They'd certainly lose me.
 
Mystic Lemur said:
I, too, would like to know if Starfinder is coming to Hero Lab "Classic." The original post was rather ambiguous about that.
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AJC said:
I think someone posted over on the Paizo forums and indicated they Starfinder was only going to released fro HL Online, at this time. IIRC, they were in attendance at the GenCon seminar.
Click to expand...

We've slowly been getting our extended group's holdouts to give Hero Lab more of a chance, and not being able to add Starfinder and/or going to a subscription fee will kill that stone cold dead.
 
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I'm not switching to a program that requires an "always on" internet connection. The ability to edit portfolios from a browser would be nice, but not at the expense of the offline option.
 
I would hope that the data files which define the game are common between the desktop app and the web app; otherwise there is a lot of duplication/conversion that is going to be required.

Also, I wonder how they will store the "community pack" which is quite massive. They wouldn't want that much data used in almost every PF players "file store".
 
My assumptions are:

- HLO is online only, requiring an active connection to use. (They already said this.)

- HLO stores all information online. No portfolios in or out.
-- Side Effect: If you stop your subscription you lose access to your data.

- HLO is a closed system. No data files. No authoring kit. No custom outputs.

- Desktop Hero Lab is now in maintenance mode.


I only use Hero Lab for Pathfinder, so as long as that keeps working I'll be OK. We'll see what happens as they move forward.
 
Parody said:
My assumptions are:
- HLO is online only, requiring an active connection to use. (They already said this.)

- HLO stores all information online. No portfolios in or out.
-- Side Effect: If you stop your subscription you lose access to your data.

- HLO is a closed system. No data files. No authoring kit. No custom outputs.

- Desktop Hero Lab is now in maintenance mode.
Click to expand...

Point 1, that's fine with me.
Point 2, this would probably be a deal breaker for me
Point 3, this would be fine for me also.
Point 4, this would probably be a deal breaker for me

Regarding point 2 & 4, I play with about 9 people regularly all use hero lab. Probably 2 of them would be up to paying the monthly fee.
Two of the people that play use extra licenses of mine on an extra laptop and ipad. Will the online version still support 5 licenses (logins) on the same account? Will new data packs apply to both online and desktop versions?

They need to tread real careful here. The online version needs to add enough features to make it more valuable than the desktop version or it's not going anywhere.
 
I was talking to a gent at their booth, and he stated that you would be able to use HLO as a game aide in an offline mode, but you would not be able to edit characters without a connection.
He showed me how "unsynced" content would show up red on the character sheet, and turn white when it synced back up.
 
Sorry, I have no use for an online product. If I can't use HL as a program with it and my data on the hard drive I will have to find some other program. And I really don't want to find another program.
 
To those of you doing so, please stop posting assumptions and give us a chance to answer questions. We just got home from a crazy GenCon barely 24 hours ago. We're all exhausted. Some of us are sick from the "Con Crud". And I stated at the top that we would be providing answers this week, AFTER we got settled back in. Give us a chance to do that. Please?

Sheesh! :(

EDIT: For everyone else, please don't interpret the assumptions of others as fact and draw conclusions based on those assumptions. There's plenty of wrong information in this thread. We'll get you actual answers shortly. THEN you can weigh in with your opinions on how this is all going to work. Thanks! :)
 
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