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Realm Works Special News Update

B

BJ

Administrator
Staff member
Realm Works Special News Update​

Greetings from Lone Wolf Development! Many of you have been anxiously awaiting the Realm Works Content Market, and we’re pleased to announce your wait is almost over. The pieces are falling into place, and we’re on track to launch the Content Market in December!

In mid-November, we’ll be deploying a major Realm Works release with numerous refinements and quality-of-life enhancements that offer something for everyone. This release will also include critical new aspects of the Content Market for the Beta Team to test. From there, we’ll focus on tying up loose ends and fixing whatever issues the Beta Team uncovers, which we anticipate will take a number of weeks.

Those of you who’ve been following our Realm Works journey are likely sensing a shift from our previous discussions regarding the Content Market. For example, there’s no mention here of the multi-phase rollout that we previously outlined. The truth of the matter is, our vision for the Content Market was too grand to be created in the time frame we gave ourselves. We wanted perfection! We wanted bells and whistles and all the things! Unfortunately, all those things take time – especially for a team of our limited size.
Shortly after Gen Con, we had an epiphany. If we adjusted our approach, took a small detour, and scaled back the initial sophistication of the Content Market, we could quickly deliver the core functionality we’ve been promising. This would give users a solution NOW and allow us to continue working toward our original vision without dragging out the release and trying your patience further. So that’s exactly what we’ve done! The revised Content Market puts the core features and published content you’ve been waiting for into your hands as swiftly as possible. We’re pretty excited about this, and we hope you will be too!

Alongside these many improvements, we’ll be introducing new editions of Realm Works! Restructuring the current product options allows us to offer something for everyone, making sure those who like to keep it simple can get started with Realm Works inexpensively. And, of course, users who want it all will be able to purchase everything they need via the new editions as well.
Finally, we’ll be making adjustments to some of our terminology. For example, you’ll start to see changes to the name used to define our “Cloud Service” options. FAQs, future updates, and sales pages will be revised to use the term “Server Access” instead, as we feel this more accurately describes what we offer. In addition, users who are leveraging Server Access now can expect us to resume the clock for everyone early next year.

We look forward to reaching the end of this long journey, so we can begin the ongoing adventure of making Realm Works the best campaign management tool it can be. Keep an eye out for smaller updates with additional details over the next couple months on our website, forums, and social media. Thank you again for your continued support and patience!

Kickstarter Backer Notes

We’ll be delivering the content promised to Kickstarter backers as it becomes available to the public. Please look for more details on this subject through Kickstarter updates as we get closer to the actual release. In addition, all Kickstarter backers who elected to eschew Server Access (i.e. Pack Members) will be granted the service free for a limited time when we launch the Content Market. This will ensure you have the opportunity to give it a try, plus it will enable backers who have been asking to obtain Server Access the ability to do so.

New and Improved Features

While our primary development focus has been the Content Market, we have a plethora of new features headed your way for campaign management as well! Here’s a sampling of the new capabilities you can expect to see in the upcoming November and December releases:

• Copy a complete realm
• Export a realm, or a portion of a realm, for sharing with other users (or for use in a separate realm of your own)
• Import shared content from other users and weave it all together into your own realm
• Detailed support for pre-defined game system structures, with initial support for Pathfinder, D&D 5E, and Savage Worlds
• Share game system structure definitions among users, making it easy to leverage the work of others to quickly adopt tailored structures for assorted game systems
• Automatically apply name fixups across all content whenever a topic or article name is changed
• Streamlined workflow for adding content to Player View when showcasing your world to your players during the game
• Optionally show the names of selected map pins within Player View
• Optionally disable the automatic creation of default text snippets within new topics and articles
• Quickly add plural versions of names to topics and articles (e.g. “Orc” becomes “Orcs”)
• Free content for everyone, including Isle of Kandril (a small setting and adventure we commissioned from Super Genius Games), We Be Goblins from Paizo, and hopefully some additional surprises that we’re still finalizing the details on
• And much more…
 
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Can you please provide more detail about exactly what functionality will be left out of the Content Market to get this release out?

What functionality did you decide to cut for this release?
 
MaxSupernova said:
Can you please provide more detail about exactly what functionality will be left out of the Content Market to get this release out?

What functionality did you decide to cut for this release?
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This!
And what the differences between "New editions" will be.

As for the date: We will see when it will be actually available.
 
There will be a number of additional updates forthcoming in the weeks ahead. These updates will outline the new editions and delve into further detail regarding the new features and enhancements you can expect.

To be honest, I don't anticipate that we'll be spending any time on what capabilities are not yet present. We'll be focusing on the capabilities that ARE present, since there's going to be a LOT of new stuff you can do with Realm Works, not to mention the Content Market. Some of the things we originally planned to do one way will now be accomplished via another approach. And we still intend to continue working towards the original vision, so the entire product should evolve into everything we planned. The key difference will be that you'll all have a wealth of new capabilities that should give everyone the vast majority of things they're wanting and expecting. That will eliminate the existing tension caused by everyone being stuck waiting while we're working to create the grand vision.

As to the dates, I don't begrudge anyone for being skeptical. We intentionally waited to announce anything until we were just weeks away from releasing something. So we're pretty confident we'll hit the dates we've stated. Either way, it won't be very long before we'll all know for sure. :)
 
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Very much looking forward to this!

Though personally I really, really can't stand seeing "and much more..." on a bullet-point list, because every single time I've seen it (anecdote ahoy!) it's been either one tiny extra thing, or utterly impossible to determine after the fact.

Not sure I've ever seen it from LWD, so I'll try really hard not to hold that against anyone, but my initial response was "ugh, groan".

And just to clarify: do copy, import, and export require Server Access? Pretty sure I know the answer, but just want to be certain.
 
@Chemlak: There's a healthy list of "much more", including one thing that I'm certain you will personally view as a very good thing. :) That list will be detailed in upcoming update(s) here on the forums, but it made no sense to list them all in the announcement we just put out. We just wanted to give everyone a sample of what's coming.

Copy, import, and export do NOT require Server Access. This is a major shift from our previous plans, and it derives from the new approach we're taking. There are some profound benefits with this new approach, as well as some significant liabilities. It's a double-edged sword. My guess is that most users here on the forums will view this favorably, but the overall RW user base may ultimately think differently. Only time will tell...
 
Looking forward to seeing what "much more" there is, then! If anyone's going to shatter my preconceptions of corporate waffle, it's LWD.

Also, glad to see I was right about copy/import/export, that's a huge deal, since it will (apparently therefore) let us users share stuff offline.

Further, on the topic of "double-edged sword", the question of copyright is going to come up, and I'm sure you've thought of it, but I'll say that we're thinking of it, too.

All that said, GO TO BED! Unless you're currently in Europe, Africa or the Middle-East, you should be asleep!

Aside: There's only one thing I'm well-known for around here (that I know of), so does that mean I might have to change my utterly unofficial title in the not-too-distant?
 
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@Chemlak: Yes, the export/import mechanism WILL allow users to freely share stuff offline. That's both a benefit and liability, on many different levels.

Yes, copyright protection is a key concern. All the content we provide will be very secure and tied to individual user accounts, so users won't be able to re-share anything we sell. We'll also be making it possible for users to secure what they create, although that can't be as sophisticated. The mechanism we let users employ will utilize password-based encryption, but that won't stop an unscrupulous user from giving away the file and password. That's one of the key liabilities of doing it this way instead of always orchestrating it through the server.

I'm sure there will probably also be some users who enter copyrighted material and share it. If it's done offline, we won't be able to control it and intercede on behalf of a publisher (like we would if we controlled it all through our server). Fortunately, based on our experiences with Hero Lab, I don't think this will be a major area of concern. We've had lots of users purchase data packages from us that are also available through community support (all OGL), so it seems that users are generally happy to pay for stuff if the quality and utility is good.

Your self-anointed title of "Chief Calendar Champion" is still safely intact. We're not implementing calendars yet. :( However, being in Europe does highlight one particular drawback with respect to using Realm Works, especially as it pertains to real world dates. <hint> <hint>

As for bed, these are the core hours for my "second job". My "first job" (or "day job") is coordinating all the business stuff, solving technical challenges with team members, and everything that requires communicating with others during the day. My "second job" (or "night job") is doing big chunks of the development work for RW, which can best be done when everybody else is sleeping. So that's what I'm doing every night. Right now, I'm allowing myself to get distracted with forum posts, which I will probably be kicking myself for tomorrow. :)

Thanks!
 
Chemlak said:
All that said, GO TO BED! Unless you're currently in Europe, Africa or the Middle-East, you should be asleep!
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Actually it's noon right now in europe and at least my game session is starting in a few hours so no more sleep. :)
Can't wait for more information. Wish I had already chosen the Beta Team Level during Kickstarted instead just Alpha Wolf. :(
 
rob said:
Your self-anointed title of "Chief Calendar Champion" is still safely intact. We're not implementing calendars yet. :( However, being in Europe does highlight one particular drawback with respect to using Realm Works, especially as it pertains to real world dates. <hint> <hint>
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Altered... date... format...

*swoon*

Also, I'm lazy, so changing my title isn't something I'm really all that fussed about hurrying to get done.

Believe me, I'm a very happy grinning chappy right now.

(Just need an announcement about a deal with WotC for 3E FR for RW and I'll do my best Cheshire Cat impression.)
 
Got it in one! :)

Quick disclaimer: This one's not in yet. We've determined how to resolve it, so it SHOULD make it in. The caveat is if there's a wrinkle in the guts of the calendar mechanism that invalidates the approach we've identified and that we never saw coming. Barring that unlikely event, it should be in sometime this coming week.
 
HOLY crap on a stick!

Copy, export, sharing player content? /THUD......
.
.
.
Sorry fainted there!

So looking forward to these features, I have got so much time and effort in entering classic modules, which may have looked rather foolish, now looks like time well spent!!!!

Rob, a point of note. If you keep the same level of quality for RW that you have for HL, and support RW player work like you do HL, we will all be happy to buy our products from LWD. No company I have ever dealt with supports the community work as much as LWD does, even going to as far to warn authors when major changes could cause issues and offering solution?

LWD may not be big in size, but its big on delivery within its capability, and that's what keeps me here.

I have one question, which if its actual answer is forth coming, please feel free to wait. But I am assuming that we will be able to buy what seems to be a "rules wrapper" for our custom work. That is to say, my Telon campaign is rules agnostic, with exception to race design, so I could buy say Pathfinder and 5e rules and apply them to two copies of the realm (since we can make a full copy soon)?

Never been so happy to see winter....
 
Exmortis said:
I have one question, which if its actual answer is forth coming, please feel free to wait. But I am assuming that we will be able to buy what seems to be a "rules wrapper" for our custom work. That is to say, my Telon campaign is rules agnostic, with exception to race design, so I could buy say Pathfinder and 5e rules and apply them to two copies of the realm (since we can make a full copy soon)?
Click to expand...

Mostly yes, with some big caveats and certain critical limitations. There are some strict rules that you'll need to follow, and it's even possible that you've already violated those rules without even knowing it. This is something that has changed in some fundamental ways from the original plan with our revised approach, and there are some pain points involved in making the shift. This is a subject that we'll definitely need to outline in more detail in a future update. So stay tuned.
 
rob said:
Got it in one! :)

Quick disclaimer: This one's not in yet. We've determined how to resolve it, so it SHOULD make it in. The caveat is if there's a wrinkle in the guts of the calendar mechanism that invalidates the approach we've identified and that we never saw coming. Barring that unlikely event, it should be in sometime this coming week.
Click to expand...

I have every confidence that you have Top Men working on it. Top Men.

Exmortis said:
HOLY crap on a stick!

Copy, export, sharing player content? /THUD......
Click to expand...

I know, right?!
 
rob said:
Mostly yes, with some big caveats and certain critical limitations. There are some strict rules that you'll need to follow, and it's even possible that you've already violated those rules without even knowing it. This is something that has changed in some fundamental ways from the original plan with our revised approach, and there are some pain points involved in making the shift. This is a subject that we'll definitely need to outline in more detail in a future update. So stay tuned.
Click to expand...

Coolio. Thanks for the reply, I will look forward to this information as it comes.

Its not by any means a deal breaker, it was just something that sounds pretty damn awesome. End of day, if we can buy rules as add ins to mechanical reference, Bestiaries as importable works, then I d be extremely happy.

But I own HL and nearly every Pathfinder add in, so really not a big deal if my realm has broken core rules. I personally will be always using HL for character and encounter management. When ready, it will have a blank .por for players to use, so HL is configured properly, as well as my Telon.user file, with my custom version of the Vanguard races.

Back to my regularly scheduled RW work. With I6 Ravenloft 90+% done, I am mired in the reworking of T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil to match my now governing style I have developed over time entering so much work.
**Side note Should have started with a smaller module like U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. It was really easy to go back and update/tweak, ToEE is a fracken mammoth, and requires a fair amount of work.
 
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