I was just talking about me here, but I am following this thread very closely. I am excited as all others here on the forum to see how the current strategy is going to work out and what will happen to RW in the future.
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- The Lone Wolf Development Team
Synch Process
- Thread starter RampagingHoardes
- Start date
I was just talking about me here, but I am following this thread very closely. I am excited as all others here on the forum to see how the current strategy is going to work out and what will happen to RW in the future.
Hey everyone, I'm actually putting together a post with some information about cloud service for Realm Works. It won't answer every outstanding question, but those unanswered questions will be answered before the Content Market comes online. I'm hoping to get that post up soon (within the next few days) - thank you for your patience.
RampagingHoardes
Well-known member
RampagingHoardes
Well-known member
No worries mate :0)
I wanted to pipe in here one more time… I’m seeing a lot of strong reactions based on assumptions (some of which are going to be incorrect assumptions in the long run). Some of the information we’ll be able to give soon, and some of it will be contingent based on technical milestones that we’re working towards right now. The post I referred to earlier is going to answer some things, but there’s going to be some questions left unanswered (intentionally) until we have more certainty on a technical front. Stay tuned. 
Viking2054
Well-known member
You are comparing apples and oranges.
RW lets you create content (potentially gigabytes and gigabytes if not terabytes of data) and store it on their servers to possibly share with others that you invite to see your realm.
RPG Now has a single master copy of the PDF's and other download material and if your account says you purchased it then they let you download a copy of that single item, even if they let you download it over and over again. RPG Now basically has your account information with a list of the products you've purchased from them that links to their master copy of the file. So RPG Now may have a few Kilobytes of information of you and a single master copy of everything they sell. The amount of raw storage they need is significantly less then Realm Works will use. They aren't charging you a cloud service fee because the only thing of yours they are keeping is account information.
Also, if you share your PDF (presumably watermarked) and it is traced back to you then your account would probably end up being banned by RPG now. Realm Works on the other hand is based around sharing your campaign with the people playing in your campaign. So, not exactly the same.
Oh, lets not forget what happens when Realm Works lets you start copying pristine realms so you can run multiple campaigns with different groups and different outcomes. The amount of cloud storage you will need will increase dramatically, especially if the actions of the characters cause radically different changes to the campaign world. Such as one group kills a major NPC early on creating an enemy in said NPC's family and friends, while another group saves the same NPC and his family earning an ally.
Throw in the marketplace for RW. Although LWD will initially maintain a master copy (i.e. pristine copy) of each realm they sell to us, we will be able to make changes to it once we get it downloaded. The minute you sync a modified realm purchased through the marketplace it will have to create a bunch of new entries and save it to their servers. So, again RW will require a more data storage.
Anyway, you are comparing Kilobytes of storage versus Gigabytes or Terabytes of storage per user. Not exactly the same thing in my opinion.
Finally, the fee for cloud storage isn't my problem. Although I wouldn't have minded the start of the free 6 month trial starting at a later date. My real problem is a lack of features that were promised and aren't available. So, I'm going to let my free 6 month cloud service expire and I won't renew or sign up for more cloud service until the features I want are finally available.
Viking2054
Well-known member
For those that are interested in backing up their data, RW comes with a built in database backup tool under the tools menu on the startup screen. So you don't necessarily need the cloud to backup and protect your data. However, you will most likely need to create a new backup whenever a new version of RW comes out as well as whenever you decide to backup your data due to changes.
Also, if you know where your 'master.realm' file is on your computer you could theoretically just copy that to a thumb drive, CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disk or some other backup device.
You don't necessarily need the cloud service, unless you actually want to share it with your players when they are away from the gaming table.
Also, if you know where your 'master.realm' file is on your computer you could theoretically just copy that to a thumb drive, CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disk or some other backup device.
You don't necessarily need the cloud service, unless you actually want to share it with your players when they are away from the gaming table.
I think you make a good point here. The amount of data is not equivalent. However, the jump from free to $40 a year is beyond what I consider reasonable. I am hopeful that the post Liz is working on will assuage my fears; there are a lot of unanswered questions. I would be willing to pay for cloud storage, but not anywhere near $40. Onedrive cost me about a 1$ month! In my mind the major issues that need addressing are as follows:
1. If I don't need to share my realms with others (beyond myself) then why do I need to pay for that service?
2. Do I need to pay for cloud storage just for the privilege of using the marketplace? Are they going to charge us, so they can then sell us stuff?!
3. If I don't have cloud storage will I still be able to get RW updates and create new realms?
Time will tell, but the free time is ticking down quickly, and I feel LWD needs to start getting some of this information out (which it sounds like they are close to doing). As the time gets closer more and more of us will be asking these questions and prospective buyers might start deciding to wait and see.
Viking2054
Well-known member
We have discussed some of this in other threads and if I remember correctly then:
1. You won't need to pay for cloud service if you don't intend to invite others to view your material on their own time away from the gaming table.
2. I don't think so, it would be asinine to charge you to buy stuff from them and I believe it was discussed in another thread and the dev team chimed in.
3a. I expect, like any other software, you get free updates most of the time. Other software provides free updates unless they have a major change or addition to the software and then they usually charge a small upgrade fee. However, as long as I've owned Hero Lab (another LWD product) I have not been charged for upgrades to the packages I've purchased or for updates to the base program. I'd expect Realm Works wouldn't be much different, except for the optional cloud service.
3b. Yes. RW requires a brief login to the cloud every time you create a new realm. This is to generate a globally unique identifier (guid) and register it in their database just in case you later want to buy some cloud storage and push your realm up so you can have your players then have access to your realm at their leisure. I am pretty sure they said they weren't going to charge just to create a new realm either. Once you have your guid's for your your realms you need not login ever again. You just won't be able to sync up to the cloud if you haven't paid for the cloud storage and you will have to use the backup tool in the opening screens tools in order to backup your realms.
Of course whatever Liz has to say in the next few days on the subject will of course trump my assertions.
@Viking2054 I hope you are correct in your assertions. If so, things are looking up. One other important issue will be duplication of realms. Will I need to purchase the cloud service to duplicate my own realms for my own use. If I create a base realm with all the rules and fluff I want, then I need to be able to duplicate that ream to use repeatedly. From what I have read the duplication of realms requires marketplace, but if they don't charge for marketplace then that will not be a problem.
Wait for Liz's post, it might answer.
You can still run backups without the cloud. Then you store those backups wherever you want. Dropbox, CD, USB stick, wherever.
@meek75, I can address a few of your concerns right now.
Your second question will be addressed in my upcoming post.
Cloud service is not required, as we share on our website. If you want to back up your local Master.realm file via an external hard-drive or your own cloud back-up, you're welcome to do so. However, backing-up via our cloud service, sharing content with players via Player Edition and the web, and using some some (but not all) capabilities of the Content Market will require cloud service (more info on Content Market forthcoming).
Yes! All users will receive updates and will be able to create new realms with or without cloud service. The only requirement for these two functions is having an internet connection. The reason for requiring an internet connection when creating realms can be found here.
Your second question will be addressed in my upcoming post.
I believe there is a significant difference here.
As I understand it, RPG Now has a server containing all their products - one of each.
Then they have a small text file in which they somewhere write a simple line:
Customer X has access to product Q2536, L2827, F2426
or something similar. This takes up no place at all.
In comparison LW stores a lot of data from each individual realm, including maps, movie clips, sound bits and loads of texts and database thingies.
My database backup takes up 65 MiB and honestly, my realm is really puny - especially compared to some of the screenshots I have seen on the fora.
I don't know how many customers LW has, but I hope it adds up to quiet a lot.
So, of course the RPG Now service is for free- it takes up one GB or so (pure guess work on my part) whereas LW actually has to set server capacity aside "just for" storing our realms - including the CPU cycles handling the synching.
Whether that makes the price acceptable or not is up to each individual customer.
LATER ADDITION:
Mee - Viking2054 beat me to it - I have to remember to read the whole thread before answering to any posts...
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RampagingHoardes
Well-known member
Already am doing that now. But I use the sync too to make sure I have another back up in case of a catastrophic event. I trust my data is safe based on what Lonewolf has said in the past my gut tells me I can trust them. I understood the sync to be part of RW from the onset which I may have gotten wrong but hopefully that isn't the case.
At any rate I don't trust these third party cloud services to put my files on. If you look at how some of the bigger companies are behaving with regard to your content it is pretty sad. But hey the stooges in charge are doing it right?
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If you don't trust them, zip/encrypt your files before uploading...
No one broke AES256 yet ...
RampagingHoardes
Well-known member
As promised ... news about the cloud service: http://www.wolflair.com/realmworks/2015/04/30/realm-works-important-news-cloud-service/
This update was also included in the newsletter that went out this evening.
This update was also included in the newsletter that went out this evening.
MNBlockHead
Well-known member
Nice to see that you'll be extending the six months free cloud service until after the content market is launched.