monsterfurby
Well-known member
For the first time in 20 years of gamemastering, I aborted a campaign. There are many reasons behind this, but information overload and exponentially increasing complexity of a modern-world sci-fi setting with 400 NPCs is one of them. Realm Works is not to blame for this, certainly, but I have decided not to use it in the new campaign that I will be starting within the same group.
Because, at this point, I'm returning RW to the shelf for the time being, I would like to provide some feedback. I still think that the overall premise of the tool is great, and that there is absolutely a market for it. I'd love to use it, if it weren't for a few elements that made it less than optimal for me.
What follows is a list of very subjective grievances and hopes for the future which might be useful as a tiny bit of feedback.
1. UI Responsiveness
The UI has a discernible lag when switching topics and edit/view mode. This is something I mentioned in several places but ultimately figured I would learn to ignore. That is not the case. The way my creativity works is a bit of a fickle thing. Unless I can write something down right the instant it occurs to me, I may never do so. Running over a speed bump on my way there is very irritating.
2. Need for 'blank slate' template
I fully understand that for marketplace purposes, there need to be certain preconfigured categories. I found that these however weren't exactly all that useful. The tool makes it exceedingly hard to remove these categories and get them out of sight permanently - not just greying them out but preventing them from cluttering the appropriate area as well.
As someone who never plays published modules and settings, marketplace compatibility is of no importance to me. I ultimately decided to delete all categories to make room. It would be great if the "core" categories could be hidden by default, allowing users to start from scratch.
3. Allow defined lemma in templates
Right now, the only way to have "lemma: content" type factsheets is to either misuse tags or to make pure text snippets.
What I would like for characters in particular is the ability to pre-define a lemma for a snippet in the template, e.g. "Full Name:", "Place of Birth:", etc.
4. Make information easier to retrieve
Snippets might not be the best format for quick retrieval of information, since the DM/GM still has to sort through fully formed text to find the information they are looking for. Addressing 3 and 6 might help.
5. I don't get "tags"
The predefined templates use tags for things like looks. I don't understand that. Why would I want a list of all skinny, brown-haired NPCs the players have come across? I literally cannot think of a scenario other than an investigation adventure, and even then, it's more of a player thing.
I understand the principle of tags overall, but again, the pre-defined set doesn't make a lot of sense.
6. Improve formatting, make images smarter
One of the recurring issues I have is about the way the information is laid out visually. For some reason (possibly margins, possibly paragraphs, possibly spacing, not entirely sure), I find a Word document containing the exact same information a lot easier to use than a Realm Works database entry.
I fully understand that the format is somewhat constrained by the format of the database and the capabilities of the software platform. However, giving us more control over how we want to arrange the information, possibly with columns or custom defined width/height boxes for each piece of data, would be interesting.
This especially applies to images. It would be great if we could, for example, move an image off to the side where it doesn't interfere with the text, display it without any header line and comment, and move it around to wherever it best illustrates whatever information it is meant to illustrate.
7. Online view - maybe online edit?
As more and more RPG groups move online, sharing information through the web is an absolute requirement. I bought the player edition for my group, but usability issues mean that they hardly ever open the software to read up on things. Having an online view would help a lot.
Conclusion
To me, Realm Works excels in functionality, but the user experience overall is not optimal. Instead of helping me structure ideas and plan things out, it places obstacles in my way that I find irritating. I am of course not expecting the software to give me full-on OneNote-like freedom of arranging information, but better formatting and shorter response times would go a long way towards making this a much better tool.
At the same time, I would still recommend Realm Works to others. Just because I find that it doesn't, right now, make me happy, that doesn't mean others who are less irritated by small UX glitches and issues can't make use of it. I, too, will return from time to time to look at the state of the software, but for now, my group will retire it and return to using a fairly standard Wiki software for our campaign journal needs.
Because, at this point, I'm returning RW to the shelf for the time being, I would like to provide some feedback. I still think that the overall premise of the tool is great, and that there is absolutely a market for it. I'd love to use it, if it weren't for a few elements that made it less than optimal for me.
What follows is a list of very subjective grievances and hopes for the future which might be useful as a tiny bit of feedback.
1. UI Responsiveness
The UI has a discernible lag when switching topics and edit/view mode. This is something I mentioned in several places but ultimately figured I would learn to ignore. That is not the case. The way my creativity works is a bit of a fickle thing. Unless I can write something down right the instant it occurs to me, I may never do so. Running over a speed bump on my way there is very irritating.
2. Need for 'blank slate' template
I fully understand that for marketplace purposes, there need to be certain preconfigured categories. I found that these however weren't exactly all that useful. The tool makes it exceedingly hard to remove these categories and get them out of sight permanently - not just greying them out but preventing them from cluttering the appropriate area as well.
As someone who never plays published modules and settings, marketplace compatibility is of no importance to me. I ultimately decided to delete all categories to make room. It would be great if the "core" categories could be hidden by default, allowing users to start from scratch.
3. Allow defined lemma in templates
Right now, the only way to have "lemma: content" type factsheets is to either misuse tags or to make pure text snippets.
What I would like for characters in particular is the ability to pre-define a lemma for a snippet in the template, e.g. "Full Name:", "Place of Birth:", etc.
4. Make information easier to retrieve
Snippets might not be the best format for quick retrieval of information, since the DM/GM still has to sort through fully formed text to find the information they are looking for. Addressing 3 and 6 might help.
5. I don't get "tags"
The predefined templates use tags for things like looks. I don't understand that. Why would I want a list of all skinny, brown-haired NPCs the players have come across? I literally cannot think of a scenario other than an investigation adventure, and even then, it's more of a player thing.
I understand the principle of tags overall, but again, the pre-defined set doesn't make a lot of sense.
6. Improve formatting, make images smarter
One of the recurring issues I have is about the way the information is laid out visually. For some reason (possibly margins, possibly paragraphs, possibly spacing, not entirely sure), I find a Word document containing the exact same information a lot easier to use than a Realm Works database entry.
I fully understand that the format is somewhat constrained by the format of the database and the capabilities of the software platform. However, giving us more control over how we want to arrange the information, possibly with columns or custom defined width/height boxes for each piece of data, would be interesting.
This especially applies to images. It would be great if we could, for example, move an image off to the side where it doesn't interfere with the text, display it without any header line and comment, and move it around to wherever it best illustrates whatever information it is meant to illustrate.
7. Online view - maybe online edit?
As more and more RPG groups move online, sharing information through the web is an absolute requirement. I bought the player edition for my group, but usability issues mean that they hardly ever open the software to read up on things. Having an online view would help a lot.
Conclusion
To me, Realm Works excels in functionality, but the user experience overall is not optimal. Instead of helping me structure ideas and plan things out, it places obstacles in my way that I find irritating. I am of course not expecting the software to give me full-on OneNote-like freedom of arranging information, but better formatting and shorter response times would go a long way towards making this a much better tool.
At the same time, I would still recommend Realm Works to others. Just because I find that it doesn't, right now, make me happy, that doesn't mean others who are less irritated by small UX glitches and issues can't make use of it. I, too, will return from time to time to look at the state of the software, but for now, my group will retire it and return to using a fairly standard Wiki software for our campaign journal needs.
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