Pathfinder Is Coming To REALMWORKS

dpmcalister said:

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I believe I've answered all your questions both here and on Kickstarter. If I've failed to answer anything, please feel free to restate them here and I'll make sure they're answered.

It sounds like you're most frustrated by our cloud service, being a backer at 15 months. Let me clarify a few things.

We suspended cloud service 4 ½ months after Player Edition release. The announcement can be found here. After the Content Market launches, we’ll be waiting at least a month or two before announcing anything about resuming the cloud service clock. Once we make the announcement, users will have at least a month before the clock resumes. So at the end of it, anyone who got cloud service through the Kickstarter will end up with a minimum of three months back (we expect more) out of the 4 ½ months "spent" after the Player Edition released. That's in addition to the more than two years of cloud service prior to the Content Market launching.

So is this a meant to be a roll20 replacement or an obsidian portal replacement?

dpmcalister said:

I'm still waiting for them to actually finish the product I backed! 30 months on from when it was meant to be finished and we still don't have the web interface but that hasn't stopped them starting the clock on the cloud service!

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Yep! I gave up on them earlier this year. It's obvious that they aren't going to really complete the things they promised in any reasonable amount of time.

As for the content market, I'll believe it when I see it. Their past record for getting things out on time (or at all) is really bad.

LWDLiz said:

We would love to support D&D in both Hero Lab and Realm Works! On the Hero Lab side, we're planning to support 5E if/when they release an OGL.

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WotC has said that their deal with Fantasy Grounds is not exclusive. Which means that some kind of fee based license is available for some kind of negotiation.

I use both 5e and Realmsworks and would love to have the 5e support within Realmsworks.

JohnLynch said:

So is this a meant to be a roll20 replacement or an obsidian portal replacement?

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This is realms management, so more like Obsidian Portal. Other than player journals, I've gotten more use out of Realmsworks in 6 sessions than I think I did in a two year campaign in obsidian portal. It it that much better for campaign management for me.

Yes, still waiting for web view, individual player reveal and other nifty things. Hopefully the pathfinder deal will provide funds for more staff to work on Realmsworks.

the_redbeard said:

WotC has said that their deal with Fantasy Grounds is not exclusive. Which means that some kind of fee based license is available for some kind of negotiation.

I use both 5e and Realmsworks and would love to have the 5e support within Realmsworks.

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This. Instead of waiting for an OGL that might never materialize (at least in a form that would allow such things), I would be glad if a deal could be struck with WotC for a license, both for Realmworks and for Hero Lab.

the_redbeard said:

This is realms management, so more like Obsidian Portal.

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I've run two sessions straight from obsidian portal with my iPad. Without similar functionality I don't know how useful this would be to me (then again, I don't know how useful obsidian portal will be to me longterm. I've just recovered my old wiki I had on my PC so I'm inclined to just use that and drop the player-facing campaign tools).

A game as complex and voluminous in rules optimization needs this ;-)

chibi graz'zt said:

A game as complex and voluminous in rules optimization needs this ;-)

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Realmworks is about managing a campaign, i.e. characters, plots, places, maps. It has very little to do with game rules.

pickin_grinnin said:

It's obvious that they aren't going to really complete the things they promised in any reasonable amount of time.


As for the content market, I'll believe it when I see it. Their past record for getting things out on time (or at all) is really bad.

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We fully admit that development has taken longer than expected. Following the Kickstarter, we provided a lot of information about development progress, and our best-guess estimates. Unfortunately, that led to two issues. 1) Users would critique development decisions based on incomplete information or draw incorrect assumptions based on the information we provided. This required a lot of development resources to respond to and correct the false assumptions and misconceptions. 2) The “best-guess” estimates were interpreted as promised release dates and when we “missed” them, it led to a lot of (understandable) frustration among our users.

That experience forced us to change our approach. Instead of continuing to provide estimates and extensive information on development progress as in the past, we’ve instead focused on showing visible progress as we hit milestones – for example, the sneak peek of Realm works on the web a few months back and now the Realm Works Spotlight Series. "But Liz, you shared an estimate in the announcement." Yes, while we've been specifically avoiding estimates, we're far enough along in development to feel confident when we say "early 2016."

While I understand where your skepticism is coming from, it's important to keep one key point in mind: Paizo is very business savvy company, and they don't enter into licenses casually. If they didn't believe that we could deliver, this announcement wouldn't exist.

the_redbeard said:

WotC has said that their deal with Fantasy Grounds is not exclusive. Which means that some kind of fee based license is available for some kind of negotiation.

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We have been in talks with Wizards of the Coast about a license. If we're not able to come to terms, we've committed to support Hero Lab through an OGL, should they release one.

JohnLynch said:

I've run two sessions straight from obsidian portal with my iPad. Without similar functionality I don't know how useful this would be to me (then again, I don't know how useful obsidian portal will be to me longterm. I've just recovered my old wiki I had on my PC so I'm inclined to just use that and drop the player-facing campaign tools).

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While Realm Works is currently Windows-based, we're also working on a web version. You can view a sneak peek here. Initial web access will be available sometime after the Content Market launches.