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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alphastream" data-source="post: 5966447" data-attributes="member: 11365">The problem is that they created a catch-22 on various levels. At the simplest level, they kept desired functionality (such as sharing adventures and various levels of import/export) from working because some day they might want to sell that. Combined with a lack of true integration (you could import your CB character but changes you made could not be saved... and you had to make many changes initially for some PCs), this mean that DMs and PCs both needed to do work to get a game going. The whole point of using the VTT over something like MapTool was integration. At the heart of this is a fear that they were leaving money on the table and giving away too much. Instead, they killed innovation, killed efficiency, and drove away customers. Also, they hurt the Monster Builder (lay bug laden and outdated for months while they put resources on the VTT) and never developed the other useful tools like the Encounter Builder.The same could happen with Paizo. They announce it is free and light, and just this simple tool... and then their CEO says it isn't clear what the pricing will be. And meanwhile, because the communication isn't clear, fans start making outrageous demands for functionality. A catch-22 is again being set up where fans want functionality from Paizo, but creating that functionality demands a revenue stream. Paizo, like WotC, should have figured out the revenue model before ever mentioning or offering the product. Then they should have done some focus group work to see whether this was viable and would hit the volumes and revenues required to validate the work. No project is flawless, but competent teams (and managers) will mitigate that and make the needed adjustments. What you can't compensate for is the cart pulling the horse, where screenshots are being shared, your executives making wild statements, and fans making demands before you even have an internal revenue model. My advice to any RPG company: Sit down and figure out your priorities. If this isn't one of them, either don't offer a VTT or make it free and really bare-bones. Consider just a portal/gateway to a VTT provider with just some simple one-shot-development enablers. Consider fan-created elements with some very minor initial help from your dev team. Consider an API or limited license to use your rules/content and no more. If, by some miracle, this really is core to your priorities, then you need to have a robust deployment strategy that truly will bring in fans in droves. The financial model needs to be really strong. It needs to be taken seriously and no promises made until the strategy is agreed to by the team that will build the solution and the executives above.</blockquote>

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