Acquisition of SmiteWorks Ltd

[unerwünscht]

Since the other thread is locked in such a way that the average user is not able to post a reply, I figured it would be nice to start one here where everyone can get in on this meat and great and get a feel for the future of the Fantasy Grounds application.

Spyke asked a great question in the other thread:

Doug, while I wish you all the very best for this new venture, your comments above regarding the transition from the current developers do worry me.

The strength of Fantasy Grounds lies not just in its code but in the extraordinary artistic sensibility that has gone into the look and feel. If the code is being handed over to new programmers, how will you safeguard the artistic sense and skill behind the application?

Do you have a detailed style guide?

And where as I would like to see the answer to that, I (as well as others I am sure) am honestly more interested in the floating license system. It has still been left in limbo. Noone as of yet knows will these licenses be "rented" or purchased? To be perfectly honest this is the sole factor that will determine if Fantasy Grounds becomes the official tabletop of Gaming Army or if we move on to some other application.

We have been waiting a VERY long time for an answer, and it seams logical at this point that we have waited till the new owners stepped in to answer.
From the previous thread we can gather that Floating Licenses are still on the way, but there is really no other information presented.

[VenomousFiligree]

Congrats on the aquisition of FG, Doug, I look forward to seeing how the software progresses and thanks to the outgoing devs for making a great product! :)

I too am keen on the floating license issue, it would be great to have it available for the next FUMCon in November.

I notice you have a Pathfinder ruleset in the works, when do you believe this will be available, as I'm currently producing an FG module for The Gift (https://www.gamer-printshop.com/kaidan-rpg/index.html) and would be keen to know how it will differ from the core D20 / 3.5E ruleset?

[Master]

Will the application remain basically the same?
Yes and no. From a business perspective, I would like to see the business grow steadily alongside the user base. I would like to reduce the cost for people getting into Fantasy Grounds but also provide some form of residual income from those members who do join. This may mean that I go to some lightweight form of annual subscription. Since the community is one of the strongest assets for Fantasy Grounds, I want to make sure this is done in a way that doesn’t alienate the existing user base. This may only end up applying to the floating licenses. Look for future threads where I solicit user feedback on various proposals.

This has me worried.

[Tenian]

Since there is a new sheriff in town, would you like a list of outstanding bugs/potential improvements to ruleset coding? I know there is a wishlist thread and several house of healing topics, but it might be worth starting fresh instead of looking through those for bugs which still exist.

[Griogre]

We have been waiting a VERY long time for an answer, and it seams logical at this point that we have waited till the new owners stepped in to answer.
From the previous thread we can gather that Floating Licenses are still on the way, but there is really no other information presented.
In case you missed it this was answered on the Floating License thread here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=79899&postcount=113

[ddavison]

Congrats on the aquisition of FG, Doug, I look forward to seeing how the software progresses and thanks to the outgoing devs for making a great product! :)

I too am keen on the floating license issue, it would be great to have it available for the next FUMCon in November.

I notice you have a Pathfinder ruleset in the works, when do you believe this will be available, as I'm currently producing an FG module for The Gift (https://www.gamer-printshop.com/kaidan-rpg/index.html) and would be keen to know how it will differ from the core D20 / 3.5E ruleset?

Thanks. I have the ruleset nearly complete but I have one significant bug I have yet to resolve. I have been working on it without access to the FG source code or any additional ruleset documentation though. I want to continue working on securing permission to release it as an official Pathfinder approved product, so there may be some additional time injected into the equation due to that.

I know there are others working simultaneously on a fan-created extension for FG. If I am unable to secure permission from Paizo, I will strip out any proprietary content and graphics and may contact the other ruleset devs to see if they would be interested in combining our products if that makes sense. I'm quite proud of how it turned out and there are some interesting ideas there that I think could be incorporated into lots of other rulesets. I will also demonstrate a method for making your own data extensions as an EXT file.

[ddavison]

In case you missed it this was answered on the Floating License thread here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=79899&postcount=113


Yes. Thanks for posting it. You beat me to it, but I was going to post the same link in response to unerwünscht's question.

[Rook]

To quote Sigurd, "I will say that if the game ever loses its structure as a potentially independent server\client system I will not stay".


Ditto.

This would be my greatest nightmare and a hell of an incentive to go with whatever platform that Wizards will employ.

[ddavison]

Since there is a new sheriff in town, would you like a list of outstanding bugs/potential improvements to ruleset coding? I know there is a wishlist thread and several house of healing topics, but it might be worth starting fresh instead of looking through those for bugs which still exist.

I've looked at it from time to time as a long time user, but I could see a benefit in starting a fresh thread again.

[Valarian]

On the floating license question: I'm really not keen on the subscription model. If floating licenses are made available to purchase, I would definitely be interested, but not until then.

On the client/server issue: Ditto. I wouldn't be interested in a central server except for license validation and alias routing. The backup of having an IP address route to connect if the central server is down is just too valuable.

Bug List: It would definitely be worth setting up a bug reporting and tracking application such as JIRA or BugZilla to report bugs and for us users to see what's coming in the next version.

[ddavison]

This has me worried.

The more I think on this, the more I think this will not affect any existing people -- or it will be optional if it does. I have some ideas for a premium subscription service that provides a lot of additional features and functionality that member may choose to subscribe to but will not be required to. If so, there will be a separate value involved with what that provides access to.

[mr_h]

Congrats to the new owner (and the old ones :) ). I'm very curious to see where this goes from here (espically if it'd be avaiable on linux :D)

Special/Advanced content makes me very worried. Floating licenses has grown on me, but a subscription for something I've already paid for would most likely cause my friends and I reevaulate things (I like the idea of being able to toy with the same things everyone can. Paying to have greater access or features would not appeal to me at all)

[Oberoten]

The more I think on this, the more I think this will not affect any existing people -- or it will be optional if it does. I have some ideas for a premium subscription service that provides a lot of additional features and functionality that member may choose to subscribe to but will not be required to. If so, there will be a separate value involved with what that provides access to.

Most of all I want to be sure that I won't have to pay for something we have allready payed for and in some cases developed a lot of stuff for for others to use. I am nowhere near the genius level that some of the guys are but sitting at six licenses bought, a developed ruleset and a wiki helping with support I'd find it a slap in the face to be asked for more money.

Being able to run the program without connecting to some other server is another of the major pluses with FG and I hope this is something that also will remain at the least if you don't want to run with the floating licenses.

- Obe

[ddavison]

Most of all I want to be sure that I won't have to pay for something we have allready payed for and in some cases developed a lot of stuff for for others to use. I am nowhere near the genius level that some of the guys are but sitting at six licenses bought, a developed ruleset and a wiki helping with support I'd find it a slap in the face to be asked for more money.

Being able to run the program without connecting to some other server is another of the major pluses with FG and I hope this is something that also will remain at the least if you don't want to run with the floating licenses.

- Obe

I agree. You are not alone either. The community is invaluable and I promise that nobody will be punished or milked for being a past member of the community. In fact, I want to do the exact opposite and find ways to reward existing members.

That doesn't mean I can't try to entice you to buy more stuff down the road though. If you aren't glad to pay $X for whatever we release down the road than I've made a mistake somewhere. If you aren't interested in any of those new products or services, you'll be able to continue with the free updates to existing products you own along with the use of any free services we release as well.

[Doswelk]

That doesn't mean I can't try to entice you to buy more stuff down the road though. If you aren't glad to pay $X for whatever we release down the road than I've made a mistake somewhere. If you aren't interested in any of those new products or services, you'll be able to continue with the free updates to existing products you own along with the use of any free services we release as well.
That's the most re-assuring thing you've said so far!

<heads back into the shadows to lurk some more>

[Oberoten]

I agree. You are not alone either. The community is invaluable and I promise that nobody will be punished or milked for being a past member of the community. In fact, I want to do the exact opposite and find ways to reward existing members.

That doesn't mean I can't try to entice you to buy more stuff down the road though. If you aren't glad to pay $X for whatever we release down the road than I've made a mistake somewhere. If you aren't interested in any of those new products or services, you'll be able to continue with the free updates to existing products you own along with the use of any free services we release as well.

I agree with Welk here. That is very reassuring.

- Obe

[ddavison]

Thanks. I have the ruleset nearly complete but I have one significant bug I have yet to resolve.

My issue has been resolved with the help of the FG guys. There is an easy work-around and we found a place were we can fix a minor bug in the core product as well.

[VenomousFiligree]

My issue has been resolved with the help of the FG guys. There is an easy work-around and we found a place were we can fix a minor bug in the core product as well.
So that means its just a waiting game for the license then?

[ddavison]

So that means its just a waiting game for the license then?

Yes. I may tinker with a few very minor things but otherwise its a go. I may look at including an SRD module with it too, but I'd rather hold off on that part so that there is a greater chance we could secure an official license. I would love to see official Pathfinder modules and accessories for sale through the store.

[EugeneZ]

Congratulations on the aquisition! It is pretty nice to see a member of the community being the one to take up the reigns rather than some big conglomorate. That makes me hopeful, but also it looks like you have big plans, Doug, and that is a good thing, too.

I worry if it will be possible to replace the amazing devs that made the product, but I can only hope that they've done the "hard part" in designing the core of the application and that you and your team are competent enough to not bring it crumbling down over time. And I wish you good luck with that, I am sure it is an incredibly complex code base.

Looking forward to seeing what you can do with this.

And of course, a huge thank you to the original team for their hard work in making this amazing product.

[Casimir]

I'm not too keen on the subscription model for licenses, or for anything else really. I much prefer a simple purchase scheme over subscriptions. In all honesty, one of the many reasons I decided on FGII was because I could simply purchase the product... the other VTT I looked at had a monthly subscription model - which is the primary reason why I dismissed that product.


Special/Advanced content makes me very worried. Floating licenses has grown on me, but a subscription for something I've already paid for would most likely cause my friends and I reevaulate things (I like the idea of being able to toy with the same things everyone can. Paying to have greater access or features would not appeal to me at all)

I agree with this perspective as well. Having to purchase additional packages or subscriptions to keep my full license "on par" with the full feature list would force me to re-evaluate my support for this excellent product.

[EugeneZ]

Casimir,

It looks like Doug is saying that everything you like about FG2 right now will remain the way it is. You will still be buying licenses, if you'd like. However, he will also be making available a floating license scheme if you prefer that.

As for the comment from mr_h you quoted, Doug replied and set people's mind at ease: everything that you have in FG2 now will likely remain the way it is now. His intention was that newer content will cost a subscription, and he is implying that it will be such that you will want to pay for it. Feature updates to the core client and support of existing functionality will continue in the form of free updates.

It's up to you if you believe him of course -- just making sure you are caught up on all the responses. :)

[madman]

Well first Congrats.
I love Fantasy Grounds, and i am waiting on floating licenses. but i would drop a good product for a poor product like one of the free tabletops if i had to pay a monthly fee just to use something i have already bought. as a side note i would love to see a licensed product from Paizo. and i would pay good money for it. as i pay good money for all of the products from them every month. i think it would be easy to get people hooked on your product if they could play in a game other than the demo adventure(floating licenses). i know i did not like FG until i bought it and used it for some time. i think that you have the best thing out there (apples to apples) for what i want. Pathfinder, Pathfinder, Pathfinder.

my 2 pennies

Chris

[VenomousFiligree]

For judging which features are best to work on, maybe something like the Wall of Features (https://rptools.net/wallOfFeatures/wof1_3.php) that MapTool uses?

[mr_h]

For judging which features are best to work on, maybe something like the Wall of Features (https://rptools.net/wallOfFeatures/wof1_3.php) that MapTool uses?


For some reason I've never seen that page. That's kinda a cool thing.

[Indarien]

I feel the need to weigh in on this, and mostly it is agreement with what other people have said. While I like that Smiteworks was purchased by a member of the community and it seems like there are some good things in store, these are the things that would absolutely ruin Fantasy Grounds for my group of 8:

1. Any sort of subscription model. If a monthly fee, no matter how "nominal" gets assigned to this product, we would all leave.
2. Having said that, most of my group has already shown a willingness to pay for an "addon" model. For instance, while I am sure that the recent addition of hex-maps was awesome for some people, it means nothing for our group. So if we had to pay for the hex-maps, we would not have.
-- Although -- having this fractures the community because, in my example above if the "hex-maps" cost money, someone in my group does not have them and wants to play with some other group that uses hex-maps, then is there a way around this problem?
3. Any movement away from a client/server based model. While I can understand why some sort of authentication back to a Smiteworks server makes business sense, other than a basic license-key check anything beyond that would be unnecessary and intrusive in my opinion (and most of my group would even argue that was unnecessary.)
-- And if something like that was added, the Fantasy Grounds program should operate on the theory that if it cannot reach the Smiteworks server it should operate with the appropriate license anyway. Having Fantasy Grounds not work because I am not connected to the Internet (say, because I am on a bus heading to work and FG is on my laptop) or having our gaming night ruined because the Smiteworks server is down would pretty much cause our group to go looking for a new product.

Really, I think a lot of people like the product how it works, and I know my group really likes the Savage Worlds v3 ruleset from Digital Adventures. Just keep up the support, add in new features every once in a while, and continue to work on expanding the license base and I suspect you will keep most of this community happy.

[ddavison]

Thanks everyone. I am hearing a lot of the same things repeated by the majority of the user base. That really helps me focus on what will work for the community.

[osarusan]

First, let me say congratulations on the acquisition! I'm excited to see what new things come of this.

I also want to throw my hat in with the "no subscriptions" crowd. I really like the decentralized way the program works now, with no need for a central server. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad option to have, but I certainly wouldn't want to lose the ability to connect they way I'm connecting now. If there were some kind of mandatory subscription, I and my players would not continue using the program.

That said, I understand the need for continued income. Certainly I'm happy to pay for additional content along the lines of rulesets, tokens, etc. But I'm also a little wary of that model -- I remember "additional content" for other software that amounted to horse armor (*cough* Oblivion), and it was a total rip off.

The Wall of Features posted earlier was really cool, and I think that would be a worthy way to provide a bit of income -- sort of the way Open Design has a patron system in designing their content. Perhaps people could pay dollars into the features and upgrades they'd most like to see improved in FG, and the developers would treat those as high priority updates. I know I'd be much more willing to voluntarily put some money towards features I want, rather than paying for additional content and hoping it was worth the money.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

[Valarian]

For judging which features are best to work on, maybe something like the Wall of Features (https://rptools.net/wallOfFeatures/wof1_3.php) that MapTool uses?
Atlassian's JIRA (https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRA) is better and allows people to see progress and releases. A Product Road Map (https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRA#selectedTab=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.p roject%3Aroadmap-panel) can be laid out and separated in to components.

[adminwheel3]

Can we expect a delay for the next major release with this transition?

[ddavison]

The next release will likely include the floating license code. I am targeting a scheduled release of around 2 weeks from now. I will probably continue to do small incremental updates for a while until I learn enough of the code base.

[Oberoten]

This is the kind of information we'd have to apply tongs and chissels to get before.

- Obe

[Sigurd]

This is hard information to give and even harder to be sure of. We should be reading his intent here and not play spoiled kid with the results. 'Targeting' means he doesn't control all the details and he has to be careful of success before he can release.

I for one am still digesting recent changes. By all means fix code problems if you encounter them but mostly I wish you a solid understanding of your new code.

People's problems with code always eclipse peoples frustrations with deadlines.



Sigurd

[demonsbane]

Since the other thread is locked in such a way that the average user is not able to post a reply

Wait a moment. Locked? I posted there (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=80070&postcount=14) just tonight, and I'm not an special user.

Anyway, this thread seems more active than the other so here goes:


Well, I share Spyke's concerns (and yours, regarding the maintaining of the independent server\client system structure). The original developers displayed a really unusual talent for assembling the application, both in code and in aesthetics. As an artist, I understand unusual and rare talent can't be really replicated. (In some degree, but not exactly in the same proportion, this is aplicable to coding, too.)

Confidence in the new adquisitors & developers needs to be based in the upcoming changes. Meanwhile I wish too to applaud original Smiteworks' developers for achieving this magnificent and sleek online roleplaying application. They made a revolutionary change regarding old & ugly & unispiring database interfaces as OpenRPG and achieved an improvement comparable to the emergence of the Commodore Amiga when almost everything else were plain DOS interfaces.

-

On the other hand I was seeing Fantasy Ground 2 development a bit stalled since the release of the current version in 2006, I believe (the version 2+). Maybe this adquisition, if Doug keeps the good things in some way faithful to the original product ("an excellent beer with its own special recipe") puts more things in movement: there are many feautures waiting for incorporation to Fantasy Grounds.

So, be welcome, Doug. We will be waiting for the results of your work.

Regards

[Nylanfs]

Well I couldn't post on it, so it's locked for me. :)

One thing I would like to see is an easier way to import xml characters into the database from PCGen, as opposed to editing the database.

[unerwünscht]

Wait a moment. Locked? I posted there (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=80070&postcount=14) just tonight, and I'm not an special user.

Anyway, this thread seems more active than the other so here goes:

LOL... that's a long story involving the previous owners and them playing favorites with certain members of the "community". I guess they liked you :-)


Well I couldn't post on it, so it's locked for me. :)

One thing I would like to see is an easier way to import xml characters into the database from PCGen, as opposed to editing the database.

It is still locked for me as well.

[tenkar]

Interesting. Locked for me too (you know you just HAVE to check) heh

[unerwünscht]

This is hard information to give and even harder to be sure of. We should be reading his intent here and not play spoiled kid with the results. 'Targeting' means he doesn't control all the details and he has to be careful of success before he can release.

Sigurd

Where as I agree with you 100% here, I would like to point out as side note that Luster (https://www.lustersoftware.com/aboutus.aspx) has a VERY good track record, and I am confident in Mr. Davison's ability to not only produce quality product, but do so in a timely fashion. I can only hope he had the foresight to bring Matt Febus with him to the new SmiteWorks team.

[osarusan]

Well I couldn't post on it, so it's locked for me. :)

One thing I would like to see is an easier way to import xml characters into the database from PCGen, as opposed to editing the database.

Hear, hear!

I'd like to see an easier way to import and export characters, text, items, etc., and an easier to way to make custom content like character sheets.

Of course, I'm aware that's no small task at all... it'd be nice, I'm just saying. ;-)

[unerwünscht]

I'd like to see an easier way to import and export characters, text, items, etc., and an easier to way to make custom content like character sheets.

Easier in what way? I might be able to help you with this one, I have been spending a lot of time porting some of our games to Fantasy Grounds, and tho I don't want to 'toot my own horn' I would like to think I am getting better at it :-)

[osarusan]

Easier in what way? I might be able to help you with this one, I have been spending a lot of time porting some of our games to Fantasy Grounds, and tho I don't want to 'toot my own horn' I would like to think I am getting better at it :-)

Well particularly, exporting the character sheet to PDF, or HTML, or even an XML file separate from the database file would be wonderful -- especially if this could be done from within FG, by both players and DM.

As for importing data, if I have a PDF of an adventure, I have to manually enter every attribute, every stat into Fantasy Grounds if I want to use that info in the game. I love how easy it is to create a new NPC or a new monster, but it's so time consuming. If there were some kind of 3e stat parser that could find the attributes in a bit of copied text (providing the text was written in standard stat block format of course) it would cut that time into a fraction of what it now takes. I'm running War of the Burning Sky in my FG game, and there are lots of NPCs and new monsters. The combat tracker has huge potential for usefulness, but it's not so useful when it takes me hours to enter all the HP, saves, attacks, etc., of the characters they'll be encountering.

As far as character sheets go, I know it's a whole different story, but some kind of GUI editor would be nice. FG is a great program, and apparently it's easy to program using LUA, but I don't have so much free time to learn the scripting language just to make a few minor tweaks to my game. I'm sure if it were easier to customize, the user base would grow considerably.

[unerwünscht]

Unfortunately, that is a bit outside of my ability to code. I would suggest starting a new thread (so we don't hijack this one anymore) and seeing if you can't round up some help from the community. Maybe if we pool our collective skills together we can figure something out.

[Invain63]

I think my #1 feature request would be to improve the ability of GMs to create maps on the fly. As a new FG GM I quickly discovered that maps that would have taken seconds to sketch out on a battlemat are hard to reproduce during play. FG2 really requires more advance prep, which is hard to do for freewheeling (IE non-dungeon crawl) campaigns.

The pen tool is nice, but more drawing options (pen sizes, shape tools, etc) would be great. I would also like something like tokens for common objects - chairs, tables, cars, etc.

Example: "OK, so the Zombies caught up with you at the corner." GM opens a new map, drops the grid on it, and sketches the street (medium thickness lines) and buildings (created with a rectangle tool, and filled with grey). "The street is littered with abandoned cars." GM picks up a car token, drops it on the map, adjusts the size, then copies it a few times. "Now, the zombies are here, here, here and..."

I can dream, can't I? :)

-Kevin McD

[Invain63]

Oops! I just noticed the Wishlist thread. Most of what I asked for has already been suggested. Great minds think alike. ;)

-Kevin McD

[unerwünscht]

Ok... most of that is not a dream. The objects tokens can be found all over the net, I would suggest checking the dundjinni site (only because I know they have a ton of tokens) but I know there are tons of other sites with objects art as well.

As for the advanced mapping features, I know it has been requested quite frequently, but I honestly don't know how easy/complicated it would be for the coders to implement said features.

[Tenian]

You could quickly do that in any other program of your choice and save it to your campaigns\{campaign name}\images directory then it will be available to you in FGII.

[nezzir]

This thread makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. It's nice seeing this much feedback from a developer. Looks like DD is listening and has a plan. Though I'm firmly 'anti-subscription', a value added service is appealing to me. GL and GG DD.

[Invain63]

Ok... most of that is not a dream. The objects tokens can be found all over the net, I would suggest checking the dundjinni site (only because I know they have a ton of tokens) but I know there are tons of other sites with objects art as well.<snip>

Wow. I have after poking around a bit more I found out two things. 1) tokens can be any size/shape (within reason). Seems obvious, but I didn't have any obvious examples to infer it from. 2) RPGMapShare has, well, TONS of car graphics. How I missed them before, I don't know. :)

-Kevin McD

[Invain63]

You could quickly do that in any other program of your choice and save it to your campaigns\{campaign name}\images directory then it will be available to you in FGII.
Ah - at first I misunderstood you, but you are right. I could keep Photoshop or whatever open in the background, whip up a quick map (assuming I know what a reasonable canvas size is), save it as a jpg, drop it in the images directory and it will instantly show up in FG2 (unlike tokens, apparently).

Thanks for the work-around!

-Kevin McD

[Spyke]

... I could keep Photoshop or whatever open in the background, whip up a quick map (assuming I know what a reasonable canvas size is), save it as a jpg, drop it in the images directory and it will instantly show up in FG2...
You can even keep a template image in your images directory and edit it in situ with another program while FG2 is running. Simply close and reopen the image within FG2 to pick up any changes saved to the image in the meantime (you'll then need to reshare the sheet with the players, of course). This would also allow you to make quick copies of a basic template for new maps within the images directory while the game is running.

Spyke

[Invain63]

You can even keep a template image in your images directory and edit it in situ with another program while FG2 is running. Simply close and reopen the image within FG2 to pick up any changes saved to the image in the meantime (you'll then need to reshare the sheet with the players, of course). This would also allow you to make quick copies of a basic template for new maps within the images directory while the game is running.

Spyke

Even better! Thanks for the tip. :)

-Kevin McD

[MrJamela]

Stop lurking on the boards for a couple of weeks and you miss all the fun.

Looks like interesting times are in store for FG. And by interesting, I mean good.

The only advice that I will offer is that you closely examine the business model employed by Pixologic in the release and distribution of their Zbrush software. Like FG, Zbrush is an amazing piece of software with a highly dedicated (and extremely talented) userbase. To reward this userbase, they have yet to charge for MAJOR updates to the software. In exchange, the grateful userbase continues to support the software, develop for the software, and preach to the world at large about the software. As a business, their goal has been about expanding the capabilities of the software and getting NEW users (rather than milking their current users for more money).

Grow Fantasy Grounds. Attract new users. We all win.

Good luck.

Jaime

[unerwünscht]

I promise I am not pushy or impatient, and am certainly not rushing in anyway shape or form. I would much rather the floating licenses take another 2 months if that's what it takes to get them done right. I am just wondering if we could get a status update on this, its been 2 weeks (I think) and I'm sure most of us are sitting on the edge of our seats. :)

[ddavison]

Fair enough... and long overdue (by about a week.) The Digital Adventures transfer of properties kind of took over a bunch of time and on top of it, it took me a while longer to get my dev environment up and running smoothly.

There is a decent amount of code to look through along with some custom encryption/decryption routines related to the licensing. I'm beginning to get the hang of it and then I get the fun of going through the first patch deployment. It also has to interface with the story smoothly. The floating license code that was in development was actually for an unlimited license, whereas I'll be modifying it to handle a fixed # of floating licenses. It may be wise of me to hold off on ETAs until I get the first couple deployments under my belt.

This is the first code change on my plate though.