Help in figuring out my best option to upgrade?

[bislab]

I have a full copy of FG2 and have 5 players that I usually game with. As I see it, my options are to : 1) turn in my full copy to upgrade to the unlimited version for $115 or 2) buy a number of lite licenses. So, I have a few questions. If I opt to buy lite licenses, do they act as 'floating' connections or do I have to give them to my players? Is there a particular reason why I should keep my full license and pay the full amount for the ultimate upgrade instead of turning it in? And finally, how many lite licenses would I have to purchase to support 5 players and myself? Does the '1 free connection' to my full version mean I would only need to buy 4 lites? Any help in figuring out my options here are appreciated.

[Griogre]

The one free connect is to host the demo to to an unlicensed player which is not useful except to get an idea of what FG is like. The lite licenses are registered to specific people and don't "float" so you would have to give them to your players.

It would be cheaper to buy 5 lites at once and get the bundle discount for $84ish instead of paying $115 to get the upgrade to Ultimate. However, if you are planning on always paying for your player's copies of FG it would be probably cheaper in the long run to upgrade to Ultimate since buying a few more lites later would push you over the upgrade price and player turn over is inevitable for any long running campaign.

There is not any scenario where *you* personally would be better off keeping a Full and buying an Ultimate. There are some scenarios where in a multi-GM group you are better off, cost-wise buying several Fulls and some Lites instead of multiple Ultimates.

[Jeebs]

I spend 50-60 bucks for a single video game and replay value most of the time isn't there.

I would get the ultimate. You wouldn't have to worry about re-obtaining a license if someone drops out and you find a new player.

[damned]

i have an ultimate copy purely for that reason - there is nothing preventing me from having someone completely new to fg join in without having to worry about buying anything... 2 edges sword though... those that do pay for their license are more like;ly to stick around!

[Griogre]

One reason I never updated my Full to Ultimate is I agree with damned, in that I want my players personally invested. The anonymous nature of the Internet means you will have players just "vanish" and stop showing up with no word. I think they are a bit less likely to do that if they buy their own lite licenses or if they do, well I'm not out anything as a GM other than the time I would have spent prepping the game anyway.

It's not hard to find players for popular games with a full license. The Ultimate often makes better sense when you already have a face to face group where you always GM and are moving over to FG or you run a lot of demos or one shots. The downside of an Ultimate license is that it can discourage any of your players from ever GMing since they would have to get an Ultimate license as well to run the same group.

[Sigurd]

If you are willing to pay for other people's licenses get the Ultimate.

Why spend money for something you can't control that someone might walk off with?


S

[bislab]

Thanks for the advise guys. Looks like it is the ultimate upgrade for me then. My player base is rotating and not always the same people, so the lite's just wouldn't work.

[bislab]

A last question before I take the plunge? Can I use the ultimate version in a local network that is NOT connected to the internet? I guess where this question comes from is being burned in the past for purchasing expensive software and having the developers close up shop and the software no longer works because it had to connect to their servers for license key verification before it would allow you to use it.

[ddavison]

Unfortunately, the Ultimate license does require a connection to the Internet to validate.

[bislab]

Does the regular full version also require internet validation? This would be a compelling reason to hang on to the license for that copy and pay full price for an Ultimate copy.

[Trenloe]

Does the regular full version also require internet validation? This would be a compelling reason to hang on to the license for that copy and pay full price for an Ultimate copy.
The full version does not require internet validation, it is only the Ultimate version that requires an internet connection.

[Griogre]

Which was a big deal to me when I first bought as well, because I had also been burned by a vanishing company.