DICE PACKS BUNDLE
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  1. #31
    ddavison's Avatar
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    That's fair. We have more room for improvements on catching errors. It does go through a lot of back and forth testing and error handling, but obviously things still slip through. The more difficult ones to test for are the ones where FG doesn't recognize the characters and replaces them with gibberish in-game.

    The module actually does have many improvements over the physical books though. For instance, the maps are all scaled up to be usable for play instead of as references. All encounters have the tokens pre-placed on the map and the monster stats are placed in-line instead of requiring you to go look them up in the MM. If you've ever done this yourself, you'll know that it takes a lot of time rescaling the maps just right, making DM and player versions, etc. Pre-linking all the story entries is another long process.

  2. #32
    While it would be nice, I feel it would be unreasonable to expect Smiteworks to employ an artist to have the rights to make new royalty free tokens which would all then have to go through a corporate approval at wotc and/or have wizards do so with their tiny staff for a support product which they 3rd partied to not have to deal with other than oversight. And to do this at a price which is less than the book. I am sure a big part of our digital cost goes right back to wizards pocket....

    I feel you pay for your time with these products. Not having to manually input all the information yourself is well worth every penny as I can't sit there for 80+ hours doing that and still have time to play (assuming you only have the physical book which you then have to scan yourself and or manually type everything as this is the legal route used for example). The only thing that bugs me is the occasional broken link with story or encounter links that open up a blank page and the spelling/transcription errors, but unlike a lot of companies they are receptive and fix these issues quickly with nothing but kind words. I understand completely what they must go through. Its not like they want to put out a product with errors, it seems they are gamers at heart and I am sure they take ownership of their work and take every error personally.

    Its easy to pick apart 50 errors that slipped through when there are 10000 possible ones to choose from that are error free and say this is not worth my money, its just not very reasonable....

  3. #33
    What would be great is to have a "bundle" available through the FG store, where you could buy the hardcover and the FG module together. Given that the hardcovers seem to retail for about 30% less than MSRP, I think setting the bundle price at MSRP would be about right. I know you're not currently set up to sell physical products, but you've probably been thinking about selling FG merch in your store anyway, haven't you?

  4. #34

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    When I used Par5e to do the monster manual I used the Fiery Dragon portrait tokens, myself. As I had tokens for all the 4E monsters, I could mostly just use them since there are a lot less monster variation in 5E. For some of the stuff (dumb flump) I had to go back to 3.x tokens.

    It would be nice if the official MM packs allowed you to put a set of tokens in a folder that would override the ones in the monster pack if there was a token in the folder kinda like the extensions and modules overrides. Personally, I agree its strange that the monster packs have to use letter tokens as filler. Maybe since they are licensed, Smiteworks can get permission to use some of WotC's old art for missing tokens.

  5. #35
    the irony would of been... if I charged to read my post
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  6. #36
    On the errors in the current modules, one thing to keep in mind is they've been playing catchup with the current release of D&D product. So it's a balance between releasing as fast as possible in a market where the hard copy is already out vs getting everything perfect. Since they can update the modules at whim, I think releasing a little early and patching small mistakes was probably the way to go. On future product they should be getting content before release so hopefully that'll take the pressure off.

    For module content, I really don't expect them to add in content not already in the official modules. It would be nice if we could buy "enhancement packs" for the modules that alter them with additional maps, tokens, and so on. I wonder if the module code allows for sub-classing them that way. If not that might be something for the future engine so people can sell/give out "mods" that alter and add to the base modules.

  7. #37
    That's a pretty disappointing response from a dev.

    Quote Originally Posted by ddavison View Post
    So what do you use for your tokens when you did your parsed version for something like the assassin token? When you bought the physical version, are you mad that it didn't come with physical miniatures for every NPC and with sufficient quantities?
    No, because this isn't something expected from that product. Having tokens for a VTT product is expected. Having letter tokens is lazy.

    Quote Originally Posted by ddavison View Post
    One of the common misconceptions with digital products is that they are somehow cheaper to produce than physical products. The greatest costs for these (physical or digital) is the creative personnel cost to create all the stories, game design, artwork, etc.
    The creative costs to produce the actual story from absolutely zero is greater than scanning a book and running it through PAR5E. The people creating it for FG are not creating the story in that sense, it's data entry.

    Quote Originally Posted by ddavison View Post
    Just like there is a secondary market for companies to produce physical minis for use with adventure modules, there is a secondary market for artists to make miniature packs that can be used to further enhance your experience. Companies like Fiery Dragon Press, ArcKnight Games or Devin Night Productions all put together mini packs that can fill gaps like these.
    Right and I have paid for almost every pack out there. I have had custom jobs done by Devin Night regularly over the past few years, and I know these tokens can be commercially licensed - which is what should be happening here instead of using letter tokens for what amounts to the key NPCs in this story.

    Quote Originally Posted by ddavison View Post
    Whether or not you paid for it twice is up to you.
    Just the attitude that is denounced on every other forum in regard to FG having the rights to WotC products.

    Look you can go two ways with it. Get all bent out of shape and bury your head in the sand that someone dared criticize a product, or acknowledge the fact that a paying customer of many years has issues with the quality of products being released now, and see if solutions can be worked out for further releases. That's your call. Your choice will ultimately decide the $$ in your wallet.

  8. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by Zeus View Post
    If I have missed any relevant artwork that is included in the published rulebooks and adventures from WotC from the digital FG module editions then this is unintentional and please accept my apologies. I work from the digital archives that WotC make available to us and so in most cases the majority of the cases the artwork is readily accessible although it is possible on occasion for specific images to be excluded/missed. Therefore please feel free to contact me directly (via PM) or via the bug thread in the 5E forum to report specific missing images - I will work as quickly as I can to rectify.
    Thanks for the reply.

    I'm happy to send a PM of the errors I've noticed.

    I know Raymond Gaustadnes (https://www.rpgartkits.com/) commercially licenses all his tokens for around $200 - couldn't these or something he creates be used in future modules? Then the modules would have hires top down tokens for all NPCs. Just an idea.
    Last edited by Koreapsu; July 2nd, 2015 at 20:27.

  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by Koreapsu View Post
    Thanks for the reply.

    I'm happy to send a PM of the errors I've noticed.

    I know Raymond Gaustadnes (https://www.rpgartkits.com/) commercially licenses all his tokens for around $200 - couldn't these or something he creates be used in future modules? Then the modules would have hires top down tokens for all NPCs. Just an idea.
    Its not our call Koreapsu as the intellectual property rights for these products belongs to WotC. The brand marketing and artwork style that can be used with these products is very specific and requires prior approval. Having said that I am a big fan of Raymond's work and look forward to possibly working with him in the future for future products.
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  10. #40
    Zeus, I see you list the DMG as completed, while your current project is a "Magic Items & Parcel Generator." Will that be a stand-alone tool, or included with the DMG?

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