Poll: Hero Designer Thoughts

[Herolover]

I thought this would be a great way to give Dan and the other folks at DOJ some hard feedback on their program.

I am in the area that I wasn't sure, got it, had some problems, but now I love it. The great thing is with Dan's help the program will only get better.

[SAVeira]

Being a user of HeroMaker and then Hero Creator, that was never fully happy with either product, I was not sure that HD would be any better. I was never glad to be wrong. It is simply the best gaming resource program I have every used.


S.A. Veira

[Monolith]

I sort of fall in-between the top two. I always wanted it, and I like it quite a bit, but I also wish it were a little more flexible. There are work-arounds for most thing, but once in a while you just get stumped.

Overall I think it is an excellent program though. It's only real hang up is the amount of memory it requires. I feel sorry for the people with only 128mb who are using it.

[Starwolf]

I always wanted it, got it and love it, However....

I have struggled with minimum system requirements...my problem not the programs...

I would like a little more flexability as Monolith stated above. But when I compare it to other apps out there like CW, or (Ack!) E-Tools, HD is far and away the best app I have.

Good Job DAN!!!

[Jerry A!]

Didn't really think about getting it originally. Lots of reasons. The biggest of which being that I don't own a single computre that runs windows. So, it's easy to give gaming software in general a pass (since it's Win32-centric).

That, and most programs I've seen or used in the past just suck. It's sad that I know people who create characters in Baldur's Gate (or whatever the latest incarnation of that game line is) because it's better than E-Tools.

Anyway, saw the good feedback that people were giving on the software and that there was also a Linux version. On a lark, I dropped some coin.

It's now an indespensible part of my toolkit. This program freakin' rocks!

Now, if only HeroSphere would work under Linux.

[nblade]

Originally posted by Jerry A!
Didn't really think about getting it originally. Lots of reasons. The biggest of which being that I don't own a single computre that runs windows. So, it's easy to give gaming software in general a pass (since it's Win32-centric).

That, and most programs I've seen or used in the past just suck. It's sad that I know people who create characters in Baldur's Gate (or whatever the latest incarnation of that game line is) because it's better than E-Tools.

Anyway, saw the good feedback that people were giving on the software and that there was also a Linux version. On a lark, I dropped some coin.

It's now an indespensible part of my toolkit. This program freakin' rocks!

Now, if only HeroSphere would work under Linux.

I'm sort of like you, everything but my business/work/Ham Radio/personal laptop is a linux box. So I was happy to have a program that ran on the linux platform. I was a bit leary of the product, as I'm not a real big fan of Java. Most of the Java programs I've seen suck. This one really surprised me it didn't suck. (or at the very least sucked only a bit). There is some small issues with ability to have some house rule mods. That said, I will be real interested to see what Dan pulls out of his hat when he start to work on Version 2 later down the road. I'm sure that he will address some of these issues.

As a side note, I agree it would be intresting to see Herosphere work on a linux box, although I'm not sure if it is really worth using.

[Simon]

Originally posted by nblade
This one really surprised me it didn't suck. (or at the very least sucked only a bit).
[/B]

LOL! Now <b>there's</b> a quote for the back of the box....

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by dsimon
LOL! Now <b>there's</b> a quote for the back of the box....

HERO DESIGNER
from Hero Games
"WOW... I am so completely shocked that this didn't suck!" - Satisfied Customer
"A lot less terrible than I imagined." - Another Satisfied Customer
"Chocked full of Code!" - Dan Simon
"Two Thumbs ... somewhere in the middle" - Sissy and Eggbert

[nblade]

Originally posted by dsimon
LOL! Now <b>there's</b> a quote for the back of the box....

Glad (I think) to be of servuice

[Chaosliege]

When I first heard about HD I wasn't sure. I've used HC and Heromaker in the past and had issues with both. Then when I started the Beta testing, I realised this was he best character creation software out there. You can complain if you want, but I have yet to see anything even close.

BTW. wth regards to the 'didn't want it, got it and hate it' option.
Who would ever be in this category?
Maybe another quote for the box.

" I thought it would suck, and sure 'nuf it does"...

[Fitz]

Maybe "always wanted it" is a bit of an exagerration -- I used to use Creation Workshop (later Metacreator) and I suspected at first that Hero Designer would really just be reinventing the wheel because of somebody's business disagreements.

That attitude changed pretty much as soon as I downloaded the very first alpha test version; it was clear even then that the program had great potential, and that it was already more intuitive and easier to customize than CW.

The development process, involving end-users in the process almost right from the beginning, also gave me great encouragement, as Dan responded to bug reports and feature requests with a promptness which I have NEVER seen in any other development programme. Admittedly, some of Dan's responses to a few questions got a bit, shall we say "tetchy" at times, but considering that he must have been working his arse off I was (and am) prepared to cut him a little slack in this area. In my own personal opinion, I think that a lot of people are too thin-skinned and expect far too much to have their delicate sensibilities pandered to.... but that's a whole other rant.

Anyway, I think the program is great, I'm looking forward to seeing what Dan does with version 2, and I think he's done a great job. Congrats.

[Ghost Archer]

I wish you had added an extra selection like "Don't want it. Ain't gonna get it."
I started with HeroMaker and loved it and only reluctantly updated to HeroCreator. Then I moved on to HeroCreator and found it to be a far better product. Then came MetaCreator and I looked at it as a way to get more money out of me and resented it but I bought it and haven't regretted it for a moment.
Now Hero comes along and tells me I need this NEW and IMPROVED, LATEST and GREATEST...why do I hear George Carlin's voice when I say that? Again, I look at it as a way to drag some more bucks out of my pocket. Mind you, I am a major Hero fan, I have, over the years, purchased just about everything Hero has put out, even "Scourge from the Deep" *gag*...but this time, I need serious convincing.
Don't give me crap about it being easier to modify, I do just fine with MetaCreator. And what about this JAVA garbage? I have a program I use all the time that is JAVA based and it crashes regularly, is slow as hell and I wouldn't use it if I had an option. I tried the demo of Hero Designer and frankly, found it clunky and slow and far more difficult to get around in then MetaCreator. Though I haven't printed a character sheet with HD, I have been reading the boards and have noted the problems that have been reported with printing character sheets. With MetaCreator, I just hit print and perfect sheets every time, with pictures.
So, until someone can give me a concrete reason to give up a program I am happy with and shell out more bucks for a program I that might only marginally be an improvement, put me down for "Don't want it, ain't gonna get it."

[Simon]

Ghost Archer - Don't buy it. You'll just be pissed off when v2 comes out (which will be available for a fee) and will accuse Hero of trying to take more of your money.

I have dropped countless thousands of dollars keeping my computers up to date. Seemingly constantly upgrading the RAM, the processors, the drives, etc.

I have purchased BBB, only to find FREd released (which I purchased).

I buy software (often for very large sums of money), only to have to pay to have it upgraded a year later.

All of this is normal. It doesn't bother me one bit.

You bought HeroMaker. Great. You (hopefully) got to use it a fair bit. If you want, you could still use it.

When Hero Creator came out, the guy that made it spent a good deal of his time designing and developing it. He sold it so that he could make a little bit of money for his time. It was your choice to purchase it.

He then spent more time making Meta Creator. Again, selling it so that he could make some money for the time and effort that he had put into it. Again, it was your choice to purchase it.

I wrote Hero Designer. I can tell you that there is not a chance that I will make the money that I would normally charge for my time off of it, but, at the same time, I do hope to make at least _some_ money off of it. I don't expect everyone to buy it. I don't expect everyone to even <b>like</b> it.

If you tried it during the public beta test and didn't like it, then it would be truly foolish for you to purchase it.

It sounds as if you've already made your decision. I'm certainly not going to try to "talk you into" purchasing it....that would just be trouble for both you and me: you'd be unhappy with the product and I would (inevitably) hear about it from you.

I'm very gratified that the vast majority of the people who have tried Hero Designer seem to like it. I never expected that I would write "The One True Chargen" that the entire world would look upon and rejoice. I fully expect that there are plenty of folks of like mind to yours who don't want HD and wouldn't like it much anyway. I think that this is a very normal situation.

There were two parties that I was interested in making happy with HD: Hero Games and myself. I am very happy with the way HD turned out. There are some things that I'm looking to improve upon, but I think that for a version 1 app, it's far better than I had anticipated going into the project. Likewise, I have received nothing buy good comments from Hero Games. Across the board, they seem to be very happy with the app and its functionality. So, I have done exactly what I set out to do. Everything else from this point forward is gravy.

As stated, I'm very pleased that other folks are enjoying HD. I will continue to improve/modify the application based on their feedback. But I'm not at all surprised that there are some out there who see no need for the app and who don't like it when they use it.

[Graviton]

I never used Hero Maker nor Hero Creator. I saw a demo of one of them once, years ago, and didn't like it at all. In fact, none of the software I've seen in the past to support Hero stuff has been usable, IMO. I don't even like Herosphere, from what I've seen of the demo (admittedly I haven't played around with it much, but I am certainly never going to have my players huddled around a computer to game. Blech.)

But I abso-freakin-lutely LOVE Hero Designer. It's great, great stuff. It's cut my character creation time by 75% and it beats hell out of having reams and reams of characters sheets to store. I can easily print the sheets when I need 'em, in various formats or one of my own. I can easily track and spend XPs. I can easily email my PCs to my GM, and get his PCs. Best of all, it has enabled my kids to sit down and enjoy creating characters. They would watch me sit for hours with a couple of books open, scribbled notes, a calculator that kept getting lost, and they dreaded doing characters. Now they can sit down and just point and click their way to a character in an hour or so, without requiring an encyclopedic knowledge of the rulebook. Now they're brimming with ideas.

All of this, coinciding as it did with our upgrade to FREd, has given our campaign a big shot in the arm. As if that all weren't enough, Dan provides unprecedented customer service and maintenance releases. It's easily the best dollar value of any gaming expenditure I've ever made outside of the rulebook itself.

[Agent X]

Heromaker rocked! It was quick and dirty and to the point.

Hero Designer is a great program. I have played around with it on my friend's computer some. I don't care for having to switch windows quite so often and I don't care for the built-in rules enforcements that hinder my house rules. So, I don't intend to buy it or v2 unless I hear that I can customize the program more to my liking.

I use... Word. It takes a little longer but I find I think about the character construction more and get more creative characters.