Non Hero Designer software?

[Viperion]

Wow. This is the most hostile and ignorant-of-marketing post by a company rep I have seen in a long while.

I do not mean to go into 'attack mode' but really--you want your demo to be a piece of junk that provides no value? You sure about that? That's going to motivate sales how?

It also isn't a courtesy to buyers--it is a sales device, pure and simple. There are an awful lot of companies out there selling their software with a time limit or a use limit. It is a completely viable approach, and frankly, an approach that companies which are confident of their products offer, because they are proud, rather than afraid of, their products functionality.

HD2 has formatting issues. Another way of saying that is: it requires far too much monkeying to get a decent character sheet printed. THe UI is circa 1998--like something you'd see from that time period. Using the app ought to be darn close to a no brainer. If it isn't, more reason to allow a user 30 days to use all the functions and decide whether to purchase.

There is a pressing, strong need for HD3. I will buy it the minute it comes out (when does it come out?)

Why the hostility to a potential customer, whose sale you almost certainly have lost now, by implying he is looking for a 'freebie?' Don't you want to make money?

Thanks for the reply. I had exactly the same reaction to Simon's reply but thought maybe I was over-reacting. I need to see if the program prints out a character sheet I can use - the main reason for me to buy such a program. The interface (as far as I've seen it) works fine; it looks a little dated but is perfectly usable.

Thanks again,

Viperion

[incrdbil]

.

I do not mean to go into 'attack mode' but really--you want your demo to be a piece of junk that provides no value? You sure about that? That's going to motivate sales how?

I'm think what he doesn'tr want is for people to rip him off. A full useage/limited time demo is just giving money away. If people could download HD, make and PRINT characters, even for a limited time, he'd lose sales because people would just simply reload the demo over..and over, and over. Other software for gaming utilities--army builder, had stict points limits, and you couldn't save. This isn't uncommon, its common sense.

There are an awful lot of companies out there selling their software with a time limit or a use limit.

Find some gaming aid application software that doe it. You have to compare like beasts, after all.

HD2 has formatting issues. Another way of saying that is: it requires far too much monkeying to get a decent character sheet printed.

What, selecting a template, preview, then print is monkeying?

Why the hostility to a potential customer

From this side of the keybaord, there wasn't any until someone decided there was. Just calling it as I see it.

[ghost-angel]

Thanks for the reply. I had exactly the same reaction to Simon's reply but thought maybe I was over-reacting. I need to see if the program prints out a character sheet I can use - the main reason for me to buy such a program. The interface (as far as I've seen it) works fine; it looks a little dated but is perfectly usable.

Thanks again,

Viperion

Since the character sheets are completely 100% customizeable chances are yes it prints one out you can use. If you can't find one and don't want to build one there are a number of us who may do so for you ... assuming you ask us.

[ChaosDrgn]

If you can't find one and don't want to build one there are a number of us who may do so for you ... assuming you ask us.

and scarifice your firstborn while sending $19.95 to the following address....[jk]

[incrdbil]

Maybe a best of both worlds compromise could be made--some pages with sample characters printed out in the various HD sheet formats could be made for those wanting to know what HD sheets would look like?

[Simon]

I do not mean to go into 'attack mode' but really--you want your demo to be a piece of junk that provides no value? You sure about that? That's going to motivate sales how?

As others have pointed out, providing a fully-functionaly "demo" is ENTIRELY counter-productive in terms of sales.

The demo is intended to give folks an idea of how HD functions -- and its ability to adhere to the rules. As a utility, it's a rather insane thing to give away for free, IMO. After all, you're getting the compilation of the core rules and all supplemental rules from the various other books DOJ has released as well as all of the rules clarifications that Steve has made on these forums. For FREE. You can create builds. You can create entire characters. The only things you can't do are persist/read them.

If you want to do that, guess what? You buy the software.

If you're truly interested in seeing what the output looks like, just a TINY bit of motivation would provide plenty of examples for you (try googling for "Hero Designer"). Or you could ask (nicely) for folks to provide you with examples. You'd be surprised -- when you're not snippy/rude/antagonistic, folks will actually help you out a fair bit around here.

[bblackmoor]

I need to see if the program prints out a character sheet I can use - the main reason for me to buy such a program.

I don't buy anything without trying it out (or on) first (well, almost anything -- I'll buy socks based on feel without actually trying them on, for example), but in practice all you need to do is ask a friend who already has the software to let you try it out. It's really not that big a deal. (So why cripple it in the first place? Heck if I know.)

[Starwolf]

I don't buy anything without trying it out (or on) first (well, almost anything -- SNIP

Hmm.... I am not sure I would like someone coming into my grocery store, or restaurant, or gas station and demanding free samples....

[ghost-angel]

and scarifice your firstborn while sending $19.95 to the following address....[jk]

we don't need the 19.95......

[bblackmoor]

I am not sure I would like someone coming into my grocery store, or restaurant, or gas station and demanding free samples....

It's worth noting that all three of your examples are consumables: things that are destroyed through the act of "sampling" them. Software, like books, music, movies, cars, clothes, bicycles, shoes, and a great many other durable items, is not significantly damaged through trying it first. It costs the manufacturer nothing for a potential customer to try software, or listen to a song, or read a few pages of a book, etc., and smart businesses which sell such items encourage customers to examine the merchandise, because they know that it increases sales.

Even business which sell consumables often provide free samples, because they know that the small cost of the sample is far outweighed by the increased sales. For example, it is well known in the gaming industry that a person who is taught a game and plays it is seven times more likely to buy it then someone who has learned of the game through advertising.

However, it is not unusual for a company to place their desire for control above their business sense. It is a common human failing. In a free market, such companies normally fall by the wayside unless they have no genuine competition. And as I've said before, Hero Designer has no real competition. If you want a character creator for Hero System, nothing else even comes close.

[atlascott]

"when you're not snippy/rude/antagonistic, folks will actually help you out a fair bit around here."

My post was a tad aggressive, but I think that Viperion (?) fellow wasn't being rude or antagonistic. Nor was he asking for a fully functioning, unlimited-use piece of software. OF COURSE you cannot make any money if you give your product away for free. That is a straw man. No one said you should. But a demo is a taste. If it is a sweet taste, it is the best marketing tool in existence. If it is bitter, it turns customers away in droves.

Hey, I own HD2, and will own HD3. Try treating POTENTIAL customers with questions kindly, rather than implying they are thieves ('they'll just reinstall, and reinstall....') and you'll do better in business and in life.

[incrdbil]

Hey, I own HD2, and will own HD3. Try treating POTENTIAL customers with questions kindly, rather than implying they are thieves ('they'll just reinstall, and reinstall....') and you'll do better in business and in life.

Actually that was me saying that.

And I didnt mean it of the poster in specific, but as a general buisness practice, when you have limited competition, and you deal in a product area where stealing the product is extremely common, you have to take precautions.

Brecause there are cheapskates who would then never bother to actually by the program. Making fully functional software available on a limited time basis is pretty foolish in general, much less when dealing with gamers.

[bblackmoor]

OF COURSE you cannot make any money if you give your product away for free.

Lots of companies do. There are other ways of creating a revenue stream. Charging for support is the most common.

I'm not saying that Hero Designer should change its sales model, just that it is possible to do so.

[bblackmoor]

Making fully functional software available on a limited time basis is pretty foolish in general, much less when dealing with gamers.

There are two basic schools of thought about this.

One school of thought is that people are generally evil, and that they will steal anything not nailed down, but that they will pay for things if it is impossible to steal them.

The other school of thought is that people are basically honest, and that although a certain percentage of people will steal things if it is easy to do so, the people who steal would never have paid in any case, and that most of the people who buy things would buy them even if they could potentially steal them; furthermore, that one will have happier and more loyal customers if one treats them with respect, rather than assuming that they are all criminals and treating them as such.

[Curufea]

I don't think you need a demo version if you have sufficient documentation and screenshots available.

I rarely download a demo of a game before I buy it.