HERO DESIGNER 2 NOW IN ONLINE STORE

[Ben Seeman]

At long last, it's here! Hero Designer 2.0 is now for sale in the Online Store!

 

Designed specifically for the HERO System©, Hero Designer has an intuitive, easy-to-use interface and a powerful, template-driven structure that provide the flexibility and functionality you expect from a Hero product.

 

Its features include:

 

Hero System 5th Edition - Built from the ground up to fully implement and support the Hero System 5th Edition rules.

Customizable Templates - Hierarchical structure for fast and easy character templates.

Advanced Modifier Intelligence - Explanations for unavailable Power modifiers as well as the ability to override HERO System rules to allow any modifier to be applied.

Application Preferences - Specify application settings including default file directories, file loading options and window resizing parameters.

Enhanced Prefabs - Directly load and edit pre-generated Powers and abilities.

Customizable Formatting - Export to HTML and plain text using modifiable export templates.

Campaign Rules - Specify character creation rules including adjusting the rules by which HD operates and setting the "enforcement level" for various system rules.

Additional Features - Language Familiarity Chart, abilities, adders and modifiers from various Hero System supplements and Combat Record sheets.

 

Minimum System Requirements

Pentium II 200 MHz (or equivalent) Processor

Windows 95,98,ME,2000,NT,XP/Linux/Solaris, Mac OS X

64 MB Available RAM

75 MB Hard Drive space available

 

 

Stock #: DOJHERO709

ISBN: 1-58366-029-1

Retail New: $44.99 CD / $39.99 Download

Retail Upgrade: $19.99 Download

 

[Catseye]

I just special ordered a CD copy of HD from my FLGS. They are ordering this week.

 

WillI I ebd up with HD or HD2 package? (This is more a convenience question then anything else since the downloadable upgarde is free, right?)

 

JK

[Simon]

The upgrade to v2 is not free. The upgrade costs $20 (in the online store).

 

Since v2 was just released in the past hour or so, I suspect that the copy that you ordered through your FLGS is HDv1.

[Catseye]

Oh?

 

Hm. I might have them send it BACK then and get the HDV2 unless the street price of HDV2 is going up $20 over HDV1.

 

If you don't want others doing the same right now you may want to consider some recent-purchaser upgrade policy....

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

JK

[Simon]

The prices are all listed in the Online Store.

 

HDv2 is not a new development....it has been in open testing for several months now and was announced as a project well before that.

[Catseye]

No offense intended, Dan, but thats not the point.

 

The point is that,as a software developer distributing through the retail chain you have a problem. If you make all purchasers purchase an upgrade for an additional fee then as soon as you announce that an upgrade is in the works, you have made all the software currently in the distriubtion chain worthless.

 

The end result is large scale product return, which costs the publisher additional money in processing those returns. It also kills your sales dead for that period of time.

 

In order to avoid that, its pretty much standard in the software industry these days that, after a new version of a product is announced, any purchasers of the old version get upgraded free when the new version comes out.

 

I'm not arguing fairness or any other such nonsense. I'm just pointing out the practical realities of the business.

[Simon]

I don't know where you get your information from, but there is no such standard.

 

Take Windows for an example (since most folks are rather familiar with the endless cycled of upgrades on it): You can purchase previous versions of Windows well after the latest version is _released_ much less announced. This is true of just about any software product that I am aware of. I can still go out there and buy a copy of Quake in the stores....even though Quake III has been out for well over a year now. Is Quake reduced in price? Yeah...demand dictates that. Will HDv1 start appearing for a reduced price in FLGS? I have no idea....that's up to them.

 

If you purchase v1 right now, you will get exactly what you pay for. We're not discontinuing support for v1. Nor are we requiring that you upgrade to v2.

 

You can happily plug away at v1 for as long as you like.

 

The choice is yours as to upgrading to v2. If you are dead set and determined to have the latest and greatest and find that you've just purchased an outdated version, then you will need to spend the money to upgrade to v2. If you don't care that much about it, then you can use v1 for a while and then decide whether you want to upgrade or not later.

[Catseye]

Originally posted by Simon

I don't know where you get your information from, but there is no such standard.

 

Take Windows for an example (since most folks are rather familiar with the endless cycled of upgrades on it): You can purchase previous versions of Windows well after the latest version is _released_ much less announced.

 

First off, you ain't an all powerful monopoly.

Second, WIndows doesnt really count as there are reasons to prefer WIn2K to XP for example.

 

Nonehtless, even with Windows, I think if you ask your local retailer you will find that their old versions DO go dead

and they DO return them. MSFT can afford that, can you?

 

This is true of just about any software product that I am aware of. I can still go out there and buy a copy of Quake in the stores....even though Quake III has been out for well over a year now. Is Quake reduced in price?

 

Cut-outs are an alternative to returning software. Many retailers do this because they lose a small amount in returning (shipping.) If they cannot sell it for at least what they paid for it minus shipping though, back it goes. If it doesn't sell from the cut-out rack ina reasonable amount of time, back it goes.

 

Dan, I *worked* for a game software publisher and destributor. Every distributor in the business has on their books a "reserve". This is the amount of sales they expect

to lose in subsequent returns.

 

(In point of fact it was failure to anticpate exactly this on the part of the old TSR when they went to the retail book channels that pushed them into bankruptcy.)

 

Yeah...demand dictates that. Will HDv1 start appearing for a reduced price in FLGS? I have no idea....that's up to them.

 

Dan, no offense but there is no demand for HDV1 with HDV2 comign out. HDV2 does everyhing HDV1 does, more, and better. Quake is a different gaming experience then Quake2. This preserves some value. The same is not true in productivity software, which is the business you are in.

 

And yes, in that business everything from Macafee Anti-virus to MSFT Word generally has a free upgrade period for exactly the reasons I described.

 

But hey. Its no biggie. If HDV1 shows up at my FLGS, I'll return it. So will I expect many (if not all) other people. Retailers with dead HDV1 product will return it to their destributors and their destributors to HERO.

 

And HERO can deal with it. I'm just trying to help a little company I happen to like from getting a nasty surprise. **shrug**

 

The choice is yours as to upgrading to v2. If you are dead set and determined to have the latest and greatest and find that you've just purchased an outdated version

 

*sigh* Your still missing the point. I *won't* purchase it. And HERO will get a return. And large scale returns will cost HERO money that I'd rather they spent on V3 or additional books.

 

Now, if you will excuse me, i had better go tell that FLGS to tell their destributor to cancel that order until they have V2 available so my poor FLGS doesnt get stuck with shipping.

 

 

[Simon]

You just don't get it, Catseye.

 

I'm not sure what more you would like for Hero Games to have done. The plans for v2 were announced pretty much since the inception of v1. I believe that the first metion of v2 as an officially planned product occurred even before the final release of v1.

 

Since June, v1 has been under a code freeze while I concentrated on developing v2. Throughout this time, I have stated that v2 would be going up for sale in December and that the upgrade would be something that you paid for.

 

For the past month, the date for release of v2 has been stated in numerous locations as December 1.

 

Are you suggesting that we should have stopped sales of v1 before the release of v2? If so, you're dead wrong. There have been numerous users who have purchased v1 and are quite happy with it. Many of them likely won't even bother to upgrade....they have all that they need in v1.

 

If you're suggesting that anyone who purchased v1 within the last XX days be given a free upgrade,then you're completely out of touch with the industry and with business practices in general.

 

You paid for Hero Designer version 1. That's what you got. It's abilities aren't any more limited now that v2 has come out. It is no less supported now that v2 has come out. It is exactly what eveyone else has paid for over the course of the past year.

 

If you want to return the copy that you ordered, that is between you and your FLGS.

 

There will not be any "free upgrades" to v2.

 

Nor should there be.

[Catseye]

I'm sorry Dan. That xx days is EXACTLY the industry standard in productivity software.

 

Its not worth arguing about. Time will tell if your buyers are unique as you seem to think or you will get hit by the returns.

 

And as I said before, its not about me. I'm perfectly happy to wait.

 

I'm actually buying through my FLGS because I'm trying to encouage their stocking HERO products. (Which is also why I just called them to make sure they made their destributor wait for v2 to fill the order. Getting hit with return costs won't encourage them much.)

 

Otherwise I'd just buy through the web site, which is your OTHER problem. Your FLGSes are currently screwed because you are offering V2 right now for download but all they can offer is V1.

 

But again, its not my company. I'm just providing some experience from my 20 yrs in the software industry. You and Darren have to make the decisions and live with the results.

[Simon]

I say again: you are sadly mistaken about there being any such "industry standard". There is not.

 

I don't care if you want to talk about gaming software, productivity/office software, or operating systems. In all cases, you pay for an upgrade to a new version regardless of when you purchase the software.

 

The only exception to this is software that comes with maintenance contracts --- i.e. "free upgrades for one year" or whatever. This type of product is by no means the norm for the industry.

 

Hero Designer follows a policy of providing free updates for the product. Updates include bug fixes as well as feature enhancements (there are a huge number of differences between 1.0 and 1.47). Upgrades (major version changes) have always been stated as being a purchased product. This has been the case since v1 was first announced a year and a half ago.

 

I honestly don't know where you get your information from on "industry standards". Frankly, folks don't even need to be in the industry to know that you're way off base: they just need to have purchased software.

[Catseye]

Okay. Your wrong, but its irellevent. "Standards" aren't the issue, only why those standard behaviors came into being, which I've explained as best I can.

 

As they say this time of year, Many Happy Returns

[Catseye]

I'm sory, but I have a hard time leaving things rest where I know I'm right. It IS irellevent but.... from a quick GOOGLE

 

 

"Macromedia free upgrade policy

 

Macromedia offers free upgrades to customers who purchase software from an authorized reseller during the published qualifying period for each product. Free upgrades are available for a limited time only, and all requests must be accompanied by a legible copy of the proof of purchase. Requests must be received within three months of the date the new version first ships."

 

"Free Upgrade

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Simply download and install IntelliJ IDEA 3.0.5 and use your existing key.

If you purchased IntelliJ IDEA before 2002, buy an Upgrade license. "

 

"ISSUE:

 

Is the new Eudora 6.0.1 a free upgrade?

 

SOLUTION (PAID MODE USERS):

 

 

If you purchased and registered your current Eudora within the past twelve months, then the 6.0.1 upgrade is free. Simply download and install and it will install in Paid mode (no advertisements)."

 

"Do I qualify for a free upgrade to Opera 7?

Platform: Windows 95/98/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP

 

Not all registered users of Opera 6 for Windows and Linux are entitled to a free upgrade to Opera 7. Only users who bought Opera 6 for USD 39 during the Power Kit campaign, or thereafter for USD 29, are entitled to a free upgrade to Opera 7 for Windows and Linux."

 

"Free upgrade to GFI MailEssentials 9

 

If you purchased GFI MailEssentials 8 or the GFI MailEssentials/GFI MailSecurity bundle on or after 15 May 2003, you can upgrade to GFI MailEssentials 9 for free. "

 

"Who is Eligible for a Free Upgrade to BBEdit 7.0?

If you purchased BBEdit 6.5 between September 1, 2002 and December 31, 2002, you are eligible to receive an upgrade to BBEdit 7.0 free of charge, provided that you send us appropriate proof of eligibility on or before March 31, 2003. "

 

 

 

 

Thats just the first page.,,,

[Simon]

AGAIN:

 

There are some products that provide a maintenance program as part of the purchase of the product. There are many others (the majority) that do not.

 

Try going to a store and buying a copy of Quake (yes, you can still buy them). Now contact ID and tell them that you want to get a discount on Quake III Arena and see how far you get.

 

HD has never been sold with a maintenance contract, so any arguments you have about free upgrades are utterly baseless. We have been more than forthcoming with all plans.....oftentimes to the detriment of sales. HDv1 sales have tailed off to almost nill over the past month because of our repeated announcements of v2 being released on Dec. 1.

 

I never argued that there are not programs out there that are sold with a maintenance contract. I stated (and continue to state) that HD has never been one of these. Nor has anyone ever been mislead into thinking that it was.

 

Your peceptions of the industry continue to be skewed.

[Catseye]

Originally posted by Simon

AGAIN:

 

There are some products that provide a maintenance program as part of the purchase of the product. There are many others (the majority) that do not.

 

Dan. I work for Sun. I know what a maintainence contract is. None of these products are sold with them built into their price. Go to their websites and see. (In general btw maintainence contracts are almost never sold at retail. MSFT might be an exception as they can get away with it.)

 

Try going to a store and buying a copy of Quake (yes, you can still buy them). Now contact ID and tell them that you want to get a discount on Quake III Arena and see how far you get.

 

**sigh** I already explained to you the difference between games, where every game is a new product and new experience, and productivity software which is incrementally improved.

 

You aren't in the game business, however much you might like to think so. HD is productivity software, just like a word processor or spreadsheet. Its sold to make doing a specific job easier (creating characters.) You don't sell experience, you sell convenience.

 

As I say though, your returns in the end are only skin off my nose in so far as they hurt my favorite little company. And as in the end I don't have the repsonsabilities that you who run the company do, all I can do is offer advice. If you wish to discount it or ignore it thats your business. "Thank you for sharing, this is our policy." Is an answer I'm happy to accept.

 

But don't insult my intelligence or experience, because (a) your wrong and ( it doesn't encoruage positive feelings towards the company which is probably not a good thing.

[Ben Seeman]

LOCKED

 

I'm locking this thread because the discussion is not appropriate for this forum. Please move this conversation to Company Questions or either of the Hero Designer forums.