I know selling the dice is part of FFG marketing strategy
Also, after 3 years playing Star Wars i have to admit the custom dice mechanic work fine and is also cool

But i think for a rpg is good thing to let the thing "easy" for new players, even because L5R is not a setting so massively know as star wars one (nor a generic system like genesys)
Having to buy new dice (even more: not compatibles with star wars nor genesys ones) is not blatantly expensive... but is still an obstacle to new players. I mean new to L5R, not new to game in general

So, i please FFG: let the app be free
Or at least, having a free version with just dice rolling and maybe a little ad with promotional FFG items, and a complete "premium" app with all other cool stuff
So even the most casual ones can just download the app and start playing, whenever they are.

Or if you don't whant to make things easy for players, let us have just one single app for star wars, genesys and L5R...

PS: would be cool to have also buyable PDF version of the rulebook/manuals
Whenever i play Star Wars i need to fullfill a whole backpack only with the manuals i know i'll use, and they whole occupies a library while for other RPG i just need my kindle. I know for SW there is a problem with copyright, but for L5R you will have the power to sell both: gorgeous hard cover printed version and easy to use PDF version

Please please please please... we are in 2017. Phone/tablet is a thing everyone use. Let us live in the modern days and bring dice app, pdf books and other technological stuff to our table...

While I understand the appeal of dice apps, I still prefer the feel of physical dice. Kudos for the dice cut-out sheet. The dice to be sacrificed will meet their destiny with honor and selflessness. But I will give the app a try...

Like the dice app but do prefer physical dice and am looking forward to such dice being available.

I strongly believe that FFG should reduce the price of the dice-app, I am happy to pay for it but think it is in the interest of the company to minimize barriers to player entry and involvement and it would certainly be easier to get a casual curious potential player to invert $1 or $2, essentially an amount of to small to buy a coffee then the current price, which at $5 (or $8 AUS) I perceived (and others may not) as an actual purchase I had to think about before I made.

Obviously free is the ideal but I can understand FFG is a business but honestly I think the income and interest generated by making the cost minimal would provide longer term benefit and profit.

Hm; I don't see the dice app in the Google Play store (yet)? Has anyone else acquired the Android version; maybe it's just me with the problem?

I am also not finding it in the Google Play store.

Having a separate dice app for Legends vs Star Wars is really lame, and comes across as a super money grab. I don't know if it's enough to totally keep me from the game, but it's a strong strike against it. It's not even a matter of the money, it just really rubs me the wrong way, and turns me off the whole thing.

YEAH. Let's also use the release of an long, an nervously, awaited RPG to SELL THOSE APPS!
No respect at all.

Not buying a dice app to test their game. It will just be done with regular dice with the icons assigned to specific numbers.

They shouldn't charge for the app.

eventually make one without fancy wallpaper and all, just don't ask 4€ for that.

Me too i like more the feeling of the physical dice
I bought 2x package of SW Dice and i agree the dice are cool, well made and worth the price (they cost no more than ordinary dice)

But having to spend money on something else than rulebook and manuals is a huge barrier (i should say a "kaiu kabe"? ) for starting players. I know probably veteran player will buy dice once they start playing, and i know for sure because after a while we started playing SW with app we bought a dice set (and a second one after first year), but for starter, for trying the game, or just for "playing the game the GM bought and continously talk about it and let's try it just to shut him up", a buying a set of dice is no cool, while an app could be a quick and smart way to try it

Or, it "would" be, if the app is free or if everyone already have it 'cause they bought it for another game...

I'll like a free app, because there are a lot of free dice roller app, and someone also support star wars (and also genesys i suppose) dice set; they will adapt and support L5R dice set too. Of course are not fancy looking, no sound, no dice rolling animation, no roll saves etc BUT they accomplish the basic need of rolling the dice and play the game. I think is best for FFG to just point them to an official free app (even more if there are a free version with just roll dice and a premium version with fancy options like: saving dice set, tables for how to spend opportunities, strife track, etc)

But if FFG really really really whant to charge the new player with additional money, at least make a single app with dice for every system (star wars, genesys, legend of 5 rings, whatever they whould like to put here)

ps: And me neither found app on play store; i think there is not yet app and will be released when the game will be produced and sold. BUT app could be good also to test beta... i played SW beta using adesive patches on dice and was really really annoying and not working. We decided the game was'nt worth because dice rolling mechanics was crappy and we had real difficulties understanding the symbols.
When we started playing with real physical dice we found the colour code is important too (purple dice are negatives, green one positive, so basically you need to learn half the symbols )
So i guess it should be good also for beta to have a free app

Does anyone know if i have sw dice app will it upgrade automatically, so i can have L5K dices?

As far as i remember it did for previous titles.

Already pointed this out in the other thread, but I'll go ahead and link it even. Both the iOS and Android apps were linked to in the article.

Google

iOS

Maybe a happy compromise (although not so happy for anyone who already bought the app) is to include a code in the dice packs to get the app for free. That way, if you've paid for the physical product, you can also access the app without paying extra for it.

Otherwise, yeah I would have to agree this should be a free app with ads, or a $1-2 USD one-time cost at the most.

It wont be long before someone makes an online dice roller. I would give it a few days.

So I won't be buying the app and couldn't think about forcing my players to buy it.

The dice are going to be hard to find in Romania when they do come out.

Most likely I will be taking what I like from the beta a stuffing it into another system.

Not digging that you have to buy an app for an RPG game that's in Beta Testing . It just comes off as greedy and underhanded IMO. It should be free since the game is in beta testing mode.

13 hours ago, Doji Satevis said:

Hm; I don't see the dice app in the Google Play store (yet)? Has anyone else acquired the Android version; maybe it's just me with the problem?

It's on Google play now

16 hours ago, kelpie said:

PS: would be cool to have also buyable PDF version of the rulebook/manuals
Whenever i play Star Wars i need to fullfill a whole backpack only with the manuals i know i'll use, and they whole occupies a library while for other RPG i just need my kindle. I know for SW there is a problem with copyright, but for L5R you will have the power to sell both: gorgeous hard cover printed version and easy to use PDF version

7

It's not a copyright issue, but a license issue. Lucasfilm, for reasons only known to them, treat PDFs like they treat video games; digital content. It's also why WotC never released PDFs for Star Wars either.

No one wants to pay for a video game license to publish PDFs.

10 minutes ago, selderane said:

It's not a copyright issue, but a license issue. Lucasfilm, for reasons only known to them, treat PDFs like they treat video games; digital content. It's also why WotC never released PDFs for Star Wars either.

No one wants to pay for a video game license to publish PDFs.

Yeah yeah i know it
it's back to the days WEG bought SW licenses

Back on Topic: i agree, i will not pay money for an app you can only use for a beta game.
I guess i'll play with 4rth edition at least until a decent free dice roller app shows up...

9 minutes ago, kelpie said:

Back on Topic: i agree, i will not pay money for an app you can only use for a beta game.
I guess i'll play with 4rth edition at least until a decent free dice roller app shows up...

3

Only used for the beta game? It's going to work with the retail release too.

I'm not really bothered by the $5 asking price. It'll certainly be cheaper than a set of actual special dice!

But this is an expensive hobby. So I suppose I've been desensitized to a degree.

1 minute ago, selderane said:

Only used for the beta game? It's going to work with the retail release too.

I'm not really bothered by the $5 asking price. It'll certainly be cheaper than a set of actual special dice!

But this is an expensive hobby. So I suppose I've been desensitized to a degree.

1) the game is in beta. I'm not here to "play the game since before it ends up", i'm here to try the game, see if i will like it, and maybe even to change something that's wrong at the moment. And then if i like it i will buy it. So in the end, after the game will be out, i'll decide if it's worth
2) i play SW since before Epi VII came out. I bought dice app and two sets of dice. I don't bother with dice, they are something who need to be built and honestly are also good toys. I bother about dice roller app
i don't care if i can have Lion wallpaper or save presets; they are cool, maybe someone will pay 5$ for it. I care about needing to pay to even try the game
where there are a lot of free dice roller app around the world. It just need to remap "1" with "blank", "2" with "strange symbol" and the game's fine

it's not the 5$. As i said before, is about building a wall in front of the player
is like you go buying a car, and then you need to pay again for the keys

FFG can do a free app; can do a free basic app with just dice rolling (and maybe ads) and a premium app with all cool stuff inside (and i should add an automatic strafe tracker and quick access opportunity tracker). Or just change star wars roller dice app into a generico FFG roller dice app, so i could choose between SW dice, Genesys dice, or L5R dice. They can also choose to give rulebook customers code to buy app for free (and maybe let the app free until release with a disclaimer big enough to be clearly read by the moon).

No, they decided to let the player wait for a free unofficial dice app. Because that's what you will see at the table. As i pointed out, it's not really difficult to do: just need a remap to normal dice roller. So i'll wait for an unofficial dice app to try the game. Not because i can't manage to pay 5$ for an app, but because it's wrong to force the players pay for the app before the game even came out
(and yes, they are forcing the players pay for the app, because dice are not sold yet, and if you whant play the game the only way is to buy the app. Or use stickers on normal dice, but i used it while trying the SW beta and it's not advisable)

I wonder how upset you would be if they had put a price on the beta, like they did with every Star Wars and 40k beta they did. And it was definitely more than $5. As it stands, you have options beyond using the app. You don't need to use it if you don't want to.

1 hour ago, deraforia said:

I wonder how upset you would be if they had put a price on the beta, like they did with every Star Wars and 40k beta they did.

The fact that people actually paid for those betas just blows my mind and is beyond my comprehension. That is wrong on so many levels.

3 minutes ago, Mirumoto Saito said:

The fact that people actually paid for those betas just blows my mind and is beyond my comprehension. That is wrong on so many levels.

Not me. Star Wars is a license with an incredibly forgiving fanbase. Basically a couple steps short of masochistic, lol. This is a film franchise that for 20 years had 6 movies: 3 good, 3 completely awful, and a bad cartoon series aimed at children. When they finally released the seventh film with flimsy two dimensional characters with no character arcs, and a story that was basically just recycled elements from the first three films and a tentacle monster, the fact that it was "okay" and skipped over the incredibly low bar of "better than the prequels" led it to making two billion dollars at the box office.

No, I'm not surprised in the least that people paid to be in the beta for Star Wars, lol. Agree it is wrong. Minds should not be blown, however.

And 40K players (myself being a long-suffering one for many years) are just used to paying too much money for things. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the original Dark Heresy and its spawn, and neither was my game group, so we didn't check out the second edition.

9 minutes ago, VaeVictis said:

[...] Basically a couple steps short of masochistic [...]

Are you kidding?!? No one hates Star Wars more than its biggest fans.

- Confessions of a self-proclaimed Star Wars nerd.