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RogerWilco wrote:

Sure, but more and more games are available on the Mac. CoD4, WoW, Spore, are some recent ones.

Not true. CMP also sold the datasets for PCGen, which runs happily on my Mac.


I found it short sighted, that when WotC decided to build this new software from scratch in 2005/6/7 (?), they decided to use Windows-only technology, while it would have been a similar effort to build a cross-platform application from the start.

From most sources you see, Mac is at about 8-12% market share, but if I just look around me, I think it's much higher under the average DnD playing Geek population.

I don't think it's something WotC can change any more, as they are now very tied in with the Windows platform, but I think they've alienated easily 20%+ of their potential customers from the get go, while they could have developed the entire thing cross platform, without extra effort, if they had designed for it from the start.

It's not 1995 any more, cross platform developement has come a long way since then. As a developer working on cross-platform tools full time, I know there are mature solutions.

Well spoken sir!

timerino wrote:

Be careful when you quote marketshare numbers ... the 3-4% number is decade old and those gartner PC numbers include cash registers and credit card processors which run DOS. They got their numbers based on DOS and Windows licenses sold since they 'must' go in a PC somewhere. Remember, Microsoft makes you buy a license whether you install it or not. Hence, those numbers have alwasys been misleading. Again, please be careful when you misquote numbers. And, you can get actual install base numbers: they're harder to come by, they cost more, and have higher uncertainties.

I suspect WoTC chose Windows because it's a 'safe' bet which requires little research (eg, planning & marketing cost). I'm sure someone did purchase the report which justified their decision. Another example is the window size assumption. The fixed window size precludes many laptops (especially those new mini-ones which are so popular at cons). Even a PC with 1024x768 that has a windows task bar would loose a few rows of pixels on the bottom. Just looks 'half' hearted. Screen size (actual) and pixel depth are all part of marketing. Some moderate technical marketing was done: don't know how much was that analytical.

All that being said. The tool is fun. I intend on using it with 'new' players for the gameday we run for locals at our local gameshop. Much more useable than pcgen (by far) and hero forge. It is the best of the limited ones I've played with. Running it in parallels is suboptimal, but it'll do. I'm more interested in WoTC's ability to (a) keep-up with their own content (b)continue improving (the still beta) product and (c) respond to userbase feedback in a proactive manner.

I have worked with a lot of software developers of various platforms. My guess is WotC decided to go PC-only because they had people in-house that already knew how to go that way and are not as familiar with how to develop cross-platform. It can be surprising how easy it is to make programs cross-platform now - in some cases a simple recompile - less than 5 minutes of programmer time, can make a program work on a Mac. This is not always the case, but have done it with d20Pro - works like a charm.

Kursk wrote:

I don't rely on Gartner. Gartner comes to me for data.

No, the numbers I use are from our own extensive mkt research.

Windows is the main OS on about 93-94% of home PCs currently. Outside the home it varies by vertical market. K-12 is quite different than a company with similar seat count. For instance, there are a lot more K-12s running Novell (percentage wise) than companies. This is due to financial constraints.

We've seen a sharp decline in the EDU mkt for Apple in the last 15 years due to price difference between them & white box, available s/w, etc., etc.

Until you can show where you data comes from... you are not going to convince anyone to change their mind... in fact, even then I doubt it. I can see statistics that show anything people want. I have seen many sources showing how while 10-5 years ago, Macs were 'losing ground' in the education market, in the last 5 years, it is growing considerably.

Again, I don't think this is a portion of this thread worth pursing since thus far, people can get numbers to support anything they want.

Reality is, the development time may actually be worth it. All of us here can speculate all we want - but the WotC team needs to look into it and make their decisions... I'm hoping from this thread... and the ever increasing post/ view count, that they will look into it and come to conclusion that they should in fact make their software multi-platform.

Kursk wrote:

I could care less. I'm just explaining why the decision was made. I don't care if you believe escape velocity is ~25k MPH or not. It doesn't change facts...

And what you are providing are not facts... only opinions and unfounded numbers. Which is what people on BOTH sides of the Mac vs PC market-share debate do.

Once again, as many people have pointed to on this thread, Mac vs PC market-share does not matter so much in the end... what matters as far at this thread is concerned is if there is a benefit to non-windows users and WotC to provide this software in a format that is not dependent on Windows. It may be a lot easier than one might think... it all depends on how the software was written, and if you assume you are coding for non-intel Macs (much harder, but only applies to Macs made more than 3 years ago)... and the demand likely is more based on the demographic that would use the software... the truth is, it probably would take less time to compile the software for Mac that it would be to do market research on the long term demand for a Mac version of the software.