I'm very happy with the overall usage. People are logging and enjoying making a lot of maps. I've received a lot of great complements.
With that said, there is one problem: people are making a lot of maps, but not buying a lot of exports. I hesitate to say that because the last two months have been vastly improved. But even though they are significantly better, I still think the following issues need to be addressed as I exit beta.
Issue #1: People seem content on exporting the free Web Maps rather than adventure or miniature maps.
I always get feedback from people who used Tiamat to quickly make a web map for their game. I surprised that they can make use of such a small map, but apparent it's "good enough". I want Tiamat to be free to use to an extent, but it also has to help support it's development and other related costs.
Issue #2: The price model is too confusing.
In this regard, I definitely out smarted myself. I created this really detailed formula for determining export and tile costs, but it's far to complicated. I can't count number of times I've had to explain it to people. This is need to be streamlined and simplified.
Issue #3: Some people still use the old mapper.
While I gave current users credit in Tiamat, some still use the old mapper. This is not unexpected. Eventually I will discontinue this service.
Some issues unrelated to buying exports.
Issue #4: People want more new tiles
This is not an issue I personally can control, but I've talked with Ed at Skeletonkey and he's got things in motion that will address this.
Issue #5: People want a better way to buy Tiles
Pretty self explanatory.
In my next blog(s), I'll outline all the ways Tiamat will change to address these issues. Even though I have some firm plans, I'm always open to tweaking them. So if you have any additional comments to send me, please do. Post them here, in the forums, or email me directly.
I like the option of being able to buy individual map tiles and full blown maps. The miniature size maps usually get a pass through in Photoshop, to add bits or alter the map beyond what you can do in Tiamat.
But I would love to have the ability to download the miniature sized map in Letter, A4 or A5 sections for printing. I use a free poster printing tools, but it's a pain to get the image to 1" per square. I would think that that would be much easier in Tiamat since you have the parts right there and breaking up the image into separate parts would be simpler.
In any case, I will continue to use your program and create new maps for my own use for the foreseeable future.
Thanks Chris!
I would like to work with you to get the exports they way you want. The tiles should be an a dpi that prints 1 sq to 1 inch. If that's not happening for you, we should figure out why. If you could email me direct, chris@rpgobjects.com, and give me a detail description of how you export and print, I'm sure we can make it work more seamlessly.