I bought this when I found out I'd be running Ars5 - right now I'm holepunching the manual, which is fairly large.
Anyone have any experience with it? Any resources made by fans?
Any pitfalls?
Thanks!
V.
I've been using it since I first heard about it some years ago now and I love it.
It really is well worth the money (in fact, given the work the team put into the product, I'd gladly pay more but don't tell them that).
Every now and then I find a little "bump" that I can't work out how to overcome but the app is incredibly accurate and I can't imagine keeping track of characters without it.
Cool. I'll try not to be daunted by the size of the manual then.
I particularly like the way it will print out a mage's grimoire in a manner that makes it look very close to the Ars5 book...
Here's hoping they release more bundles for Covenants and other books, like Mystery Cults!
V
One great thing is that the character sheets give so much more than the standard Ars sheet does. The fifth edition template works out basic lab totals so you always have a clear idea of what your magus can do with a spare season, a handful of Vis and that silver broach that's been knocking about the lab.
Yeah, its really awesome! The only 'bone' I have with it is that it isn't always simple...you have to really look around to find what you want. I have also found various "holes" that need plugging, but nothing that you can't work with.
One nice thing they could do it make the OUTPUT viewable and changable, instead of printable...
It is a wonderful tool, been using it a lot.
There are some bugs, but they tend to be fixed soon after being reported.
I'm on a Mac running Ubuntu Linux, so I don't use it.
However, I can say that the people making it are very good about checking comments from users with me, to make sure that Metacreator has the rules right, and I know several people who do use it. I also know that Metacreator found some of the errata in ArM5, when someone put the sample characters through it...
Is an international version scheduled?
I am not a fan of any electronic character creation programs -- they tend to bring the presence of computers to the table, which is something that I try to avoid. I am sure the program is fine, in and of itself, but I am just not a fan of the concept.
Are you telling me you don't use the computer to manage your characters? At all? Insanity!
I use a spreadsheet to manage mine lab time and so on. Makes things much more managable.
I certainly use a calculator to determine various lab totals and so on, usually the one on the computer.
I also use Metacreator to create characters, but so far not to manage them. I somehow always manage to have problems running it properly, like reaching seasons I didn't mean to reach yet, and have compatibility problems when I update the program, and so on. (For character creation, I find the program works well EXCEPT that I don't like how it handles affinity - it maintains the "allocated" EP, instead of x 1.5 EP that, but changes the way the score is calculated to compensate.)
It runs fine under WINE on my SUSE box (versions 9.1 through to 10).
Nope, no spreadsheets for my characters at all.
I use my computer for some saga material, but most of it is handwritten. I guess I'm old fashioned that way 
Blesphamy!! 
I'm with Angus on this one. I generally keep a spreadsheet regarding which character did what during which season, and I use Spreadsheets and documents to keep track of house rules, libraries and such but characters tend to be too individualistic and too important for puttign into a computer. The change that involves 8 seconds to erase and old number and put a new number in for a paper sheet involves firing up the machine , loading the program, pulling up the character, finding the right field, updating it, and then saving the file when I use a computer sheet. It's not worth it for me.
Another issue is the special things that pop up in a game that don't fit with the program. There's always something new popping in whether it is a unique curse from fae or a result of a lab botch that doesn't quite fit with the rules as written and the programmer can't possibly predict. A piece of paper and pencil can update one's character nearly instantly, a computer program takes considerably more time.
I've played around with metacreator and I'm very impressed but I don't feel I know it well enough to use it for a game, (and like Yair I'm not fond of how it handles affinities.)
I have several friends that use Meta Creator and love it. I on the other hand am old school. Pen and paper. All my characters have been built by hand and updated that way. I'm very visual and prone to making something close to a spreadsheet by hand. For me, the ability to make notes, add question marks, and comments all aid me in developing characters.
Also, I actually the hate the process of making and maintaining characters. I'd much rather be playing. I understand that some people can make 10 characters a day for life, but not me. It's like pulling teeth. It's not that it's difficult, I just don't like doing ok.
But I digress...
Sorry to be ignorant, but I'm on a Mac (OSX), and would love to use MetaCreator.... what is WINE and SUSE?!?
Thanks,
eric
He heh. I'm actually in an online saga right now that's all about mantaining characters (well, labwork). I'm enjoying it very much. 
Yes, I agree with you in regards to character management in general. It's just that I like having a spreadsheet to manage the time in the lab, which is usually handled out-of-session anyways. And I like having the program do all the math for me when generating the character, plus the easy availabaility of looking up the virtues and other rules text when considering options (using Metacreator).
SuSE is a flavour of Linux, which is another Unix operating system, like OS X, except it's free. WINE is not an emulator, but it does allow you to run Windows packages under Linux. However, you do need to be using Intel hardware, so unless you have a very new Mac, it won't work. And if you have a very new Mac, you can just run Windows on it anyway, as of yesterday.
Ok, tinkered with it a bit. Quite powerful, and not as terrible of a learning curve as I expected. I may be goofing things up, but the first player character, a Moorish merchant's daughter turned Jerbiton maga, seems to be sound.
I hope they do Covenants soon!
Vrylakos
Anyone know where experience might accidentally be added to a character within Metacreator? I'm trying to account for a discrepancy in the XP a mage should have, and what it gave him.
V.