Has anyone here had any experience with Plot Control? A friend asked me about it, and I don’t want to dismiss it out of hand. (Actually, I do, but I’m trying not to.)
My brief research into it makes it seem like Dramatica Lite. But I figured I’d ask if anyone has first-hand experience.
Dunno, but any site that throws a popup window when I click to leave it feels very suspect. When the message in the popup window reads…
I get even more suspicious.
I watched a few of the Plot Control videos and checked out the price ($495), which seems steep compared to Dramatica and StoryWeaver, which the program resembles a combination of in my assessment from the videos. Also It forces one into a three act structure, albeit the 2nd act has two parts, its still that old paradigm. The trangulation mode seems potentially effective a method of evolving depth in character and in relation to plot.
Triangles versus quads. 3 acts instead of 4. It may be a a “lite” version of something resembling Dramatica. But at over 5 times more expensive that Dramatica, “lite” doesn’t come cheap.
Yesterday, it was $57, for ONE DAY ONLY!!!
Anyway, I had the same reaction that you (both) had.
At $57, it may be fun to play with and see if it offers another way into leverage a story. There’s more than one way into a story. However, from everything I see, Dramatica offers the best way to create a complete story. So using something like Plot Control may get you a certain distance. Then perhaps finish the story off in Dramatica to tie it all together.
I’ve had Plot Control for some time now, through some special deal I can’t remember (I know it definitely didn’t cost $495 — my wife would’ve killed me!).
Anyway, let me just say that “Dramatica Lite” is putting it kindly.
Plot Control’s user-interface isn’t bad, but its story-developing aspects are very shallow and cliché; it’s just another take on Saving the Cat or Syd Field, and certainly not worth the almost-$500 price.
Still, it probably pulls quite a few people in, making big promises and looking quite simple to understand.
Yet its approaches and suggestions are ultimately simplistic, and will tend to push aspiring writers to simply write more of what keeps getting dumped into Hollywood every year, IMHO.
Agreed. Clarification… it’s not clear how much it is now. Yesterday the website told me $495. Today, it’s a $139 payment “today”, but no clear purchase price… which gives me a sense they would charge me again, perhaps as a subscription. Plus there is an upcharge for premium services starting at $500. All-in-all Plot Control it seems heavy on the marketing shell game and light on content.
I got curious and visited Plot Control website. From what I gather the price is $139, while $495 is the “value” of what you get for that price (3 licenses instead of one, ecc.)
I agree with the general impressions so far posted here, the website seems built around a marketing format that puts the actual product in the background. There doesn’t seem to be a community built around the software, yet, and there is a general lack of presentation of the theory/model behing Plot Control, its features list, ecc.
Still, from the presentation video it seems to have a good interface, and it reminds me of the many drafting products that exist on the market, allowing for the quick creation of cards to old ideas together while planning.
I find it very strange that even though the product seems to be in its version 2.0 there is no history of its development—what has improved since v.1? when did it first come out? and so on.
Obviously, none of these considerations really say anything much about the true nature of the product or its workings. Somehow, it made me curious but not enough to try it. I am a bit fussy when it comes to installing an unknown software on my PC, and the website didn’t really provide me enough motivation to trust and download.
Good to read that @keypayton ownes Plot Control and provided us with some feedback. So it turns out first impressions were correct, nothing realy special under the hood…
I guess is one of those products that appear on the scene on dissapear short after without leaving much of a trace.
Pitty, the “triangulation” issue got me curious, but then again: the website doesn’t really go indepth into the issue. Even if simplistic, at $139 it might be a worth choice for someone who finds its workflow and user interface practical—after all, sometimes less is more, as long has it does what its needed.
I think the theory behind it is sound, especially for beginning storytellers.
Following it’s structural road-map will guide you to consider an argument via the triangulation model and a strong emphasis on truly rooting the characters to the story.
Before I dived into Dramatica - It really opened my eyes to what a story must be in order to be called a story.
I think it’s underrated - but it’s not Dramatica.
