There's no mention of these any more on the WotC site, just a "Character Builder" and "Bonus Tools" which are web versions of stuff similar to e-Tools.
Any ideas?
There's no mention of these any more on the WotC site, just a "Character Builder" and "Bonus Tools" which are web versions of stuff similar to e-Tools.
Any ideas?
Just the same old theories based on a complete lack of information at this point that you've seen on other sites like ENWorld.
I'm not trying to stir anything up, but I don't believe there's any real reason to have wild speculation threads like this. No one knows anything at this point, and providing a place where people can do what people do - conjure up baseless theories or start rumors that eventually get misrepresented as fact - does far more harm than good.
How about everyone just chill and wait for WotC to make its inevitable announcement about what D&DI will look like going forward?
Wizards has stated recently that they are still working on additional tools, but that they are re-thinking in what order they should introduce the new tools (and they're not going to make a time commitment at this point regarding when specific tools will become available).
Both my husband and I received a survey in the past week or so when visiting their site, asking about our usage of the different tools they've already got, and also asking some questions about our interest in various possible future tools. So it looks like the reason they've dropped mention of those specific tools is because they may put other, more useful/interesting, tools ahead of them in the queue.
If you haven't checked out the Character Builder, and you play 4E, I strongly recommend that you check it out. It's really well done, and the fact that all the material from new books gets added to it automatically via monthly update makes it (IMO) far superior to third party tools (which can't duplicate all that copywrited material). It's a very good example of the quality they're shooting for.
They're also implementing an improvement to the online Compendium later this month, I believe, which will make it very user-friendly. There's a little blurb about it on their site.
In conclusion - as they say, when working on a big project, you can get Low Price, Good Quality, and Quick, pick any two. Their choice is to make the price point reasonable and the quality excellent; so we're going to have to wait a while for all the extra bells and whistles. And (as you can guess from the above) I personally don't have any argument with that choice.
Wizards has stated recently that they are still working on additional tools, but that they are re-thinking in what order they should introduce the new tools (and they're not going to make a time commitment at this point regarding when specific tools will become available).
Both my husband and I received a survey in the past week or so when visiting their site, asking about our usage of the different tools they've already got, and also asking some questions about our interest in various possible future tools. So it looks like the reason they've dropped mention of those specific tools is because they may put other, more useful/interesting, tools ahead of them in the queue.
If you haven't checked out the Character Builder, and you play 4E, I strongly recommend that you check it out. It's really well done, and the fact that all the material from new books gets added to it automatically via monthly update makes it (IMO) far superior to third party tools (which can't duplicate all that copywrited material). It's a very good example of the quality they're shooting for.
They're also implementing an improvement to the online Compendium later this month, I believe, which will make it very user-friendly. There's a little blurb about it on their site.
In conclusion - as they say, when working on a big project, you can get Low Price, Good Quality, and Quick, pick any two. Their choice is to make the price point reasonable and the quality excellent; so we're going to have to wait a while for all the extra bells and whistles. And (as you can guess from the above) I personally don't have any argument with that choice.
This. This is pretty much everything that can be said on the issue at the present.
i have to agree, the character creator is the best ever. for any game system. ever.
the fact that you can print out your own power cards is a bonus. the fact that every single feat, power, spell, ritual that wizards publishes, in every medium, is....is....well....explosive.
i applaud wizards shifting gears, i agree with them, and i have worked on projects this way myself. not making any promisses, but just showing up with something that kicks butt.
i am looking forward to the character visualizer. but i want it right. not on time.
i like ddi.
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i have to agree, the character creator is the best ever. for any game system. ever.
I agree... it should be used as the standard for other game companies..the only thing I want added is the ability to convert them to PDF.
I was intitally reluctant about DDI... I am still worried about the final price.. I still feel that if they go to the $15 a month once everything is out like they planned, that they will be overcharging..
I would like to see other mostly closed content companies use the Concepts from DDI for thier Own games.. Especially Star Wars, and White Wolf.
now if only I can find 4E game...:-(... I am still playing 3.5 and will play pathfinder.. but none of the players I have found like 4E.
I agree... it should be used as the standard for other game companies..the only thing I want added is the ability to convert them to PDF.i have to agree, the character creator is the best ever. for any game system. ever.
This is easy to accomplish. All you need are PDF printer drivers. CutePDF or another similar program can help you accomplish this.
They should have outsourced. Ah well, I will continue to use Maptools until they get it right. Though I do have the character builder along with the CutePDF so I can print them into niffy pdf files!
Pygon's TTopRPG has been increasing its 4e capabilities (combat movement, for example). He has several "play-in-action" videos on his site as well.
I'd be more interested it myself if it Mac compatible.
Yes, I know, I could set up a virtual machine or dual-boot type process on my Mac for it, but I've yet to find a converter that plays nice between my Mac and the Microsoft scripting thingy the Character Builder wants to use. -.-
I'd be more interested it myself if it Mac compatible.
Yes, I know, I could set up a virtual machine or dual-boot type process on my Mac for it, but I've yet to find a converter that plays nice between my Mac and the Microsoft scripting thingy the Character Builder wants to use. -.-
I use Parallels with Windows XP on my Macbook and can run the Character Builder fine IF I turn off the DirectX emulators that come with Parallels. Something they emulate just doesn't mesh with the Builder and causes it to crash pretty much immediately. Dunno if my case is special or anything, but I thought I'd help. (Also note that if I try to select a portrait, it also crashes. This isn't really a problem though, since I don't use the portrait feature ...)
I use Parallels with Windows XP on my Macbook and can run the Character Builder fine IF I turn off the DirectX emulators that come with Parallels. Something they emulate just doesn't mesh with the Builder and causes it to crash pretty much immediately.
Maybe Parallels is using older/incompatible DirectX drivers. (curious - is that a full Virtual Machine or a Windows-specific emulator?) In preparing for the Vista-monster, MS got a little slap-happy with DirectX updates.
As for the original question, I haven't heard/seen anything new about the Virtual Table service since about December/January (IIRC) when the Wizards site popped up a long customer survey. About half of the survey inquired about usage of the free & paid (DDI) site content, and one part asked users to rank planned future projects/ideas based on how much you were interested-in and likely-to-use them. The Virtual Table was on the list. Don't know the survey results though, I never heard about Wizards posting any of it anywhere.
EDIT: Aha, must've been January, I see somebody mentioned the survey earlier in the thread.
(curious - is that a full Virtual Machine or a Windows-specific emulator?)
Parallels appears to be a Windows specific Virtual Machine.
I've only skimmed through their site, but I saw nothing of loading linux or anything else...
EDIT:: Nevermind, they do talk about loading Linux in only a few places. So it is a full virtual machine, just Windows seems to be their big selling point.
(curious - is that a full Virtual Machine or a Windows-specific emulator?)Parallels appears to be a Windows specific Virtual Machine.
I've obly skimmed through their site, but I saw nothing of loading linux or anything else...
Parallels can install flavors of Linux quite handily - Ubuntu being one of them. Caveat, of course, is see how well they support your video card.
Parallels can install flavors of Linux quite handily - Ubuntu being one of them. Caveat, of course, is see how well they support your video card.(curious - is that a full Virtual Machine or a Windows-specific emulator?)Parallels appears to be a Windows specific Virtual Machine.
I've obly skimmed through their site, but I saw nothing of loading linux or anything else...
This is off-topic, but for me, Parallels biggest weakness is that it doesn't actually utilize your video card but instead creates a "virtual" video card within itself that whatever OS you install inside uses. The problem here is that most games I've tried either don't work correctly with this virtual video card, or don't work at all, even though the video card in my Macbook is well above the required specs for the game in question. From reviews I've read of virtual machines for Macs, VM Fusion (I think that is the right name ...) supposedly does a much better job, actually utilizing the very expensive hardware components you paid for in getting your Mac.
That aside, I haven't really ever had any problems with Parallels, and it runs Windows XP great. I sure wish it would actually use my frakking video card though, instead of trying to virtualize another one for me.
(More on topic, this whole virtual video card nonsense is likely why I have to disable the DirectX emulated drivers to get the Builder to work, and why I can't select portraits for any characters I build.)
Edit: One other thing. I have Parallels v3. From my understanding, v4 corrects some of these problems, although I am unsure if it corrects all of them. If you have the latest version, all of my complaints above might not apply any longer.