Got an e-mail concerning a broadcast from the D&D Insider Community...
On November 16, Wizards of the Coast will launch a brand new web-based version of the D&D Insider Character Builder.
Hopes: Perhaps runs smoother. Will include Essentials/Dark Sun.
Fears: No subscription = no character builder. I suppose you can use the current application, but it doesn't look like it will be supported after the 16th.
Thoughts?
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Not happy. The monthly download of the character gen IS the reason I keep my DDI. If they go to the web-based system I'll let my subscription lapse for sure. I do not want to be tied to needing an internet connection to make characters.
How on Earth does WotC manage to always follow up a great idea, i.e. Essentials in the latest case, with a very bad idea? It's almost like they want us to ditch them and play exclusively Pathfinder.
Disappointed... again.
S.
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The biggest problems I see.
No Export tools so you can't save your characters on your system, only online - But you can use PDF Web creators, not sure how well that will work.
Does not work without a web connection so use at conventions became harder.
I see nothing about a Non Subscriber method to test the character builder before buying anymore.
At launch there will not be the capability to pick and choose what books/rule you want to allow, but that is coming.
If you cancel your subscription you lose access to you characters, and they only save them for 12 months
I am sure there will be more issues people have.
Does Silverlight work on Mac? I was under the impression it does not...
Disappointing, but not surprising.
Certainly sounds disappointing. I'm not sure how much this will really effect me but all this delay had me hoping for some kind of' you know, useful new tool. At best this is just a slightly worse version of what I already have - not exactly exciting.
Will you be able to get other people to see your accounts characters? Or is this what is meant by no export? Seems like a real backwards step if players can't send their DM their characters and I often email mine to a friend to print out as I don't have a colour printer.
Certainly sounds disappointing. I'm not sure how much this will really effect me but all this delay had me hoping for some kind of' you know, useful new tool. At best this is just a slightly worse version of what I already have - not exactly exciting.
Will you be able to get other people to see your accounts characters? Or is this what is meant by no export? Seems like a real backwards step if players can't send their DM their characters and I often email mine to a friend to print out as I don't have a colour printer.
I can't see them even being able to cripple it to the extent that would be required to prevent sharing characters,* but I can see being limited to some sort of non-editable form. PDF would be my guess.
* I stand ready to be surprised. :(
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Will you be able to get other people to see your accounts characters? Or is this what is meant by no export? Seems like a real backwards step if players can't send their DM their characters and I often email mine to a friend to print out as I don't have a colour printer.
When it first comes out, no, but they will be adding that ability later on, unsure how long "later" is.
And as far as I can tell by the answers from WotC, There is 0 Export capability, but you can use a Web -> PDF converter, but those have a tendency not to look very good, in fact that is exactly what they said, later on they say you can Convert to PDF, but and earlier answer stated that was not part of the program.
Certainly sounds disappointing. I'm not sure how much this will really effect me but all this delay had me hoping for some kind of' you know, useful new tool. At best this is just a slightly worse version of what I already have - not exactly exciting.
Will you be able to get other people to see your accounts characters? Or is this what is meant by no export? Seems like a real backwards step if players can't send their DM their characters and I often email mine to a friend to print out as I don't have a colour printer.
You could print to PDF using CutePDF or whatever PDF maker you prefer, then email the file to the GM and friend.
I'm not thrilled with the new direction but I can live with it. They are limiting my access to their app, but at the same time it makes it more fair. I have a yearly subscription that I pay for, while there are some who pay for 1 month out of 6 to get the same thing I get.
How to solve the problem of web based application character generator, we can look to history.....
Pencil.
Paper.
Calculator maybe.Solved.
That was...insightful.
C.C
I'm a mac user, and I've had a DDI subscription for a couple of years. I use it mainly for easy access to the compendium since I'm a dm, and that keeps it worth it for me, but I'm sure glad to see that I'll soon be able to use the builder.
Keep in mind that if you want the desktop version you can just download it now with the most recent updates and be able to make enough characters to keep you playing for the next 10 life times if you want to, but I realize that most people aren't happy unless they have the latest and greatest of everything.
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How to solve the problem of web based application character generator, we can look to history.....
Pencil.
Paper.
Calculator maybe.Solved.
Worked fine under 1e/2e and even 3e. But 4e with all those power cards, it sucks, we tried. I subscribed to DDI entirely for the character gen and the nice print-outs with everything needed to play.
I'm still trying to work out how 'WotC' is an anagram for 'idiots', but my gut tells me it is and I just need to think a little harder on the problem.
Why take a system that is hailed by so many for and against 4e as being the best character gen product on the market and then 'nerf' it.
Absolutely speechless,
S.
How to solve the problem of web based application character generator, we can look to history.....
Pencil.
Paper.
Calculator maybe.Solved.
Not really the solution I'm looking for.
For me the story is similar to what happens when you get your modern computer to play some old video game fondly remembered. Talk to anyone who was playing X-Com UFO defense in their late teens or early twenties and they will tell you about just how awesome that game and some others like it where.
This holds true until you get your modern fancy computer to actually run X-COM UFO Defense...and then something really weird happens. Even though you know that X-Com is 10 times the game of anything your playing these days and the guys who made it had 20 times the vision of the drivel that we are being spoon fed by developers today and yet, somehow, X-Com is just not as good as whatever your favorite games of today happen to be when you finally get your modern computer to run it...it also happens to look like barf even though your certain you remember the graphics being pretty darn good.
Thats what has happened here...I used to roll up characters just for fun. I'd spend hours doing it and new perfectly well that I'd never get to play even a fraction of these characters. Then I got the DDI and it warped my brain chemistry...now I think I'd rather go to the dentist then submit to rolling a character by hand.
Disappointing, but not surprising.
I agree. Rolling out a new utility shouldn't mean replacing a solid utility with a crippled one. This big news has convinced me not to continue with a DDI subscription.
Got an e-mail concerning a broadcast from the D&D Insider Community...
On November 16, Wizards of the Coast will launch a brand new web-based version of the D&D Insider Character Builder.Hopes: Perhaps runs smoother. Will include Essentials/Dark Sun.
Fears: No subscription = no character builder. I suppose you can use the current application, but it doesn't look like it will be supported after the 16th.
Thoughts?
Ouch, not hopeful about this. I may have to look into HeroLabs now, though I'm not adverse to the ol' pencil and paper method....
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I will give it a try and see how it goes, it may turn out good or may not. Have they said when they are going to stop updating the current CB ? If it turns out bad may just switch completely to Herolab. Which is pretty good, just wish they could make there character sheet more like the one from WOTC.
There will no longer be any updates for the current CB.
The last Update was 12 October, That will be the last one.
Dark Sun and Essentials was never added.
When the new web based program launches you will no longer have access to the old CB.
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LoL, I am just amazed that people actually posted on WotC that they will not buy WotC stuff anymore because they can't Pirate the CB software anymore! Lol. They actually Said that!
If this is a move based on piracy then it make me worry about the viability of 4e as a product. The money from DDI should be a drop in the bucket compared to the books. If so then those who pay for DDI good, and those who pirate, boo hiss, but ultimately shouldn't impact on WotC 4e core business - books. I didn't have a problem with the removal of the pdf's, that made sense to increase the books sales. Increased book sales means WotC 4e will continue to develop - a win for D&D. However I almost see DDI as a service by WotC for the users of their product.
So is DDI really that much of their income that piracy is of concern?
2 cents,
S.
Dumbest goddamn thing WotC has done in a long time. They're shooting themselves in the face with this one.
One of the reasons they are saying they went to the new Web Based CB, was that they where having problems adding essentials to the current CB, and they decided to go with the Web Based one which was easier then changing the current CB.
Lies. Yes, it was probably easier to add the new material to the new, built from the ground up, web based character builder. But they could have changed the old one to add the material for maybe 5% of the effort of building a brand new tool.
They decided to switch to the new tool to keep people subscribed. They knew a large portion of their players were buying an update every few months to download the new content. As the new tool started looming closer they probably pulled everyone off the old update team to finish it off.
Yeah, this is pretty ugly. Overhauling and drastically changing the one big winner of DDI - while letting the Monster Builder languish in beta stage, and still no sign of the oft-hoped for campaign manager - doesn't seem a great business strategy.
I can see why they did it - standardizing all their tools in one online platform will let them more easily expand what they have to offer. I imagine that we will see an online Monster Builder soon enough, and a Campaign Manager and more to come.
And, of course, I think the even more key reason behind it is to require an active subscription to use the CB. No more subscribing for one month out of every six and retaining full functionality. This is pretty clearly a bid to ensure constant subscriptions over intermittent ones, while also fighting against the regular piracy of the CB that does happen.
As a player who's really just now come aboard the 4E wagon since the launch of Essentials, I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed. I've picked up Heroes of the Fallen Lands, the Rules Compendium, and the Monster Vault, and I had planned on getting a one-month DDI subscription just to have the Essentials stuff loaded into the CB and ready to run at any given moment once I finally run a game myself (and once the program had been updated to reflect the brand spanking new ruleset in which I've just invested upwards of fifty bucks).
[EDIT: And I might have kept the DDI sub for even longer, had I saw things I liked as part of that package. The security of the investment was its entire appeal.]
This feels like I'm being strong-armed into an ongoing subscription for something players of the "core" 4E could always get with a one-time fee during the two years leading up to this change. I'm not going to spend money on a bully plan like that. I'll just run it with pencil and paper like a big kid instead.
Questions.
Will I now have to get another subscription just to access the new CB?
Will the e-mags and compendium be a separate subscription?
How much is this new on-line only CB subscription going to cost me?
WTF is wrong with WotC?
How come my yearly subscription is now only worth two crappy e-mags?
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I think the biggest issue is this new Web Based program is losing functionality people love in the current CB and they are getting a lot of *That will be added later*
If that is the case it sounds like it is not ready yet, and they are pushing it out now because they want to get Dark Sun and Essentials out there and don't want to take the time to add it to the program that is working now.
Also I agree, the main reason for this I am sure is to keep people subscribed and to stop Piracy.
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Questions.
Will I now have to get another subscription just to access the new CB?
Will the e-mags and compendium be a separate subscription?
How much is this new on-line only CB subscription going to cost me?
WTF is wrong with WotC?
How come my yearly subscription is now only worth to crappy e-mags?
1. One subscription is good enough for 1 person.
2. No, works the same as it did before, just replacing the old CB with the new Web based CB3. Same, no price change
4. ummmmmm
5. what? Huh?
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Not happy. The monthly download of the character gen IS the reason I keep my DDI. If they go to the web-based system I'll let my subscription lapse for sure. I do not want to be tied to needing an internet connection to make characters.
I gave 4e a second chance with Essentials and taught my daughter how to play using that line. I just subscribed to DDi a few months ago so that we could have access to the Character Builder. That way I could download it on my daughter's laptop (which I don't allow on the internet) that way she can take it with her and make characters no matter where she is. She really loves that Character Builder. I've been waiting for those Essentials updates, just so I could update her CB to the version of 4e we use.
The offline availability was the #1 reason I got the stupid subscription. Although I did come to like the Monster Builder too.Now it looks like I'll have some extra money to spend on another Pathfinder subscription. I've had my eye on the campaign setting and player's companion subscriptions, now I just need to decide which one to get.
How on Earth does WotC manage to always follow up a great idea, i.e. Essentials in the latest case, with a very bad idea? It's almost like they want us to ditch them and play exclusively Pathfinder.
As my daughter would say... they must eat a big bowl of Stupid-O's every morning.
Disappointed... again.
S.
I think it is funny that, from the tone of everyone's comments from around the net, everyone feels like WotC is just trying to get them P'od. The relationship between WotC and fans continues to seem more and more unhealthy.
WotC: "We want you to come back. See we're sorry for upsetting you"Fans: "Really? You mean it this time?"
WotC: "Really, we just want you to be happy and for us to be on the same side."
Fans: "that's what we want too."
WotC: "Awww, c'mere, try Essentials and lets be friends again."
The fans walk over, pick up a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia, likes it and smiles. When they look up to thank WotC for at least attempting to reconcile, WotC then smacks them upside the head with the 4e Core Books gift set.
The cycle starts all over again....
Unfortunately, I see controlling and sometimes abusive relationships far more often that I want and to me that's what being a D&D fan feels like.
I'm glad we have Pathfinder.
5. what? Huh?Questions.
How come my yearly subscription is now only worth to crappy e-mags?
IMO the Dragon and Dungeon magazines are only semi-useful at best. If they didn't come with the old CB I wouldn’t get them at all.
With the old CB I was buying a product that belonged to me. I could download it onto my laptop and take it anywhere and use it whether I had internet service or not.
The new CB isn't a product it's a service, a service that I can only use if I have internet access. I can't take it with me, I can't loan it to a friend and from what has been mentioned I can't even print or make copies of characters I made to send to anyone.
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5. what? Huh?Questions.
How come my yearly subscription is now only worth to crappy e-mags?
IMO the Dragon and Dungeon magazines are only semi-useful at best. If they didn't come with the old CB I wouldn’t get them at all.
With the old CB I was buying a product that belonged to me. I could download it onto my laptop and take it anywhere and use it whether I had internet service or not.
The new CB isn't a product it's a service, a service that I can only use if I have internet access. I can't take it with me, I can't loan it to a friend and from what has been mentioned I can't even print or make copies of characters I made to send to anyone.
From what I've gathered on these boards and many others, the decision to "kill" Dragon and Dungeon magazine was not because of poor sales. If what I've read is correct the subscriptions alone were enough to keep at least Dragon going and the numbers were growing.
As far as I am concerned there have been no issues of either magazine since they ceased print publication. If I hadn't gotten a DDi subscription, which is now getting canceled, I still would not even read part of the online versions. I hate reading books and mags on computer screens. The books are dead as far as I'm concerned. I just wish KQ came out more often.If WotC ever decides to bring them back, I hope they stick with the original print numbering.
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I can't loan it to a friend and from what has been mentioned I can't even print or make copies of characters I made to send to anyone.
Ok, you were never supposed to "Lend" the program to a friend, that is Pirating, And probably a strong reason why they changed to Web only, I am assuming you meant let a friend use your program on your system...
You can still print out your PC, that is not being changed, there is no export at this time, but they said that is on the top of the list of things to be added.
Until then you can use free PDF converters according to WotC.
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Like I said, I thing I am mostly upset that they are putting out a product that is worse then the current one, due to functions not being finished yet. Who knows how long that will take!
I would have preferred if the kept updating the current CB until the new Web Program was fully functional.
It is not like they are known for releasing non fully functional programs? ;)
Edit: I still love that I can use it on my MacBook Pro! Just really wish I could use it on my iPad.
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The fans walk over, pick up a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia, likes it and smiles. When they look up to thank WotC for at least attempting to reconcile, WotC then smacks them upside the head with the 4e Core Books gift set.
The cycle starts all over again....
This would be a darn sight funnier if it wasn't so true!
Anyone know how well Silverlight works on Macs?
Apple is known for limiting Software they don't like *Adobe* to a point that it runs like crap, is this the same case with Silverlight?
Silverlight works fine on macs.
And that Adobe stuff runs like crap is Adobe's fault, not Apple's.
As long as I get my update prior to November 16, can WotC activate some sort of code within the offline CB to render it uselsss once the web-based CB goes online?
I know that if my comptuer crashes I won't be able to get the offline CB back, but I'm just wondering if I should still be able to use the content I've paid for.
Also, I'm planning on getting a new computer in the next few months. Is it both feasible and legal to transfer the offline CB software to my new computer? I have never, and would never, allow someone else illegal access to the offline CB files...I just want to know if I can use it on my new computer.
I doubt they built a way to disable CB remotely into the software. And if they did, it only needs one guy pissed off enough to release a fixed version.
But staying all-legal, I think the best way to keep a working, copy-able version of CB is to set up a virtual machine with an 'empty' windows and install CB. Then, whenever you change the system, you can simply copy the VM and everything is as it always was. And you can also easily backup the whole thing, VM with Windows+CB shouldn't be more than a single-digit number of gigabytes.
I think it's funny that a lot of people are mad because they can't spam WotC's own programs for a very small fee anymore. I feel this way because I am a yearly subscriber and I get exactly the same thing one person does with a 1 or 3 month subscription. We all knew that it was only a matter of time that they took back the generous offerings of multipul downloads/updates with the CB on multipul computers for a quick, 1 month fee.
I don't think it's all that stupid since the people who do abuse the DDI will then have to pay for the books OR a full-year DDI subscription or not invest anything else.
Though I'm with Dragnmoon in that it sould be completly done before they start it up. It should have export capability and should be able to be shared with other DDI subscribers. And while I'm not a total fan of it being web-based, it does have certain advantages with multipul computers and not having to worry about download times etc...
I will give it a try and see how it goes, it may turn out good or may not. Have they said when they are going to stop updating the current CB ? If it turns out bad may just switch completely to Herolab. Which is pretty good, just wish they could make there character sheet more like the one from WOTC.
Question: Does HeroLab currently require a DDI subscription in order to work with 4E, or can you simply buy a yearly license as with 3.5 OGL and pathfinder? Also, has HeroLab been updated to include Essentials?
I will give it a try and see how it goes, it may turn out good or may not. Have they said when they are going to stop updating the current CB ? If it turns out bad may just switch completely to Herolab. Which is pretty good, just wish they could make there character sheet more like the one from WOTC.Question: Does HeroLab currently require a DDI subscription in order to work with 4E, or can you simply buy a yearly license as with 3.5 OGL and pathfinder? Also, has HeroLab been updated to include Essentials?
You need to buy both Herolabs and have an active DDi subscription.