4e Fan Creations and House RulesWorking on variant powers? Statting up a PC race or your version of a monster? Creating or converting an adventure? Put it here!
WotC is being too much. 8 USD is 29 of my currency. People here already earn little, how can they afford so much MONTHLY? Plus, I've seen and tested their beta, and was impressed by the decorations and detail, but no by their programming. You can easily program that in .NET. The performance is slow for a .NET program too, and just about anyone can program in .NET. If it was a normal bit level C++ program then it would be a different issue since the performance is far better and the work far more tedious and skillful. Plus, the WotC Character Builder is just a character builder. Wonko's is a character sheet that's way more flexible. Plus, who the heck sells their programs on a monthly charge? Even intricate computer games are a one-time sale! You've got to be kidding me if this isn't greed.
So, you also belong to the fraction of people that believe programming in .NET is as easy as finding the right button on Visual Studio to do what you want?
I wish it was so easy.
Your only valid point here is that .NET often has to cope with performance issues. But then, it doesn't have to live with stupid stuff like buffer overflows, address space corruption and other things C++ programmers like to introduce in their application. ("Liking" it the same way as .NET developers like to introduce a slow startup time of more complex .NET programs, of course. Not as in "Likes to eat bacon" or "likes to go surfing".)
2Wonko: Keep up the good work. Not everyone can afford to have access to the DDI. (Not everyone can afford Excel 2007 either, but more might actually need Excel then an online subscription. )
Thoughts of the Arch Chancellor - My weblog on EN World - containing game related material, like: house rules, design theories, reviews, play reports, adventure ideas
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I think there is still a place in the world for Wonko's sheet for sure. I'm not sure I buy the portability aspect everyone is touting though, as I know that Office 2007 is heftily priced, even with discount (aka student or something) pricing.
One of the main reasons I think Wonko's sheet is going to stay on my system even if I move to using the D&Di Character Builder is because.. it's a little too early to judge the reliability of WotC's release(s) of updates. RIght now who can say if we'll see them stick to their schedule of updating etc. Keep up the good work Wonko!
about bugs, i only tried do redo my warlord sheet so far, so i'm missing the descriptions for the feat Improved Inspiring Word and the Second level power Adaptative Stratagem.
A Friend of mine that is playing as an SpellScarred, also noticed that the features its not showing up.
Improved Inspiring Word: was apparently listed too close to Improved Inspiration and got missed - Fixed.
Adaptive Stratagem: was misspelled in the feat drop-down, causing a lookup error - Fixed.
Spellscarred: works fine for me. The initial ability gained from the Spellscarred feat is shown in the card for the feat. If you're talking about Spellscarred Savant, there's a couple of things to check: 1) Does the character have the Novice Power, Acolyte Power, and Adept Power feats? They are pre-requisites for Spellscarred Savant. 2) To select Spellscarred Savant powers, once the aforementioned feats are taken "Spellscarred" appears in the class drop-down. You must change your class to "Spellscarred", select the desired power(s), and then change your class back to whatever it was before. This is the same for all the power swap feats (watch for the red text to the right of the character sheet when any of the power swap feats are selected).
have you been checking the uodates on the old books? like, by the errata? you can see the one for each book on Official D&D Updates ?
cause i was checking today on the rituals, and brew potion now is a level 1 ritual, not a level 5. Also i am missing the tranfers enchant ritual from the adventurer vault.
anyway, check the changes on errata please, and keep doing the good work!
though, something odd is happening. My swordmage's daily (Lingering Lightning) does not show up on the power cards. Everything else is fine. Lingering Lightning, however, does not show up.
also deathcut armor does not display the resist 5 poison (it does show the necrotic resistance)
Last edited by The B#; 14th February 2009 at 08:49 AM..
Multiple points here but I don't feel like breaking up your post, so I'll just reply to them one by one.
1) It's not a monthly charge *for the program*. The monthly charge is for D&Di which includes the Compendium (ie, the rules), the Dungeon and Dragon magazines and access to download the full version of the Character Builder. There is no monthly access fee for using the Character Builder.
2) If it's so easy to do, then let's see you do it. It's written in a .NET language. We don't know which language they are using and, guess what? C++ is a .NET language now. So, this isn't a valid argument.
3) Your third complaint about intricate computer programs shouldn't have to be paid for monthly is covered by my first response.
Bottom line: no one is holding a gun to your head telling you that you *have* to use the D&Di character builder. Please, continue to use Wonko's sheet. I still use it from time to time myself (and am still waiting on the A.8 release!) In the meantime, I have access to the character builder which is fully up-to-date and functional. No Excel 2007 required, by the way. Sure, Wonko's sheet is nice to keep on a flash drive, but at the end of the day, you still need to have Excel 2007 installed on a PC in order to use it.
With the D&Di character builder, I'm thinking of testing it with the Western Digital app which lets you install programs on a portable harddrive and access them on any PC. If it works there, then portability is no problem.
Ahem...
I know all that... Still it's greed...
1. Obviously it's not a monthly charge for the program, but the program is about one of the only useful things I found there. Plus it's the most useful.
2. Duh, C++ has been in .NET for ages. I'm a programmer and computer scientist by profession, I should know. I also know that there's a bit compiling version of C++ as well, since its performance is far better. As for whether something is easy, sure, I've done .NET before, and it requires no skill whatsoever. That being the case, WotC should have come up with something way better. I damn tested the thing and I personally think they fail their programming practices, systems analysis and design, and their user interface design. As for implementing similar programs in older and bit-compiling programming languages, you presume too much. I have, and much more complex than this. Databases, Data compression, Interactive computer graphics, Traffic control systems, Command line and GUI. You name it, I've probably done them all before to pretty much such a precise and particular extent and tested them myself (every single possible way of screwing it up that I could think of, and I'm good at finding flaws in programs) that nobody else could think of anything else to test, and they've worked fine. I've contributed to open source myself a number of times. So if you think I don't know what I'm talking about, think again. WotC's Character Builder was badly done. They could have done much better with .NET. A LOT better. Performance is slow too. Hence my argument is VALID. Why do I not make one myself if I say it's so easy? Simple. Because I have work to attend to, and a lot of computers to take care of, not to mention trying to think of a good process and program that will suit my company's needs correctly. This WotC Character Builder is not much different from the partly automatic database, tracking and alerting system that I did for a previous company in like what? 5 days maximum? In an old bit-compiling and much faster and quicker loading programming language too. So yeah, my point is valid and Wonko's work is far better than WotC's Character Builder at this point in time. Hence the greed part. Sure. Charge for the Insider, but not for such a Character Builder in its current condition. WotC would do well to take this as constructive criticism and simply do what I would do if I received the same criticisms. Think about it, improve, innovate and optimize. I'm not trying to brag or anything. The point from the very beginning was that WotC should not be so greedy as to charge for something so flawed. I personally tested it and it has many flaws. Why charge yet? I personally wouldn't even let it get past open beta stage if it were my decision. Sure, charge when it's good and working well, but not like this.
3. Like I said, it shouldn't even get past open beta in its current condition. Hence the validity of my point that charging for it now is greed in its worst sense.
Finally, why are you even assuming that I said WotC was forcing me to buy their product? I was merely making an academic and technical criticism of the matter. I personally wouldn't even bother to subscribe or buy such products. They're not my priority.
So, you also belong to the fraction of people that believe programming in .NET is as easy as finding the right button on Visual Studio to do what you want?
I wish it was so easy.
Your only valid point here is that .NET often has to cope with performance issues. But then, it doesn't have to live with stupid stuff like buffer overflows, address space corruption and other things C++ programmers like to introduce in their application. ("Liking" it the same way as .NET developers like to introduce a slow startup time of more complex .NET programs, of course. Not as in "Likes to eat bacon" or "likes to go surfing".)
2Wonko: Keep up the good work. Not everyone can afford to have access to the DDI. (Not everyone can afford Excel 2007 either, but more might actually need Excel then an online subscription. )
First, read my above post. I have experience programming in Java and .NET. Buffer overflows in C++? You just need to know how to program properly to AVOID buffer overflows. Address space corruption? Do it right and you won't get it. You just need to know HOW to do it and WHEN to do it. I haven't seen a good C++ program that allows buffer overflows to occur. It's just a matter of programming technique. So please, I've read about buffer overflows, addresses and their corruption (mostly due to pointer use), and the like. Don't assume we introduce it when we don't unless we're doing a rushed program. Which by the way, .NET allows for the legacy references too. It's just a matter of whether you practice the good practices or the bad ones. You should read some books on good programming techniques and practices for non .NET programming languages. I do not believe blindly. I study and practice my profession. All those can be avoided.
P.S. As for Wonko, keep up the good work. I like your attitude of always wanting to improve your work.
Last edited by seanna2000; 1st March 2009 at 05:10 AM..
Okay, crew, let's chill just a little bit here. One thing that might help is rather than questioning other people's technical competence, we stick to stating our own points of view.
Is anybody else having issues with equipping longbows and greatbows on the combat sheet. Yes the feat weapon proficiency greatbow is selected. It doesn't want to recognize my proficiency either and so none of my powers work with it.
Again congrats on your new version. If I find anything else I'll let you know.
im missing the fey command feat. its for warlords, came with martial power, and it is not even appearing in the list to be selected from.
and thats it of notes for today...sory if i keep only telling you whats missing part by part...
but please keep the good work, and im really happy with the wonkos sheet, really am.
Are you sure you have the needed requisites for the feats? I also thought feats were missing some time ago but then I read the PHB again and I wasn't qualified for the feats because my Dex wasn't high enough. If you don't qualify for a feat it doesn't show up in the list.
I've grown to love this excel sheet, however there is a major hole in it. The power cards are not functioning in many ways. My wife's friend plays a elf cleric/ranger and the powers of each class do not show up at the same time on the power cards section (a "null" card being seeing most often). Ranger powers only show up when the "ranger" drop down is selected on the character sheet, with cleric powers doing the same. As I frequently print out the power cards for my players, the missing powers cause serious problems with the shortage of PHB's in my group (of 6 people at the table, only 4 books are present, and my wife and her friend are not avid gamers, and thus rely on the cards for reference material).
Other than that, its fantastic. So if we could fix the power card sections, it'd be great.
PS, my wifes fighter also is missing her 1st Daily power (Brute Strike) in her power cards, and this also shows up as a "null" card.
Is there a way to add my own Feats to this sheet? Or to add a generic bonus to the attack roll? Maybe in the combat tab section somewhere? Either way would work. Basically, what it boils down to is that I want to give a character the Weapon Expertise feat, and PHB2 material isn't in yet.
Thanks!
McM
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