D&D Character Builder Preview Video

fozz · 13th November 2008, 09:55 PM

I put together a quick preview video of the new D&D Character Builder Beta, if anyone would like to see how it works and if it is worth spending your money on.
Take a look at the video here:
Dungeons and Dragons Character Builder Preview on Vimeo

Let me know what you think.

disarray2 · 13th November 2008, 10:26 PM

Great video!

jamorea · 13th November 2008, 10:46 PM

Very well done Fozz. If you don't work for WOTC, they should really send you a book or something. That video is a great marketing tool. It made me want to sign up for DDI.

Doctor Proctor · 13th November 2008, 11:46 PM

I thought they were going to allow non DDI subscribers to use the character builder and visualizer, but they just couldn't use it in virtual games and what not? Or did that go out the window?

fozz · 14th November 2008, 12:29 AM

Thanks Jam. No I just thought other people would like to see what it is all about.

Dr Proctor: As far as I know, both will only be available to subscribers. I played with the visualizer at GenCon and it is pretty far along, but still needs quite a bit of work. But the goods news about it, is that it is extremely in depth. There are a ton of sliders to adjust everything. Think of the character face designer in Oblivion, but on steroids. ;-)

Doctor Proctor · 14th November 2008, 01:01 AM

Well, that really sucks. I just don't feel that DDI really offers enough to justify it's cost right now. The character creator and visualizer definitely come close, but not quite.

Dalzig · 14th November 2008, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor Proctor

Well, that really sucks. I just don't feel that DDI really offers enough to justify it's cost right now. The character creator and visualizer definitely come close, but not quite.

Here's the problem with that thinking... as they add more stuff, the subscription will keep increasing.

Right now, it's $4.95/month for access to just Dungeon/Dragon and whatever demo/betas they put out.

Once the character builder is finalized, the price will increase to (most likely) $9.95/month for access to Dungeon/Dragon, the Compendium, and the Character Builder.

Once the table (and whatever other tools are planned) is complete, the price will again jump up to the expected $14.95/month for all promised D&DInsider material.

Doctor Proctor · 14th November 2008, 01:21 AM

If they increase the price tiers, they're still going to lose me anyway because I'm not paying $15 for something I play on average of once a month. Granted, with the virtual tabletop I could probably play more, but I most likely won't since I'm not really looking to join another group.

Basically, I just think that DDI's entire price schedule is a bit out of whack. Show me a magazine that someone would pay $5 a month for, because that's what they're asking right now (That's $60 over a year, or almost the cost of two of the core books. I don't think they're really providing enough content for that price though.).

Additionally, why should I pay monthly for the visualizer and such? It would be nice if they perhaps had a one-time cost to get access, I would totally be okay with that. $5 or $10 to get access to the visualizer and character builder? Keep it as a web app so you don't get versions of it all over bit torrents, but it would still allow me to once in a while roll up a character, run him through the visualizer and add his portrait to my character sheet and print it off.

This is all neither here nor there though. The Character builder demo is definitely cool, and I'm very jealous of that app...I just wish you didn't have to pay such high subscription fees to get access to it.

fozz · 14th November 2008, 01:40 AM

It is definitely not going to be for everyone and I do think that the price will be too high for most people.
The main reason I signed up is because I am running the Scales of War campaign, so I need those adventures. So $5 a month is easier to swallow, when I look at it as 2 sessions a month is $2.50 a session. Some of my players even offered to pitch in for the subscription.
We'll see how it works out, but for now I am satisfied.

Mistwell · 14th November 2008, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor Proctor

Show me a magazine that someone would pay $5 a month for

The average price of magazines in the U.S. right now is $4.53, according to this year's magazine price audit of 600 magazines. $5 is right in there for normal price for a magazine.

How much did you think magazines cost these days?

Doctor Proctor · 14th November 2008, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mistwell

The average price of magazines in the U.S. right now is $4.53, according to this year's magazine price audit of 600 magazines. $5 is right in there for normal price for a magazine.

How much did you think magazines cost these days?

Are you talking subscription price, or cover price? Cover price is always like 2 or more times the subscription price per issue. I know that I, for example, have a subscription to Game Informer. It's $15 a year, and that's because they just increased the price this year. Previously, it was $12.

For example:
People magazine - 26 Issues @ $56.74 = $2.18
Discover - 12 Issues @ $19.99 = $1.66
Wired - 12 Issues @ $10 = $0.83
Newsweek - 54 @ $40.00 = $0.74

Now, again, compare the content offered, and the price. That's why I think they're overcharging a bit.

Mistwell · 14th November 2008, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor Proctor

Are you talking subscription price, or cover price? Cover price is always like 2 or more times the subscription price per issue. I know that I, for example, have a subscription to Game Informer. It's $15 a year, and that's because they just increased the price this year. Previously, it was $12.

For example:
People magazine - 26 Issues @ $56.74 = $2.18
Discover - 12 Issues @ $19.99 = $1.66
Wired - 12 Issues @ $10 = $0.83
Newsweek - 54 @ $40.00 = $0.74

Now, again, compare the content offered, and the price. That's why I think they're overcharging a bit.

Continuing to cherry pick magazine prices is not useful. You need to look at national averages.

I was quoting the cover price. The average subscription price is $27.83 a year, or $2.32 per issue, for the 600 magazines surveyed in this years audit.

And we are talking about a subscription to two magazines (Dungeon and Dragon), and all the tools. That's $2.47 per issue, plus the tools for free. Again, it seems right in line with national averages.

Graethynne · 14th November 2008, 03:47 AM

And so you get bullet points in the rewrite :-P

Dragon - 85 pages

FRPG - 160 pages

Dragon *2 pages > FRGP pages

Dragon *12 (one year) pages > 6 print books pages

Cost of Dragon *12 ~= Cost of 2 Print books.

Plus you get Dungeon *12

Not a bad deal (even if you don't read Dungeon and even though some of the Dragon content ((playtest articles)) gets reprinted in print books).

Food for thought,

Graydon

PS - DDI Mags don't contain outside advertising. Therefore the pages of content = page count (which is not true of most other magazines)

PPS - and of course, you get all of the content of every print book available via the compendium & Character Builder ...

MrMyth · 14th November 2008, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor Proctor

Well, that really sucks. I just don't feel that DDI really offers enough to justify it's cost right now. The character creator and visualizer definitely come close, but not quite.

I don't believe full use of them was ever planned, though I'm not certain on that. In any case, I do believe they plan to have some limited use freely available.

Right now, the product is in closed beta - subscribers can test-drive it from levels 1-3. At some point not too far off, it will enter open beta - anyone can test-drive it from levels 1-3. I believe that once it is complete, they will still have it available for use for anyone from levels 1-3, just like I think is the plan with the compendium.

LightPhoenix · 14th November 2008, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fozz

I put together a quick preview video of the new D&D Character Builder Beta, if anyone would like to see how it works and if it is worth spending your money on.
Take a look at the video here:
Dungeons and Dragons Character Builder Preview on Vimeo

Let me know what you think.

Dragging things kicking and screaming back on topic...

Thanks fozz! It was nice reading everyone's impressions, but actually seeing it in action was well worth it.