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View Poll Results: Which of the following best describes you? Read carefully.
I play 4E. I have a year-long subscription to D&DI, and I think it's worth it
Question: Is a year-long D&DI subscription worth it?
2400 pages per year of unique, official 4E content by the same authors who write the books. Powerful, user-friendly tools. A compendium of all mechanics from every 4E book. $60 (US) for one year.
Absolutely. Dragon and Dungeon so far have been worth it almost by themselves. But full access to the crunch from all books published as well through the compendium and their, proposed, speedy integration into the Character Builder is more than a clincher. I was very skeptical on WotCs ability to deliver with their digital offerings based on past evidence, but the Builder Beta put much of that skepticism to rest. I signed up for a 3 month when it went subscription with the intent to make my decision when I see what 3 months have wrought. Come January, I'll be re-upping for the year.
Dragon Magazine for $6/month is really, really borderline on the worthiness. I mean, you also get access to the Compendium (unfortunately with the "when WotC's site is working" caveat, making this not the best resource for actual games in play - as sadly d20srd.org has far better uptime) and Dungeon Magazine (which I've never liked in any edition), but bonuses you don't care about don't help much.
The bonus tools are mostly useless right now, except for the monster maker. The character creator... well, tell me when that's fully released and stops being horrendously buggy. It's pretty sweet in theory, and (sadly) might put the idea of ever using third-party or homebrew stuff to permanent rest just by making it so much easier to use Official WotC Stuff only.
I would do it just for the compendium in most cases. Heck, it's probably worth it to use the compendium INSTEAD of the books. Save $20/month not buying the hardcovers...
I would do it just for the compendium in most cases. Heck, it's probably worth it to use the compendium INSTEAD of the books. Save $20/month not buying the hardcovers...
Hey, it's your game that's gonna run into problems when you go to look up something and WotC's site is down, not mine. :P
Hey, it's your game that's gonna run into problems when you go to look up something and WotC's site is down, not mine. :P
I'm busy building my encounters for tonight. copy paste is a wonderful ability.
__________________ All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re not unreasonable; I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes
All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re at an impasse here; maybe we should compromise:
If you open up the doors
We’ll all come inside and eat your brains
Hey, it's your game that's gonna run into problems when you go to look up something and WotC's site is down, not mine. :P
I don't think I've ever seen a post where you're happy about something. I should lurk more.
At any rate, I wuv my subscription to death. However, I'm a DM, and that probably has something to do with it. I can't reasonably say that a year-long subscription is worth it to casual players. (shrug)
Good heavens yes it is worth it. The Compendium alone is worth it, you get all the crunchy goodness you want without buying anymore books. Dragon I vastly prefer in PDF format, and if the Character Builder is anything to go on the other tools are gonna be great.
Well, I'm planning on running 4E, and my DDI subscription is totally worth it.
Heck, I get all the cool monsters from the Draconomicon* through the Compendium. One more book like that and it's paid for itself.
*) Nice when I skimmed it, but not something I would spend full price on. Maybe second hand.
__________________ I have a gaming blog - about D&D4, roguelikes and various gaming
"Rule 2: Give the players opportunities to use their cool abilities, because a neat class ability or spell that doesn't get used isn't fun. For this reason, I tried to cut off PC limbs for months after Velendo got access to regeneration." - Piratecat, Piratecat's Story Hour
Even without the magazines, the compendium is astounding for both dming and playing. The character generator looks like it will be full of win as well.
I also don;t seem to be plagued with the downtime some people are claiming *shrug*
I don't think I've ever seen a post where you're happy about something. I should lurk more.
At any rate, I wuv my subscription to death. However, I'm a DM, and that probably has something to do with it. I can't reasonably say that a year-long subscription is worth it to casual players. (shrug)
Yeah, if I were a player, it wouldn't be worth it. That said, if you are looking for a gift for your gm for xmas, buying a month or two of a subscription is one of the best gifts I can think of.
edit: and WotC'ers, adding a gifting option would be great.
__________________ All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re not unreasonable; I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes
All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re at an impasse here; maybe we should compromise:
If you open up the doors
We’ll all come inside and eat your brains
Yeah, if I were a player, it wouldn't be worth it. That said, if you are looking for a gift for your gm for xmas, buying a month or two of a subscription is one of the best gifts I can think of.
edit: and WotC'ers, adding a gifting option would be great.
Yeah, I am the DM here too. However, so my players can gain access to it as well. They know my name/password so if they want to use the Character Builder for instance or check something on Compendium, etc. they can (they also chipped in for the subscription cost).
Not worth it. I can get the same quality for free elsewhere, plus all I need to play is in the PHB and the errata to it.
We can load up something else if we want the game table, either NWN just for visuals and layouts of towns, or some VTT.
So you can get the E-Dragon and E-Dungeon magazines, the compendium updated monthly with the new releases and the compendium linked chargen for free elsewhere?
And you are admitting this on a public forum?
Edit: Seriously though, I guess that you are complaining about the Game Table, but at the moment there isn't even a Beta test of it available, everything else I listed above is awesome value.
Please let us know what you think of the current subscription items, if you would pay $5/ Month for access to them or something similar for your favourite system of choise, and if not, why? Bonus points for being constructive in your next reply.
So you can get the E-Dragon and E-Dungeon magazines, the compendium updated monthly with the new releases and the compendium linked chargen for free elsewhere?
And you are admitting this on a public forum?
Edit: Seriously though, I guess that you are complaining about the Game Table, but at the moment there isn't even a Beta test of it available, everything else I listed above is awesome value.
Please let us know what you think of the current subscription items, if you would pay $5/ Month for access to them or something similar for your favourite system of choise, and if not, why? Bonus points for being constructive in your next reply.
Phaezen
So much wrong here.
1- You assume that Dragon and Dungeon are the only reference materials that add content to D&D.
2- #1 leads you to think somehow that since they are that anyone having anything without paying for it means they have stolen it. Want to add to your wild accusations?
3- You think all that extra crap just because "everything is core" now means that someone needs to use every last supplement to play the game.
4- Yes as a non-subscriber you can get the compendium free with monthly updates. You just don't get all the content from it, and just the poorly designed search engine that only half works.
5- I mean all those other things. Encounter Builder, Character Builder, etc have free versions online. The dungeon Builder is onyl an integrated form of the tile mapper from WotC, and I have that downloaded, as well I have CC2 and DungeonCrafter with the old-school blue set for making dungeons look the way they should without all this added vector graphics crap and the overhead it brings with it just to show some fancy colors off. Game Table is pretty much a joke as there are more stable version out there to play with a VTT and some are free. Not to mention ANY video game that has the ability to design a "scenario" and has multiplayer ability like NWN is better with moving parts animations rather than a top-down 2D static miniature board game simulator.
6- No I would not pay $5 per month as I said earlier for the components that exist not counting the "bonus tools" because they have little value to me as I don't need everything udner the sun ever published to play D&D or any other game. Unlike many, it seems, I am able to play with just what is present in the PHB or whatever book exists for players.
7- Why? I have said it in both posts, but will repeat again. I do not need everything published to play the game. I am not a CoDzilla.
8-
Quote:
Originally Posted by OP
Is D&DI worth it for you and your game?
Quote:
Originally Posted by me
Not worth it.
I answered the question asked in a polite manner. You could have chosen to ignore my post if you didn't like it, or to not respond to it with accusations, short and simple, but since you wanted me to bring some heat to the table, then I deliver it all right back at you.
Any more silly questions, since my initial post was clear and to the point?
Last edited by justanobody; 24th November 2008 at 08:19 PM..
Reason: fix incorrect term.
Location: “Over the Hills and Far Away” - (TDY in Florida - "Home" is Michigan)
Posts: 1,547
I don't play 4E, but now that WoTC is providing the things* that were keeping me from feeling a subscription was worthwhile, I'll be getting a subscription soon. (*Not including keyed and unkeyed, high resolution maps - and high resolution, large versions of all the artwork.) Now that they have provided these things with the art and map galleries, in the desired formats, I'm ready to get on board. Even though I'm not playing 4E, there is a large amount of content, in both magazines, that I can use regardless of system or edition. Also, even though I'm not switching to 4E myself, I do have the books (which also have useful content regardless of system and edition) and will probably play the occasional game of 4E with friends who do. However, my group and I are sticking with my houseruled 3.5E game.
The content during the free preview was good, just the lack of those few features put me off. What I've seen of the recent articles (descriptions on the WoTC pages and commentary here on ENWorld - I haven't read the actual issues) sounds like the magazines are finally starting to hit their strides and turn out some really good stuff.
Now that they are including the features I desired, DDI seems very much worth the money. I may even use the Virtual Gametable, once it's up and running. I have a few friends scattered around the country (and some in other countries), that it would be fun to get an occasional online game going with them. (From what I've read and seen, the Virtual Gametable won't limit you to any specific rules set or edition, I believe it's basically just an online, 3D, battlemat with dice roller and the ability to communicate, although I think it's text based, not VOIP.)
I'm going to try and get my wife to get it as a Christmas present, so I'll probably start in January.
__________________ Mark "El Mahdi" Armstrong - Semper Operor Verus
". . . after all, that is why we're here. Kill the last bad guy and then there's cake." - Major General Jack O'Neal
"Don't Just Do It, Just Do It Right!"
"Right, without Reason, is unmitigated Foolishness."
"If you make a mistake, Acknowledge It, then make it Right."
7- Why? I have said it in both posts, but will repeat again. I do not need everything published to play the game. I am not a munchkin.
I respect your points of view up until this one. Wanting/needing everything published has nothing to do with being a munchkin. In fact, I will warrant a wild guess and say that most of those who buy everything are not players, but DM's, and thus not munchkins.
Let's not get the terms confused here, and have this thread go down in flames.
__________________
355 hours played
Gnoguh, human fighter/cleric (kensei->adamantine soldier)
Carric, elf cleric/ranger (radiant servant->saint)
Torn, tiefling wizard/cleric (divine oracle->sages of ages)
Truxas, human feylock/bard (feytouched->feyliege)
Tagron, human rogue (daggermaster->deadly trickster) 21th level Musings of an Epic Virgin
I respect your points of view up until this one. Wanting/needing everything published has nothing to do with being a munchkin. In fact, I will warrant a wild guess and say that most of those who buy everything are not players, but DM's, and thus not munchkins.
Let's not get the terms confused here, and have this thread go down in flames.
Then what are those people that like to min-max everything using every bit of data and ability/etc they can get their hands on called?
Save $20/month not buying the hardcovers... 
The character generator looks like it will be full of win as well.
So much wrong here.
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