Discussion: Use of Google Spreadsheets in Place of Wiki Character Sheets

Dunamin · Mar 24, 2010

ScorpiusRisk said:
I would love if other people would comment on this.

My position remains the same. I love the simplicity or the original single-tab sheet, though I wouldn't mind a 2nd summary tab if its significantly more visually pleasing.

I'm not fond of an abundance of color-coding and tabs; I prefer minimalistic styles.

Voda Vosa said:
Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition - » D&D 4th Edition Character Sheets

A character sheet made in excel. One can inport these files to a Google docs spreadsheet.

This, however, is also pretty amazing. Seems like all the work has been done, it shines of professionalism, and it looks almost exactly like a sheet out of the book. Perfect, if it can be adapted to Google Docs.

renau1g · Mar 24, 2010

Only downside with the auto-calculating one is that it must be updated constantly when new info comes out by WOTC + it doesn't have a math section that I could see?

Kalidrev · Mar 24, 2010

R1,

the reason you can't see the math section is because it's all done in hidden sheets. In Excel, there's a way to view these hidden sheets, but they tend to be a little touchy to "hands on" actions. One little "whoops" in these sheets tends to ruin a LOT of functions.

Dunamin · Mar 24, 2010

I was thinking we could perhaps just snatch the layout of that Excel sheet for a summary tab, and otherwise keep the original math tab as is (linking cells from math to summary accordingly).

TwoHeadsBarking · Mar 27, 2010

Well, I'm not a professional programmer, but I did major in CS. Make of that what you will.

For the most part, I prefer Scorpius's, mostly for the the simplicity. The only reason I'd want a Summary tab is because currently I have to scroll down to see a character's defenses. Knowing just the names of a character's powers doesn't really help me; I'm still going to need to head over to the math section for just about anything. But I do like the autofill parts of Rapida's, although it would be nice if it could take the abbreviated ability names (Con instead of Constitution).

It would be great if we could come to a decision on this soon. Like, before the PHB3 is approved. I'd be happy with Scorpius's sheet as-is. It's never going to be perfect. And even if it was, then WotC would release some new material that would make an update required. For example, the Battle Intuition feat that allows Devas to use Wisdom instead of Dex for Initiative.

renau1g · Mar 27, 2010

I'm also a bit more in favour of 'Risk's sheet although my preference is still the Wiki, but it's not really an option. I actually really like the wiki.

Agree with you that it'll never be perfect. Now we just need a formal proposal (hopefully from 'Risk so that way we can all vote).

Dunamin · Mar 29, 2010

renau1g said:
Agree with you that it'll never be perfect. Now we just need a formal proposal (hopefully from 'Risk so that way we can all vote).

Yes, I would also prefer being able to vote, otherwise I'd have offered to make the proposal myself.

Since opinions differ, how about putting both Scorp's and Rapida's versions in the proposal? That way, people can vote for whichever they prefer.

ScorpiusRisk · Mar 29, 2010

Do you want me to prep a simple summary sheet as a variant first?

garyh · Mar 29, 2010

Dang it, I understand the concerns with the wiki, but I LIKE the wiki.

I'd still rather do the wiki off-site if it going away is the main concern. I love Excel, but when I've opened the test spreadsheets here, I think it's a bit overwhelming. I don't think switching to the Google spreadsheet will fix the barrier to entry concern.

TwoHeadsBarking · Mar 29, 2010

ScorpiusRisk said:
Do you want me to prep a simple summary sheet as a variant first?

Sure, if it's not too much trouble.

garyh said:
Dang it, I understand the concerns with the wiki, but I LIKE the wiki.

I'd still rather do the wiki off-site if it going away is the main concern. I love Excel, but when I've opened the test spreadsheets here, I think it's a bit overwhelming. I don't think switching to the Google spreadsheet will fix the barrier to entry concern.

I like the wiki myself. A lot of people absolutely hate it, and not entirely without reason. It's not just the wiki going away; it's also that there's a lot of redundancy, and the user needs to upkeep it all. The spreadsheet helps with some of that.