-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Is DDI Worthwhile in Your Opinion?
- Thread starter dontremb
- Start date
Flipguarder
First Post
QFTUh oh...
If that's not their unstated intention then they are much more ignorant about their demographic than I thought possible.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
I think it's fair to say that they're never going to discuss this, and that they aren't checking your ip address when you make your updates, and it's best left at that.
I'd like to point out that I consider this a brilliant strategy. It effectively limits sharing to one group (but leaves out one player in a typical five person group!), helps encourage cash-poor teenagers to play and become loyal gamers, helps ensure that more groups will have at least one subscription, and shifts the responsibility onto the consumer. I dislike the "don't tell us you're doing this and we won't ask about it" aspect*, but appreciate the unspoken thought behind it -- terms of service or not.
* Did you notice how carefully I worded that to avoid politics? Go, me!
john112364
First Post
I'm going to throw in another yes vote for all the reasons listed. Plus I always subscibed to both magazines anyway, so for the price of the subscription (character builder, monster builder, dragon, dungeon and compendium included) I get what I had before plus so many more awesome goodles!
lukelightning
First Post
As a DM I am emphatically for it. I like being able to search for monster stats and print them out as-needed.
My only problem with it is the decision to have the character generator and DM toolkit work on PCs only (Windows computers, that is, not player characters); as a mac user I have to do the whole "virtual desktop" dealy.
My only problem with it is the decision to have the character generator and DM toolkit work on PCs only (Windows computers, that is, not player characters); as a mac user I have to do the whole "virtual desktop" dealy.
AlioTheFool
First Post
If you had asked me this question a couple months ago, I'd have given you an emphatic "Yes!" Today, however, I can only give you a half-hearted "Sure."
I agree with those who say just get yourself a 1-month sub, maybe twice a year (or even once,) grab all the content (you could grab all of it in a couple hours,) and enjoy it.
The Character Builder and Monster Builder are invaluable to me, however, I'm growing steadily more impatient waiting for "the next" tool. The last I was told was that there should be some word of the next tool within the next few months. That tells me another tool won't be delivered until at least the middle of the year (given that an "announcement of what's next" is still months away, plus time to deliver.) That will be after I let my current yearly subscription lapse.
Of course, if they come around in April and say "We'll have the entire suite of tools -Encounter Builder, Map Builder, Trap Builder, Campaign Manager, whatevertheheckwemanagedtocomeupwith- to deliver by the end of the summer" I'll immediately renew my yearly subscription.
Right now though, the measly monthly updates to the two tools isn't enough to justify the cost. I know people will argue that Dungeon and Dragon add value, but I no longer feel that way. I barely even read any of the content beyond Ampersand, Design and Development, Skill Challenges, Dungeoncraft, and Confessions. I don't use the adventures. With the Monster Builder I have what I need to build my own. (Plus Masterplan and PyBuilder are serving to fill the void left by a lack of official tools.) I extremely rarely use the Compendium.
I really could get more than enough of what I need from just downloading everything once per year. I really don't want to feel like that, but unfortunately, until we get more tools I don't see that feeling changing.
I echo what was said about the character sheet output as well. I made a request for the CB to print sheets more like Monster Builder stat blocks for my more noobie players, but never got a response. The sheets that come out of the CB are too long. They contribute to drag as players spend their turns flipping page after page to compare powers. It drives me crazy.
I agree with those who say just get yourself a 1-month sub, maybe twice a year (or even once,) grab all the content (you could grab all of it in a couple hours,) and enjoy it.
The Character Builder and Monster Builder are invaluable to me, however, I'm growing steadily more impatient waiting for "the next" tool. The last I was told was that there should be some word of the next tool within the next few months. That tells me another tool won't be delivered until at least the middle of the year (given that an "announcement of what's next" is still months away, plus time to deliver.) That will be after I let my current yearly subscription lapse.
Of course, if they come around in April and say "We'll have the entire suite of tools -Encounter Builder, Map Builder, Trap Builder, Campaign Manager, whatevertheheckwemanagedtocomeupwith- to deliver by the end of the summer" I'll immediately renew my yearly subscription.
Right now though, the measly monthly updates to the two tools isn't enough to justify the cost. I know people will argue that Dungeon and Dragon add value, but I no longer feel that way. I barely even read any of the content beyond Ampersand, Design and Development, Skill Challenges, Dungeoncraft, and Confessions. I don't use the adventures. With the Monster Builder I have what I need to build my own. (Plus Masterplan and PyBuilder are serving to fill the void left by a lack of official tools.) I extremely rarely use the Compendium.
I really could get more than enough of what I need from just downloading everything once per year. I really don't want to feel like that, but unfortunately, until we get more tools I don't see that feeling changing.
I echo what was said about the character sheet output as well. I made a request for the CB to print sheets more like Monster Builder stat blocks for my more noobie players, but never got a response. The sheets that come out of the CB are too long. They contribute to drag as players spend their turns flipping page after page to compare powers. It drives me crazy.
Zinovia
Explorer
I feel it has definitely been worth it, despite some issues. The Character Builder, Monster Builder, and Compendium see regular use. The content in Dungeon and Dragon is nice, although I don't keep up with all of it. It's great being able to look it up when I like. These tools are invaluable to me as a player and a GM.
I'd love for the Character Builder and Monster Builder to work on my Mac, so I don't have to bootcamp into Windows. At least I do normally run on an Intel Mac, so that's possible.
The interface for the Compendium could stand to be streamlined. Right now it won't pay attention to any category you check initially, thus returning some really large searches, when all I wanted to search was "Items" for example. They have fixed some of the previous issues with it, so improvements are being made.
It would be nice if updates to articles in Dragon were placed in the individual article file as well as the compiled issue file. It's too easy to miss errata currently.
I'm sad that the character visualizer has yet to appear. It sounded fun, but the previews we saw were rather disappointing given the current state of 3D art.
So despite some problems, I still feel it's worth having. I love the Monster Builder and use it to prep for all my games, and can't imagine making characters without the CB. Treasure picking with the Compendium is far easier than sorting through all my books, although I do have them. It lets me see the stuff from Dragon Magazine as well, and then I can evaluate whether or not I feel it's balanced compared to the published material.
I'd love for the Character Builder and Monster Builder to work on my Mac, so I don't have to bootcamp into Windows. At least I do normally run on an Intel Mac, so that's possible.
The interface for the Compendium could stand to be streamlined. Right now it won't pay attention to any category you check initially, thus returning some really large searches, when all I wanted to search was "Items" for example. They have fixed some of the previous issues with it, so improvements are being made.
It would be nice if updates to articles in Dragon were placed in the individual article file as well as the compiled issue file. It's too easy to miss errata currently.
I'm sad that the character visualizer has yet to appear. It sounded fun, but the previews we saw were rather disappointing given the current state of 3D art.
So despite some problems, I still feel it's worth having. I love the Monster Builder and use it to prep for all my games, and can't imagine making characters without the CB. Treasure picking with the Compendium is far easier than sorting through all my books, although I do have them. It lets me see the stuff from Dragon Magazine as well, and then I can evaluate whether or not I feel it's balanced compared to the published material.
ToddBS
Explorer
Yes, definitely. With caveats.
As some have indicated, you only need a 1 month subscription a couple times each year. Be aware though, that you are - by default - enrolled in an auto-renewing subscription much like an MMO. You will have to manually remove your account from this status to truly get 1 month at a time. I've seen a few people get burned by this.
Also, if you are on a Mac like me then the character builder and other tool (can't think of it right now) are not available to you as they require the .Net 3.5 runtime environment. Yes, you can go to the trouble of installing a second OS and running it in a VM or dual-boot scenario. But that takes a fair bit of extra money and disk space.
The compendium is a very nice tool and is platform-neutral. The magazines are well worth it, and can be downloaded either by article or in their entirety as pdf files. For some reason, the older files seem to be bookmarked and linked in the ToC while the new ones do not. Maybe it's just my Acrobat reader acting up. Regardless, even without the two "builder" apps, I think DDI is worth it. I was very skeptical at first myself, but after fiddling with the compendium for a bit I was happy with it.
As some have indicated, you only need a 1 month subscription a couple times each year. Be aware though, that you are - by default - enrolled in an auto-renewing subscription much like an MMO. You will have to manually remove your account from this status to truly get 1 month at a time. I've seen a few people get burned by this.
Also, if you are on a Mac like me then the character builder and other tool (can't think of it right now) are not available to you as they require the .Net 3.5 runtime environment. Yes, you can go to the trouble of installing a second OS and running it in a VM or dual-boot scenario. But that takes a fair bit of extra money and disk space.
The compendium is a very nice tool and is platform-neutral. The magazines are well worth it, and can be downloaded either by article or in their entirety as pdf files. For some reason, the older files seem to be bookmarked and linked in the ToC while the new ones do not. Maybe it's just my Acrobat reader acting up. Regardless, even without the two "builder" apps, I think DDI is worth it. I was very skeptical at first myself, but after fiddling with the compendium for a bit I was happy with it.
