No Character Builder Update

[Mika]

I guess I'm just not seeing anyone here "angry".



Here's how I got screwed:

I subscribed annually. I paid for September. I don't get an update. I lose out on the money I had going for the update.

A monthly subscriber, they can decide not to update for September, not pay for it. They don't lose anything.

So, the annual subscribers, the loyal customers, they are getting shafted compared to someone how just subscribes every couple of months or whatever...

I guess I should cancel my annual subscription and update whenever I see an update actually come out.

If they are able to get back on track, then your lesser value September DDI access will be compensated for by extremely valuable October access -- I would count that as a wash.

If they make a habit of the delays, then obviously they will start losing DDI customers fast.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Video Introduction...when speaking about the Character Builder "with access to every book and online article."

That's well implied. If it's no longer valid or useful, yank that video.

Several times mentioned "every option".

Especially when compared to "paging through your books." in talking about how quick it is.

And let's be honest here, how many people would subscribe on a yearly basis if it wasn't implied that it would be updated monthly. Point of doing so unless absuridly cheap? Probably not high.

The lawyer talk is just that, to prevent someone from suing them for breech of contract.

 

[Aegeri]

Of course you are! Your subscription isn't 'special' in any way. Currently, there's only one kind of subscription. It's all or nothing.

This isn't exactly a legitimate defense. I run three games of 4E but I don't play it (ironic I know) so the player material is mostly something I look at for designing my own stuff. Given that much of what is published in Dragon lately is terribad, that's not much to go on. Dungeon lately has been a travesty, with the exception of the excellent Eberron and Dark Sun articles this month the past 3-4 months have been awful. Where are my Demonomicon articles? Articles on various nefarious Gods? Even the maps are going downhill as they are either covered in word vomit or they're dungeon tiles based.

So I really need the tools to make it feel like my $10ish NZ a month is going to a good cause. They are invaluable in my IRL game and some of my players are waiting on content in there to make their characters. What am I do to, tell them they can't retrain and punish them for the fact Wizards delayed the tools? Or allow them to make a character that next week is going to be entirely different once they actually can get all the material? Again, these players don't have the books themselves - if it isn't in the CB it doesn't exist for them (they make the characters on my laptop so I have a copy of their mans when making the game too!).

Sometimes, it's ultimately better for a company to lose a certain kind of customers.

This is totally unfair to P1NBACK and indeed anyone else who complains about this. We aren't entitled to updates and that is absolutely true. But we are entitled to make it known we aren't happy about things being delayed. I'm hardly one to run riot out the front of WotC with a placard and yelling "DEATH TO MIKE MEARLS [and Capitalism]", as I'm a pretty ardent supporter of Wizards and all things 4E related. But there is a point that even I have to say that I'm disappointed, especially when I don't feel I'm getting fair value out of either magazine.

 

[MarkB]

The only reason it's implied is that they did update it every month 'till now.
So if they provided a crappier service in the last 2 years, like updates that were 6 months away from each other or if they just updated whenever they felt like, people would not complain now?
It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but if you say so...

Sounds right to me.

Whatever the EULA says about obligations, whatever WotC say about what makes up the core of a DDI subscription in their minds, the fact is that the reason many people subscribe to the service is because of the software tools and updates that were being provided. However much WotC may have covered themselves legally, those services are the reason why people pay out their subscription money every month, and when they don't get the services they are paying that money to receive, it's going to cause upset.

Fortunately, WotC seem to have recognised that fact, and are compensating customers accordingly, rather than falling back upon legal obligations. This is laudable, and much appreciated.

 

[Aegeri]

I've not asked for a refund myself. I just want them to know I am annoyed with them and that is sufficient for now.

 

[Shazman]

Actually, I'm lumping myself with the group that isn't happy about the lack of an update
Still, I'm not going to complain loudly about something that I'm not entitled to.
As I said, they said upfront ( in the EULA... and whether you guys like it or not, that's what they're going to stick to: they're not selling you the updates, they're selling you access to DDI, the updates are pretty much a free perk that comes with DDI. It doesn't matter that it's the main selling point for you, it's not what WotC is selling, and they were pretty upfront about it ) that they might screw up sooner or later, they told us that this month's scheduled update would have been delayed, and now they told us in advance that the update was cancelled.
Sometimes, things go wrong in software development. What do you expect, that they come begging us not to unsubscribe because they ended up skipping a monthly update ( something that was probably taken in account when they wrote the EULA that we signed and, hopefully, read )?

@ Ourchair: I'm aware that most EULAs amount to "we promise nothing". On the other hand, if I stipulate some kind of agreement with someone else, and I add "I promise nothing about delivering X each month, though...", and the other part agrees, I expect that he's not going to be mad at me if I'm not able to to deliver whatever X may be for one month. YMMV, obviously.

Would it be nice if WotC came up with some sort of compensation? Sure, and I think it would display good will and good business sense.
Do I think that they have to provide some kind of compensation because they somehow tricked me into subscribing this month? Nope, I don't think so.

Quite frankly, if you have to go looking for the EULA, then it isn't really upfront. It's hidden away so they can point to it, but the fact that most of us weren't aware of it shows how completely not upfront it was. If it was there right when you opened up the CB or in the link to download it, then it would be upfront.

 

[Obryn]

I was really hoping for an update next week, seeing as my Dark Sun game is starting next Sunday. On the upside, this will let us hone our pencil & paper character-making skills! I mean, it's level 1 characters - it's not tough except for writing out all the power cards.

-O

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I just can't disappointed or angry about a delayed update if it is delayed because they are adding a ton of new stuff for the next update.

Okay, maybe a little disappointed. But less about them but that the universe forces useless stuff like "energy conversation" and so on us so that we can't create stuff out of thin air when we want it. Meh on the universe.

 

[vagabundo]

When is the update now? I though it was the 21th now.

 

[GuJiaXian]

When is the update now? I though it was the 21th now.

Early October now, according to WotC's vague assurances.