WotC: Character Builder's effect on Third Party Publishers

[RefinedBean]

The problem with including some kind of file with your 3PP publication is that it can be spread around the Internet much easier than a .pdf, even. You're basically giving the crunch of your supplement for free.

Now, if 3PP could pay a certain fee to get their stuff included in the CB? Hrm.

 

[Hussar]

Wow, y'know, this makes me a bit of a sad panda. I know I've bitch and moaned about 3pp in the past, but, wow, that's sad. There's a lot of great stuff out there that will never see the light of day, even less so than before, because of this.

I know the CB is a great tool, but, it seems like it's standardizing the game to an extent that was never seen before. And I think that's a bit sad to tell the truth.

I wonder if a licensing deal might work, like Refined Bean just mentioned. Pay WOTC to put your stuff in the CB as an add-on. I imagine there are all sorts of issues with that though and, to be honest, I'm not sure if WOTC would ever see enough benefit out of it to consider it.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

It's essentially a non-issue for me, as my players tend to limit their characters to basic - shall I say "core" - stuff. Back when 3e was new I pushed, e.g., the Book of Eldritch Might, but only one spell, one feat and once the variant bard were used.

Still I wish that the CB would be much more extensible, with an interface to add new powers, races or other stuff. I doubt this will be made possible, though. As the game systems develops, the data structures will probably develop as well. So WotC would either have to develop and maintain a house-rule updater or you'd have to enter all the stuf again next month.

For 3PPs it would be a perfect way to advertise their stuff by including it in the CB. On the other hand they would have to make sure that their products contain much more than crunch only.
See, I've given Arcane Power a pass because, judging by Martial Power, the book won't add anything substantial to the info in the CB.

What we see here is essentially a battle between convenience and extensibility. Will the 3PP supporters use PCGen despite having to enter all the data, even from the core books, on their own?

 

[fissionessence]

Wow, y'know, this makes me a bit of a sad panda. I know I've bitch and moaned about 3pp in the past, but, wow, that's sad. There's a lot of great stuff out there that will never see the light of day, even less so than before, because of this.

I know the CB is a great tool, but, it seems like it's standardizing the game to an extent that was never seen before. And I think that's a bit sad to tell the truth.

I'm also somewhat saddened. However, according to this poll:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...ome-silly-acronym-wotc-boards-stuff-poll.html

. . . the slightly larger half of 4E players/DMs still allow 3PPs. How indicative overall that is of the true numbers, I don't know, but it's at least better than what's been represented in the replies of this thread.

~

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The problem with including some kind of file with your 3PP publication is that it can be spread around the Internet much easier than a .pdf, even. You're basically giving the crunch of your supplement for free.

That is indeed a problem. I think WotC might actually be willing to create a "rules exchange format" for supporting houserulers better. But would 3PP be interested in it without some watermarking or DRM system protecting their material?
It's not really bad for WotC if every 3PP advertises with a "Compatible with the WotC Character Builder" Logo. It's surely gives people a motivation to keep a DDI account. (Especially if you can only install such updates via the WotC website and a valid DDI account.)
But of course this would cost WotC development time and server bandwidth, and the 3PP need to be sure their material remains protected.

Now, if 3PP could pay a certain fee to get their stuff included in the CB? Hrm.

So DDI users get their stuff for free, and 3PP have to pay for that? I don't think that will work.

 

[cdrcjsn]

Wasn't one of the touted features from before the ability for DMs to incorporate house rules into DDI? Did that fall by the wayside?

To be honest, I really never thought about this before. Most of my play these days is with the RPGA since it's so convenient (I don't have to worry about missing games or changing my schedule on a whim). The RPGA only uses core + Dragon, so the lack of 3PP never entered my consciousness until I saw this thread.

If WotC goes ahead with their plans for DM house rule capability in DDI, then I think allowing 3PP to provide files for import into DDI won't be too far behind.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Wasn't one of the touted features from before the ability for DMs to incorporate house rules into DDI? Did that fall by the wayside?

To be honest, I really never thought about this before. Most of my play these days is with the RPGA since it's so convenient (I don't have to worry about missing games or changing my schedule on a whim). The RPGA only uses core + Dragon, so the lack of 3PP never entered my consciousness until I saw this thread.

If WotC goes ahead with their plans for DM house rule capability in DDI, then I think allowing 3PP to provide files for import into DDI won't be too far behind.

There is house rule support - you can perform various changes to your character that allow you to bypass the rules - but it is not on the level that you could create a "house rule" file that would add powers, feats or what-else to the builder. It's mostly on a "per-character" basis.

 

[baphomet68]

One potential problem with allowing 3PPs to produce "DataSets" to import into the Builder: If that were available, what's stopping anyone from making a DataSet with the powers/races/clases from, say, Arcane Power? Or any other WotC book? And then upload it somewhere?

The pirated CB has been available for just a bit less time than the legal one. the update patches have been about two weeks behind the subscription service. I think that WOTC better watch out here - if they drag their feet on adding easily incorporated house rules and 3pp to the CB, some clever reprobate will make an easy to use, DIY create your own content patch for the pirated CB.

Updates to the CB are making it to the "pirate community" without a dataset feature for 3pp. While it would be great to expand the usefulness of the CB, WOTC seem to be pushing 4e towards a more homogenized game. They do not want to share space at the feeding trough. I will keep my eyes peeled for some one besides WOTC to make an editable "house rules" CB patch.

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

I forego 3rd party content because I can't use it in character builder. What's stopping a consortium of publishers from working with a company like Code Monkey Publishing to develop an independent char builder that can use WotC's XML output and can modify the character with publisher material? Or even just creating an independent charbuilder with a mutually agreed upon schema for creating new content?

WotC may be in a good position, but they are not (or don;t have to be) the only game in town.

 

[Drkfathr1]

Thankfully I avoid this issue by not using the CB.

I like alot of 3rd party material, and I use a lot of house rules, thus the CB is not of much use to me.

Pencil/Pen and paper still work just fine, and my brain appreciates the exercise!