advice to anyone still wondering if they should purchase a DDI subscription today

[Hellzon]

I like Dragon & Dungeon, but the big money is in the Compendium. For a subscription cost of whatever, I have monsters from the Draconomicon and Open Grave, and PC stuff from the FRPG (and Eberron). Four books for the cost of about 2 (yearly sub + VAT tax)? Yay. A steal if you subscribe for a month for 8 $.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

Get only one month. Or better yet: wait until the end of March.

What you shouldn't do is buy a year's subscription today (the end of January). What they are currently offering is really not much, and not really worth $5/month. So, buy one month for $8, skip next month, and then come back at the end of March and see where they're at: you'll save $3. Or, if you can stand to wait, hold off until the end of March when the PHB2 is out and that information is loaded into their online systems: you'll save $10.

Access even for a short while is not bad: you can download the magazines, look at all the bonus stuff, use the moderately useful (but ultimately not too helpful) encounter builder (the other "bonus" features - aka simple flash tools that are only good because of the database they are linked to - are fairly useless), and update the new character builder. However, the character builder in particular is misleading: like so many PC games these days, they have released the beta. I, for one, do not believe we should have to pay to beta test a product, and have been very disappointed in what they've given us so far (yet remain hopeful).

Other people on the board will certainly be able to give you more positive feedback on various different parts of DDI that they have found useful, and certainly all this information comes with a grain of salt: your mileage will most certainly vary. But if you're still on the fence and haven't seen anything to push you over yet and you're wondering if the character builder is that thing: it isn't. Wait until they've released the actual product before giving them money for it.

Let me differ greatly: Paying 5$/mo for the package you get borders on thievery. That is, you, the person paying stealing from Wotc. I´ve never squeezed more worth out of 48€ - and i don´t have the subscription for longer than 2 months. I mean, i paid 8€ for one (1) Paizo Dragon or Dungeon. Now i have more interesting articles than i can read, 1500 Monsters in the database i´m constantly referencing, all the magic items i needed to convert my Moonsea campaign, and, and, and. Add to that a buggy yet useable character builder that allows me to play classes that are not yet released... i´ll pay the yearly price gladly to ensure that all those awesome things are still there next year. YMMV.

 

[malraux]

I will say that because of my DDI subscription, I don't feel the need to buy any book which contains only lists of powers, items, races, monsters, classes, etc. So I won't be buying AV2, Arcane Power, Divine Power, Monster Manual 2, PHB2, etc, because the DDI compendium is as good a way, if not better, to reference that material. My 60 a year gets me ~100 bucks worth of material, before any of the extra stuff. DDI is one of the best values out there, at least for a DM.

 

[wedgeski]

Informative to have a blancing view once in a while, but I pretty much disagree with every single word of your post. You would have to a pretty whacky set of expectations from the character builder to be disappointed with it in its current form, and for DM's, the magazines and other tools are sumptuous.

Nope. Totally disagree with you there evilbob.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

I seldom even get to play D&D anymore. Yet I still find the webcontent and the ability to browse at leasure through the vast data held within worth the 5-6 dollars a month. Heck, I blow almost that much each morning on my fansy coffee drinks.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It's been worth it for me because I play 4e with an active internet connection -- the Compendium is what I use instead of a Monster Manual, because there's more things, and it's more useful. Still, there is the hassle of it constantly auto-logging-me-out to contend with at the table, which is annoying, but no more than mildly. Dungeon and Dragon have also been fun to browse through, especially for the expanded monster, race, and class options, and general inspiration (they're better than the core books at that!).

If I wasn't playing 4e with an active internet connection, I'd go without it's buggy arse. I haven't even TRIED the character builder yet, I am so unenthused. It's just sitting there. I'd rather goof off on ENWorld, apparently.

I get my value out of it, but it's certainly a niche product that not everyone needs.

 

[malraux]

there is the hassle of it constantly auto-logging-me-out to contend with at the table, which is annoying, but no more than mildly.

I find that more than a little annoying myself. It would be nice not to worry about having to re-login anytime I want to check something in my gaming nights. But the 30 minute timeout means that I'll have to do so every time I have a question about something.

 

[Glyfair]

DDI for a DM is so good... almost a no-brainer. Articles, adventures, and the compendium. Cut and paste access to every monster printed (LFR, Dungeon, every book, etc) has been huge.

For the players... not so sure. One of my guys signed up to DDI, he wanted the Char Builder and wants to DM for his kiddos. A couple more have been on the fence, we'll see if Char Builder pushes them over the edge. The only thing, it may cannibalize sales slightly (ie, they may not buy as many player's books if they have compendium). We'll see.

I agree with this. Players have a much closer decision. In that case, I think it hinges a lot on the value of Dragon magazine to the player.

I will say that because of my DDI subscription, I don't feel the need to buy any book which contains only lists of powers, items, races, monsters, classes, etc. So I won't be buying AV2, Arcane Power, Divine Power, Monster Manual 2, PHB2, etc, because the DDI compendium is as good a way, if not better, to reference that material.

Which has made me wonder if there won't be more than just monsters in the MM2. Having something like a section on creating your own monster or some other monster bits makes sense to me.

 

[Kzach]

I have to say, that's a pretty cheapskate way to look at things. You'll save $3? Ooh, now I can afford momma's operation!

I'd agree that the flash tools aren't all that... well... flash, but the compendium and mags and character builder are easily worth the measly $8 a month (cheaper if you pay for several months at a time).

I mean, really, people, just how freakin' cheap are you?

WotC can't provide this stuff for free and ongoing development and improvement cost money. They have to recoup that somewhere and my bet is that they're losing money big time on DDI so far. Ante up if you want to see this project have a future.

And as far as the character builder being a beta goes, I'd agree that there are bugs in it and they're annoying as Hell, but at the same time, 99% of the program is spiffy as and deserves a little praise.

 

[Kzach]

I find that more than a little annoying myself. It would be nice not to worry about having to re-login anytime I want to check something in my gaming nights. But the 30 minute timeout means that I'll have to do so every time I have a question about something.

It's funny, out of all the issues presented thus far, this is by far the most annoying and frustrating to me.

Logging people out every five minutes is just pure fail. There is absolutely no reason for it that I can see. You should have a permanent frikken login that only denies you access when your sub is up.