D&D Insider: Losing your toys

[Keefe the Thief]

I really, really doubt that we would have seen either the Compendium or the CB without a subscription model in their current form. And i am happy about that - i remember Etools too well, a product which had promise but which suffered from the fact that it was simply not financially viable for anyone to create constant program and database updates.
Just ask the Code Monkeys how time-consuming that kind of work is - without a subscription model? Forget it.

 

[Cadfan]

It doesn't bother me.

So its a subscription service. So what? You knew that going in, or you should have known it going in.

I make it a general practice not to get angry at retailers because they offer goods and services on terms I don't find optimal. I just decide whether I want to buy the item at the terms they offer, and that's that.

Getting upset is like leasing a car without the option to buy, and then getting angry that you have to give the car back. You knew what papers you signed.

 

[Ktulu]

I work for an EHR (electronic health record) that only functions while the subscription is active. I don't have an issue with that model.

 

[Aegeri]

Please reread the information. The problem comes when needing to reinstall the software. In your case of course you had no problem because you had no need to reinstall. If however you no longer had an account and did then you would have a problem.

This was not what was claimed.

Reinstalling the program naturally does not let you upgrade it back to full once you are not an insider, this is in fact perfectly understandable because it authenticates and reinstalls the program online. Naturally, not being able to reinstall the program fully means you can't use it anymore. The solution is to be pretty careful with how you use it or just resubscribe for a month, redownload everything and then reinstall. This is actually perfectly fine and they are within their rights to do this.

What I took exception towards as claimed in the OP that is clearly incorrect is:

But doesn't it bother anyone else that if you stop subscribing to DDI that your Character Builder and Compendium stop working? It's not that they stop receiving updates, I mean they no longer function. The CB and Compendium revert to the "Demo" versions and any characters you made above 3rd level can no longer be edited (I just got off the phone with Wizards and have confirmed this).

This is absolutely, 100% not true and is incorrect. It does not revert to a demo version. This claim is false (Noting that the compendium does, but that's because it's purely an online insiders perk, but the character builder is NOT affected).

Perhaps you should have read what the OP claimed more carefully?

 

[Neil Bishop]

I don't understand complaining about something that costs only USD5 or so dollars a month. If I worked at Hasbro/WotC and read these sorts of comments I would completely ignore them because if someone is too poor to afford USD5 or so a month they cease being a customer.

Sad but true.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

Think about it: You don't own that software. You're committed to paying that recurring cost for as long as you want to use the software, and that's assuming that WotC wants to sell it to you

So you are renting the software?

No, you're not renting the software, you pay for your access to a data pool, which is expanded monthly.

One way of accessing this data pool is the free software named Character Builder. You can install this software and use it with the supplied data. The data are transferred to your computer, enabling you to use it even after your subscription has ended.

In case of problems with this application, when you might have to reinstall it or transfer it to a new computer, you'll only be able to restore your old setup, if you have made, e.g. a disk image.

Part of my money for DDI is payment for the entering of data. It by far beats having to enter all the stuff myself, giving another character generator software which one can expand. It beats paying for data sets for sources becoming available months after the respective book. It beats having to wait for the next incarantion of the software, which may or may not be able to handle some new rules element.

If the idea of ownership of the software is so important to you, the DDI-CB is not for you. There exist other offers you might be interested in.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Well, as others have pointed out, the software doesn't require an internet connection once installed and updated. Even if it did - where would it get your account information? You don't enter them on start-up. It might be possible that it is stored during the update, but I doubt it.

The bigger problem is that if you ever get a new computer, or have to re-install your system, you'll need to get the app again, since the data is gone.

But it doesn't really bother me that the software might cease to function if I no longer subscribed. As Kamikaze Midget notes - if I don't have the subscription, I am not playing anyway.

 

[Mark]

(. . .) free software named Character Builder. You can install this software and use it with the supplied data. The data are transferred to your computer, enabling you to use it even after your subscription has ended.

In case of problems with this application, when you might have to reinstall it or transfer it to a new computer, you'll only be able to restore your old setup, if you have made, e.g. a disk image.

So you receive the software in its current form and should be able to use that software at that level forever, but the only way to put the software on a new computer if you allow your subscription to lapse is by using a disc image? So the software itself is designed to thwart this unless the disc image precaution is taken?

If the idea of ownership of the software is so important to you, the DDI-CB is not for you. There exist other offers you might be interested in.

Oh, let's not make this personal, as I am not actually discussing my own situation but rather trying to understand the situation objectively. I can envision, for instance, someone deciding they only want to play the game with the level of rules that are out to this point, or perhaps to the point achieved just after the PH2 is out, thus effectively wishing to drop off of the subscription grid(both for the DDI and the print rules) but being guaranteed all of the toys they are accustomed to using still function as purchased. Hence the above questions.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

So you receive the software in its current form and should be able to use that software at that level forever, but the only way to put the software on a new computer if you allow your subscription to lapse is by using a disc image? So the software itself is designed to thwart this unless the disc image precaution is taken?

There might be a way to make this simpler, but I don't know how.

Basically, the problem is getting the full 30 level data set. The downloaded versions does not contain it, you have to download it separately. If you figure out where this is downloaded to on your PC, you might be able to just copy that part, or just copy the entire application directory.
But it's possible that there are multiple places where to find the data, including registry keys. Disk Image is basically the "Nuke if from Orbit" solution - it _has_ to work, but might be a little too much.

 

[Halivar]

As a software developer, I work on products that have a monthly subscription cost. Therefore, I heartily approve WotC's subscription model, and am happy to patronize it. It's a good model, and it works.

WotC is better to you than you know. Outside of anti-virus software, most subscription-model software works like this: when your subscription ends, you don't get to use that software anymore. WotC could have taken this tack, and I still would have been fine with it.

Mark, what you describe is exactly how anti-virus software works. You only get updates while you subscribe, and that's the window in which you are entitled to download install executables. Why are you angry at WotC, and not Kaspersky, or Norton, or what-have-you?