Got D&D Insider; Don't need books

[Doc_Klueless]

Well, yeah, but I meant SOL in the sense of money spent, analogous to paying monthly rent on a house as opposed to paying a monthly mortgage.

Having owned a house, there is a heck of a lot more to it than paying a monthly mortgage. I'm actually coming out only a little behind by renting now. No more paying for this that or the other. No more worrying about yard work, the neighborhood, being tied down to one area. Oi!

I'm, of course, not the usual though!

I just do not see that as true. I remember a thread a ways back that said there were over 5,000 options on DDI at that time and it was a long time ago. The number is probably above 10,000 now.

Taht is a huge amount of information to absorb, even if you try to cut it down. And of course, if you try to cut down the initial stuff, then why do you need DDI over a paper book.

The thing is, though, that all that info is presented in small, easy to digest chunks. If I'm makin' a fighter, I don't look at the options for clerics, thieves, wizards, etc. If I'm making a 3rd level fighter, I'm not looking at the fighter options above that. I'm not looking at all 10,000. Only a very small subset each time I open Character Builder, for example.

... having a step-by-step program guide you through each character building decision you make is a good way to learn the game.

Absolutely. And it keeps the players from having rules shock from having the PHB plunked down in front of them.

For DMing and creating new monsters, it's awesome. For previewing the crunch in new books, fantastic. For just fiddling around with when I'm bored: yahoo!

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

Great news

I don't play 4E, but it is really nice to hear that , after all these years and so many false starts, WoTC has mastered integrating D&D into digital media in a way that meets the needs of gamers.

Now, I look forward to WoTC releasing their online tabletop software... if they had that, integrated with D&D insider, allowing for full online play without books... man, I'd have to think hard about giving 4E another chance.

Ken

 

[Nifelhein]

Ahh I still miss a treasure parcel generator with randomizing options and wish list inputting, with that I would be more than happy with what D&DI could give me.

 

[Zaukrie]

I buy the fluff heavy books (though I did not buy the dragonborn book), the PH, DMG, MMs, and some of the adventures.

All this has cut for sure is the PC "power" books.

But, DDI is indispensable for me as a DM (and since I'm going to start playing, I'm guessing as a player).

 

[Holy Bovine]

Every new player I've spoken to does.

Are you really unable to see how having a step-by-step program guide you through each character building decision you make is a good way to learn the game? Sure, there are a lot of options at each decision point, but hardly an overwhelming number. I have not yet heard anyone using the Character Builder complain that they simply have too many things to choose from (except perhaps in a tongue-in-cheek manner).

Same here. My wife has actually become something of a CB guru and regularly makes up new characters 'just for fun'. She would never do this before we got the CB and it surprised the heck out of both of us! The CB is almost a game unto itself to us.

 

[Holy Bovine]

As for the original question - I tend towards buying 'fluff' books like campaign settings, adventures and the DMGs. I really hope for an increase in the 'Lore' sections of the MMs but I tend to get those too even with the low 'fluff' content of them now. The various '* Power' books and PHBs are becoming less interesting to me as the DDi continues to expand.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Ahh I still miss a treasure parcel generator with randomizing options and wish list inputting, with that I would be more than happy with what D&DI could give me.

Just thought I'd point this out to you. It is only updated to AV1 (and some adventures and Dragons) but it is fully randomized or can be narrowed to just a few items/sources. No 'wish list' feature yet but Asmor is open to suggestions!

 

[Nifelhein]

Agreed, more monster fluff is something I actually missed from the monster books so far, I am quite surprised that we don't even have proper descriptions of them, if they stripped the lore part we would get stats and pics and hardly anything else.

They could cut down the amount of monsters in the books imo, and instead add the fluff, the cut monsters could go to either a new book or to a new column in Dungeon where they would give us new monsters every month.

As for Asmor's that one is indeed pretty good, I just like to use all the content available to me, although if I had more time I would be all for helping keep it up to date.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Agreed, more monster fluff is something I actually missed from the monster books so far, I am quite surprised that we don't even have proper descriptions of them, if they stripped the lore part we would get stats and pics and hardly anything else.

They could cut down the amount of monsters in the books imo, and instead add the fluff, the cut monsters could go to either a new book or to a new column in Dungeon where they would give us new monsters every month.

DId you get a chance to fill out the MM survey WotC had a few weeks ago? It was all about what people want more/less of in future MMs. One thing I thought they could easily get rid off were those 'Suggested Encounters' that appear at the end of each monster entry. Complete waste of space, imo, especially when you think they could easily have added in a brief description of every monster in that space.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

DId you get a chance to fill out the MM survey WotC had a few weeks ago? It was all about what people want more/less of in future MMs. One thing I thought they could easily get rid off were those 'Suggested Encounters' that appear at the end of each monster entry. Complete waste of space, imo, especially when you think they could easily have added in a brief description of every monster in that space.

I completely disagree! It makes throwing an encounter together on-the-fly absolutely painless for me.