November 16th release for Web-based Character Builder

[Kurtomatic]

Ouch. iplay4e just got crushed.

A shame, I really liked using it at the table on my ipad.

I tend to agree, but it's possible there could continue to be a space for a 3rd party software. What will really suck is: no character export (they've said this will likely come in the future), no character API, and no mobile silverlight interface.

If WotC only releases a desktop form factor for the new online app, so you can't reasonable interact with your characters via a hand-held devices, that failure could be mitigated by allowing file exports (which puts iPlay4e back in business) and/or releasing a cloud API.

WotC has limited development resources, so I do think it in their interests to make value-added spaces available to their customers. However, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Tazawa]

as a mac and at work pc user I am happy.

I may be in the minority.

I'm a home mac user and work pc user as well, and I'm not as happy. I have an older, non-Intel mac that doesn't run Silverlight. It still runs everything else fine, so getting a new computer just for DDI would be hard to justify.

I do have an old PC laptop that a friend gave me that I use to run the character builder and adventure tools now. Unfortunately, it doesn't meet the minimum system requirements for Silverlight either.

I would settle for web-based DDI applications but it's a no-go if they're based on Silverlight. I guess I'll be letting my subscription expire.

 

[Riastlin]

As an avid user of the character builder and the monster builder this change affects me . . . well, not at all.

The loss of iPlay4e affects me . . . not at all.

Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. The only thing this affects are the people who wanted to get the entire 4th Ed. "crunch" library for a one month DDI subscription. While this is unfortunate for them, I have a hard time arguing against the decision. The CB has already cut into sales of books at my FLGS (obviously every store is different). At my FLGS though the overwhelming sentiment is "Why would I buy the book for $30 when its already included in my DDI account?" The books that do sell well, not surprisingly, are the more DM oriented books like Plane Above/Below, DMG2, etc. I personally do not have a problem with WotC saying "If you want to continue to access our content, you have to pay for it."

That being said, I will confess that it may have been better to handle this as downloadable "expansions" for the CB -- of course then people would also complain about the added cost. My guess is that next edition may be largely, if not entirely, PDF/e-Book based.

I understand that people who use iPlay4e, etc. will be affected. Personally though, from my experience, taking cell phones, tablets, and laptops away from the table is a positive thing. Too often, the players who use these devices spend their time playing with said devices and not playing with the rest of the table.

The other thing to consider here too is that this might, finally, be the first step in getting a VTT going. Having everything web/subscription based makes it easier to develop/fix things I would think (though I am not a programmer).

 

[Oldtimer]

So WotC are scrapping my Character Builder and offering me an online-only alternative? No, thanks. This is not making this customer happy. I'll be cancelling my DDI account today. Great work, Wizards!

Rather, I would be cancelling if I could. If the WotC server wasn't giving "Server Error" when I try to access my account info.

And I can see that the fanboys are already rallying to the defense of this latest madness...

Mod edit: let's not start mudslinging, no matter how disappointed you are. Thanks ~ Plane Sailing, Admin

 

[bargle0]

I'm a home mac user and work pc user as well, and I'm not as happy. I have an older, non-Intel mac that doesn't run Silverlight. It still runs everything else fine, so getting a new computer just for DDI would be hard to justify.

I do have an old PC laptop that a friend gave me that I use to run the character builder and adventure tools now. Unfortunately, it doesn't meet the minimum system requirements for Silverlight either.

I would settle for web-based DDI applications but it's a no-go if they're based on Silverlight. I guess I'll be letting my subscription expire.

FWIW, I'm happy I no longer have to boot Windows in Parallels just to fire up the CB. On the other hand, given WotC's track record on software development, I don't think we'll see much after this for a while. Furthermore, I am a little peeved that they spent time and money replicating functionality in a more restrictive way.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Soon as I saw this my auto-renewal, up in a week or so, was set off. I'll let other people play with it for a while, see what the feedback is, see how effective WoTC is at SUPPORTING THE DAMN THING and then if they keep up with support and the feedback is positive and they actually provide some support to the other tools that they've been talking about since they started, get a new sub.

 

[DEFCON 1]

And I can see that the fanboys are already rallying to the defense of this latest madness...

Ah yes... the madness that WotC no longer is going to let people scam the system by buying a single month's subscription to DDI and gain access to the entire suite of crunch and keep it for as long as they want without paying anything further.

What are they thinking?!?

 

[Brys]

I don't like this at all. I travel alot and use CB as a standalone app where I don't have internet access (building characters is a great way to kill time on airplanes). I would really have liked some way of being able to use CB while not being connected to the internet. I know this would have taken much forethought and there was probably a financial decision not to support this, but a downloadable key tied to my PC that's valid for one month (or a week) at a time would have been useful.

I will not be renewing when my subscription comes due.

 

[Oldtimer]

Ah yes... the madness that WotC no longer is going to let people scam the system by buying a single month's subscription to DDI and gain access to the entire suite of crunch and keep it for as long as they want without paying anything further.

What are they thinking?!?

Yes, I suppose that would be the fanboy way of looking at it...

I was more thinking of the madness of kicking paying customers in the groin and telling them to enjoy it.

 

[malraux]

FWIW, I'm happy I no longer have to boot Windows in Parallels just to fire up the CB. On the other hand, given WotC's track record on software development, I don't think we'll see much after this for a while. Furthermore, I am a little peeved that they spent time and money replicating functionality in a more restrictive way.

Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll finish the monster builder before they decide to switch platforms again. That would be cool.

I must say that a big announcement that the CB is at best moving sideways isn't all that exciting. I'm not a big fan of the idea of renting applications. Running an application inside a web-browser isn't any more appealing to me than running an application inside a virtual machine. I really dislike the idea that fairly important elements of my hobby will be reliant on the whims of a large corporation, whereas with the old CB I could easily keep the program going for as long as I keep the program installed on a machine.