Scribble
First Post
WotC is kind of betting there's more mac users who want DDI out there then there are folks with unreliable internet currently subbed...which is a bet, as a businessdude, that I would probably take, too.
There's a little more too it then that as well.
Pulling it to an online DB means they now only have to have one DB to support/update which means faster updates, and easier fixes when something does go wrong, as well as not having to support multiple databases everytime they build a new tool.
So on the back end they update one DB and it updates info in all systems.
This gives them less work and splits their team a lot less. Freeing up man hours for other projects.
This means new tools should come out faster, and it's easier to create things like ipad apps, and such, and none of it really slows down their update process very much.
On the front end you don't have to worry about updating all of your tools. They just do it all automatically. You don't have to worry about making sure all of your tools on different devices are the same to transfer characters or monsters or whatever around, as they'll be that way automatically.
You probably won't even have to transfer characters/monsters around, as eventually you'll just open the character in another system, and changes you make in one that effect others will just be there. (IE if eventually the make a campaign planning tool, options the DM chooses for his/her campaign will be reflected in the CB for any character listed in that campaign...)
None of this is readily apparent at first glance though, so it's easily dismissed.