Disappointed D&D Insider Customer

[Piratecat]

I think we should thus skip all the pedantry - address the underlying ethics, or just let it go and go have a nice weekend.

Excellent idea! And since Umbran's text wasn't in red, allow me to do the honors. Less pedantry, por favor.

 

[renau1g]

go have a nice weekend.

Sounds like a plan!

 

[Scribble]

The OP is the cat in this photo.

Everyone loves cats.

 

[Brax]

Just so we are all clear, I am in no way advocating piracy. I would, however, like to use products that I purchase in any legal way I see fit, which can be difficult when they are locked in a vault with only a tiny, bulletproof window for me to look through at what I paid for.

 

[Morrus]

To OP: I did not read you open letter, I really do not care but:

Ya know, I am getting a little tired of people posting open letters to WoTC here, go to WoTC's boards and post them there.

First, let's not tell people how much you don't care about a post you haven't even read. if you don't care enough to read it, feel free to move on and read a different thread instead. We have a quarter of a million of them for you to choose from.


Second, we're perfectly happy for people to stay here at EN World rather than post on other messageboards. Folks, I hope it's clear that you're welcome to do so, and please refrain from telling people to go elsewhere.

 

[whearp]

Just so we are all clear, I am in no way advocating piracy. I would, however, like to use products that I purchase in any legal way I see fit, which can be difficult when they are locked in a vault with only a tiny, bulletproof window for me to look through at what I paid for.

No one wants to stop you from using the books any way you see fit. By purchasing the book, you have paid for the right to use the material within. If you really need to have a digital version of the book for your game setup, then perhaps you should invest in a scanner, so that you can make your own digital copies of the books. As far as I can tell, you would not be breaking any copyright laws as long as you did not then distribute them to people that did not have the right to have the info. And well... you don't even have to do that. It seems to me that if you have the physical copy of the book, there is no real crime in you downloading and using a pirated scan off the net.

See, you do have the right to use the product in pretty much any way you like, but you are out of line suggesting that they need to cater to your needs and wants even if doing so would be harmful to them.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Those people who signed up for DDI at the very beginning because they thought they were getting the VTT et al... yes, they had the right to get upset when they found out it wasn't coming. However, those people who had heard these products were once on the docket but were no longer... if they signed up for it anyway, they cannot then go back and start using that excuse to justify why they are currently upset.

And as far as people who sign up for DDI not for what they ARE getting for the money they spend, but for what they EXPECT to possibly get in the future... it is very hard to feel sympathy for those people. If you don't feel that a DDI subscription is worth the price for what you DO get with it currently... why in the world would you subscribe NOW, just in the hopes that some of these other features that WotC has said they are working on will eventually come to pass?

I mean, do I get to complain if I sign up for HBO RIGHT NOW because I know that George R. R. Martin's A Game Of Thrones is eventually going to be broadcast on their channel... but in six months time we discover they went so far over budget that the plug was pulled on the show? Whose fault is that? I am willing to say that it's MY FAULT for paying for multiple months of HBO while not getting what I signed up for it for. I was the idiot who paid for something I didn't want ahead of time, just so I'd be right there to have it when the thing I actually wanted finally got released.

Can we get 'upset' because none of the bugs in the system are going to be fixed in existing builds?

Known Issues List - D&D Insider Character Builder

Updated as of October 12th, 2010

We are working on these issues on an ongoing basis. Major issues that we have become aware of - but could not get fixed for the current update - will be added to this Known Issues list.

Installation issues

•If you have issues updating your application, double check your local clock, and make sure the time and hour are set properly. If your BIOS battery is not working properly, the system time may reset randomly, causing issues with the Character Builder and Adventure Tools updates.
•If you have updating issues, check that your Character Builder folder in C:\Program Files\Wizards of the Coast and the files in it are not set as Read-Only (Right click, then properties). If some are set this way, go to the folder, right click on it, and select Properties to set the folder to not be read-only. Then confirm you want to apply this change to sub-folders and files, and then run the update again.
Character Sheet known issues:

•Skills edits are not saving on the Character Sheet.
•Having multiple character sheets open at once may cause instability in the application; it is recommended that you avoid having multiple character sheets open whenever possible.
•Long Journal Notes get cut off when printed.
•Some features and paragon paths do not have summary line yet. These will be added as an ongoing task with future updates. In the meantime summary can be edited by players using the right click customize menu.
•If you have the character sheet open while you are adding equipment in the character builder, the application may slow down. We have addressed the biggest performance hit when this is the case, but you can still close the character sheet when updating your equipment for better performance.
•Characters getting specific powers from two different sources (Class power and Magic items for example) will only see one version of their power card (usually the magic item one) printed on their character sheet.
•There is no option available to select the type of cards to print custom items on (Magic Item versus mundane item card).
•Users can not update the text box marked “Current conditions and effects”.
Powers and power cards known issues:

•Power stats only calculate attack and damage. The builder does not yet calculate the stats for the off-hand weapon in dual-wield powers, temporary hit points, type of damage, healing. We also do not modify the power when feats or class features change the related powers in some ways.
•Summoning power cards will not display attack bonuses.
•Conditional effects on power cards can be cut off if the text is too long. We are looking into possible ways to fix that by creating specific conditional modifiers cards in the future.
Feats issues:

•Trusted Spellcasting feat allowable selection is any power without a “miss” line.
•Arcane Ritualist feat currently does not allow you to select a ritual.
•Taking more than one multiclass for non bards does not make the character House Ruled.
Campaign pages

•The campaign settings page does not yet have a way to make the Forgotten Realms deities count as their corresponding core deity for the purpose of taking feats (as described in the LFR rules).
•There is no way to reset the campaign setting or load a default campaign setting when the character builder starts.
Other

•The Rhythm blade applies its bonus even when wielded in the main hand.
•If the Character Builder fails to load a character with a "character load failure" dialog, it is suggested you restart the builder as certain failures can leave the builder in a corrupted state.
•Viewing a high level character at a lower level will mark that character as house ruled.
•A bundled Item (Adventurer’s Kit, Climber’s Kit) can’t be unbundled and separated in different items.
•The equipment page does not have containers.
•Vehicles are not available.
•Warforged Components are not fully supported.
•Alchemical Ammunition is not yet implemented.
•Characters above level 3 created with the full version can’t be loaded in the character sheet viewer with the demo version.
•Spiked shield functions as a weapon but does not properly also function as a shield.
•If you meet the pre-requisite for an Epic Destiny after level 21, you can’t access the Epic Destiny choice.
•Character Builder currently does not support creating a wand magic item (like a wand of Ethereal Stride).
•Rituals are not selected for wizards when using the auto build feature.
•Belt of the brawler is not having any effect to change unarmed attack into club attacks.
•Essence Mage paragon path is not adding 1d6 damage to powers with more than 2 damage types.
•In some cases, custom notes can’t be edited afterwards (for example for custom languages related notes).
•Gem of Colloquy does not grant you to add another language.
•There is no way to equip mounts with barding.
•Our search box only searches for titles and not the full text of entries, and does not allow backtracking or filtering the list.
•Conditional perception and insight bonus are not displayed in the character sheet (for example with Vampiric Heritage feat).
•User can not select the type of resistance granted by the armor of resistance.
•Rituals can’t be sold at the book suggested amount of 50% total value.
•Vadalis griffons currently can be selected by any character, not just Vadalis Griffonmasters. (There is a note to that effect displayed when you select the griffon).
•Mark of Scribing's ability to retrain a language is not implemented.
•Lost Kin background has all skills associated instead of just class skills.
•The Anointed Champion paragon path gives the Helm and Holy Symbol options starting at level 11 (they are not legal until 16).
•Remembered knack lets you pick any skill instead of the specified limits.
•Marked for Death ignores the prereq about being able to mark a foe.
•With the latest implementation of the double weapon, character Builder forces you to use the main hand of a double weapon.

 

[Kobold Boots]

Guys.

Tell me how signing up for the first edition of DDI is any different from signing up for the first version of any type of software.

It's got bugs - It's not working according to some of the more obscure rules - It doesn't do this, it doesn't do that. - It costs a fee every month. - It's not all it's cracked up to be. - It can be annoying at times.

Most of my players have bugs.
-On average they can't print or write by hand worth 2 pennies.
-They can smell funny - They can have personality issues.
-They want what they want out of a game - They don't always tell me what that is.
-They can be annoying at times.

What I'm getting at is that the tool is just as imperfect as we all are, but given what the tool does do to make the game more accessible, it is worth something.

So the game table isn't out yet and some of the advertised things they were working on weren't out at time of launch. They did lose someone on staff shortly before launch - It's not like someone's head didn't roll for it.

Now, I know that everyone takes their gaming to some level of seriousness, but to sit here (self included) and detail every little thing and bitch about stuff.. what are you getting out of it other than making the community less friendly for everyone else?

This isn't worth a four page thread. WoTC will learn from this and the next gen tools will be better. If not, it's a game. We're not aiming nukes at China with WoTC's SaaS implementation. If you don't like what you're getting out of the monthly fee, then cancel the sub, submit content to WoTC to make the content better, or ignore it and make your own content.

The amount of work I save weekly with the character builder with 9 players is worth 8 bucks monthly.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I'm impressed by your stance that WoTC will learn from this.

 

[Kobold Boots]

No one knows better than Mearls and his team what the blemishes are. To assume they don't know exactly what's wrong (strategicially - I'm not talking about widget C doesn't work with widget A, B and X) would make the unfair assumption that a team responsible for a million dollar property is incapable of any sort of management.

That sort of thing only happens when completely inexperienced people get put in high levels of management. Not the case with their team.

I will grant though that every publishing team learning their way around digital content is more or less making some serious mistakes at the moment. I know we just replaced our entire high-level IT management team to move to SaaS or e-book with our offerings.