WotC Response to CB issues?

[Herschel]

Personally, I've had no issues with the online builder. I prefer it to the offline version for organization and layout. For example: feat selection in the offline version had become an absolute mess. The online format makes it MUCH easier and more efficient to examine feats.

I have a cable modem/high-speed internet so the "delays" aren't an issue for me.

 

[Dedekind]

I didn't use it until several weeks after going live. I haven't had significant issues. If you are building basic characters, I think you would be fine. I still prefer it to buying all the necessary source books.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Personally, I've had no issues with the online builder. I prefer it to the offline version for organization and layout. For example: feat selection in the offline version had become an absolute mess. The online format makes it MUCH easier and more efficient to examine feats.

Feats in the old CB certainly were a drain on CPU cycles, but feats in the new CB are difficult to tell how they're going to affect your character, since I can't see what my usual attack rolls/powers/racial features/etc. are without cancelling the feat selection, winding back through the steps, and reminding myself by clicking on the rules element (and sometimes having to check the Character Sheet). It was much easier to tell at a glance what a feat would do to you in the old CB.

It's only a layout design fail, but then the fact that half the feats aren't correctly applied to your character's stats makes it a software design fail, too, which makes the thing double-fail....YMMV, of course.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

CB Classic + CBLoader + patches online.

The 4e fanbase is literally better at updating WotC's products then WotC is.

Lets leave the piracy stuff out of this, please.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Lets leave the piracy stuff out of this, please.

I'm not advocating piracy?

Let me clarify - I'm not referring to pirating CB Classic patches online, but rather the fan-made patches that I believe have centered at SA

 

[Keefe the Thief]

I'm not advocating piracy?

Let me clarify - I'm not referring to pirating CB Classic patches online, but rather the fan-made patches that I believe have centered at SA

If you were only talking about program patches and not data mined from the online builder, i apologize.

 

[Grabuto138]

I'm not so concerned about the $10, my immeadiate concern is time. I'm running a variant of a "flashback" adventure this weekend, where the characters are going to meet an NPC who tells them a store about an artifiact that is a pivotal piece of the campaign. My players will play the part of the heros in the story, which will run for 3 encounters. Each encounter will be at a progressively higher level culminating in the climax of the artifacts history.

Needless to say it would be both faster and easier for me to build 3 different versions of 5 seperate characters with the character builder as opposed to sitting down with pencil and paper. The amount of time a character builder could save me is easily worth $10, unless the character builder would take as long, longer, or worse, not work at all/sufficiently.

First, the obligatory "I like the old CB better."
The online CB will work exactly as you expect for the purposes you describe. A couple weeks ago I was introducing a new player, so we did a "flashback" encounter with the new player's character and a couple of NPCs converted to PCs played by the two people who were there while waiting for the rest of the group. I cranked out two characters in my officeso fast that no one one even missed me.
Assuming you are making each character in a fashion that can be easily picked up and played you will have no problems.
Please keep in mind that the big benefit of the subscription is the Rules Compendium, which gives you access to most of the rules from most of the products that have been released. The CB is a tool that integrates some of that data into a tool useful for making player characters.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

If you were only talking about program patches and not data mined from the online builder, i apologize.

Honestly, a lot of Dark Sun and Essentials stuff is already programed into CB Classic. It just needs to be re-edited and then keyed in.

They basically just ditched it entirely for the crappier online version.

 

[Farnsworth]

Based on the feedback, and what I need it for, it sounds like paying $10 for a single month is worth it.

Thanks for all the feedback, it's been a huge help!