With D&D Beyond has D&D Leap Frogged the Competition?

[fjw70]

You mean everything that DDB PROMISES? They don't have all the content yet.

And as others have said, DDB may be a step forward for D&D, but it by no means is out in front of anybody except a few arcane publishers (grumpy old men?) that refuse anything electronic.

Granted DDB isn't live yet. But which electronic platform does as much or more than the promise of DDB?

 

[LordEntrails]

Granted DDB isn't live yet. But which electronic platform does as much or more than the promise of DDB?

Direct competitor? I don't know. Upstream someone said Hero Labs.

The only thing I'm aware of that DDB does that Fantasy Grounds doesn't (and FG does a huge number of things DDB does not) is a comprehensive search (FG's is limited to the product you are browsing). And Manage Characters (FG just builds them automatically, it does not allow you to reduce levels or take away things without manually editing the character). I'm sure there are other things, but as I don't really find other things missing in FG, I wouldn't know. (Oh, FG doesn't have a wiki interface that Realms Works does).

Finally, you said the key words "the promise of". I used to subscribe to DDI back when the had "the promise of" a VTT, of homebrew, of... all the things that did not materialize.

 

[fjw70]

Direct competitor? I don't know. Upstream someone said Hero Labs.

The only thing I'm aware of that DDB does that Fantasy Grounds doesn't (and FG does a huge number of things DDB does not) is a comprehensive search (FG's is limited to the product you are browsing). And Manage Characters (FG just builds them automatically, it does not allow you to reduce levels or take away things without manually editing the character). I'm sure there are other things, but as I don't really find other things missing in FG, I wouldn't know. (Oh, FG doesn't have a wiki interface that Realms Works does).

Finally, you said the key words "the promise of". I used to subscribe to DDI back when the had "the promise of" a VTT, of homebrew, of... all the things that did not materialize.

You missed a huge component of DDB. Mobile access that is equal to desktop/laptop access.

As far as the promise of DDB goes I have pretty high confidence that they will deleivered what was promised at launch since we have seen most of that functionality already.

 

[ccs]

You missed a huge component of DDB. Mobile access that is equal to desktop/laptop access.

As far as the promise of DDB goes I have pretty high confidence that they will deleivered what was promised at launch since we have seen most of that functionality already.

Well it's STILL a digital project attached to WoTC. So I wouldn't get too excited about anything not already in your hands....

 

[Obryn]

It isn't even as functional as 4e DDI.

 

[fjw70]

It isn't even as functional as 4e DDI.

What did DDI have that this doesn't? DDI didn't have full mobile capabilities.

 

[fjw70]

Well it's STILL a digital project attached to WoTC. So I wouldn't get too excited about anything not already in your hands....

We will see in 3 weeks.

 

[Obryn]

What did DDI have that this doesn't? DDI didn't have full mobile capabilities.

Fully functional character builder with all content for the game, fully-functional monster builder with all content for the game (and all monsters from all releases), searchable compendium with all rules content, Dragon and Dungeon with tons of new content for $70/year with no up-front per-book cost?

No full mobile, though, that's true. But the rest...

e: Keeping electronic books captive to a specific digital platform should also be a non-starter, along with the up-front costs associated with them.

 

[fjw70]

Fully functional character builder with all content for the game, fully-functional monster builder with all content for the game (and all monsters from all releases), searchable compendium with all rules content, Dragon and Dungeon with tons of new content for $70/year with no up-front per-book cost?

No full mobile, though, that's true. But the rest...

From a functionality standpoint DDB will have all that at launch with full mobile access. That blows blows DDI out of the water (and I loved DDI).

From the pricing standpoint DDI was a steal (especially with the amount of content being released).

 

[Obryn]

From a functionality standpoint DDB will have all that at launch with full mobile access. That blows blows DDI out of the water (and I loved DDI).

From the pricing standpoint DDI was a steal (especially with the amount of content being released).

It may have that at launch. (But notably not including stuff like Unearthed Arcana content, no?) I'm with the others; I have never known WotC to over-deliver for their digital offerings.

Mobile-access-wise, remember - smartphones and tablets were on the upswing back then, but nowhere near as ubiquitous. And... is there even a way to print your character sheet and spells??

Finally, as I edited in above, if you're 'buying' the books, you're captive to the platform with - near as I can tell - no way to get to 'your' books outside of the platform. Sounds like a crazy risk.