Anyone try the new WoTC digital Character Generator for 4e?

[Jan van Leyden]

I'd be very suprised if the final version doesn't include a time-bomb that require a subscriber-signin every month or so to keep it up and running.

Hey, I posted that three weeks ago! Who knows what the changes with all tjhose lay-offs will bring. Not that WotC's announcements for DDI have ever been reliable.

 

[Mercule]

I haven't used it yet (hoping to get Vista Basic for the holidays so I can run it on my Mac), but my gaming group is VERY positive about it. Granted, beating e-tools was a pretty low bar to reach, but still, they're impressed.

I wouldn't go for Vista Basic. It shouldn't even be on the market IMO (and I actually like Vista). You may be okay if you're using it for a dual-booting or emulating Mac, though.

 

[Merkuri]

I'd be very suprised if the final version doesn't include a time-bomb that require a subscriber-signin every month or so to keep it up and running.

I think what they're hoping is that you'll keep the subscription so that you can use stuff from the latest books and magazine articles. If you just buy a month of DDI, download the character creator, then drop the subscription you won't be able to use any of the new material (at least, not without typing it all in yourself and having your character marked "homebrew").

It's in open beta now and I just gave it a try earlier today. Haven't played any 4e games yet, but what I saw looked impressive. The only suggestions I'd have for them is that they somehow highlight the recommended feats/powers/etc from your build (if you picked one). Isn't that the point of a build after all, to help you choose your options? That and the ability to choose which cards you want to print out.

I guess I have one more piece of feedback for them... make it easier to leave feedback. I clicked on the "feedback" link, got taken to a login dialog, had to fill in some extra information I didn't really want to fill in, like my mother's maiden name, then when that was all done I was brought to a screen that seemed to have no obvious "feedback" section to it. Not wanting to spend any more brainpower on it I just closed the window. So I'm giving my feedback here instead.

 

[Kristian Serrano]

I think what they're hoping is that you'll keep the subscription so that you can use stuff from the latest books and magazine articles. If you just buy a month of DDI, download the character creator, then drop the subscription you won't be able to use any of the new material (at least, not without typing it all in yourself and having your character marked "homebrew").

If you buy one month, you don't get the updates until you subscribe for another single month later on. I don't think they'll be tracking what's released each month and granting you access only to what came out during the months you had a subscription.

 

[Merkuri]

If you buy one month, you don't get the updates until you subscribe for another single month later on. I don't think they'll be tracking what's released each month and granting you access only to what came out during the months you had a subscription.

Right. If you subscribe for one month (and just one month) a year after the DDI went live you'll get that whole year of DDI content plus any of the books that have been released up until now. If you then drop the subscription you stay there. Your software won't get any more updates and you're stuck with the material you have so far. If you then pick up the subscription another year later you'll get that whole other year's worth of material - everything up until the current day.

I think they'll be betting that people won't want to wait for the new material to work in the character generator. If you want to get your material into the generator right away you'll need to keep up an active subscription. Plus they'll be hoping the rest of the DDI content will keep you there.

I'm also guessing that they aren't going to make dropping the subscription easy. I recently decided to cut down on my expenses and decided to quit my subscription to Audible.com (they sell purely digital audio books). I had done this before with no fuss - just went to the website and clicked the "cancel my subscription" button. This time, the button wasn't there. Apparently that button goes away the first time you cancel. If you were to renew your subscription and cancel it again you had to actually call them up on the phone to cancel it. (Luckily they didn't argue with me when I said I couldn't afford the service anymore, but they could've given me crap on the phone.)

I wouldn't be surprised if WotC pulled something like that once they got fully up and running.

 

[Webby140]

I tried downloading it... it installed okay, but it just didn't like the application when I tried to use it. Crashed before it even got going.
Has anyone else had this problem? Anyone got a possible fix/advice?