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<blockquote data-quote="Koloth" data-source="post: 7659874" data-attributes="member: 6706231">Sadly, this is a repeating pattern for WOTC.&nbsp; At least with V3, they included in the initial printing of the PHB, a CD with an alpha version of Mastertools which did included a limited function character generator.&nbsp; The company that was supposed to finish MT failed.&nbsp; WOTC wound up working a license deal with a sub group of the PCGen character generator folks to both finish MT which wound up being called E-Tools and also making data sets for the PCGen program.&nbsp; Everyone won.&nbsp; Folks had their computerized character makers and WOTC could crank out more books.&nbsp; Don't remember if this was a 3.0 deal that carried over to 3.5 or if 3.5 was already out when the deal was made.&nbsp; When V4 was announced, WOTC yanked all the licenses and said they were going to go a different direction.&nbsp; 3.5 data sets ready to ship were pulled leaving customers without a legal way to purchase updates.&nbsp; This was well before V4 shipped.&nbsp; Then it took them a while after V4 shipped before the official WOTC tools became useful.&nbsp; Fast forward to V5.&nbsp; V5 was publicly in development for over two years IIRC.&nbsp; The final rules had to be set months before the books were sent to the printers.&nbsp; Why couldn't WOTC develop a simple character generator for simultaneous release with the PHB?&nbsp; They could have used it as free advertising for whatever tools they finally manage to get pushed out the door some number of months from now.&nbsp; Making or modifying a character generator for V5 can't be that hard since WOTC is sending out C&amp;D letters to folks that have already created them.&nbsp; Watching this is very much like watching Groundhog Day as we are now on the third trip down this loop.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Koloth, post: 7659874, member: 6706231"] Sadly, this is a repeating pattern for WOTC. At least with V3, they included in the initial printing of the PHB, a CD with an alpha version of Mastertools which did included a limited function character generator. The company that was supposed to finish MT failed. WOTC wound up working a license deal with a sub group of the PCGen character generator folks to both finish MT which wound up being called E-Tools and also making data sets for the PCGen program. Everyone won. Folks had their computerized character makers and WOTC could crank out more books. Don't remember if this was a 3.0 deal that carried over to 3.5 or if 3.5 was already out when the deal was made. When V4 was announced, WOTC yanked all the licenses and said they were going to go a different direction. 3.5 data sets ready to ship were pulled leaving customers without a legal way to purchase updates. This was well before V4 shipped. Then it took them a while after V4 shipped before the official WOTC tools became useful. Fast forward to V5. V5 was publicly in development for over two years IIRC. The final rules had to be set months before the books were sent to the printers. Why couldn't WOTC develop a simple character generator for simultaneous release with the PHB? They could have used it as free advertising for whatever tools they finally manage to get pushed out the door some number of months from now. Making or modifying a character generator for V5 can't be that hard since WOTC is sending out C&D letters to folks that have already created them. Watching this is very much like watching Groundhog Day as we are now on the third trip down this loop. [/QUOTE]

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