Character Builder Stopped my Son

[Zaukrie]

We were in the FLGS yesterday looking at the new minis and the Arcane splat book. I asked my son to think about whether or not he wanted the book, or if the character builder and compendium was enough. This is a 13 year old boy that loves to look at books and build characters.

We walked out with minis, but no book.

I thought this might happen, but not that my son would make this decision. Are the online tools keeping you from buying player type books?

We will be buying the next MM and DMG for sure. We bought PHBII, as there is more there than just rules (though not a lot). But, I'm not sure we'll buy another splat book or not.

 

[Festivus]

Not me. I like the splat books for use in my home to read in a comfortable chair. I find the CB too hard to use for power comparisons, I prefer to see them on the printed page all together rather than clicking back and forth between powers.

Splat books never leave my house however, I only carry my PHB with me when I go places. The CB and power cards really help in that department. My 3.5 game I carry about 30Lbs of books to my buddy's place.

 

[wedgeski]

I've bought in hard-copy just about everything that's been released. The Compendium is a wonderful tool (the Character Builder, doubly so) but I'm not ready for my roleplaying to be solely in the digital domain just yet.

Maybe next edition, at least as far as splats are concerned. As long as D&D continues to birth itself in the form of a PHB, DMG, and MM, I will continue to buy them.

 

[OchreJelly]

I'm probably WoTC's favorite type of customer because I like both. I DM 100% also:

1) I like the Compendium and CB for game prep. As a DM I've used the CB to create pregens for one-shots which has been invaluable.
2) I like the books for idea-mining, and referencing. The 4E books actually serve as great at-the-table references (the 4E MM I can run encounters right out of the book easily).

 

[Agamon]

I made a promise to myself before 4e came out that I wouldn't overload on the PC splats. The PHBs I would buy; the rest, I would not. Having the info in CB has made that promise easy to live up to. Now I can allow this feat or that paragon path without the book sitting on the shelf and my players assuming everything is fair game.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

Not me. I like the splat books for use in my home to read in a comfortable chair.

QFT x 100.

 

[Cadfan]

Yes, online tools have stopped me from buying books. I purchased my DDI subscription with the express purpose of liberating myself from the need to purchase certain books which I believe will likely exceed the cost of the DDI subscription.

 

[Dragonblade]

I like having the books to read. I hate reading on a computer screen since thats what I have to do all day at work. DDI is nice but is no substitute for having something tangible in my hands that I can read in bed or sitting comfortably in a chair.

This is one of the reasons why I don't buy PDFs either. I like real physical books in hand. I don't mind helpful computer based tools like DDI and the character builder, but I will never play an RPG that is not published in book form or that requires a computer to play. I like books, pencils, paper, and dice.

 

[ferratus]

Count me as another one who prefers the subscription to buying the rulebooks. I never bought the splatbooks in 3e either, as I could never justify the cost of the full book for 1 or 2 rules inside them I wanted. With the compendium and the character builder, I pay $5 a month for the right to the rules I want when I want. WotC is getting more money from me for rules than they did in 3.5, and I'm getting more play options. So hopefully everyone thinks this is win/win, and someone doesn't see my lack of buying books as lost sales. After all, I'm still buying as many minis as my budget can afford, and I have been collecting the H,P,E adventures. I also bought the fluff-heavy Manual of the Planes, which is the type of book I'd really consider buying for reading through. Future purchases planned include the Monster Manual 2, Revenge of the Giants, and the Plane Below. However, I'm just not interested in the books I only need to look at during character creation time.

 

[samursus]

DDI has allowed me to not buy books as well... I probably would buy the books if my financial situation had not downgraded...that is all.