Character Builder Stopped my Son

[Solodan]

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.

Unfortunately, I'm in teh same situation. Because of recent developments, I have to tone back on book purchases. Since I've already got DDI, I'm not really all that concerned. Works out pretty well actually.

I pretty much buy books either right away or not at all. Every time I need something from adventurer's vault, I just look it up in CB. Not as easy, but makes that 60 dollar investment all that much stronger.

 

[timbannock]

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.

I don't know if a majority will follow this route as time goes on, but I definitely see it becoming more and more common.

Personally, I DM 9 times out of 10, and on a limited budget, I decided that DDI would be my source for crunch, so the only things I will purchase will be stuff that I need as a DM: adventures for storyline, setting books for fluff, and any monster books that aren't WOTC made (because the monsters obviously won't end up in the Compendium if they aren't WOTC monsters).

Cutting out purchases like "Setting X Player's Guide", PHB2+, Monster Manual 2+, Draconomicon, and all that really saves me some $$$

If I were a player, I'd probably only buy the books that I know I'd reference the powers/items of often: for me, I like Martial characters so PHB, Martial Power and PHB2 would be must-haves, but the rest I could leave to DDI for the info I *might* use out of them.

 

[alleynbard]

Count me as one who likes both the book and the ease of using the Compendium and Character Builder. These are great tools when it comes to character building or quick rule checks, but I find it difficult to place powers and builds in context through those resources alone.

I really like the physical book to read and peruse. And if I didn't grab Arcane Power I would have never seen some of the great little sidebars sprinkled throughout the book. Some of these are simply things I already knew but provide good guidelines for new players. Some of them, like the one titled Illusion Magic, give a bit of insight into the designer's motivations.

Since we game at my house, the books are already there. But the online resources (like power cards) mean they rarely leave the shelf in the middle of the game. This kind of compartmentalization of the rules is a real strength of the system and how it plays at the table.

 

[Piratecat]

I decided to buy the Draconomicon after seeing it in the Compendium. I wouldn't have spent the money otherwise, I think.

 

[ki11erDM]

Stopped me from buying books? Yes. Stopped me from putting them on my wish list at Amazon? No. So I still get most of them just in lumps.

DMG's are so great now I will be buying every one of them. And probably PHs as well. Not so sure about the MMs... it will need to be a spectacular book with lots of good story stuff as well as crunch.

AVs and Adventures and Splats are all on my wish list.

 

[Malacoda]

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

Or on a not-so-comfortable throne.

I do both books and a DDI sub. I find I use the two in difference circumstances.

 

[Mark]

I might be in the minority in that I more often read from my computer screen than from a book since most of the time I am on the go with a laptop along for the ride. Books are great for material I cannot get in an electronic format, and I have many, but the inconvenience of lugging them doesn't fit my busy lifestyle.

 

[arscott]

As someone who's never owned a "class&class" or "complete" book in eight years of 3e, I can pretty safely say that the character builder hasn't kept me from purchasing splatbooks.

 

[Nymrohd]

I cannot browse a book at my leisure in the Character Builder, or the compendium. Heck not even in pdf format. I want an actual physical book I can read through when bored, before I go to sleep or on other occasions when people enjoy light reading . . .