D&D Game Table not Mac-Compatible at launch

[SPoD]

since 2 of the apps( table and character vault) are using a 3d DirectX shader 2.0 engine to function I would seriously not hold your breath for either of those to be ported to Mac Os8+ anytime soon.

IF it was an OpenGL engine sure..DX? Not so much

Huh. Well, I guess I'm even more screwed.

As it stands, I am far more committed to my choice of computer platform than my choice of roleplaying game system. So unless more news comes out, I guess I'll be either continuing with 3.5, or switching to something else.

I did always want to try a Promethean campaign...

 

[Nifft]

Honestly, just the idea that WotC is planning a client of any sort scares me. They haven't proven themselves very capable with software, and I'd like to see them do easy things (like improve their website) before more difficult things like develop networked clients.

This is a very good point.

Their website has not been a point of strength in terms of software (reliability, innovation, etc.). They haven't shown us a lot of great stand-alone software. I wonder who they got to do the client(s).

I wonder if they'd do better with an open-source client (and a "reference" release for Windows platform only).

Hmmm, -- N

 

[Imp]

It's important to note that non-Windows users are probably overrepresented in the D&D market than in the general population. The geeks who play D&D are more likely to be on alternate platforms, so WotC should be thinking about it from day one. It's a lot easier to develop a software platform from the beginning to be multiplatform than to try to retrofit it later on.

Honestly, just the idea that WotC is planning a client of any sort scares me. They haven't proven themselves very capable with software, and I'd like to see them do easy things (like improve their website) before more difficult things like develop networked clients.

Yeah definitely. The software end of things is what I am most suspicious of when it comes to this whole 4th edition business. I mean, maybe if Google had bought them (for some hilarious reason)... I don't know.

(reads)

Oh, god, they're using DirectX rendering for their online character vault? This is gonna be gross. Goody, weird-looking 3D avatars that you can never get to look quite right!

(sticks to Mac, vague hope that somebody will yoink their plans and put it on a nice clean snappy web interface)

 

[I'm A Banana]

I'm sure they will support macs, probably sooner rather than later.

In the interim, do that partial pay-per-awesome-thing idea they've got floating around: one-time fees for access to the individual best things.

That's probably what I'll start off doing, Mac support issues aside.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Not only that, Blizzard supports macs with near simultaneous releases, if I am correct.

No, not "near-simultaneous." They're hybrid discs. Every Blizzard game since at least Warcraft III (and I think it may have started with Starcraft) is a Mac/PC disc.

It's just not that hard to do -- ESPECIALLY ON THE WEB -- if they start planning for it from day one.

I use a Mac at work, and I had been hoping to get my game on during my lunch hour. I suspect we're going to have a situation where Mac support will come eventually at best, since they've already started down the path and are now committed to a certain target date.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's important to note that non-Windows users are probably overrepresented in the D&D market than in the general population.

Like the "D&D players have higher IQs than the rest of the population on average" chestnut, I'm extremely skeptical of this claim.

Hell, the number of people who refuse to use anything from any publisher than WotC should be enough to suggest that there's plenty of people who would never think of straying from Microsoft.

 

[Nifft]

It's just not that hard to do -- ESPECIALLY ON THE WEB -- if they start planning for it from day one.

Exactly.

And it can be VERY hard to do if you don't plan for it. The difference in the amount of work you can save through good planning is simply staggering when it comes to porting.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Shawn_Kehoe]

The DirectX news is disappointing. I boot up my Mac in Windows to play Half-Life 2, I could do the same for D&D, but it will definitely have an effect on my ability to grab documents and images on the fly. Parallels Desktop may be an option. It definitely is a downer for the non-Intel mac crowd.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

The difference in the amount of work you can save through good planning is simply staggering when it comes to porting.

It does feel like so much of the DI has been either an afterthought or like they are doing everything by the seat of their pants with duct tape and bailing wire. So I'm expecting a clumsy port that will take forever, not be feature complete, and never be on parity with the Windows version.

But I'm just a pessimist on this matter.

 

[Shawn_Kehoe]

So, according to the news on the front page regarding the 4E Q&A seminar, when asked point blank about what platforms would be able to access the DnD Insider content, the panel members responded, "Starting with PC, because there are more."

Sadly, this has turned my opinion of DnD Insider from, "cautiously optimistic" to "angry and annoyed" because it means that I won't get to use it. I only own a Mac. At work, I use only a Mac. I've never used a PC in my life, in fact, and I'm not about to start now for a D&D subscription. (Please don't turn this thread into an argument convincing me to use a PC, that's not the point.)

So I'm going to be left out of the "glorious new vision" of online D&D for who-knows-how-long. A year? Two years? Or will it be two years, followed by, "Our research indicates that not enough Mac users are interested in our service to warrant the cost." Or will it show up, only for me to find that I can only play D&D online with other Mac players, because they couldn't be bothered to make cross-platform play an option?

I know I will still be able to access Dragon and Dungeon digital magazines--actually, I don't KNOW that, I just assume it, so there's still room for disappointment there. But all of the online tools that will make Insider worth $120 a year are certain to be unavailable to me, which means I'm stuck either paying $10 a month for a severely truncated set of content compared to the rest of you, or I don't pay the subscription and miss out on Dragon and Dungeon anyway.

What I would like to see is this:
1.) Obviously, my first choice would be for Mac content to be ready at launch, but since that's already been shot down, I would like to see a hard-and-fast date for launching Mac content. I need to know when I can expect to be playing online, because it WILL influence my 4th Edition purchasing decisions.
2.) Guarantees on whether a Mac version would be able to play online with PC users.
3.) (Least likely, but most needed) A partial subscription option that allows me to subscribe to the parts of DnD Insider that will be Mac-compatible without paying for the parts that won't be. If I could pay $5 a month just for digital Dragon/Dungeon and the website itself, I would do it in without blinking. (Assuming, again, that even Dragon/Dungeon will be in a cross-platform format. They might not be.)

Anyone else in the same boat? Any other ideas on how they could keep Mac gamers from abanoning them?

A thought - even if they do make it Mac-compatible, would they design it as a Universal app, or Intel-only? The Intel machines will be 2.5 years old by the time D&D 4e launches.