D&D 5E D&D Next and the Character Builder

[Umbran]

What they SHOULD do (IMO) is this:

1. Set up a character builder for the core/basic ruleset and give access to it for FREE.

1. 
   
   This first step is unlikely. "We just did two years of R&D, and we'll give that content to everyone online for free, hoping we make it back on module and supplement sales alone..." is probably a non-starter.
   
   Making it free for those who have bought the book may be more palatable. But managing codes for that sort of thing gets to be a bit of a bear. Expect to pay for the basic content separately online. Expect it to be a subscription format with a small monthly fee: flat, one-time fees set the expectation that the user owns the content, and thus deserves support for the content in perpetuity, which isn't practical for a business - running servers costs money, and your own time fee doesn't pay for those servers forever.

 

[PinkRose]

People who were interested in D&D Next already have the rules for free. They just aren't with fancy graphics and art. I've been playing a campaign since they released the beta download.
So giving away the character creator for free isn't that far-fetched.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

A free CB for the core rules makes sense. Presumably at least one person in the group bought a core book.

A free CB that gives out the extra rules does not. If you don't buy the splatbooks and don't have a subscription to an online tool, how does WotC make money beyond selling the core books?

 

[SteveC]

So I thought I would put my $.02 forward on what I'd like. First, if the rules are even as complex as the have been in the playtest, I want to see an electronic character builder. Since I suspect they will be more complex, I really would like the option, since it makes it lightning fast to make a character.

I am an Android user, and so I am used to app purchases as well as "DLC" to get additional options. On my PC, I use Steam, which also has app purchases and additional DLC.

What I would like to see is WotC partner with an existing platform to deliver their builder rather than reinvent the wheel with a product they design themselves.

I am perfectly content with Steam, and I know that Steam has offerings in Windows, Mac and Linux environments, so things are pretty much covered there. I know some folks really don't like Steam for different reasons, and I'm not entirely sold on them, but I know that for me, it just works.

would love it if I could buy an App for my Android tablet, and there was also an option for iOS as well.

So here's my suggestion: everything in the game at "app store purchases." I would release the character builder for the core rules for free, and then price ad-ons at around $5 per book or $2 for something like a month of Dragon magazine.

At that rate, if I were playing 5E I would pick everything up.

Now the thing is: I know this system could be pirated, and would be, but I would buy it like crazy. There are sources for Android apps that are illegal, but the thing is, with 95% of the apps at $5 or less, I don't know anyone who bothers. Steam is having a sale at the moment, and I've picked up so many games that I might not even get to play all of them. That's what keeping the price low means.

Now the examples I've given (Steam, App Store for Android, Apple Store) are something I'm sold on, just an example of things that work right now that WotC could partner with. What I would not like to see is a proprietary app that locks out a ton of people and, frankly, doesn't work very well.

If I'm playing Next, that's what I would hope for. I hope someone at WotC is listening...

 

[DerekSTheRed]

The software development team that built the 4E character builder are all still there (unless they got laid off and I didn't notice). They've been working on something so it's not unreasonable to assume a 5E character builder is in the works.

 

[darjr]

The software development team that built the 4E character builder are all still therecharacter

I don't think this is true, at least one of their high profile developers works now for someone else

 

[DM Howard]

I'm hoping for something exactly like DDI was for 4E, except with off-line capabilities and they'd be crazy to not make it work for all editions.

 

[dd.stevenson]

The software development team that built the 4E character builder are all still there

No. They're not.

How many remain is an open question: it'd be interesting to make a list and check it against google.

 

[Shemeska]

The software development team that built the 4E character builder are all still there (unless they got laid off and I didn't notice). They've been working on something so it's not unreasonable to assume a 5E character builder is in the works.

I was acquainted with one of the coders on the team that created the offline character builder (the first in-house team that took over after the outsourced DDI fell flat). To my knowledge none of the members of that team that wrote code have been with Wizards for years. One of them had an interview posted online shortly after he left Wizards touching on that tenure in tangent, though I don't have a link handy. I believe it was contract work for most of them (at least it was for one in specific that I knew). A different team coded the online tools next.

I didn't know any of the people coding the online tools, but I do know that Paulo Marcucci who was the lead of that group or at least the most publicly visible person there left for another company a year or two ago. I'm not sure of the names of other people who also did development on the second set of in-house tools to say if any of them are still there, and how large the team even is any more.

 

[Warunsun]

If I'm playing Next, that's what I would hope for. I hope someone at WotC is listening...

Wizards did something similar to this during third edition. It was called e-tools. You paid a certain amount for the base character builder program and then a smaller amount for the data files for each book. The management of the program changed companies and was eventually dropped before all the books were completed. It was less than ideal. The good thing is was that it did work offline but I paid a good amount for e-tools data files and I suspect I would have a heck of a time getting them to install now.