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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 6237570" data-attributes="member: 58197">My main hope with regard to the character builder is that the game will be simple enough that we don't need one.That said, I think the best solution here is for Wizards to open up the digital side of the game for third-party development. Create a database with all the monsters, feats, spells, and such-like. Put an API on top of that database which allows free access to a certain subset of content (the "core") and the rest for a subscription fee. Finally, provide a toolkit for third-party developers to authenticate subscribers and use their credentials to pull from the database. The toolkit could also allow third-party developers to charge via Wizards for access to their own products.In less technical terms, Wizards would create a kind of "app store" for D&D. Wizards supplies the content. Third-party developers can then create all sorts of character builders, DM assistants, virtual tabletops, and other services, which use that content. Users of those services get free access to a small set of "core" content, or they can pay for the equivalent of a DDI sub and have access to all of it.Wizards has not shown much aptitude for building electronic tools themselves. At the same time, they have an enthusiastic, slightly obsessive, and very tech-savvy fanbase. It's crazy not to take advantage of that.</blockquote>