DDI and third party publisher incompatability?

[joethelawyer]

just wondering, i have read what i could find about the ddi, and i think i get the gist of its basic operation/function. buy a book, get a code, and my ddi is enabled to use that book's contents on the ddi. that would include stuff like spells, prestige classes, feats, skills, etc. is my understanding correct?

if so, how does a third party publisher gets his stuff into the ddi? wotc cant possibly do a patch for every third party publisher's splat book.

also, hypothetically, if i only bought the phb1 and a year from now someone else bought the phb2, and we are both on ddi, how does that work? do we all need to have bought the same books to play together?

also, if the ddi shows rolls, how does a dm fudge things when needed?

thx

joe

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I don't think they want 3rd party stuff in DDI. I think that's half the point of it.

 

[Asmor]

You don't have to have the same books as someone else. You can basically make your characters using all the options available, however, you only get the names and such. If you have the book something is from, you get the full text.

Say you want the Uber Pwnage feat from Complete Roxor. If you don't have Complete Roxor, you can still take that feat. However, if you have Complete Roxor, you'll also be able to see the text of that feat.

 

[joethelawyer]

quote: "I don't think they want 3rd party stuff in DDI. I think that's half the point of it."


if thats the case, why would any third party publisher put out stuff for 4e, if they are going to be treated like a red headed stepchild?


joe

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

quote: "I don't think they want 3rd party stuff in DDI. I think that's half the point of it."


if thats the case, why would any third party publisher put out stuff for 4e, if they are going to be treated like a red headed stepchild?


joe

Conversely, why would WotC put effort (money, programmer time, etc) into something to sell 3rd party books?

A lot of third-party publishers will think having a small slice of a big pie is worth being the red-headed stepchild.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

They got rid of the book code for DDI. Now what happens is if you have a DDI account you can access the "Rules Database" it has every single piece of crunch from all WoTC books (there is also a free version, but it just gives page number and which book it is in).

So you essentially don't have to buy any books at all to get all the rules for D&D.

As for 3rd Party support on DDI, this is what we know from the FAQ:

Will 3rd party companies be able to use the D&D Insider tools? Specifically, could a company recreate one of their adventures or produce Digital Minis for a 4th Edition product?
Anyone, individuals and companies, will be able to use our tools to create free maps and adventure content usable on the D&D Game Table. Regarding the production of D&D Insider Digital Objects (3D tiles or Digital Miniatures), we will consider establishing new types of partnerships with other companies to expand the scope of these digital tools in a structured way.

So potentially 3rd Parties could get their things in the Rules Database or other such DDI projects. Though... Being 3rd Party and smaller, it is debatable if they would wish to have their rules on the Rules Database, least they get fewer sales.

 

[joethelawyer]

well, if some of the favorite stuff i like to use for my character or as a dm comes from a third party publisher, and i cant use it on the ddi, i wont use the ddi. they ought to see the benefit of letting everyone play in the sandbox to make a bigger and better sandcastle. thats how 3e grew so big, after all. this changes the whole dynamic between wotc and third party publishers also, it mybe sheds some light on why there is a delay on getting the third party licensing set up.

joe

 

[Fallen Seraph]

well, if some of the favorite stuff i like to use for my character or as a dm comes from a third party publisher, and i cant use it on the ddi, i wont use the ddi. they ought to see the benefit of letting everyone play in the sandbox to make a bigger and better sandcastle. thats how 3e grew so big, after all. this changes the whole dynamic between wotc and third party publishers also, it mybe sheds some light on why there is a delay on getting the third party licensing set up.

They have stated that when it comes to the Character Creator and VTT that you can alter things as much as you want. Their flagged as being "unofficial" (since your playing online so some people may wish to use only WoTC rules). But you can alter it as much as you wish.

So you can simply buy the book, put in the alteration in Character Creator and your done.

Edit: OH! and noticed your question about rolling dice, there are many options for this. It can be automatic, manually done and can be hidden or shown (shown even has a little tray with dice that roll around).

 

[joethelawyer]

thats encouraging. sounds like it might make a god pc/npc quik generator. i assume you can print your sheets up, right, and play pen and paper?

joe

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Yup you can print out the character sheets.

I am hopeful that since the VTT comes with all the MM monsters as tokens there will be a way to print those out. So print them out on cardstock, cut them out and good to go.