DDI September/October Update info

[I'm A Banana]

Now, I'm not saying they're not, but...

- If WotC was developing a new tool that had nothing to do with the CB, it wouldn't affect CB development times.

If they're developing it with the same team, it would. There's only so many labor hours to go around.

- CB has had just one programmer assigned to it for the last several releases, which supports the previous two points. It doesn't make sense for WotC to give CB so few resources given that they knew Essentials was coming down the pike.

Which actually supports the counterpoint. If that programmer has been called away to do anything else -- CB or otherwise -- it would affect CB times.

- New content is coming to the Compendium but not the CB, which also supports the second point. Adding new content to the Compendium seems like fairly simple data entry. There's typos in some of the entries' HTML code which wouldn't be there if individual Compendium listings were machine-generated.

So the CB requires a bigger overhaul than they had originally scheduled in. That seems like the Occam's Razor answer. The simplest explanation is that they simply didn't realize how big of an overhaul.

- The current DDI subscription is a huge giveaway. $10 for ALL crunch ever created--ever? When you have to pay >$20 each for a dozen books otherwise? That's beyond generous. And the data sits on your hard drive, meaning that the tool is easily cracked and pirated even if you program it to check the subscription before starting.

I believe it's the idea that "regular subscription trumps mercurial monthly sales." If they get $10/month out of you for sure, that's better than maybe $20. And there's probably a higher profit margin on the subscription than on a book sale to boot (pretty sure less than half of that book sale goes back to WotC).

The rest of the stuff doesn't seem like very strong support.

I mean, maybe. Certainly nothing I'm saying rules it out. But there seem to be much simpler explanations for the things we're seeing than "CB OVERHAUL CHARGE MORE ANGER FANS WHOA CONTROVERSY!"

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I'm not saying they are going to charge anymore. In fact, I'm looking forward to any CB Overhaul that might come out. I can't wait to see what they've been working on for months.

For me, the key was when one of the prime DDI developers posted on the WOTC message boards in response to someone asking if we were ever going to hear anything about the Virtual Game Table or any tools to be added to the DM Tools at all since it appeared that the DDI staff was doing absolutely nothing.

I wish I could find the post, but it was within the last month and it said (I'm paraphrasing): "We aren't doing nothing. We just aren't allowed to talk about what we're working on. WOTC has learned it's lesson about announcing things too early and not being able to deliver. So, our new policy is not to discuss any project before it is already completed. But rest assured, there is a team who is dedicated to working on new projects(that is not part of the team that updates the character builder) who has been working constantly on something big for the last couple of months that we're really excited about and I think all of you will be too. I wish I could tell you about it, but I can't. Although, I won't have to stay silent much longer."

 

[Truename]

If they're developing it with the same team, it would. There's only so many labor hours to go around.

True.

So the CB requires a bigger overhaul than they had originally scheduled in. That seems like the Occam's Razor answer. The simplest explanation is that they simply didn't realize how big of an overhaul.

Also quite probable.

I believe it's the idea that "regular subscription trumps mercurial monthly sales." If they get $10/month out of you for sure, that's better than maybe $20. And there's probably a higher profit margin on the subscription than on a book sale to boot (pretty sure less than half of that book sale goes back to WotC).

The "$10 for all crunch" (combined with the announcement of web-based tools) is what makes me think a rewrite is likely. All the rest is just supporting evidence. Remember, it's not "$10 / month subscription" -- it's "buy one month, download the CB, and keep using it for as long as you want." I see that advice on ENWorld all the time, and I tell my players the same thing. In addition, WotC really hates piracy, and from my 5-second Google search, it looks like the CB is very easily pirated.

This is all theoretical, of course, and maybe WotC is planning something else. But a new online CB fits the evidence. So does a major overhaul to the UI of the existing product--that's what I was expecting before hearing about the "web-based tools."

A third possibility that fits the evidence is completely new tools and no major changes to the CB. But I'll be very surprised if that's true.

(As an aside, I'm an author, and for my publisher the deal is that the retail store gets half of the cover price and the publisher gets the other half. My understanding is that's a typical arrangement.)

 

[Allaric]

I don't know why people are automatically jumping to "they're going to change the CB!"

...Probably because the builder is the only thing that was promised and delivered from the original DDI product previews.

...Probably because it is the only thing most of us pay for.

...Probably because it is two months behind schedule and Essentials has a retrograde design structure that doesn't match the current software.

Thats why.

 

[Allaric]

Ps

PS: If they are making an entirely new character builder, regardless of its online/offline capabilities, I would be completely astonished if it supported anything other than Essential builds when it was first released.

With all the complaints rolling downhill a speedy and rushed Essentials only builder is likely. That would be OK at first as long as the old builder continued to operate by my new Essentials Warpriest has feats and powers from previous books and it wouldn't be usable in an Essentials-only builder.

So it would be useless to me if the new builder didn't support the existing books.

 

[BASHMAN]

PS: If they are making an entirely new character builder, regardless of its online/offline capabilities, I would be completely astonished if it supported anything other than Essential builds when it was first released.

With all the complaints rolling downhill a speedy and rushed Essentials only builder is likely. That would be OK at first as long as the old builder continued to operate by my new Essentials Warpriest has feats and powers from previous books and it wouldn't be usable in an Essentials-only builder.

So it would be useless to me if the new builder didn't support the existing books.

So if it is Essentials only, How can I build a Mul Essentials Fighter/Slayer? I hope that isn't the case, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were. Still be disappointed, just not surprised.

 

[Lord Ernie]

So if it is Essentials only, How can I build a Mul Essentials Fighter/Slayer? I hope that isn't the case, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were. Still be disappointed, just not surprised.

Err... the guy above you is just speculating. Hell, all of this is pure speculation, and unless WotC is dead-set on pissing of its customer base, it's all pretty unlikely speculation.

I know this is the internet, and people demand the right to cry foul and have a good bout of nerdrage, or alternatively, declare everything WotC works on to be made of solid gold, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? All we know is that 'new web-based tools for DDi' are in development, which could more or less mean anything. Seriously, I'm a programmer, and there's virtually nothing you can't slap a web-based front-end on and call it a web-based tool.

Until we know more about what they are working on, there's very little point in speculating.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

A online character builder? Maybe. But would this really be something that would excite all fans (as mudbunny's enthusiasm seems to suggest?) Maybe it really works on all platforms but I am not sure that's really exciting enough to most of us. Obviously the majority of current subscribers is already using Windows. Many of us might see it as a problem, since it doesn't allow the "subscribe periodically to get latest update.

It seems more like to be something else. Whatever it is. Maybe it is part of the Adventure Tools. A Campaign Planning tool or something.

 

[Jack99]

It seems more like to be something else. Whatever it is. Maybe it is part of the Adventure Tools. A Campaign Planning tool or something.

That's what I am hoping for. Of course, it is also what has the biggest possible chance of being an epic fail. Now, I am very happy with the CB and the MB as tools, but they (WotC) haven't quite convinced me that they have what it takes to create a campaign planning tool worth using.

We will have to see.

 

[Katana_Geldar]

Speaking as someone who has tempermental Internet, I would scream blue murder if they made it web-based.