D&D 5E Dungeonscape no more?
- Thread starter MintMMs
- Start date
Evenglare
Adventurer
Honestly, in my opinion, nothing of value was lost. I know it sounds mean and trollish but I don't mean it in an offensive way, it's just that the program is worthless right now other than some basic character building. The program had very very high goals and I think it was simply too overwhelming for them. In it's current state I'm not sure I would even want it at the table. There were simply too many bugs. BUT, there are more implications than you might think. The program was supposed to fill in the roll of pdfs, clearly that is not going to happen. So does this mean PDFs are coming? Of course it's too early to say, but at least there is a bit more hope.
Blackwarder
Adventurer
Wow, I wasn't expecting this... I was realy looking toward it...
Warder
Warder
transtemporal
Explorer
Aw man, that sucks. 
Unfortunately, I don't think labour-of-love is the way to go. Old school publishers don't respond to that. You have to tell them to themselves in order to get them interested.
Unfortunately, I don't think labour-of-love is the way to go. Old school publishers don't respond to that. You have to tell them to
themselves in order to get them interested.
Grazzt
Demon Lord
Hero Labs
Majoru Oakheart
Adventurer
Honestly, having been in the web beta and not seeing any real progress in the last month, I suspect WOTC grew impatient with waiting for the program to be completed.
You could not successfully make a character in the beta in the state it is in. At least not one that was 100% correct. It also didn't let you multiclass at all. I attempted to make 2 or 3 characters in it and after they all came out wrong, I decided to wait for the inevitable patch in a week or two that caused everything to work. When I didn't see any patches at all, I became concerned that it wasn't going to make any real progress for months and months.
I'm guessing WOTC saw the same thing and pulled the plug.
You could not successfully make a character in the beta in the state it is in. At least not one that was 100% correct. It also didn't let you multiclass at all. I attempted to make 2 or 3 characters in it and after they all came out wrong, I decided to wait for the inevitable patch in a week or two that caused everything to work. When I didn't see any patches at all, I became concerned that it wasn't going to make any real progress for months and months.
I'm guessing WOTC saw the same thing and pulled the plug.
TrippyHippy
Hero
WotC doesn’t need to have electronic tools for D&D. They just need to release their pdfs.
Sounds like what happened with Dungeon Tools (is that what it was called) for 3.0 way back when. Sad, very sad.
dd.stevenson
Super KY
The best case scenario isn't all that bad--it's quite possible that WotC has open-ish licensing plans which render exclusive agreements untenable. Which could explain, perhaps, why Trapdoor continues to have plans for Dungeonscape.
...of course, the worst case scenario is still pretty bad, and when it comes to Wotc and electronic products, I'm firmly in the "seeing is believing" camp.
...of course, the worst case scenario is still pretty bad, and when it comes to Wotc and electronic products, I'm firmly in the "seeing is believing" camp.
PinkRose
Explorer
DAMMMIT!!!!!
I want digital D&D.
I've been waiting since Core Rules 1.0 CD was installed on my Win95 PC.
16 years!
I want WotC to get this right.
I was so looking forward to this.
I am beyond frustrated.
I'm sorry Hobo. I hope things work out for you all. And if it's an open license kind of thing, I look forward to DungeonScape becoming a real product soon.
I want digital D&D.
I've been waiting since Core Rules 1.0 CD was installed on my Win95 PC.
16 years!
I want WotC to get this right.
I was so looking forward to this.
I am beyond frustrated.
I'm sorry Hobo. I hope things work out for you all. And if it's an open license kind of thing, I look forward to DungeonScape becoming a real product soon.
GimbleRaulnor
First Post
I wonder if this will increase the chances for proper pdfs. I sure hope so.
Ricochet
Explorer
Beta was going very slow. It would have been months before anything workable was available.
Realistically, they should have made all this software ready for the launch, but even when they didn't, they ought to put some serious commitment into it or simply not bother.
I'm not sure where the fault lies, but I'm hoping we'll see some kind of new tool from another Wizards partner through this, and hoping that web-development will be key rather than aim for iOS development as the primary platform.
Realistically, they should have made all this software ready for the launch, but even when they didn't, they ought to put some serious commitment into it or simply not bother.
I'm not sure where the fault lies, but I'm hoping we'll see some kind of new tool from another Wizards partner through this, and hoping that web-development will be key rather than aim for iOS development as the primary platform.
Scrivener of Doom
Adventurer
If Hasbro thinks that D&D has some value, it needs to have some professional managers - genuine managers with actual executive experience - running D&D. Sure, "suits" are disparaged but it's clear the gamers need some adult supervision.
Look at Google, although there is a monumental difference in scale. The creative guys realised they needed adult supervision - aka proper management - so Eric Schmidt was brought in. Now Hasbro couldn't afford someone of Eric Schmidt's calibre, but I am sure they can afford to hire at least one professional manager for the D&D team.
Look at Google, although there is a monumental difference in scale. The creative guys realised they needed adult supervision - aka proper management - so Eric Schmidt was brought in. Now Hasbro couldn't afford someone of Eric Schmidt's calibre, but I am sure they can afford to hire at least one professional manager for the D&D team.
That'll be Nathan Stewart, I imagine.
Henrix
Explorer
I am both saddened and relieved at these news.
Saddened because there were things I liked about it, and think it had potential. Also for the sake of Trapdoor.
But relieved because so little progress was made, at least as far as I could see with the web beta. It was useless, as others have said. You could not even make characters in it.
As for this delaying software, I cannot see it. Nothing happened with Dungeonscape.
(I also preferred the name Morningstar. Sounds much better than another weird neologism. D&D Morningstar would have been better.)
Perhaps the license could be given to some company that already makes software like this. Character building, scenario and campaign management, possibly battlefield implementation - it's not like it is untrodden ground.
Rather give us something that is fairly good but working, and then refining it, than trying to get it perfect in two years time.
Saddened because there were things I liked about it, and think it had potential. Also for the sake of Trapdoor.
But relieved because so little progress was made, at least as far as I could see with the web beta. It was useless, as others have said. You could not even make characters in it.
As for this delaying software, I cannot see it. Nothing happened with Dungeonscape.
(I also preferred the name Morningstar. Sounds much better than another weird neologism. D&D Morningstar would have been better.)
Perhaps the license could be given to some company that already makes software like this. Character building, scenario and campaign management, possibly battlefield implementation - it's not like it is untrodden ground.
Rather give us something that is fairly good but working, and then refining it, than trying to get it perfect in two years time.
Vicar In A Tutu
Explorer
This is extremely disappointing news. I didn't participate in the beta, so I can't say anything about the current state of the software, but me and my group loved the character builder in 4E and really want something similar for 5E.
Gargoyle
Adventurer
The only thing frustrating here for me is how WotC and their licensees lets us get our hopes up on digital projects then dashes them to the rocks. Not sure why they can't learn to keep these things low key until the business side is firm. I can't blame Trap Door, WotC has such a checkered history in this area that it's clear that they have a problem setting expectations and/or managing these type of licensees.
It's a double edged sword though, I want them to expose this stuff to us in early stages, like the 5e playtest; there is bound to be some disappointment when a project needs to have its plug pulled. And I do applaud both sides for making the hard decisions it must have taken to get to this point.
It's a double edged sword though, I want them to expose this stuff to us in early stages, like the 5e playtest; there is bound to be some disappointment when a project needs to have its plug pulled. And I do applaud both sides for making the hard decisions it must have taken to get to this point.
aramis erak
Legend
Try 18 years... It was 1996 when the CD came out. Actually, I was one of those chomping at the bit for it when first announced.
It wasn't much use to me, either, because it was bound up as a windows program set... until it got hacked for the RTF's inside. (Kaypro old-II, Apple II and Mac user. Kaypro and the IIGS still work. And I use android, not iOS...)
