No Character Builder Update

[drothgery]

If I were to guess, the D&Di team fell prey to one of the classic mistakes in software estimation. They realized they weren't going to have Dark Sun (and the rest of the August content) done in time for the normal first-Tuesday of the month update, but instead of just pushing that update (and the rest of the updates this year!) out a week, they said 'okay, we'll be two weeks late, but we'll push out the Essentials content at the same time!'. Which you should never do (promise to make up for being late by adding more features), but happens all the time, and almost never works out because the new features make things later.

So they started working on adding the essentials features as well, and now the code's in a state where they can't easily roll back the Essentials features and do an August-only update.

 

[Marshall]

Well, I think what we have to remember is we get what we pay for. At $7 a month I'm guessing the staff simply doesn't exist to incorporate all of DS, including new rules elements like themes, PLUS all the stuff needed to support Essentials (which is again going a good bit beyond just dropping in some new powers and such).

In any case they're basically saying the ship date on the update has slipped a couple weeks. Not ideal, but in the software world stuff has to WORK before you can ship it. What do you want? Broken code? They gotta both make money and try as best they can to please everyone, AND at the cheapest price possible. As we say in the software world, cheap, fast, good, pick two.

No, the ship date on this update was 9/1. Its already been delayed for 3 weeks to allow for Essentials. Now the Sept Update has been Cancelled and they are hoping to actually get the OCT out on time.
This, combined with the collapse of the Dragon release schedule this month, should lead to every DDI subscriber demanding a refund of this months fees.

 

[knifie_sp00nie]

For all the complainers, how would you like it if several hundred people started screaming at you every time something went wrong at your job? What jobs do you have where everything runs perfectly and no one is ever sick or management doesn't meddle so projects never get delayed? Maybe you should set up a forum discussing your job so I can post about how incompetent you are every time you slip up or are the victim of outside circumstances.

If you've ever worked in software development you've lived through what's going on at WotC many times. The character builder seems impressively flexible, but adding exceptions and new behaviors will usually hit snags you didn't anticipate. Then there's testing. If a release went out with major bugs they'd get three times the amount of grief they are getting now.

I was looking forward to the update as well, but I don't think WotC owes me anything from this except their intent to get things done right. All of the existing DDI infrastructure is still up and running properly. Unless this stretches out for way too long I still think I'm getting my money's worth.

And accusations of fraud? Really? My understanding is that takes intent. This is just a snafu that could happen to any business.

Where is your humanity? Is this how you treat your friends, significant other, or children? Do you hold them to impossibly high standards? Do you curse and hate them when they make a mistake?

 

[MrMyth]

Exactly. The people that paid for a ddi subscription to get the September updates are getting ripped off. They are paying for a product and not receiving the product. I believe that could technically be considered fraud. If they want to refund customers subscriptions or give them a month free, that would be fair. It probably won't happen, but it would the right thing to do.

Actually, I believe that is what happened on the previous occasion where a CB update wasn't available for a month. Anyone whose subscription was going to end that month (thus leaving them without that next update) could contact Customer Service and have their subscription freely extended by a month.

No idea if they will do that here, but I'd be very surprised if they didn't. I doubt they'll make any public sort of offer of a free month, but I suspect anyone who complains about the change will be compensated in some fashion.

 

[Artoomis]

1. I am very disappointed.

2. I am, however, not terribly surprised.

3. WotC has over-promised and under-delivered. Again. (Virtual Gaming Table, anyone??)

<Sigh.> There is a fair bit of material I'd like to see published in CB/Compendium. The last Dragon issue, for example. <Heavy sigh.>

 

[hafrogman]

Where is your humanity?

It is reserved for dealing with humans. Wizards of the Coast is a company.

It is not my child, my girlfriend or my friend. I don't get to hang out with WotC when I'm bored, they never go to see movies with me when my other friends are busy, and WotC has NEVER, EVER helped me move.

It is good to remember that there are real people behind the company, yes. But you can't treat a corporation like an individual, the scales are simply too different. If anyone is looking up the credits for the character builder and berating the individuals behind it, then you're right, they're going too far. But expressing dissatisfaction with a company as a whole is an extremely different situation.

 

[MerricB]

It is not a programming job. Or if DDi database has been designed properly it should not be a programming job. It should be simply a question of enough people that can do head down data entry.

I'm sorry... updating the Character Builder with Essentials is not a programming job? You really have no clue, do you?

The changes in D&D Essentials make a fundamental change to how D&D character creation works. It might look similar, but it isn't. I'm very glad I don't have the job of programming it, because it'd be a major task. I'm tremendously disappointed that it isn't ready yet, but I'm not going to dismiss the scale of the task.

Conversely, the D&D Compendium *should* be ready. As it is just a database with a simple set of filters, that should really just be a case of data entry.

 

[Verys Arkon]

The CB has been so useful that my entire group dreads making up characters by hand. In fact, we have been delaying the start of our new Dark Sun campaign because we wanted the CB to be ready. Technology has made us lazy, for sure.

 

[im_robertb]

The CB has been so useful that my entire group dreads making up characters by hand. In fact, we have been delaying the start of our new Dark Sun campaign because we wanted the CB to be ready. Technology has made us lazy, for sure.

Just want to echo this. Especially for creating new characters, things like the changes to racial ability scores are important. Still deciding if I just want to tell people about the changes or delay starting my KotS campaign a month.

 

[Goonalan]

For all the complainers, how would you like it if several hundred people started screaming at you every time something went wrong at your job? What jobs do you have where everything runs perfectly and no one is ever sick or management doesn't meddle so projects never get delayed? Maybe you should set up a forum discussing your job so I can post about how incompetent you are every time you slip up or are the victim of outside circumstances.

If you've ever worked in software development you've lived through what's going on at WotC many times. The character builder seems impressively flexible, but adding exceptions and new behaviors will usually hit snags you didn't anticipate. Then there's testing. If a release went out with major bugs they'd get three times the amount of grief they are getting now.

I was looking forward to the update as well, but I don't think WotC owes me anything from this except their intent to get things done right. All of the existing DDI infrastructure is still up and running properly. Unless this stretches out for way too long I still think I'm getting my money's worth.

And accusations of fraud? Really? My understanding is that takes intent. This is just a snafu that could happen to any business.

Where is your humanity? Is this how you treat your friends, significant other, or children? Do you hold them to impossibly high standards? Do you curse and hate them when they make a mistake?

You're right of course but I guess I don't feel that often that WOTC are my friends (let alone significant others or children), I'll not go into the reasons- it would take too long.

I'm not a mean guy, I'm actually a very nice guy, as to my job I work late, take work home with me and generally go out of my way to do the right thing.

I can still feel disppointment with WOTC though, I don't feel defrauded- it's not that kind of extreme reaction, it's just that I guess I've fallen into the role of consumer, and WOTC (at times) doesn't meet my expectations.

I don't demand that things are right (all the time), or on time (all the time), I just see it (rightly or wrongly) of another thing that WOTC has slipped up on. And you may not see it that way- and that's of course fine and dandy...

I can't help but worry though- that things are getting a little... messed up, maybe that's not the right word. I'm a 4e maniac, upto three games a week (when I'm on leave), all (atm) with people who are brand new to the sport (or were when we started).

I'm having problems tracking the changes that have come, or are coming- depending on whether you have the books or are reliant on the CB et al. I usually ask here when I need to work things out but... It'd just be nice if DDi could keep up, keep me better informed.

Perhaps part of the problem is that there are som many pre-release previews, or chatter here- it just sometimes feels that the on-line takes a good while to catch up.

Remember I said I had a job that I was quite good/conscientious at- well that eats great chunks of my life, I rely on DDi- probably too much but at present I have 36 4th edition hard bound WOTC D&D books on the shelf to my right- I've not read one of them all the way through (remember that job again) the DDi means I don't have to carry any of them between point A and point B, or know the page for rules on...

I'd like the updates to be better managed, I'd also like some new developments, and maybe some of the stuff that was promised when 4e rolled out... but the latter is for another day, or else I'll just keepon hoping.

Lastly I'd like you, and I really am I nice guy, I promise- I'd like you and those that felt defrauded (perhaps) to not tell me off so much for feeling like I do... I mean I'm not going to fret that you feel I shouldn't complain, I promise you I'll sleep like a tot tonight, but... my humanity?

LOL

You're entitled to one of course (an opinion) but come on... this is the internet- stop bustin' my chops for being part of a gang of folks having a whinge on the net.

Oh and nobody is actually screaming at anybody... really, just some stuff on the internet- meh.

I promise you nobodies humanity will suffer, this evening, or any other.

LOVE

Goonalan