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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Keldryn" data-source="post: 5366149" data-attributes="member: 11999">SilverlightI would argue that their decision to use Silverlight is a forward-thinking approach.I think that people are getting too focused on the character builder as an application unto itself.  Given that the first Web-based tool is a rewrite of a tool that we already have, I think it is safe to say that this is the first component of an integrated suite of tools.  A more traditional HTML + Javascript + ASP.NET/PHP architecture could probably have done the job for the character builder alone, although as a developer with signficant experience in those technologies as well as Silverlight I think it would be faster to build it in Silverlight.   But as more tools are added to the suite, the value of the Silverlight platform will become more apparent.The character builder is the logical place to start when launching a new suite of online tools, and if the suite grows to include a virtual tabletop, character visualizer/designer, mapping tools, and the like, Silverlight's graphical capabilities will be essential.  With characters being saved "to the cloud" by default, it makes it easy to pull those characters into an adventure design tool, or into a VTT session.  If the character visualizer is released, then it can be plugged into the character builder very easily.  One thing that is important here is that Silverlight is essentially a platform, and the difference is much like developing games for the PC vs games for the consoles.  Cross-browser compatibility issues are the bane of web developers everywhere, and trying to include progressive new features while not having the application break on IE6, 7, or 8 can be a nightmare (and IE 9 will only work on Vista or Windows 7 installs, not XP).Using Silverlight for the PC and Mac does not mean that iPads will be left out in the cold.  Were I in charge of making these decisions, I would probably choose to build a Silverlight client for PC and Mac to support the full suite of D&D online tools and then build a separate iOS client for the iPad that is customized for that device -- assuming that there is a large enough market to justify the expense.  I haven't seen it mentioned here, but I've seen it on the WoTC boards, so I will mention that you don't need IE in order to use Silverlight.  Firefox, Chrome, and Safari all run Silverlight apps perfectly fine.</blockquote>

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