Online CB yea or nay?

[webrunner]

I'm abstaining for now, because whether it's a 'yay' for me depends on when they fix the broken legal character issues like multiple weapon support and set items.

I can work around no houserule items (just keep a separate file of "quest items" and notes to that regard) and no history textbox (same difference) and other things, but given that I have a player who is a two-weapon ranger working on Blade Dancers his character si basically unplayable out of this

 

[Herschel]

So you hate it because you can't download everything for $10.

 

[Stoat]

Meh.

I DM, and I never really used the old Character Builder. I opened the online version, futzed around with it and quit out because (a) it was sloooow; and (b) holy cow! option bloat.

If it peeves my players, it'll be bad for my game. If they don't mind it, then it has a neutral effect on my game.

I mostly subscribe to the DDI for the Compendium, and I agree with Henry that the new format is less good than the old format.

 

[P1NBACK]

I'm supremely disappointed, as I've stated in other threads. The functionality and navigation is incredibly subpar imo.

I'm especially miffed at the complete lack of customization. I give my players bonus feats and we could do that in the old CB. You can't in this CB. Therefore, I'd still have to use paper and pencil to track characters. Absolutely ridiculous.

My opinion is summed up with a conversation I had with a player (who happens to be a programmer) over chat last night:

10:49 PM Joshua: wow this character builder is crap
me: I hate it.
I canceled my subscription.
Joshua: I can't get past the first screen!
10:50 PM me: I absolutely hate it. I can't believe they could have taken a step back with the functionality of the product.
And the customization is EVEN LESS than the already abysmal CB in that respect.
I can't add bonus feats, nothing.
It's garbage.
10:51 PM Joshua: really? wow that's bad
10:52 PM they must have a bunch of scrubs designing their software
I mean, the first mistake was going with Silverlight. Wtf.
10:53 PM me: Yeah. I don't think they have a very good, nor large, team there.
So, it's the worst of both worlds.
10:55 PM Joshua: it's not even version 1.0 lol... v0.1.4.0
beta??
10:57 PM me: They've never released software that wasn't in beta form.
It's pathetic.
11:02 PM Well, man. I'm heading to bed. Have fun playing with that crap.
Joshua: c'ya

 

[Piratecat]

One of the most frustrating things for me is the lack of summaries when you scan down feats. Previously, I could gklance at the pocket summaries for a jillion feats and quickly focus on the ones I wanted. Now that you need to click on the name for a description, it's taking much longer to make a hero. It's also a lot less fun. I don't care for that.

 

[darkwing]

I'm glad the new CB has Essentials content in addition to all the previous content. But I'm disappointed in how slow and buggy it is. The UI for items is also terrible.

 

[P1NBACK]

It's also a lot less fun. I don't care for that.

You know, now that you say it like that, I agree completely. It felt "fun" making characters in the CB Classic. This new one feels exhausting and irritating.

 

[Nichwee]

Voted Yes.
I will be glad when export and Houseruling are viable - but once I removed house rules I got all my characters imported fine and it is running smoothly and well.

I do think it would be more a pain to create a high-level character in this system (just do to sync delays and the layout is a bit odd for a guy who got used to the old CB) but it works nicely and does the job.

Oh, I also hope the tradition CB character sheets get implemented. I liked the look and layout - and liked being able to shuffle things about a bit.

So far I rate it 7/10 - just needs a few of the missing bells&whistles from the old CB to get added and it will be a pretty-much-complete win imo.

 

[WalterKovacs]

I went with Both.

It obviously needs a lot of improvement, and is lacking some of the things the old builder had, but I also think there are definitely elements of it that are improved compared to the old version. It's good enough for now, in that it still accomplishes my goals (I have my new campaigns party of Dark Sun characters built and ready to go pending minor tweaks) but if the bigger design issues aren't addressed relatively soon that could change.

 

[renau1g]

I don't like that it auto-selects Essentials PP's, I don't like you need to click on "additional options" for essentials Mages to select Wizard powers. I don't know if it's an error, but I can't select a Flaming Staff as an implement. The speed is better now and less errors. No houserules sucks. You can't select DS themes as a custom PC. I don't like the initial "What style do you want" Maybe for essentials PC creation that's fine. As others have said, lack of summary for feats, lack of math on CS's (that I saw), etc.

On the + side they have DS and Essentials in there... but that information is quite late so it's hardly a plus.