Possible DDI News...

[webrunner]

So.. it says "Essentials".. do you think that means Forgotten Kingdoms (official release date is that very day..) too, or just Fallen Lands?

 

[the Jester]

Huh... I definitely have mixed feelings about this. My biggest reservation is the fact that the place we game at, the host's computer is like 200 years old and it takes about an hour to run the offline CB as it is. I fear that it will take even longer for his piece of crap box to do anything with an online CB, and he's one of those guys that becomes paralyzed without it now that he has gotten used to it.

 

[hutchback]

I for one think this is great news. I hope Monster Builder is soon to follow.

 

[OnlineDM]

I can't access the site from work; is there any information about sharing character files with one another? As a DM, I like to have my players' character files available so I can see what magic items they might need, etc.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I can't say I'm particularly pleased, but I don't think it really came as any big surprise, especially with the lack of CB updates. Having to update multiple databases must have been a chore, and web-only means less piracy, which is good.

I have serious doubts this will be as easy or elegant to use as the current CB. The screenshots on the official announcement don't lead me to believe any differently. However, I'm willing to give it a fair shot.

 

[Scribble]

I can't access the site from work; is there any information about sharing character files with one another? As a DM, I like to have my players' character files available so I can see what magic items they might need, etc.

According to the faq, as of launch date, no (there won't be an export function) but they understand this is important to us, so they're working on it as quickly as possible.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

According to the faq, as of launch date, no (there won't be an export function) but they understand this is important to us, so they're working on it as quickly as possible.

I hope so. If I forget to print out my character before game day, and then their server is down when I pop on to do so at the last minute before I rush out the door...

 

[Festivus]

Silverlight? Ugh. Well, the good news is more people should be able to use DDI now. The bad is I can't use CB off line any longer, which isn't imperative for me, but I know several people who would bring their laptops to the meetup events who aren't going to be very happy.

Questions I am hoping to see answered: Can you have house rules with it? Can you still export your characters? This has the potential to kill a lot of third party tools out there.

 

[Scribble]

Silverlight? Ugh. Well, the good news is more people should be able to use DDI now. The bad is I can't use CB off line any longer, which isn't imperative for me, but I know several people who would bring their laptops to the meetup events who aren't going to be very happy.

Questions I am hoping to see answered: Can you have house rules with it? Can you still export your characters? This has the potential to kill a lot of third party tools out there.

Yeah I'm waiting for the answer on the houserules topic... I'm hoping that with the new design they took the time to really overhaul that aspect.

And since they said they are working to get export unctionality working I don't think it will kill 3rd party stuff... just delay it.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

I hope there is a good way to organize your characters into "folders" of some sort. For example, in the current CB, I have:

Current: for characters I'm playing now
Dead: for characters that I would be playing if they weren't dead
Future: for characters that I plan to play soon
Experimental: for character concepts that I probably will never play

Also, I like to keep old versions around, so it would be good if it were possible to archive them. Sure, if you are rigorous about retraining, etc. in the current CB you can just de-level the character, but there is no way to de-level your equipment, notes, etc.