So will 4th edition REQUIRE an online subscription?

[Khairn]

Personally, I don't have the slightest problem with this.

It's long been an informal guideline in our group that if you want to use material in a book that you should pick up a copy of said book.

(with exceptions like campaign-specific stuff like character options in the Expedition books, which only the current DM really needs to own)

Every player at our table has a PHB, 2/3's own a DMG, and each of us own whichever supplements we find the most valuable.

So will each player need to buy the Forgotten Realms Sourcebook to gain access to the feats, classes and abilities within the book? Or maybe there will be multiple FR Sourcebooks? Something such as, the GM buys the FR GM book which doesn't have any setting specific feats, classes or abilities, and each of the players will have to buy there own FR Players book to get access to that info.

Boy, this is beginning to look really expensive.

It used to be that RPGers would poke fun at MMORPGers and accuse them of being moronic for spending all that money on a single online game. First $50 for the MMORPG game and then a monthly fee of $15 to play? Boy were they ever losers!

Compared to 4E and the DDI, playing an MMORPG (or even several MMORPG's with Sony Station Pass) is only a fraction of the cost. And we have allmost the same identical features that the DDI is offering.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Boy, this is beginning to look really expensive.

Considering we're still very much in the speculation stage when it comes to things like that, I'd hold off on saying just how expensive its going to be.

 

[Khairn]

Has Wizards confirmed that the online content is OPTIONAL?

Or is the 4E player handbook going to give character creation options, and then say "to finish creating your character, you MUST sign in to your D&D Insider user account and use the online character creator to print out a character sheet"?

Anyone know?

WotC has stated that the DDI will not be required to play. But what is WotC's definition of "required"?

The impression I get is that both 4E and the DDI will be so intimately woven into one another that having just the book alone will be like buying a car, but not having any seats in it. Sure, the car gets you from point A to B, (so it is a car) buts its certainly more comfortable and enjoyable to have some place to sit. (seats aren't really required, are they?)

Part of the problem in resolving this issue is that until we see the final product we have no way of determining whether what's in the DDI is really "required" for you. What I believe to be a required peice of information may be very different from you think is required. Hell ... there was a big arguement on the WotC boards because WotC claimed that the definition of a "download" was too vague and therefore because of that they wouldn't be sharing any information about how we were going to be able to get content on our computer when we weren't on the net.

And with WotC's track record of word manipulation, I'm not sure if I can really trust anything they claim.

 

[Cadfan]

I'm hoping that online enhancements like what we've previously received won't be DI exclusive. Otherwise, that creates an incentive to design things to be frustrating, then put convenient game aids behind a pay wall.

 

[Khairn]

I'm hoping that online enhancements like what we've previously received won't be DI exclusive. Otherwise, that creates an incentive to design things to be frustrating, then put convenient game aids behind a pay wall.

I think you've been peeking at the hidden plans WotC's been keeping in the file marked "Failed Gleemax Experiments".

And this would be bad for the profit line because ... ?

 

[Odhanan]

What about staying in touch with friends from the other side of the world and bringing them to DnD through the virtual game table?

I know my French friends would not buy a PHB to be able to play online. If however they could play with me as DM online, then they could decide that they like 4E enough to buy a PHB. I hope they'll be able to do that.

 

[Dr. Confoundo]

Has there been any real discussion on what the book codes will be? I'm hoping it's going to be more along the lines of 'All PHBs are given the code of 1234ABCD, which needs to be logged in', rather than 'Each copy of the PHB has a unique code identifying that copy'.

 

[Kesh]

I would guess unique codes, because otherwise the generic codes will be online within 5 minutes for anyone to use.

That said, no one needs the codes to play with the game books. It's only if you want to load the new material into the DI that you need your own copy of the book. If your group doesn't like to buy supplements themselves, they can do it like they always did: borrow a copy, write up the character on paper. Then, the DM/whoever owns the copy can write it up in their DI app, with the code they registered.

It really only impacts groups who only exist online: each player will need the DI code for the material they want to use. I'd liken it to expansions for World of Warcraft: everyone sees the new races and can use the new items, but only people with the expansion can get to the new areas or learn the new professions.

 

[Mistwell]

Sorry for the cross-post but seems applicable to this thread:

My guess is that there will be a two-fold system:

1) If you buy the book, there will be a unique serial number you can use to unlock the content online, for just your account, for no additional fee. This includes a digital copy of that book, as well as being able to use options in that book with your digital characters/NPCs.

2) If you do not buy the book, there will be a small fee to unlock the options from that book for your online account for use with your characters/NPCs. But you won't get the digital copy of the book.

 

[Razz]

Yes. I wasn't dissing it. It makes perfect sense and if you want to fully use the DI, you better be prepared to buy the physical book. I don't have a problem with that but I can see people being unhappy about that.

Uh, yeah. Do you have any idea what that will do wit gaming groups?

You have 6 people, one of them is the DM. Player 1 wants to use Book X and Player 2 wants to use Book Y for their characters. Unfortunately, the DM and the rest of the players don't have access to them. In order for them to continue their game with what they want, the ENTIRE group has to leave the monitor screen, purchase the book, and come home to enter the code.

Not cool at all if it's done that way. I think it should all be in the hands of a DM. A chosen DM should be in charge of possessing the books for the game, by either borrowing them or buying them, and input the code for everyone in his group to access. This is no different than one of the players buying a book no one else has, but brings it to the table for everyone to peruse. That's the more idealistic way it should be done.