D&D 5E The shape of DDI for 5e

[Jan van Leyden]

Though DDI didn't switch to using Silverlight until late 2010, right?

Development would have started somewhat earlier, don't you think?

Have a look at The HTML5 test - How well does your browser support HTML5?. Even the most standards conform browser only pass about 80% of the tests, with tablet browsers being worse still. A few years back, the results have been truly disastruous.

From the point of view two years back HTML5 wouldn't have been an option. Flash might have been an alternative to Silverlight, but at the cost of Apple fans being nerfed.

That isn't to say that WotC software development shouldn't explore other technology venues for D&DN.

 

[IronWolf]

Development would have started somewhat earlier, don't you think?

Yes. Definitely.

From the point of view two years back HTML5 wouldn't have been an option. Flash might have been an alternative to Silverlight, but at the cost of Apple fans being nerfed.

Sort of like Apple fans are now with Silverlight?

That isn't to say that WotC software development shouldn't explore other technology venues for D&DN.

Agreed.

 

[Umbran]

Very true. Still, when choosing technology one should look for flexibility to be sure you don't paint yourself into a corner if possible.

When choosing a technology, you have to choose from what's available. HTML 5 was not ready (and browsers are *still* not really compliant). That leaves Flash and Silverlight at the time. Neither is a great option, for various reasons.

Also, smart phones were already starting to make a presence at the gaming table for quick lookups and such. The first iPhone was released in 2007. Given the popularity of the phone I would have thought some thought towards the application's use on mobile devices would have been considered.

Meh. I think it'd be difficult to make a business case for phones - as in "yes, we could do that, but honestly how many sales/subscriptions will that really drive?" Phones just don't have the screen real estate for many to want them to be their primary entry point into such a system. We now may see that there's a solid use case for tablets, but that wasn't an issue at the time. Desktop and laptops were the question of the day, and that was 90% plus windows.

 

[Kzach]

That leaves Flash and Silverlight at the time.

Y'all need to read Keldryn's posts in this thread.

 

[nnms]

Managing screen real estate is part of app design for phones. A simple system of expanding and collapsing areas or a wizard style panes approach can solve the issue for a character builder. Given that you only need the ability to display a single decision point at a time and a menu button to go to other decision points, a character builder for a 3" screen would really be no problem.

DDi should probably support:

iOS
Android
Web based for:
--Windows
--Mac
--Linux

 

[avin]

I wish we could move back to an offline tool, like earlier CB and MB or Hero Labs or GCA.

Stuff that can be used on places with no Internet or poor wireless conditions. But even Diablo 3 is online only these days and Wotc is very afraid of Piracy, so I doubt it.

 

[IronWolf]

When choosing a technology, you have to choose from what's available. HTML 5 was not ready (and browsers are *still* not really compliant). That leaves Flash and Silverlight at the time. Neither is a great option, for various reasons.

There are certainly many more web technologies to choose from than just Flash or Silverlight. Keldryn mentions several of the alternatives in his post earlier.

Meh. I think it'd be difficult to make a business case for phones - as in "yes, we could do that, but honestly how many sales/subscriptions will that really drive?" Phones just don't have the screen real estate for many to want them to be their primary entry point into such a system. We now may see that there's a solid use case for tablets, but that wasn't an issue at the time. Desktop and laptops were the question of the day, and that was 90% plus windows.

The business case is for flexibility. Phones just being one example of where the ability to be flexible could pay off (and now with hindsight looks much more attractive).

nnms outlines how it really isn't that impractical to design a character sheet app for a phone. Now whether they chose to release with a phone version is another question. But choosing a technology that would have left that option open would have been good.

But again, this is more about a business case for flexibility and avoiding limiting your ability to adapt to the changing tech field. Phones are just one example, tablets another.

Ease of adaptability is an important consideration when you are a smaller company or one with limited development resources. Failing to take it into account now leaves you with your premier electronic product unable to work on an up and coming technology without even more significant effort to redevelop the tool.