Web-Based CB is Live (Official Announcement)

[mudbunny]

The web-based Character Builder is up and live on the D&D website!

You can find the latest patch notes here, and some answers to some common questions in the FAQ. The known issues list has also been updated and has a link to the bug reporting form if you run into any new problems.

Have fun and don't forget to drop into the Character Builder Feedback forum to let us know what you think about the new additions and changes. (Note - Links to WotC Forum)

 

[Piratecat]

Thank you so much for the communication - it's appreciated.

 

[mudbunny]

A quick note from WotC_Trevor:

Hey all. We have discovered an issue with the servers that is causing some people to crash out or hang up in the CB when filling out their characters. We're working to pinpoint the exact issue and fix it, and as soon as I have any new information I'll let you know.

 

[Tony Vargas]

So, is it any good? The WotC boards are fulminating with pissed-off detractors. Any rational reviews?

 

[Sunseeker]

My 2c

It's fairly quick, the ability to pre-build a character at any given level is great for one-shots, and it's a lot easier to select what base information you want to use. Load-up time is about the same as the PC character builder, the more graphical interface makes it easier to see things. Choosing style of play is a nice trick for people unfamiliar with it, or people who only want to see certain options.

It's pretty buggy though, lots of hang-ups and a few crashes. It's entirely random so you can't really repeat the proccess to get it to crash in the same way again. "Waiting on Vecna" is going to become the new catch-phrase of users though. As we saw before, powers are sorted by leve, not type, which is ANNOYING.

I hope there's simply some feature I'm missing that'll let me reorganize those.

Anyway, my overall rating is 7/10. It's good, and aside from the obvious(it's online, 20 character limit), it's probably only slightly inferior to the desktop CB.

 

[Tony Vargas]

So, while it has problems, it does have some functionality that the old CB didn't?

 

[renau1g]

Seems decent. It's slow and buggy and I'm not a fan of their default settings (with no options to change them) or the lack of ability to add any house rules (i.e. a free expertise feat for PC's which is common). At least it has essentials?

Seriously though, the interface is nice and I do expect it to perform better in coming days. I have struggled to get a PC imported, but some others have succeeded. Overall, it's prettier than the old CB, but far less useful. I'll give it a 3/5 stars as is...

 

[Scribble]

As we saw before, powers are sorted by leve, not type, which is ANNOYING.

I hope there's simply some feature I'm missing that'll let me reorganize those

Maybe I misunderstand what you mean, but you can select what it organizes power by with that little drop down box at the top.

 

[Sunseeker]

So, while it has problems, it does have some functionality that the old CB didn't?

In short, yes. It also lacks some things the old CB had. One step forward, one step back.

Maybe I misunderstand what you mean, but you can select what it organizes power by with that little drop down box at the top.

*runs over to look*

The Character Builder to Essentials option? That doesn't change how the power cards are laid out, which ATM are organized by level. Not by type. I want it so that I have At-Wills, Encounters, Dailies, in that order, regardless of their level. Preferably in alphabetical order.

 

[LightPhoenix]

A quick note from WotC_Trevor:

Something that probably should have been caught before launch, seeing as how it's happening pretty frequently. However, it's good to know the team is aware of it and that we know you know. Also, the restore on close/crash functionality is wonderful.

So, is it any good? The WotC boards are fulminating with pissed-off detractors. Any rational reviews

It runs relatively smoothly right now (crashes aside); we'll see if that changes with a heavier load this evening.

I'm finding power and feat selection a little clunky, but in a different way than the old CB. An actual filter for feats by category would be great, but the search works pretty good.

One big thing that was a pain was attribute selection via point buy. With every +/- click the system seemed to run something in the background. Really, there's no reason to run anything until everything is chosen.

I haven't played around with equipment much, but off the bat I noticed some equipment is sorted wonky.

It's definitely a work in progress, but it shows a lot of promise.

 

[renau1g]

One big thing that was a pain was attribute selection via point buy. With every +/- click the system seemed to run something in the background. Really, there's no reason to run anything until everything is chosen.

Yeah this was tough until I realized you could click on the "base score" and manually edit the value. Far easier...

 

[Sunseeker]

Yeah this was tough until I realized you could click on the "base score" and manually edit the value. Far easier...

Indeed, and it doesn't "update" your scores until you click in a different panel.

 

[mudbunny]

Something that probably should have been caught before launch, seeing as how it's happening pretty frequently.

Based on what I have been told, this is not something that could have been predicted.

 

[BobTheNob]

Has anyone found how you do

a) Themes (I might have missed it)
b) Inherent Bonus

 

[renau1g]

For themes I think you need to select a DS character. There's a theme's box there.

 

[mudbunny]

A little bit more info on the Server problems:

This is not due to server load. The traffic to the website so far *is* being monitored and is well within what was prediceted and tested.

As for themes, they are currently only available for Dark Sun campaigns (which you have to explicitly choose at the beginning of the process.) I am not sure where the inherent bonus comes up. I didn't pay too much attention when playing with the program this weekend.

 

[Kurtomatic]

Heh, I hope the digital studio guys weren't planning on taking off for the holidays just yet...

All I have time for at work is importing some of my LFR characters (from iplay4e, lol), and some rough spot that jumped right out at me:

• Character sheet has no mouse scrolling; very annoying.
  
• Import fails to transfer character management notes.
  
• Furthermore, the new builder appear to not have implemented the journaling feature at all. Some folks won't miss this, but I use this extensively to journal my LFR characters; tracking gold, XP, items, story awards, etc., is pretty damn important in LFR.

I realize this is going to get better, and all, but they have their work cut out for them just to get back to the relative satisfaction levels the old product provided. We're tacking into some choppy seas here.

 

[Oldtimer]

Based on what I have been told, this is not something that could have been predicted.

I assume he meant by pre-launch testing, not through augury.

But I doubt they did any testing on this junk.

 

[Sunseeker]

Character sheet has no mouse scrolling; very annoying.

Every time I see this I just go "WHU??" because every time I view the character sheet, i simply click inside the character sheet part of the window(notice the little outlines on the page), it mouse-wheel scrolls just fine.

now, if you click outside of that, in the white surround, which is NOT part of the character sheet, then no, it won't scroll.

 

[malraux]

Every time I see this I just go "WHU??" because every time I view the character sheet, i simply click inside the character sheet part of the window(notice the little outlines on the page), it mouse-wheel scrolls just fine.

now, if you click outside of that, in the white surround, which is NOT part of the character sheet, then no, it won't scroll.

Nope, doesn't work for me.