WotC: Character Builder's effect on Third Party Publishers

[Badwe]

this looks like a job for XML.

in all seriousness, if the character builder could parse xml documents full of feats, powers, classes, etc. and even give them appropriate labels so they can be filtered like real sources, that would be quite handy. I see the hurdles to be as follows:

first, you have to get WotC's attention. seems easy enough as their people sometimes frequent these boards.

next, you need to convince them it won't damage their revenue. now this is easy to gloss over by focusing on the upside. if you were to make a case you would need to be extremely paranoid (from their frame of reference) and have solutions for any possible bumps.

third, you'd need to make a case that the developer time spent to do this is worthwhile. That is, there needs to be a clear line from creating this service to increasing profit over time to recoup the investment. this ties back to number 2: even if better interoperability increases the quality of D&D 4e as a whole, is there a risk that the profits will be realized only by 3pp and perhaps profit will be lost when primary products lose some of their appeal in being so much more "plugged in"?

fourth, related to the third, you need to vocalize (prefably with dollars). There needs to be a tangible group of people who will be increasing their investment in products wotc profits from standing with their dollars ready. This may be a tough sell, if your 3pp books are more plugged in, will you go out and buy 1pp splat books? maybe miniatures? Whoever these people are, they need to communicate en masse to WotC saying "I have these dollars in my hand, ready to spend, but the lack of 3pp interoperability is holding me back."

Ideally, lowering the dollar amounts related to 2 and 3 will mean a feasible number of people need to emerge for part 4. The major alternative i see is someone attempting to develop this independantly, but even someone with the time, skill, and will is likely to get mired in legal issues.

 

[Storminator]

I'm about to find out the hard way.

Yes, it has occurred to me. WotBS has new feats, powers, and so forth. None of these will be in the Character Builder; people will have to apply them manually.

If we could release a file which added those things to the Builder, I'd do it in a second.

You can send out a campaign setting file, with all your house rules. It's not fully integrated into the builder (it won't set prerequisites, it won't add in the bonuses, etc), but you will at least have the names of the things in front of players and available to put on the character sheet.

I was going to attach my test example, but ENWorld won't let me upload a .dndcamp file type. LOL

PS

 

[mach1.9pants]

Publishers or DMs should be able to create 'house rule packages' that can be put in a 'house rules' folder in the character builder, passed around between players/consumers, etc.

I absolutely love this idea. WE can only hope.

But I have thought of this before and I think the impact will be negative, especially on crunch heavy stuff (new char classes, for xample). How much of an impact I just don't know.

For me it hasn't made much of a difference, I buy (even stuff like the Witch Doctor class) not to use in game but just to read. So it hasn't effected my purchases. My players don't go too much into their PC's. THey are more interested in playing than parsing through books and maxing stuff. The Char Builder has meant they use more of the books I have brought, cos it is so easy. Previously they would mostly just pick from the PHB despite me having every splat under the sun!

 

[Nymrohd]

Conversely, I think the day the character builder can process at least basic house rules (powers, class/path features, feats) it will be a great boost for 3PP.
3PP products about as much as WotC's own splats, only got used during character creation if you had browsed them previously and found a cool idea you wanted to use. It was a huge pain to go through all the options. The CB makes all the options available at once. Admittedly it still takes some planning to create a built (mostly for abilty score reqs of feats) but I think it has changed the way players create characters massively. Buying something from a 3PP that I can add to the CB would pretty much guarantee that I will use or at least sample the product I bought, instead of just browsing it for ideas and maybe picking up one or two cool things I found there.

 

[Morrus]

I was going to attach my test example, but ENWorld won't let me upload a .dndcamp file type. LOL

Zip it and upload it. Zip files are fine.

 

[Scribble]

Here's a question- at least maybe as a stop gap:

the CB allows you to choose a "custom element" as a power or feat or what not, it's not as "good" as what's a regular power, but it still lets you do it right?

It also gives you XML info in the character file...

So could someone conceivably make a sheet viewer that takes the XML names of 3pp powers/feats what not and then does the calculations?

It wouldn't touch the WoTC stuff, just display it as indicated, but it would update the power cards with your stat info for the 3pp stuff?

 

[avin]

How good/bad for Wotc would it be to allow 3pp on CB?

I only allow CB legal characters on my games... what I really wish is 3pp monsters on compendium

 

[Storminator]

Zip it and upload it. Zip files are fine.

If no one else has done it by tomorrow (when I'm at the other computer) I will.

PS

 

[Asmor]

I'm completely uninterested in third party stuff.

However, I also like to design new character options, something I've completely stopped doing. One of my players was playing a custom race, which was fine pre-character builder but a huge PITA afterwards. In the future, I'm only going to allow things that are in the CB or which are easily house-rulable (e.g. in the next campaign I'm doing, which will have no magic items, I'm giving characters free +x weapons/armor/amulet to simulate an appropriate +x bonus)

 

[Ktulu]

I totally limit 3rd party due to compendium AND character builder. I have little interest in a monster book, class, or power that I can't get through DDI right now.

It's so much easier to create encounters and print them off using the compendium that hand-typing the whole thing, or bookmarking a book is just not efficient.

Same goes for the Character Builder. My group owns every book, between us all (and multiple copies of the PH and DMG), but it's still much more elegant to use the CB to check for the best power, weapon, or feat combination.

That's why I didn't care that the GSL wasn't awesome. It's why I had no concern or worry about Green Ronin and Paizo going other directions. So long as the DDI exists, I don't have as much use for the 3rd party stuff.