Character Builder/Adventure Tools - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Character Builder/Adventure Tools

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
DarkSkrypter
Dec 13, 2010 16:43:41 While I can see part of the reasoning behind an online only version of the Character Builder, its leaving me with quite a few questions. The original Character Builder hasn't had an update in a long time and seems to be unavailable even in demo for people who don't have a DDI subscription. Which is a turn off for many fyi. I have very little problem using the DDI online CB, however I don't always want to load up an additional window, or even be online to use it all the time. I would like to see an update that includes the Essentials option for the offline version of the CB please.

I've been trying now to update the Adventure tools(Newest patch/update is dated 12/7/2010 according to the site) but it keeps stalling me out. And doesn't provide me anything new. Was it just a bug fix? Because its not doing anything.
#2
DarkSkrypter
Dec 14, 2010 3:28:17 Piracy is when a group of people scuttles a sea fairing vessel after taking gold, jewels, and other valuables. I'm not going to truly say what people using free sharing programs to share downloadable content is called, just know for certain its not piracy.
#3
anticlimax
Dec 15, 2010 2:46:17 WotC is in a precarious situation. they sell rules to a complicated game. the game has to be complicated enough for people to buy the rules to, but they can't give away the rules to attract buyers.

they've struck some balance between encounter sessions, print, and ddi.

expect them to play their cards close to their chest from here on out though. that's the direction they seem to be going.
#4
pyro_cat
Dec 18, 2010 10:23:22 For the record, the community is already all over this... just not here for fear of being turned into a frog by a Wizard.

There are full updates avaliable for everything that's come out since they gave up on the offline version. Some of these have been more professional and prompt than Wizards' updates, and certainly work fine in my experience.

They're out there. Don't worry. You just have to do a little diggin'!
#5
lokiare
Dec 18, 2010 22:43:27
For the record, the community is already all over this... just not here for fear of being turned into a frog by a Wizard.

There are full updates avaliable for everything that's come out since they gave up on the offline version. Some of these have been more professional and prompt than Wizards' updates, and certainly work fine in my experience.

They're out there. Don't worry. You just have to do a little diggin'!

This is exactly why I have a problem with WotC. Some guy in his basement in his free time can update the very software that WotC had trouble updating. It even seems to be more up to date than the OCB. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to go ahead and make a portion of the OCB open source, or at the very least allow people to sign an NDA/EULA/Tos/CoC and let them have a look at and discuss some of the Silverlight code that has to do with manipulating the data. The community would keep everything up to date and get rid of all the bugs, while WotC would still maintain control over everything by keeping the data access part of their program private.
#6
DarkSkrypter
Dec 22, 2010 3:29:15
For the record, the community is already all over this... just not here for fear of being turned into a frog by a Wizard.

There are full updates avaliable for everything that's come out since they gave up on the offline version. Some of these have been more professional and prompt than Wizards' updates, and certainly work fine in my experience.

They're out there. Don't worry. You just have to do a little diggin'!

This is exactly why I have a problem with WotC. Some guy in his basement in his free time can update the very software that WotC had trouble updating. It even seems to be more up to date than the OCB. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to go ahead and make a portion of the OCB open source, or at the very least allow people to sign an NDA/EULA/Tos/CoC and let them have a look at and discuss some of the Silverlight code that has to do with manipulating the data. The community would keep everything up to date and get rid of all the bugs, while WotC would still maintain control over everything by keeping the data access part of their program private.

You are making way to much sense.

Yes, way too much sense. In a perfect world....In a perfect world.
#7
lokiare
Dec 23, 2010 0:33:53
For the record, the community is already all over this... just not here for fear of being turned into a frog by a Wizard.

There are full updates avaliable for everything that's come out since they gave up on the offline version. Some of these have been more professional and prompt than Wizards' updates, and certainly work fine in my experience.

They're out there. Don't worry. You just have to do a little diggin'!

This is exactly why I have a problem with WotC. Some guy in his basement in his free time can update the very software that WotC had trouble updating. It even seems to be more up to date than the OCB. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to go ahead and make a portion of the OCB open source, or at the very least allow people to sign an NDA/EULA/Tos/CoC and let them have a look at and discuss some of the Silverlight code that has to do with manipulating the data. The community would keep everything up to date and get rid of all the bugs, while WotC would still maintain control over everything by keeping the data access part of their program private.

You are making way to much sense.

Yes, way too much sense. In a perfect world....In a perfect world.

in an imperfect world too... they keep everything secret except the parts of the program that are used to calculate things. these things are not secret as they are plainly explained in detail in the products. you would have functions like getFeat(featName). this would then give the community the ability to fix feat based problems without having to know how the database works. It would also let the community spot bugs by locaing them in code...
#8
DarkSkrypter
Dec 29, 2010 18:36:52
Possibly, but not everyone would know where to begin sometimes, even if they can spot the problem, fixing it may cause other unforseen issues.
#9
lokiare
Dec 30, 2010 10:07:01

Possibly, but not everyone would know where to begin sometimes, even if they can spot the problem, fixing it may cause other unforseen issues.

I'd tend to agree with you if this were a complex program, but its really not that complex of a program. If they planned it out at all there would be no problem doing it this way. Not to mention 40k eyes are better than 10...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 DarkSkrypter Dec 13, 2010 16:43:41	While I can see part of the reasoning behind an online only version of the Character Builder, its leaving me with quite a few questions. The original Character Builder hasn't had an update in a long time and seems to be unavailable even in demo for people who don't have a DDI subscription. Which is a turn off for many fyi. I have very little problem using the DDI online CB, however I don't always want to load up an additional window, or even be online to use it all the time. I would like to see an update that includes the Essentials option for the offline version of the CB please. I've been trying now to update the Adventure tools(Newest patch/update is dated 12/7/2010 according to the site) but it keeps stalling me out. And doesn't provide me anything new. Was it just a bug fix? Because its not doing anything.
#2 DarkSkrypter Dec 14, 2010 3:28:17	Piracy is when a group of people scuttles a sea fairing vessel after taking gold, jewels, and other valuables. I'm not going to truly say what people using free sharing programs to share downloadable content is called, just know for certain its not piracy.
#3 anticlimax Dec 15, 2010 2:46:17	WotC is in a precarious situation. they sell rules to a complicated game. the game has to be complicated enough for people to buy the rules to, but they can't give away the rules to attract buyers. they've struck some balance between encounter sessions, print, and ddi. expect them to play their cards close to their chest from here on out though. that's the direction they seem to be going.
#4 pyro_cat Dec 18, 2010 10:23:22	For the record, the community is already all over this... just not here for fear of being turned into a frog by a Wizard. There are full updates avaliable for everything that's come out since they gave up on the offline version. Some of these have been more professional and prompt than Wizards' updates, and certainly work fine in my experience. They're out there. Don't worry. You just have to do a little diggin'!
#5 lokiare Dec 18, 2010 22:43:27	For the record, the community is already all over this... just not here for fear of being turned into a frog by a Wizard. There are full updates avaliable for everything that's come out since they gave up on the offline version. Some of these have been more professional and prompt than Wizards' updates, and certainly work fine in my experience. They're out there. Don't worry. You just have to do a little diggin'! This is exactly why I have a problem with WotC. Some guy in his basement in his free time can update the very software that WotC had trouble updating. It even seems to be more up to date than the OCB. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to go ahead and make a portion of the OCB open source, or at the very least allow people to sign an NDA/EULA/Tos/CoC and let them have a look at and discuss some of the Silverlight code that has to do with manipulating the data. The community would keep everything up to date and get rid of all the bugs, while WotC would still maintain control over everything by keeping the data access part of their program private.
#6 DarkSkrypter Dec 22, 2010 3:29:15	For the record, the community is already all over this... just not here for fear of being turned into a frog by a Wizard. There are full updates avaliable for everything that's come out since they gave up on the offline version. Some of these have been more professional and prompt than Wizards' updates, and certainly work fine in my experience. They're out there. Don't worry. You just have to do a little diggin'! This is exactly why I have a problem with WotC. Some guy in his basement in his free time can update the very software that WotC had trouble updating. It even seems to be more up to date than the OCB. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to go ahead and make a portion of the OCB open source, or at the very least allow people to sign an NDA/EULA/Tos/CoC and let them have a look at and discuss some of the Silverlight code that has to do with manipulating the data. The community would keep everything up to date and get rid of all the bugs, while WotC would still maintain control over everything by keeping the data access part of their program private. You are making way to much sense. Yes, way too much sense. In a perfect world....In a perfect world.
#7 lokiare Dec 23, 2010 0:33:53	For the record, the community is already all over this... just not here for fear of being turned into a frog by a Wizard. There are full updates avaliable for everything that's come out since they gave up on the offline version. Some of these have been more professional and prompt than Wizards' updates, and certainly work fine in my experience. They're out there. Don't worry. You just have to do a little diggin'! This is exactly why I have a problem with WotC. Some guy in his basement in his free time can update the very software that WotC had trouble updating. It even seems to be more up to date than the OCB. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to go ahead and make a portion of the OCB open source, or at the very least allow people to sign an NDA/EULA/Tos/CoC and let them have a look at and discuss some of the Silverlight code that has to do with manipulating the data. The community would keep everything up to date and get rid of all the bugs, while WotC would still maintain control over everything by keeping the data access part of their program private. You are making way to much sense. Yes, way too much sense. In a perfect world....In a perfect world. in an imperfect world too... they keep everything secret except the parts of the program that are used to calculate things. these things are not secret as they are plainly explained in detail in the products. you would have functions like getFeat(featName). this would then give the community the ability to fix feat based problems without having to know how the database works. It would also let the community spot bugs by locaing them in code...
#8 DarkSkrypter Dec 29, 2010 18:36:52	Possibly, but not everyone would know where to begin sometimes, even if they can spot the problem, fixing it may cause other unforseen issues.
#9 lokiare Dec 30, 2010 10:07:01	Possibly, but not everyone would know where to begin sometimes, even if they can spot the problem, fixing it may cause other unforseen issues. I'd tend to agree with you if this were a complex program, but its really not that complex of a program. If they planned it out at all there would be no problem doing it this way. Not to mention 40k eyes are better than 10...