4e character builder support when 5e arrives? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

4e character builder support when 5e arrives?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Nixxon
May 23, 2012 3:08:48 Simple question: When 5e comes along, will the character builder still support 4e?

To give some background. I'm an old gamer who's group doesn't get together that often and we've been through the core rule books from the the old basic box sets through advanced (2e), 3e, 3.5e and now 4e. I honestly don't think we'll bother with 5e on the principal 4e is nicely polished and we've got tons of material left. Addmittedly, 4e came up short on it promises of an online experience but the game itself was far more fluid than 3 or 3.5.

But back to my question. The pessimist in me would suggest not, given a recent email from Wizards support where I requested access to the old character builder and was told it had been taken down from the servers. You see, I like to have two characters on screen and use editable PDF as the whole point of this venture was to be able to use a laptop over pen and paper.

As a business model the original character builder was an awful idea as it allowed multiple downloads and required only one subscriber. However, the shiny silverlight version requires a user account for which, should you want to share, you'd have to give your account details to all in your group. I believe you can't access it at multiple entry points, it has no editable screen features for the character sheet and only displays a single character rendering it pointless when you play multiple characters. A better business model but I digress...

To cut a long story short, the game I've poured 30 years into and love is evolving but where I felt nurtured over the early years, I'm left feeling empty as the game seems to be all about the bottom line and as such it's more likely the 4e character builder will become unsupported as it doesn't sell new rulebooks.... there's the pessimist in me again.
#2
frothsof
May 23, 2012 7:34:36 nobody knows what will happen but its probably best to go ahead and prepare to be completely screwed over by wizards
#3
RedSiegfried
May 24, 2012 8:34:01 nobody knows what will happen but its probably best to go ahead and assume that wizards will continue to support the 4e character builder
#4
kayone
May 25, 2012 1:19:30 nobody knows what will happen but its probably best to go ahead and assume that wizards will continue to support the 4e character builder but prepare to be completely screwed over by wizards
#5
l0rdnik0n
May 25, 2012 17:25:53 Boy... you guys are a lot of help

Personally when the new edition comes out, I'd be willing to pay for a "final" character builder with all material included (powers, feats etc.) from all the books, magazines and the like. Something I could keep on my laptop, make characters and access the compendium. Just realease it all on disk or download for sale and I would be SO happy.
#6
frothsof
May 26, 2012 8:51:44 agreed but i doubt it will ever happen
#7
PrimeSonic
May 26, 2012 11:34:03 I would honestly pay through the nose to have an offline, non-silverlight version of the Character Builder like we used to have way back when.

Something I could hold onto when they eventually pull the plug on 4e as I'm sure they will given the track record. Sadly, nothing I see currently convinces me that the current design team will ever be able to create any system that I will find better than 4e. So I'm preparing for the worst. This may be my final year of subscription to D&DI.
#8
Dargurd
May 27, 2012 9:20:14
I would honestly pay through the nose to have an offline, non-silverlight version of the Character Builder like we used to have way back when.

Something I could hold onto when they eventually pull the plug on 4e as I'm sure they will given the track record. Sadly, nothing I see currently convinces me that the current design team will ever be able to create any system that I will find better than 4e. So I'm preparing for the worst. This may be my final year of subscription to D&DI.

Id love to be able to buy a standalone builder when 4e gets terminated. Im just not buying into this new edition at all and from what i can see its a step backwards in my opinion. If i wanted to play old versions of D&D id get them out of storage. I personally intend to keep DMing 4e and my players have no interest in playtesting a version they have no intention of getting into.
#9
Benird
May 27, 2012 19:47:27
I would honestly pay through the nose to have an offline, non-silverlight version of the Character Builder like we used to have way back when.

Something I could hold onto when they eventually pull the plug on 4e as I'm sure they will given the track record. Sadly, nothing I see currently convinces me that the current design team will ever be able to create any system that I will find better than 4e. So I'm preparing for the worst. This may be my final year of subscription to D&DI.

Id love to be able to buy a standalone builder when 4e gets terminated. Im just not buying into this new edition at all and from what i can see its a step backwards in my opinion. If i wanted to play old versions of D&D id get them out of storage. I personally intend to keep DMing 4e and my players have no interest in playtesting a version they have no intention of getting into.

+1
#10
RedSiegfried
May 28, 2012 11:28:24
Id love to be able to buy a standalone builder when 4e gets terminated. Im just not buying into this new edition at all and from what i can see its a step backwards in my opinion. If i wanted to play old versions of D&D id get them out of storage. I personally intend to keep DMing 4e and my players have no interest in playtesting a version they have no intention of getting into.

There is a competing product where you pay one time for it but you of course have to have a DDi subscription to get WoTC's latest data. It supports 4e and other games as well and it is an offline tool. The only times you need to be online with it is when you want to download patches or when the D&D data at WoTC changes and in that case you download the D&D data using a utility that comes with that tool. So as long as you use your subscription to grab that data once before it gets taken offline someday, you're good to go.

Now, I own this tool and I happen to think the WotC CB is far easier to use and better, but the point is, it WORKS.

#11
PrimeSonic
May 28, 2012 13:48:08

There is a competing product where you pay one time for it but you of course have to have a DDi subscription to get WoTC's latest data. It supports 4e and other games as well and it is an offline tool. The only times you need to be online with it is when you want to download patches or when the D&D data at WoTC changes and in that case you download the D&D data using a utility that comes with that tool. So as long as you use your subscription to grab that data once before it gets taken offline someday, you're good to go.

Now, I own this tool and I happen to think the WotC CB is far easier to use and better, but the point is, it WORKS.

I remember vaguely something like this. I may have had it at one point as well. I'll probably look into it relatively soon once I start DMing again.
#12
runeward
May 28, 2012 14:07:29 I give it decent odds that 4e gets a semblance of support. The main cost for Wizards was the infrastructure and now that it is in place, it wouldn't be that hard to maintain token updates to keep the active base alive. Now, that makes a ton of sense, so something else will probably be done instead.
#13
bajatmerc
Jul 06, 2012 5:31:20 I know there is a legal situation regarding the old standalone builder that was being updated by the Something Awful forums. But eventually I think the restriction to non-profit updating of the standalone will be either expired or ruled against.
#14
ruggerdaddy
Dec 19, 2014 18:45:42
As of this post @ 8:42 PM CST 12/19/2014....

The 4E Character Builder has become inaccessible to me and the rest of my Friday Night gaming group (14 players).

We actually thought it was our individual systems or internet connection, therefore we have tried through our tethered cellular connections and still no dice. Lol

I read in other places about the possible taking down of the character builder completely. If this has occured, we are done as the the entire lot of us refuse to convert to 5E, and are about to pull out our copies of 3E.

Can anyone confirm if the character builder has been pulled down from the server?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Nixxon May 23, 2012 3:08:48	Simple question: When 5e comes along, will the character builder still support 4e? To give some background. I'm an old gamer who's group doesn't get together that often and we've been through the core rule books from the the old basic box sets through advanced (2e), 3e, 3.5e and now 4e. I honestly don't think we'll bother with 5e on the principal 4e is nicely polished and we've got tons of material left. Addmittedly, 4e came up short on it promises of an online experience but the game itself was far more fluid than 3 or 3.5. But back to my question. The pessimist in me would suggest not, given a recent email from Wizards support where I requested access to the old character builder and was told it had been taken down from the servers. You see, I like to have two characters on screen and use editable PDF as the whole point of this venture was to be able to use a laptop over pen and paper. As a business model the original character builder was an awful idea as it allowed multiple downloads and required only one subscriber. However, the shiny silverlight version requires a user account for which, should you want to share, you'd have to give your account details to all in your group. I believe you can't access it at multiple entry points, it has no editable screen features for the character sheet and only displays a single character rendering it pointless when you play multiple characters. A better business model but I digress... To cut a long story short, the game I've poured 30 years into and love is evolving but where I felt nurtured over the early years, I'm left feeling empty as the game seems to be all about the bottom line and as such it's more likely the 4e character builder will become unsupported as it doesn't sell new rulebooks.... there's the pessimist in me again.
#2 frothsof May 23, 2012 7:34:36	nobody knows what will happen but its probably best to go ahead and prepare to be completely screwed over by wizards
#3 RedSiegfried May 24, 2012 8:34:01	nobody knows what will happen but its probably best to go ahead and assume that wizards will continue to support the 4e character builder
#4 kayone May 25, 2012 1:19:30	nobody knows what will happen but its probably best to go ahead and assume that wizards will continue to support the 4e character builder but prepare to be completely screwed over by wizards
#5 l0rdnik0n May 25, 2012 17:25:53	Boy... you guys are a lot of help Personally when the new edition comes out, I'd be willing to pay for a "final" character builder with all material included (powers, feats etc.) from all the books, magazines and the like. Something I could keep on my laptop, make characters and access the compendium. Just realease it all on disk or download for sale and I would be SO happy.
#6 frothsof May 26, 2012 8:51:44	agreed but i doubt it will ever happen
#7 PrimeSonic May 26, 2012 11:34:03	I would honestly pay through the nose to have an offline, non-silverlight version of the Character Builder like we used to have way back when. Something I could hold onto when they eventually pull the plug on 4e as I'm sure they will given the track record. Sadly, nothing I see currently convinces me that the current design team will ever be able to create any system that I will find better than 4e. So I'm preparing for the worst. This may be my final year of subscription to D&DI.
#8 Dargurd May 27, 2012 9:20:14	I would honestly pay through the nose to have an offline, non-silverlight version of the Character Builder like we used to have way back when. Something I could hold onto when they eventually pull the plug on 4e as I'm sure they will given the track record. Sadly, nothing I see currently convinces me that the current design team will ever be able to create any system that I will find better than 4e. So I'm preparing for the worst. This may be my final year of subscription to D&DI. Id love to be able to buy a standalone builder when 4e gets terminated. Im just not buying into this new edition at all and from what i can see its a step backwards in my opinion. If i wanted to play old versions of D&D id get them out of storage. I personally intend to keep DMing 4e and my players have no interest in playtesting a version they have no intention of getting into.
#9 Benird May 27, 2012 19:47:27	I would honestly pay through the nose to have an offline, non-silverlight version of the Character Builder like we used to have way back when. Something I could hold onto when they eventually pull the plug on 4e as I'm sure they will given the track record. Sadly, nothing I see currently convinces me that the current design team will ever be able to create any system that I will find better than 4e. So I'm preparing for the worst. This may be my final year of subscription to D&DI. Id love to be able to buy a standalone builder when 4e gets terminated. Im just not buying into this new edition at all and from what i can see its a step backwards in my opinion. If i wanted to play old versions of D&D id get them out of storage. I personally intend to keep DMing 4e and my players have no interest in playtesting a version they have no intention of getting into. +1
#10 RedSiegfried May 28, 2012 11:28:24	Id love to be able to buy a standalone builder when 4e gets terminated. Im just not buying into this new edition at all and from what i can see its a step backwards in my opinion. If i wanted to play old versions of D&D id get them out of storage. I personally intend to keep DMing 4e and my players have no interest in playtesting a version they have no intention of getting into. There is a competing product where you pay one time for it but you of course have to have a DDi subscription to get WoTC's latest data. It supports 4e and other games as well and it is an offline tool. The only times you need to be online with it is when you want to download patches or when the D&D data at WoTC changes and in that case you download the D&D data using a utility that comes with that tool. So as long as you use your subscription to grab that data once before it gets taken offline someday, you're good to go. Now, I own this tool and I happen to think the WotC CB is far easier to use and better, but the point is, it WORKS.
#11 PrimeSonic May 28, 2012 13:48:08	There is a competing product where you pay one time for it but you of course have to have a DDi subscription to get WoTC's latest data. It supports 4e and other games as well and it is an offline tool. The only times you need to be online with it is when you want to download patches or when the D&D data at WoTC changes and in that case you download the D&D data using a utility that comes with that tool. So as long as you use your subscription to grab that data once before it gets taken offline someday, you're good to go. Now, I own this tool and I happen to think the WotC CB is far easier to use and better, but the point is, it WORKS. I remember vaguely something like this. I may have had it at one point as well. I'll probably look into it relatively soon once I start DMing again.
#12 runeward May 28, 2012 14:07:29	I give it decent odds that 4e gets a semblance of support. The main cost for Wizards was the infrastructure and now that it is in place, it wouldn't be that hard to maintain token updates to keep the active base alive. Now, that makes a ton of sense, so something else will probably be done instead.
#13 bajatmerc Jul 06, 2012 5:31:20	I know there is a legal situation regarding the old standalone builder that was being updated by the Something Awful forums. But eventually I think the restriction to non-profit updating of the standalone will be either expired or ruled against.
#14 ruggerdaddy Dec 19, 2014 18:45:42	As of this post @ 8:42 PM CST 12/19/2014.... The 4E Character Builder has become inaccessible to me and the rest of my Friday Night gaming group (14 players). We actually thought it was our individual systems or internet connection, therefore we have tried through our tethered cellular connections and still no dice. Lol I read in other places about the possible taking down of the character builder completely. If this has occured, we are done as the the entire lot of us refuse to convert to 5E, and are about to pull out our copies of 3E. Can anyone confirm if the character builder has been pulled down from the server?