"New" Racial Ability Bonuses - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

"New" Racial Ability Bonuses

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Goken100
May 05, 2011 9:04:31 I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed?
#2
thespaceinvader
May 05, 2011 9:22:50 They're still aiming, AFAIK, to get Dragon content in early in the second month after the deadline. So March's Dragon would be in the May update.

Which is pretty pathetic, really.
#3
Goken100
May 05, 2011 9:44:33
They're still aiming, AFAIK, to get Dragon content in early in the second month after the deadline. So March's Dragon would be in the May update.

Which is pretty pathetic, really.

Okay, that makes sense, thanks. Now that you mention it, I seem to recall the goal being to have content ready on time for physical books. It didn't occur to me at the time that this means DDI content would therefore still be over a month behind.

I know Wizards has taken plenty of flak for time-issues, and I didn't mean to jump on the negative bandwagon. No promises have been broken, it was simply my hopes running away with me.

While it may be a challenging goal, I really do feel it is very important to release ALL content for the digital tools as soon as it is released in any other format. Having what amounts to two release dates undermines the impact and effective implementation of new material.

For many folks, content isn't real until its in the tools. And other folks would be more likely to use the tools if there was no double-release delay. That said, keep up the good work Wizards, you are on the right track!
#4
MalakLightfoot
May 05, 2011 12:55:57
I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed?

Nope, no missed announcement. Dragon content has ALWAYS been updated into the Character Builder during the second month after its release. I assume that part of the reason for this is that Dragon content did not used to be vetted through the same process that print content was. The extra month gave time for the developers to figure out if an element was unbalanced and it could be changed before being loaded into the electronic tools.

There is another possible reason, however. With a printed book, the text is finalized before it is sent to the printer. Heroes of Shadow should have been in its final form in February in order for it to get to the printer, print the run and get it back in Wizards' hands in time to ship it to the premier stores. This also means that the electronic tools team had been able to work on adding Heroes of Shadow to the tools since February. Not so for magazine content released in March.

#5
kenjoon
May 05, 2011 13:21:36
I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed?

Nope, no missed announcement. Dragon content has ALWAYS been updated into the Character Builder during the second month after its release. I assume that part of the reason for this is that Dragon content did not used to be vetted through the same process that print content was. The extra month gave time for the developers to figure out if an element was unbalanced and it could be changed before being loaded into the electronic tools.

There is another possible reason, however. With a printed book, the text is finalized before it is sent to the printer. Heroes of Shadow should have been in its final form in February in order for it to get to the printer, print the run and get it back in Wizards' hands in time to ship it to the premier stores. This also means that the electronic tools team had been able to work on adding Heroes of Shadow to the tools since February. Not so for magazine content released in March.

This
#6
Goken100
May 05, 2011 13:42:48
I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed?

Nope, no missed announcement. Dragon content has ALWAYS been updated into the Character Builder during the second month after its release. I assume that part of the reason for this is that Dragon content did not used to be vetted through the same process that print content was. The extra month gave time for the developers to figure out if an element was unbalanced and it could be changed before being loaded into the electronic tools.

There is another possible reason, however. With a printed book, the text is finalized before it is sent to the printer. Heroes of Shadow should have been in its final form in February in order for it to get to the printer, print the run and get it back in Wizards' hands in time to ship it to the premier stores. This also means that the electronic tools team had been able to work on adding Heroes of Shadow to the tools since February. Not so for magazine content released in March.

Yeah, I get it now. And I understand, really. I'd just suggest that we'd all be better off if they just held onto their content longer rather than half-releasing it earlier. I know that's a tall order given how mad folks are at the lack of DDI articles in recent months, but its for the best in the long term.
#7
kenjoon
May 05, 2011 14:49:02
I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed?

Nope, no missed announcement. Dragon content has ALWAYS been updated into the Character Builder during the second month after its release. I assume that part of the reason for this is that Dragon content did not used to be vetted through the same process that print content was. The extra month gave time for the developers to figure out if an element was unbalanced and it could be changed before being loaded into the electronic tools.

There is another possible reason, however. With a printed book, the text is finalized before it is sent to the printer. Heroes of Shadow should have been in its final form in February in order for it to get to the printer, print the run and get it back in Wizards' hands in time to ship it to the premier stores. This also means that the electronic tools team had been able to work on adding Heroes of Shadow to the tools since February. Not so for magazine content released in March.

Yeah, I understand now. And I understand, really. I'd just suggest that we'd all be better off if they just held onto their content longer rather than half-releasing it earlier. I know that's a tall order given how mad folks are at the lack of DDI articles in recent months, but its for the best in the long term.

Interesting. Perhaps the several months of lite content are leading to that. That the online content will be articles that were written last month and thus when the get released they make the "next" tools update.
#8
MalakLightfoot
May 05, 2011 17:46:14

Interesting. Perhaps the several months of lite content are leading to that. That the online content will be articles that were written last month and thus when the get released they make the "next" tools update.

I doubt it. In order to have the same lead time for a Dragon article that they have for a printed book, they would need to have an entire month of Dragon "in the can" in the month before its release.

We already know that there was nothing "in the can" at the beginning of April because they scratched so hard to get all of March out before the end of the month that they had nothing ready for April.

April was another month where they barely got all of the content out before the end of the month.

I suspect that very little stays in the can long enough for the electronic tools folks to start working on it before it is released into the wild.
#9
thespaceinvader
May 06, 2011 4:13:41 Well, you'd think... except that the Class Compendium stuff has been on the release schedule for a while, the book was due out around now, I think, so given the three month lead time, it must have been finished around january at the latest. It's forming the majority of Dragon at the moment.

Not to mention the fact that the move to online was supposed to signal an overall increase in the speed of updates, and their frequency. So far, with the laudable exception of HoS, we have not seen any evidence of that whatsoever.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Goken100 May 05, 2011 9:04:31	I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed?
#2 thespaceinvader May 05, 2011 9:22:50	They're still aiming, AFAIK, to get Dragon content in early in the second month after the deadline. So March's Dragon would be in the May update. Which is pretty pathetic, really.
#3 Goken100 May 05, 2011 9:44:33	They're still aiming, AFAIK, to get Dragon content in early in the second month after the deadline. So March's Dragon would be in the May update. Which is pretty pathetic, really. Okay, that makes sense, thanks. Now that you mention it, I seem to recall the goal being to have content ready on time for physical books. It didn't occur to me at the time that this means DDI content would therefore still be over a month behind. I know Wizards has taken plenty of flak for time-issues, and I didn't mean to jump on the negative bandwagon. No promises have been broken, it was simply my hopes running away with me. While it may be a challenging goal, I really do feel it is very important to release ALL content for the digital tools as soon as it is released in any other format. Having what amounts to two release dates undermines the impact and effective implementation of new material. For many folks, content isn't real until its in the tools. And other folks would be more likely to use the tools if there was no double-release delay. That said, keep up the good work Wizards, you are on the right track!
#4 MalakLightfoot May 05, 2011 12:55:57	I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed? Nope, no missed announcement. Dragon content has ALWAYS been updated into the Character Builder during the second month after its release. I assume that part of the reason for this is that Dragon content did not used to be vetted through the same process that print content was. The extra month gave time for the developers to figure out if an element was unbalanced and it could be changed before being loaded into the electronic tools. There is another possible reason, however. With a printed book, the text is finalized before it is sent to the printer. Heroes of Shadow should have been in its final form in February in order for it to get to the printer, print the run and get it back in Wizards' hands in time to ship it to the premier stores. This also means that the electronic tools team had been able to work on adding Heroes of Shadow to the tools since February. Not so for magazine content released in March.
#5 kenjoon May 05, 2011 13:21:36	I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed? Nope, no missed announcement. Dragon content has ALWAYS been updated into the Character Builder during the second month after its release. I assume that part of the reason for this is that Dragon content did not used to be vetted through the same process that print content was. The extra month gave time for the developers to figure out if an element was unbalanced and it could be changed before being loaded into the electronic tools. There is another possible reason, however. With a printed book, the text is finalized before it is sent to the printer. Heroes of Shadow should have been in its final form in February in order for it to get to the printer, print the run and get it back in Wizards' hands in time to ship it to the premier stores. This also means that the electronic tools team had been able to work on adding Heroes of Shadow to the tools since February. Not so for magazine content released in March. This
#6 Goken100 May 05, 2011 13:42:48	I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed? Nope, no missed announcement. Dragon content has ALWAYS been updated into the Character Builder during the second month after its release. I assume that part of the reason for this is that Dragon content did not used to be vetted through the same process that print content was. The extra month gave time for the developers to figure out if an element was unbalanced and it could be changed before being loaded into the electronic tools. There is another possible reason, however. With a printed book, the text is finalized before it is sent to the printer. Heroes of Shadow should have been in its final form in February in order for it to get to the printer, print the run and get it back in Wizards' hands in time to ship it to the premier stores. This also means that the electronic tools team had been able to work on adding Heroes of Shadow to the tools since February. Not so for magazine content released in March. Yeah, I get it now. And I understand, really. I'd just suggest that we'd all be better off if they just held onto their content longer rather than half-releasing it earlier. I know that's a tall order given how mad folks are at the lack of DDI articles in recent months, but its for the best in the long term.
#7 kenjoon May 05, 2011 14:49:02	I was shocked to find out the gnome still can't choose Dexterity despite the article for updated Racial Ability Bonuses being over a month old. Of course that goes for Goliath and a handful of others. Why in the world has this not been implemented when the entirety of Heroes of Shadow was released on time? (Bravo for that by the way.) Has there been an announcement about this that I've missed? Nope, no missed announcement. Dragon content has ALWAYS been updated into the Character Builder during the second month after its release. I assume that part of the reason for this is that Dragon content did not used to be vetted through the same process that print content was. The extra month gave time for the developers to figure out if an element was unbalanced and it could be changed before being loaded into the electronic tools. There is another possible reason, however. With a printed book, the text is finalized before it is sent to the printer. Heroes of Shadow should have been in its final form in February in order for it to get to the printer, print the run and get it back in Wizards' hands in time to ship it to the premier stores. This also means that the electronic tools team had been able to work on adding Heroes of Shadow to the tools since February. Not so for magazine content released in March. Yeah, I understand now. And I understand, really. I'd just suggest that we'd all be better off if they just held onto their content longer rather than half-releasing it earlier. I know that's a tall order given how mad folks are at the lack of DDI articles in recent months, but its for the best in the long term. Interesting. Perhaps the several months of lite content are leading to that. That the online content will be articles that were written last month and thus when the get released they make the "next" tools update.
#8 MalakLightfoot May 05, 2011 17:46:14	Interesting. Perhaps the several months of lite content are leading to that. That the online content will be articles that were written last month and thus when the get released they make the "next" tools update. I doubt it. In order to have the same lead time for a Dragon article that they have for a printed book, they would need to have an entire month of Dragon "in the can" in the month before its release. We already know that there was nothing "in the can" at the beginning of April because they scratched so hard to get all of March out before the end of the month that they had nothing ready for April. April was another month where they barely got all of the content out before the end of the month. I suspect that very little stays in the can long enough for the electronic tools folks to start working on it before it is released into the wild.
#9 thespaceinvader May 06, 2011 4:13:41	Well, you'd think... except that the Class Compendium stuff has been on the release schedule for a while, the book was due out around now, I think, so given the three month lead time, it must have been finished around january at the latest. It's forming the majority of Dragon at the moment. Not to mention the fact that the move to online was supposed to signal an overall increase in the speed of updates, and their frequency. So far, with the laudable exception of HoS, we have not seen any evidence of that whatsoever.