Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 PowerWordUnhook Dec 23, 2010 10:01:23	To Whom It May Concern, As of yesterday afternoon I made the decision to turn off the auto-renew option for my DDi subscription. I reached this decision just short of two months of subscribing. My reasons for this are numerous. First, the content in Dungeon and Dragon does not strike me as being as good of a value as the publication was in its printed form (and lest you think I'm just a Paizo groupie trying to get a dig in, I bought and read Dungeon since issue #41 way back in 1994). The few articles I have seen in Dragon that interest me personally are class variants and new class options such as the earth domain for warpriests, the star pact hexblades, and the executioner. However, the delay between releasing content and implementing it seems very slow. I realize, however, that Wizards of the Coast has been honest and upfront about the delay between publishing material and implementing it, so I don't in any way feel deceived; I just don't happen to want to pay for the content anymore, given that delay. But the primary reason I've turned auto-renew off is because after months of waiting for the character builder to include material from Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, there are still significant problems with those classes, powers, and feats in the online CB. Yesterday, I assisted one of my fellow players, a newcomer to gaming, in transferring her Hunter character for D&D Encounters from a handwritten sheet to the official online character builder so she could have easy-to-read power cards like those of us playing Fallen Lands characters do. However, upon attempting to give the Hunter the Distant Advantage feat (which is published in HotFK) for one of her level 2 benefits, the program would not allow us to do so. Disappointed, I turned to a 3rd party software solution to build the character instead (I'll refrain from mentioning it by name as I realize this may be a touchy subject). The other character building option allowed her to pick all of her feats and powers (including Distant Advantage), and was quicker and easier to use than the online CB. All the modifier math on attacks and skills checked out with her triple-checked handwritten copy, too. (The official CB may well have done the math properly too, but without being able to complete the character in the manner the player wished to build her, we'll never know). This begs the question of why amateurs dedicating scant spare time to a labor of love can manage to do a better job than paid professionals working for a company which ranked #511 on the 2010 Fortune 1000 list. I am certain that internal issues such as directing workflow, interdepartmental communication, and budgeting problems (not to mention keeping people motivated during the usual holiday slump) may contribute to these problems. But on the other hand, I as a consumer do have the prerogative of refusing to pay for a subpar service. I hope that the Online Character Builder continues to improve as time goes on, and I will continue to monitor these forums to see if it does indeed get better. If it is ever brought up to reasonable quality standards, I may consider resubscribing to DDi. At this time, however, I cannot continue to justify spending $10.72 a month on a program that couldn't get completed on time and doesn't fully function as intended. Best Regards, Power Word Unhook (your one-stop solution for all those pesky bra golems)
#2 mudbunny Dec 23, 2010 10:23:05	Thank you for writing. I will be sharing this with WotC.
#3 seanwalsh Dec 23, 2010 12:27:37	... However, upon attempting to give the Hunter the Distant Advantage feat (which is published in HotFK) for one of her level 2 benefits, the program would not allow us to do so. ... For what it's worth, if you start a Custom character, and choose D&D Home Campaign instead of D&D Encounters, you can select the Distant Advantage feat. It seems the Distant Advantage feat only registers as being published in Player's Handbook 2, unlike the Melee training feats (for example) which register as being published in both sources.
#4 PowerWordUnhook Dec 23, 2010 12:42:00	... However, upon attempting to give the Hunter the Distant Advantage feat (which is published in HotFK) for one of her level 2 benefits, the program would not allow us to do so. ... For what it's worth, if you start a Custom character, and choose D&D Home Campaign instead of D&D Encounters, you can select the Distant Advantage feat. It seems the Distant Advantage feat only registers as being published in Player's Handbook 2, unlike the Melee training feats (for example) which register as being published in both sources. Thanks for the tip; I'll keep it in mind. We used the Custom character option, but set it to Keep on the Borderlands guidelines to make sure the character was legal for Encounters play. Still, this just reinforces my misgivings about the character builder: Player's Essentials 2: HotFK has been promoted with a direct tie-in to Encounters play, with an associated point reward for building a character using the OCB. This, and an indeterminable number of other bugs, is detracting from a good product and a fun play experience.
#5 Mr_Rose Dec 25, 2010 6:57:00	Can I just say that this sounds more like grounds for cancelling your sub entirely and requesting a refund, plus whatever these "points" are due to the required materials not functioning as advertised. Plus if you cancel and get a refund DDi's bottom line will have another ding in it and nothing makes a corporation sit up and pay attention like having to give customers money. That's supposed to go the other way!
#6 PowerWordUnhook Dec 25, 2010 10:14:17	No, I see no reason to request a refund. I have used the program throughout December for the Fallen Lands characters and the thief and slayer that I and my other friend run are built fine, mechanically speaking, despite the issues we have with the user interface. I'll also likely continue to use the CB until my sub runs out in early January. I just don't want to pay for future service until the bugs are worked  out and the product is finished rather than practically beta as it is now. Pen and paper or third party solutions will do fine until Wizards gets their act together on the digital front (hopefully). The Renown Points awarded in D&D Encounters are given to us at the acting DM's discretion, so my friend with the Hunter character got her points for using the CB this week. (Hey, we TRIED using it!)
#7 _Mithreinmaethor_ Dec 25, 2010 12:42:29	To Whom It May Concern, As of yesterday afternoon I made the decision to turn off the auto-renew option for my DDi subscription. I reached this decision just short of two months of subscribing. My reasons for this are numerous. First, the content in Dungeon and Dragon does not strike me as being as good of a value as the publication was in its printed form (and lest you think I'm just a Paizo groupie trying to get a dig in, I bought and read Dungeon since issue #41 way back in 1994). The few articles I have seen in Dragon that interest me personally are class variants and new class options such as the earth domain for warpriests, the star pact hexblades, and the executioner. However, the delay between releasing content and implementing it seems very slow. I realize, however, that Wizards of the Coast has been honest and upfront about the delay between publishing material and implementing it, so I don't in any way feel deceived; I just don't happen to want to pay for the content anymore, given that delay. But the primary reason I've turned auto-renew off is because after months of waiting for the character builder to include material from Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, there are still significant problems with those classes, powers, and feats in the online CB. Yesterday, I assisted one of my fellow players, a newcomer to gaming, in transferring her Hunter character for D&D Encounters from a handwritten sheet to the official online character builder so she could have easy-to-read power cards like those of us playing Fallen Lands characters do. However, upon attempting to give the Hunter the Distant Advantage feat (which is published in HotFK) for one of her level 2 benefits, the program would not allow us to do so. Disappointed, I turned to a 3rd party software solution to build the character instead (I'll refrain from mentioning it by name as I realize this may be a touchy subject). The other character building option allowed her to pick all of her feats and powers (including Distant Advantage), and was quicker and easier to use than the online CB. All the modifier math on attacks and skills checked out with her triple-checked handwritten copy, too. (The official CB may well have done the math properly too, but without being able to complete the character in the manner the player wished to build her, we'll never know). This begs the question of why amateurs dedicating scant spare time to a labor of love can manage to do a better job than paid professionals working for a company which ranked #511 on the 2010 Fortune 1000 list. I am certain that internal issues such as directing workflow, interdepartmental communication, and budgeting problems (not to mention keeping people motivated during the usual holiday slump) may contribute to these problems. But on the other hand, I as a consumer do have the prerogative of refusing to pay for a subpar service. I hope that the Online Character Builder continues to improve as time goes on, and I will continue to monitor these forums to see if it does indeed get better. If it is ever brought up to reasonable quality standards, I may consider resubscribing to DDi. At this time, however, I cannot continue to justify spending $10.72 a month on a program that couldn't get completed on time and doesn't fully function as intended. Best Regards, Power Word Unhook (your one-stop solution for all those pesky bra golems) Did we really need a new thread on this????? Unless you are just wanting attention you could have posted HERE where others have posted this same info.
#8 Paulon Dec 25, 2010 14:01:57	Did we really need a new thread on this????? Unless you are just wanting attention you could have posted HERE where others have posted this same info.  I thought the point of posting a complaint was precisely in order to attract attention so that WotC can see why they've lost a subscriber? You know, you don't have to read every thread on the forum. Personally I find the string of complaints from various people complaining about the location of criticism without actually addressing the substance and content of said complaints to be rather more irritating than a clear and polite explanation of just why a given customer won't resubscribe. And I find it rather ironic that a complaint about netiquette and appropriate posting location includes an entire original post without either addressing the quoted material or trimming it to make reading the thread easier for everyone else.
#9 calant Dec 25, 2010 14:05:39	Did we really need a new thread on this????? Unless you are just wanting attention you could have posted HERE where others have posted this same info.  Did you really need to post to the thread if you're unhappy with it? Really, all you've succeeded in doing is bumping it yet again. Now, I on the other hand am quite happy to see another post critical of the web CB. So thanks for keeping it bumped and for giving me an excuse to help out, too.