You sure you wanna go there?
Datastore unavailableA request to the datastore failed or was denied. We apologize for the inconvenience.
I've reproduced the problem with Internet Explorer 6.
I searched for "feat" and it returned 64 matches under the feat tab. I clicked the feat tab and scroll to the footer. There it tells me there are 3 pages. When I try to click any of the pages or the next link nothing happens. It is though they are just underlined text. Also when I put my mouse over them, the status bar does not give me link information, it remains empty. Again the page links act as though they are underlined text, and not links.
Taking it a little farther I searched for "s" which resulted in more tabs with multiple pages. Again each of these would not allow me to view another page as if the links were just underlined text.
In Firefox 2.0.0.16 I do not experience this problem. I am able to click the links to other pages as well as the next link.
How this helps.
Ghostintheshell
Items like feather boat and ring of flight still have pluses, for some reason. This is silly.
WTH are Rules Elements supposed to be?
Theres my feedback.
Ghostintheshell
(drunk but still lucent enough to see DDI is a waste of money)
Also it really needs to contain any additions made in Dungeon and Dragon Magazines. It will be a much faster way to find "that one ability I remember seeing that was a fighter burst 1 attack in the heroic tier, maybe lvl 3 or 6 but i dont remember."
This would allow members to know if and what rule elements have changed with a quick glance. Especially if the compendium might be getting updates before the errata.
Just a thought.
Please add more links between information, as many others have already pointed out. Thank you.
For example, what kind of humanoid is this guy/gal:
Bairwin, Cult Leader
Are you new to this whole internet thing??
(I kid, I kid)
Seriously, I would like to think that the D&D playerbase is more mature than the MMO playerbase. However, my experience in the 4E C&C forum, as well as the 4E General Discussion form and D&D Community Business and D&D GSL leads me to believe otherwise.
Maybe I've just been unusually lucky, but I've never been called a newb, had my sexuality called into question, or my mother's virtue insulted while playing D&D, whether online, or at the table.
..Ok, there was the one time where the half-orc barbarian said my mother had a beard like a dwarf, but he apologized for it after I introduced his left kidney to SNEAK ATTACK!!
Seriously...
The warforged is listed in races. That was something I asked for, so I'm glad to see some of the stuff we want being added. Keep up the good work, WotC.
Oops, meant to add this.
Please add more links between information, as many others have already pointed out. Thank you.
Yeah, we know this is a wanted feature; can't make any promises obviously, but it's on the list of things we're looking into.
Just think. If this is the only thing I, ME, am complaining about with the Compendium...well ask other people about how I complain about things, and so far you can see I have minimal problems with the Compendium as is. ;)
LOL, I'll take my small victories where I can get them.
I do think the pages display is the way to go for most users; what you are talking about is almost more an export feature that lets you get the full dataset so you can do something with it offline.
Offering that might be a bit counter-productive to what we're trying to do with the Compendium but I can bounce the idea around internally and see what people's thoughts are.
More data in the monster tab.
For example, what kind of humanoid is this guy/gal:
Bairwin, Cult Leader
If you want detail on a specific monster, click the name and it will bring you to a detail page with pretty much everything. But I suspect you are talking about the column display.
What to put in the columns is a never ending source of debate even internally, everyone has their own priorities as to what they would like to see and our space is fairly limited.
Personally I would hesitate to put humanoid type in as a column because it would only apply to humanoid monsters and that makes the column basically wasted space for all other monster types. Generally we try to keep those columns to generic data that works across the entire range. But that said this kind of feedback is always valuable, if we get a strong current of people who really want to see a paticular characteristic in the grid view, we'll certainly take that into account for the next revision.
Maybe I've just been unusually lucky, but I've never been called a newb, had my sexuality called into question, or my mother's virtue insulted while playing D&D, whether online, or at the table.
..Ok, there was the one time where the half-orc barbarian said my mother had a beard like a dwarf, but he apologized for it after I introduced his left kidney to SNEAK ATTACK!!
Seriously...
The warforged is listed in races. That was something I asked for, so I'm glad to see some of the stuff we want being added. Keep up the good work, WotC.
I have no doubt that your mother is a woman of stature and dignity, however hiruste.
And yeah, I was happy to see Warforged in there as well. I think the inclusion of Dragon/Dungeon/Scenario pack material is one of the coolest features of the Compendium. It's one stop shopping for everything from everywhere without digging through stacks of materials and trying to convince your DM you're not having a self-serving hallucination when you tell them about a power you want.
We've always talked about it, but this release is the first one where we're really starting to see it in action.
- Basics - There needs to be a separate "Basics" tab, in addition to Races, Classes, etc. Most of the time, I just wanted to clarify basic rules, to clarify any technical considerations. Couldnt find any of it.
- Missing info - I wanted to pull up the "monster" stats for a Drow, but it didnt have an entry in the Monster tab.
- Dragon & Dungeon Ezines - I tried to look up Swordmage, Genasi, Artificer, etc. No entries.
- Forgotten Realms & Eberron Suppliments
- Images! I also want to be able to call up tagged images.
The most helpful features for me were dividing the info into tabs (tho there needs to be a tab for basic rules), and the hotlinks to full writeups, like the ones for each race and class.
Michael
This is a wonderful update from when it first launched. The View All button and the select items by level make a HUGE difference in the usefulness of this application. Especially when deciding what magical items to hand out to my players.
Also by having the monsters I'm saved a crapload of work. No longer do I need to search through the articles for monsters of an appropriate level, or cross reference the index in the MM as well as my own personal list. And finally by having the compendium I can copy and paste the data into a file and then print the file, giving me a hardcopy reference.
1) I still cannot find the fighter power "Get Over Here" in a search.
It's in there. It comes up in a generalized search for "fighter" but not in a search for the exact power. Even if it type it capitalized, lower case, just "get", etc.
Works for me.
2) Still no warforged despite being published for two months
Its there now.
so did i miss something, are we going to see the monsters from the MM or is that not going to happen?
Eventually we will. Monsters as a whole are a new feature that wasn't in the original launch of the Compendium.
I think the inclusion of Dragon/Dungeon/Scenario pack material is one of the coolest features of the Compendium. It's one stop shopping for everything from everywhere without digging through stacks of materials and trying to convince your DM you're not having a self-serving hallucination when you tell them about a power you want.
We've always talked about it, but this release is the first one where we're really starting to see it in action.
Agreed. That is definitely one of the most attractive features of the Compendium. But the turn-around time has got to improve. Ideally, it should be added to the compendium before it gets published in hard-cover books and compiled PDFs. I believe it was mentioned that this is how Errata is supposed to work. It goes to the Compendium before it gets published elsewhere. If you can manage that, it would add a lot of value to the Compendium, turning it into the most up-to-date authority on rules.
I do think the pages display is the way to go for most users; what you are talking about is almost more an export feature that lets you get the full dataset so you can do something with it offline.
Offering that might be a bit counter-productive to what we're trying to do with the Compendium but I can bounce the idea around internally and see what people's thoughts are.
This makes me wonder what are you trying to do with the Compendium? I don't expect anyone official to come out and say it this plainly, but right now, I'm assuming you are worried that if you supply some sort of offline dataset, that it will be distributed through questionable channels, and then people won't be paying for it. If thats a true concern, then I'd suggest making only the core books into a downloadable database. Keep the extra material in an online-only format. It seems that the economics of 'free' are so poorly understood at a time when they are becoming so important in our lives... but thats a whole rant waiting to happen.
Please add more links between information, as many others have already pointed out. Thank you.
Yes, please! This would be a huge benefit. Ease of Navigation is a major concern for any reference. This is one of the reasons why d20srd.org is such a popular site.
I'll close with one last suggestion. This doesn't relate directly to the Compendium, but since I seem to have your attention, I'm going to get as much mileage as I can off of it. You've got an entire community picking part everything you publish. You are getting instant feedback. That is a benefit that I think you need to capitalize on. You've got to be more responsive to correcting mistakes that are pointed out. Look at the Rescue at Rivenroar pdf. It was littered with mistakes, that were quickly (and loudly) pointed out. But even now, the pdf has those same mistakes in it. Its missing elements, there are typos, and labels are missing or incorrect. All of these should have been corrected as they were discovered and reported by the community.
I'm guessing that there are time-restraints that are keeping this from happening. It can't be a technical challenge, can it?. I'd suggest you have your people like WolfStar and mudbunny, who are already omni-present on the forums, gather this information, organize and present it to your editors in a fashion that keeps them from having to waste a lot of time by trolling the forums for the information.
Asm: You've got an entire community picking part everything you publish. You are getting instant feedback. That is a benefit that I think you need to capitalize on. You've got to be more responsive to correcting mistakes that are pointed out.
Along the lines of Asm, why not outsource the job of errata to forum viewers who would be happy to volunteer to do it for free.
Put a "wiki" version of whatever needs proofing online in the forums. Whoever notices an error can correct it immediately. After a while, when the doc looks pretty cleaned up, have WotC staff editor review it, to make sure it all looks in order, and use it as the basis for future publications. Likewise this digital version can be easily entered into the Compendium.
For example, typing in "wizard" gives two results in the Race tab, Eladrin and Human.
However, there is very little relevance to these races and wizards.
It would be nice if there was a "smart" compendium which didn't simply look up every instance of a term.
Barring that, at least highlighting the word(s) searched for would be nice to simplify looking for the text. As it is, I get the full output of the Human race page and the ONE instance of the word "wizard" is buried in the text.
If try to set the "Group Role" filter, you have options for Solo, Minion, Elite, and "Normal". I think this should be "Standard", because if you select "Normal" and do the search, you get no results. If you search for "All", you see many monsters that are "Standard".
The DM would have an account himself, with room for up to 6 or so player accounts. The player accounts can be limited to only having access to Dragon magazine if desired, and each player account can use the Character Builder and can have one character on the Character Visiualizer. Maybe even the Dungeon Builder and Bonus Tools for the heckuvit.
Now what I said so far can be achieved by simply sharing an account, but this idea is useful when it comes to the D&D gaming table. Now, if these player accounts can all come together on the Gaming Table without extra fees, great, but I don't think thats going to happen. (Wonderful if it does!) So maybe for the player accounts to have access to the Gaming Table in addition to what I mentioned before, an extra $5 fee could be added to the account, with the choice of adding it to a different credit/debit card than the master account.
Now, the first paragraph's idea can be achieved by simply sharing an account, and the second paragraph's idea by having separate accounts, but this is a little neater sometimes and also slightly cheaper.
One more thing, would the dungeon builder be in the 4.95/mo subscription or 14.95/mo subscription? I don't think that was mentioned in the Digital Insider #2. Of course, you can probably guess what I'm hoping for...
It looks like you cleaned up most of the warforged racial entry, but there's still an extra linebreak between "lacking in introspection," and "although all these can be true."
Forwarded to the data group.
Idea: Player accounts under a head DM account.
The DM would have an account himself, with room for up to 6 or so player accounts. The player accounts can be limited to only having access to Dragon magazine if desired, and each player account can use the Character Builder and can have one character on the Character Visiualizer. Maybe even the Dungeon Builder and Bonus Tools for the heckuvit.
Now what I said so far can be achieved by simply sharing an account, but this idea is useful when it comes to the D&D gaming table. Now, if these player accounts can all come together on the Gaming Table without extra fees, great, but I don't think thats going to happen. (Wonderful if it does!) So maybe for the player accounts to have access to the Gaming Table in addition to what I mentioned before, an extra $5 fee could be added to the account, with the choice of adding it to a different credit/debit card than the master account.
Now, the first paragraph's idea can be achieved by simply sharing an account, and the second paragraph's idea by having separate accounts, but this is a little neater sometimes and also slightly cheaper.
One more thing, would the dungeon builder be in the 4.95/mo subscription or 14.95/mo subscription? I don't think that was mentioned in the Digital Insider #2. Of course, you can probably guess what I'm hoping for...
I apologize for placing this in the compendium section. Please delete.
Uhm, agreed. So far we havn't been able to repo any bug outside of the image issue on the monster detail page. Can you provide the the steps/browsers/etc you went through to get that error?
Browser was IE7. This was the result from a search I did a few minutes before posting to test functionality. Unfortunately, I don't remember the search parameter I used, but it didn't have anything clever like database control codes in it.
I'll put this one down to one of those transitory errors that just seem to happen sometimes, as I have not encountered it again and have not been able to reproduce it. If it does re-occur, I'll take more careful not of it and let you know.
Sorry I can't be more helpful. Best of luck with the ongoing work.
A google search showed me that this is NOT something unique to DDI, but seems to be something across the ww2.wizards.com server and happens with Gatherer as well
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1073522
google search term was:
System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Bo olean
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.icallbackeventhandler(VS.85).aspx
ICallbackEventHandler Interface
Used to indicate that a control can be the target of a callback event on the server.
This page is specific to
.NET Framework 3.0
So the event handler taking the keypress recognition for the enter key, or the onclick type of event handler is having a problem when the callback is there for the server.
So someone needs to fix either Gatherer and Compendium, or someone needs to fix the server at the subdomain ww2 so that it handles the callback of events properly.
Not to be rude, but you would think someone would check the error to find out why it is being given. I found out why with a one minute Google search. Now someone just needs to figure out which way to solve the problem.
For the other System.Web.UI errors, it is probably something similar where Event or Object is being given.
WotC Cort: Glossery tab, hmmmm, I like that, I like that a lot. No promises and so forth, but I'll bring this suggestion to the table.
This "glossary tab" can probably fulfill the need for a "basics" tab. The terminology could explain stuff like: the Strength ability, the hitpoints of a door or other inanimate object, what combat advantage is, the difference between "hide" and "conceal", and so on.
He's been really helpful working with us here and, though GZ mentioned that he wouldn't necessarily be around all that much, Cort has been very active in this thread making me (at least) feel really good about having him working on the Compendium.It would be awesome if some of the other Devs could do the same thing (even if we don't get something they're working on to play with).
Originally Posted by WotC_CortOriginally Posted by Domenic
It looks like you cleaned up most of the warforged racial entry, but there's still an extra linebreak between "lacking in introspection," and "although all these can be true."
Forwarded to the data group.
Even posts like this go a long way to showing fans and customers that we're not being ignored.
If what you provide is worth the price you charge to people, they will pay for it. If it is not, you may have some people grudgingly fork over a monthly fee until they find something better or until they determine it is not money well spent, but you could eventually be missing out on an ongoing revenue stream that I think you are counting on.
Personally, I've found the Compendium to be lacking in usefulness thus far. The reason I would find such a thing useful is if I could look up some rule quickly and have references to where such a rule affects other things.
For example, I recently was a bit confused on Concealment Rules so I typed in "Concealment" and the compendium gave me classes, powers, feats, skills and monsters links. However none of these gave me information on Concealment rules.
If a situation comes up where I need to look something up quickly because we are in the middle of a game session, I'd like to be able to do so. Now when I make my character, I have already researched my personal class, powers, feats, and skills and should already know what these are (as they come up in the books/compendium). But if there is a situation where the wizard or monster uses a power that throws me into darkness and I want to quickly look up how this concealment (or other status such as dazed, stunned, blinded, etc.) affects me or the monsters we are fighting, the compendium is only good if I can do a quick search so that it is faster/easier than looking things up in the books.
So far when situations come up like this while gaming, it has been much faster to look things up in the books as opposed to the compendium (just look in the index for whatever thing you are interested in and go to the page numbers listed). Plus the information found by looking up in the books is much more detailed and informative, or at least I can find what I am looking for better.
If the compendium is meant to be a quick reference tool, at this time it is not. If it is meant to be easier/quicker to reference things than the books, at this time it is not. If it is meant to be a consolidation of class abilities, races, feats, powers, skills, etc., at this time it is so-so. But most of this stuff can be found in the books easier.
So far I've only found it useful if I'm looking into planning character development long term as in "What powers/feats/items are out there that somehow incorporate the stealth skill?", or an updated ruling on skills, powers, etc.
But as a reference tool to research rules, or quickly look up something during a game session... not so much.
I guess what you should be thinking about is "What would make this a useful tool for players/DMs?", "What is the purpose of this tool?" and "How can we make/design it so that it will meet the needs of the people paying for it?" If it does not meet our needs, we as players will not pay for it and all your time, effort, and expense at developing it will be a waste.
Something like a searchable PDF file (and I'm not condoning the use of illegal copies of this) would be more useful than the current compendium because you could do a search for some term (such as "Concealment", "Dazed", "Sly Flourish", etc.) and get a listing of all the places in the book where this is mentioned (or at least tab through all the "finds").
If whatever reference tools, character generators, dungeon creators, etc. you develop don't meet the players' (your potential customers') needs, or they are unavailable, inevitably someone out there will develop them for us for free (as in the auto update character sheets I've seen) and thus take away potential customers for DDI.
From what I've seen or heard about, there are already searchable PDFs for the rule books (competes with Compendium), automatic updating character sheets (competes with Character Builder), and I've heard (but not seen) that there are applications that compete with Character Visualize, Dungeon Builder and Gaming Table (although I'm not sure if these really exist or how good they are) that you can either get for free, or for a one time purchase price.
As DDI is now, it is somewhat lacking in usefulness. I personally prefer my mags to be in print form so I can lie in bed relax and read (as opposed to sitting upright at my computer), the Compendium is not terribly useful in its current state, and I'm sorry to say that the current "Bonus tools" in my opinion are laughable.
The Encounter Generator is maybe passable because it has all the monster information in a data base and the tool I've written myself (in about 15 minutes with an Excel Spreadsheet) just calculates out XP and monster levels (it does not allow you to click/select from a list of monsters) and tells you the difficulty of a particular encounter. But the Ability Generator? Come on... anyone with a brain, calculator, or a 5th grader's knowledge of Excel could write something just as good (or perhaps more tailored to individual needs). If you are going to plug "Bonus Tools", give us something useful.
For example, I wrote a simple Excel spreadsheet where the DM can plug in XP and treasure awarded over time and it will tell him if the characters are above or below "the curve" with respect to treasure given out ("Oh, the characters are at 134% of the gold they should have at this point... better hold of on giving out gold for a bit." or "Hmm... at this point they should have X number of magic items of such-in-such levels... I should throw in a level 6 magic item in here soon."). Total development time... about 2 hours.
Try and think of things that will be useful to players or DMs and spend your time developing these. Perhaps the "Bonus Tools" you have now are just a start and you have plans for better things in the future (I hope so), but as it is now, I don't think I would ever use something like this, let alone pay for it.
In its current state and in my personal opinion, DDI is not worth paying anything for (unless you want the mags and don't prefer to have them in print form). I truly hope that in the future it will be because I would like to support WoTC and I really, really want DDI to be a success and useful for players.
I'd like the ability to print out an individual, or group of powers in a 'power card' style format.
Wish List Request:
I'd like the ability to print out an individual, or group of powers in a 'power card' style format.
See the character builder tool.
I guess its my fault for not being specific enough, but I was wondering if it would be something easy to create, to add more value to the Compendium, while we wait for the rest of the tools to be come available.
Obviously, if its something that is so complicated that it would be better to divert that time on the Character Builder itself, then I'd rather see that finished instead, but from what I understand, the two teams are seperate, so the Compendium developers working on this feature would not take away from time spent on the builder itself.
It would be nice to see the powers listed as power cards for ease of printing, but with CB, and the class power cards coming out next year.....
JNevins: The reason I would find [the Compendium] useful is if I could look up some rule quickly and have references to where such a rule affects other things.
For example, I recently was a bit confused on Concealment Rules so I typed in "Concealment" and the compendium gave me classes, powers, feats, skills and monsters links. However none of these gave me information on Concealment rules.
If a situation comes up where I need to look something up quickly because we are in the middle of a game session, I'd like to be able to do so.
Yup. The above is exactly how I would use the Compendium too.
I could look the info up in the book, but I prefer the computer because it can find what I want instantly - with relevant crossreferences.
A "Glossary tab" could probably handle this kind of usage.
XP it came up with 86 monsters and an Advanced Search and zero in all the other tabs. When I randomly tried different entries in advanced search, they came up blank. It was quicker just to scroll through and see if I could find what I was looking for. Also, Where are all the other monsters?
Next I tried spelling out experience points. I got two results: Races (warforged) and E.Dest (archmage) In looking at the text, I saw no mention of experience points. Again, where is everybody else? I would suggest that the words a person searches for are highlighted to make them easier to find.
However, this is an improvment over not even being able to get it to work like a previous attempt of mine.
They have not put in all of the monsters yet, and I do not believe that they will before you start having to pay (please, someone correct me if I'm wrong), remember that this is a free trial and will not have everything in it.
Thanks,
Hdier
EDIT: I was in the compendium, and there is an extra line break in the Social Savant ability of the Lifeseeker Paragon Path in between Charisma- and based. (BTW, thanks for putting in magazine content) Also, the Pack Master doesn't show any data when I click on the link (I am using Safari to browse right now).
Browser was IE7. This was the result from a search I did a few minutes before posting to test functionality. Unfortunately, I don't remember the search parameter I used, but it didn't have anything clever like database control codes in it.
I'll put this one down to one of those transitory errors that just seem to happen sometimes, as I have not encountered it again and have not been able to reproduce it. If it does re-occur, I'll take more careful not of it and let you know.
Sorry I can't be more helpful. Best of luck with the ongoing work.
Thanks!! Every little bit helps, and I appriciate you giving me wha tyou can. If you do see the error again, definately post here with as much detail as you can.
Wish List Request:
I'd like the ability to print out an individual, or group of powers in a 'power card' style format.
I can see that, [Insert No Promises Clause here], I'll add it to the requested features list. Thanks!!
Unfortunately, thats not available yet.
I guess its my fault for not being specific enough, but I was wondering if it would be something easy to create, to add more value to the Compendium, while we wait for the rest of the tools to be come available.
Obviously, if its something that is so complicated that it would be better to divert that time on the Character Builder itself, then I'd rather see that finished instead, but from what I understand, the two teams are seperate, so the Compendium developers working on this feature would not take away from time spent on the builder itself.
This is accurate, we are seperate teams. However, if one tool has a capability they may decide to lower the priority for another tool duplicating that capacity. However, I'll still bring the suggestion to the planning meeting.
It dawned on me that the compendium should have a index of dragon and dungeon magazine articles so that we can find old articles that might not turn up in the other tabs or that we remember only fragmentary info.
This would probably more be a feature of the D&D site itself, and it's search functionality, than the Compendium. Even the Mighty Compendium can't do everything.
EDIT: I was in the compendium, and there is an extra line break in the Social Savant ability of the Lifeseeker Paragon Path in between Charisma- and based. (BTW, thanks for putting in magazine content) Also, the Pack Master doesn't show any data when I click on the link (I am using Safari to browse right now).
Forwarded to the data team.
when can we expect H2's data to go into the compendium?
I've mentioned it before, but I'll reiderate here. Dates are one thing I really can't give you. Particularly for things like that which are the domain of the data group. I just build 'em, I don't get to make the call as to when we ship 'em.
I've mentioned it before, but I'll reiderate here. Dates are one thing I really can't give you. Particularly for things like that which are the domain of the data group. I just build 'em, I don't get to make the call as to when we ship 'em.
ah I see, sorry for not reading into it more.
However I wonder how it will compare to the Character builder?
As I primarily use the Compendium to build characters for play by post games I mostly need the Compendium to reference powers or rules. When the Character Builder becomes available I suspect the Compendium will become less meaningful as I would expect information for character generation to be available through the Character Builder.
Although I find the Compedium useful (if slightly awkward), I fear it will loose value going forward.
Is the compendium going to be available offline? I use a laptop to organize my games but if I pay for a tool i want it available all time not just when i have a wifi connection.
As many people have stated the inability to properly search, the ability to browse a list of all encounters powers or all wizard powers, or even powers of a certain level are must. This has to be a tool that makes things easier for me than picking up a my book and flipping back an forth.
The fact that errata is included only makes up for the fact a mistake or oversight was made in the first place not in incentive to buy.
Remember the number one factor in all of these pay for services. If you do it right people will pay for it Take the time, get it right the FIRST time even if you have already gone several months past when your public has expected it.
As many people have stated the inability to properly search, the ability to browse a list of all encounters powers or all wizard powers, or even powers of a certain level are must. This has to be a tool that makes things easier for me than picking up a my book and flipping back an forth.
use teh string "wizard encounter" click on power, works like a charm, if you want everything the 'show all' button is nifty. They have already stated that they are working on a interface like the monster finder for everything else.
The fact that errata is included only makes up for the fact a mistake or oversight was made in the first place not in incentive to buy.
errata happens, always. The fact that the compendium gives the official text (not just want lines to drop and add) is very useful and a very quick reference.
I have never seen a product yet that didn't have some need of correction. But having a system in place to account for these corrections is a hallmark of good planning.
Errata way too early is more an indicator that the playtesting was done poorly, or else the results were not examined properly.
As I navigate around, the search box vanishes. If I click somewhere too fast (before the page finishes loading), most of the page vanishes.
One other suggestion... Add the playable Monster Races (Warforged, Shifters, Etc) to the Races area in the Compendium.
One thing that would be helpful (for both the compendium and the encounter builder bonus tool) would be to select level ranges.
...at least highlighting the word(s) searched for would be nice to simplify looking for the text.
When looking at, say, "Powers" it would be useful to be able to sort with multiple tags such as Class then Level as opposed to it defaulting to alphabetically when you click on Class.
In addition, please refer up to my previous request
Ditto on all of these. Also, based on your previous response to multi column sorts, a quick work-around would be to concatenate the columns together in the order selected and send through the sort engine. I am assuming that you are not using SQL, because group by, order by wouldn't be very difficult at all.
Since this product is in the early stages, I cannot decide if the rules that differ from the books/errata are old alpha/beta test holdovers or WotC is trying to feel out popular opinion before implementing a rule.
Option one makes the Compendium worthless to me.
Option two makes the compendium worthless to me and I find distasteful.
If this is going to be useful, people should not have to guess how correct the information is. I would expect this from a fan-built product, but WotC is the game developer.
Do it right or do not do it.
The Compendium has been updated with Errata, which is why you will see differences between it and the printed books.
Check your printed book against the Errata available at http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/updates
If you apply that Errata to your printed book, you should find the Compendium has the most up-to-date rules information.
The Compendium also has additional material which has come from the Dungeon/Dragon magazines.
Ditto on all of these. Also, based on your previous response to multi column sorts, a quick work-around would be to concatenate the columns together in the order selected and send through the sort engine. I am assuming that you are not using SQL, because group by, order by wouldn't be very difficult at all.
All of the above are on the requested features list, and no, we don't use SQL for sorting, the sorts need to be "smarter" than that (i.e. they need to do things like understand the heirarchy of powers, which is not a simple alphabetical thing).
Are traps and Poisons going to be added to the Compendium?
We're still figuring out what the next "datatype" will be, so can't say yes or no on anything yet. I'll make sure that gets suggested as a possiblity.
I have to agree with Serphet. Errata is not an indication of a bad product.
I have never seen a product yet that didn't have some need of correction. But having a system in place to account for these corrections is a hallmark of good planning.
Errata way too early is more an indicator that the playtesting was done poorly, or else the results were not examined properly.
But the compendium COULD have the errata much quicker than a print product, and people using the compendium would not have to wait as long....if the errata is added quickly, as in prior to a print product hitting the shelves.
All of the above are on the requested features list, and no, we don't use SQL for sorting, the sorts need to be "smarter" than that (i.e. they need to do things like understand the heirarchy of powers, which is not a simple alphabetical thing).
What hierarchy of powers?
At-will
Encounter
Daily
You want is alphabetical, then jsut have the designers rename encounter to combat powers, as that is what an encounter is in a nutshell.
That or add a field into the row with each power to give it the proper hierarchy if you want then sorted by numbers of uses per day as shown above.
It could be done server side or client side even and the javascript could sort on this hidden field without even having it IN the database.
pseudo-code:
switch power_type
case at-will: print 1 into hidden field for JavaScript
break;
case encounter: print 2 into hidden field for JavaScript
break;
etc
Then just let the power type be sorted by that hidden field rather than the actual words display to people, and the hidden field would be just that, hidden and the users wouldn't even know it exists in the background.
What is the problem here then?And SQL is not dumb to not be able to do it. It is just a simple code fix to make the data function in the way you need it to. Something a beginning database user learns early on.
Manipulation of the data is one of the easiest things to do....
SQL QUERY ORDERBY power_type_code
I am sure ACCESS has advanced sorting functions as well, or else you may want to switch from it or whatever you are using to a "smarter" database like SQL. Either MYSQL or MSSQL.
Either way don't talk down to the people here like nobody knows what the software environment can or cannot do.
Sorry, but I have had enough of that trying to think the users of the forums know nothing about computers, websites, servers, databases, etc.
Many may not, but for those that do, that only cheeses them off.
Again it is a matter of can versus not knowing how, or choosing to do it the hard way.
Granted you cannot dictate to WotC what hardware/software to use, but you can use it the way that it will work.
This is jsut a problem I have with ANY programmer/IT coming into a forum and looking down at the users thinking they know nothing about the capabilities of the software.
Client-side CAN handle it, and so CAN server-side, if you or the team decides to implement it.
I did not use my spellchecker on this post to prevent from correcting ANY spelling errors for posteritys sake.
Stealth has been updated with Errata. I don't know where you see alternate builds. The two for each class you mentioned are both in the PHB.
Ditto...I saw it in the beginning of the thread (or perhaps it was a different one), and I figured it was experimental and they got a generally negative reaction. If this is not true, does anybody know what happened?
Thanks,
Hdier
As long as it includes the info, I'm ok with that being folded into the glossary. The reason i called for its own tab was for filtering purposes.
I can see myself sitting at the game table, having used my standard action, and looking to see a list of move/minor actions to see what my options are.
Understood, i.e. if we start folding small items into the glossary tab, be sure the filtering is robust enough to keep it useful.
Main issues with the tool:
1. Not hyperlinked enough. As mentioned in other posts.
2. Search terms are not ranked by order of relevance (ala google / predictive searching).
3. General combat terms such as 'flanking' are not searchable (does the tool allow illustrations to show a player what flanking is?)
4. As pointed out in other posts, revised rules need to be highlighted and on the front page. All rules entries need to include a date of last revision.
5. The tools needs a browse by category functionality.
6. Nice to have: Links to things like RPGA specific or alternate rules should be provided.
7. Printer friendly versions should be provided so that a DM can print off rules revisions to bring to a game.
Simply put the tool is extremely immature. Nearly anyone can build a simple search box, and it feels like that is all this tool is.
Until the tools has some higher utility than google and my books, I will not much use it other than to find out if something has been revised.
DDI Compendium should be the source for the most complete and up to date information.
Neejix: DDI Compendium should be the source for the most complete and up to date information.
I totally agree. The Compendium is where players should go for all official rules. Likewise, all Compendium data should be tagged by date, to search for the most recent updates.
Honestly I do not understand why this tool does not have something closer to a wiki functionality or at the very least something that allows comments from players/DMs/WoTC employees on each entry.
Separate from the Compendium, Id like to see D&D Insider provide an official true Wiki for subscribers - with full permission to copy all D&D texts and images - and full editing access.
Itd potentially include all things D&D 4e. From every character class (with a hyperlink to a summary of how various camps of optimizers exploit it) to every known location in the world-building.
The Wiki "Talk" about the "Article" is often as illuminating as the Article itself.
The Wiki could even handle homebrew variants. For example, each variant class would be a collective work - a composite of multiple editors that continually improves until reaching a somewhat stable form.
A Wiki makes it crystal clear to D&D staff where interests of players are.
The difference between the Compendium and the Wiki, is the Compendium is official whereas the Wiki is fluid. However, it would often be convenient for the staff to simply cut and paste from the published D&D texts that editors quoted - and corrected - in the Wiki, to the Compendium.
The usefulness of the tool is low. I can search the books nearly as quickly and with more accurate results. Honestly I do not understand why this tool does not have something closer to a wiki functionality or at the very least something that allows comments from players/DMs/WoTC employees on each entry.
Main issues with the tool:
1. Not hyperlinked enough. As mentioned in other posts.
2. Search terms are not ranked by order of relevance (ala google / predictive searching).
3. General combat terms such as 'flanking' are not searchable (does the tool allow illustrations to show a player what flanking is?)
4. As pointed out in other posts, revised rules need to be highlighted and on the front page. All rules entries need to include a date of last revision.
5. The tools needs a browse by category functionality.
6. Nice to have: Links to things like RPGA specific or alternate rules should be provided.
7. Printer friendly versions should be provided so that a DM can print off rules revisions to bring to a game.
Simply put the tool is extremely immature. Nearly anyone can build a simple search box, and it feels like that is all this tool is.
Until the tools has some higher utility than google and my books, I will not much use it other than to find out if something has been revised.
DDI Compendium should be the source for the most complete and up to date information.
The tool is immature, I wouldn't argue that. I might argue that it is a bit more than a "simple search box", but is it where I eventually want it to be, no, not by any means.
That's one of the reasons I come on here and interact with you guys, is to get the feedback that will take it to that next level. Can't please everyone, because realistically every person on this forum has a different vision of what they want the Compendium to be, but we can certainly track trends and jot down great suggestions.
Will it happen tomorrow, no, wish it could but development is a process and we have to gather requirement, decide priority, build, QA then launch. And all of this has to balance against other DDI components we are also working on. But I do have the list, both from here and other sources, and Compendium is very much seen as a work in progress, with many more build cycles to come.
To responds more specifically....
1. This is a much desired feature and is pretty high on our list. Part of the problem is that to cross link, especially for glossary type items which a lot of people seem to want, we have to have that data in the Compendium in some format. So execution is somewhat happered by us building the data infrastructure to link *to*.
2. This is not as simple as it seems, relevance is often highly individual. We do have some plans to increase the relevance of results though. I don't know that I can offer ranking, but we should be able to get better results. Again, this kind of "smart" searching is not a small project though, so while it's something we really want too, it probably won't be the first thing we roll out next.
3. This is the desire for glossary data I mentioned in #1. It's definately something we are looking into, there is just a lot of data we have to convert into machine friendly formats.
4. Marking recent revisions is on the list. It's unlikey we will keep previous version though, the Compendium will probably only have the most recent.
5. I'm a little confused by this, every tab has a view all link allowing you to view all the data in a category if you wish to browse that way, and if you do a search, content is already organized by tab. I guess I'm not sure what you're requesting here.
6. I understand why you would want this, but it muddies the question of the Compendium being the one-stop shopping for "official" content somewhat. I suspect this would be better served by a more wiki-like functionality outside of the Compendium.
7. I assume you mean the detail page, that should be pretty easy to manage using CSS. I'll add it to the request list.
All of the glossary terms can be found in the D&D 4e SRD
If I understand the SRD correctly, these glossary terms (like what exactly does "Power Type" mean) are legally sensitive. The SRD licenses third-party publishers to use these terms, but to leave them undefined and to refer readers to the Core books (PH, DMG, MM) for definitions.
So Im mulling over the following recommendations for the Compendium ...
- Rename the proposed "Glossary Tab" to the "SRD Tab" to emphasize the proprietary nature of these special terms.
- Include a permanent legal notice somewhere in the tab, explaining the definitions are for the convenience of D&D Insider subscribers and cant be published by third parties.
Its important the Online Compendium includes the definitions of all of the technical terms. Its also helpful to remind Compendium users, the SRD grants conditional permission to use these terms.
I suspect this would be better served by a more wiki-like functionality outside of the Compendium.
Would it be too much to assume from your comment that we will be actually seeing a more wiki-like system coming in the not-to-distant future?
Would it be too much to assume from your comment that we will be actually seeing a more wiki-like system coming in the not-to-distant future?
Oooh...
/drool
- There isn't Adaptative Breath FEAT from Dragon 365
- The trigger condition in "Favor of Tymora" power, granted by the same FEAT is not "When Luckbringer becomes bloodied" but is "When YOU become bloodied". (This feat can be selected by any cleric that worship Tymora, even if he isn't a Luckbringer)
Because of the potential it has. Sure the site is immature today and it is easy to talk about how we want the handfull of data contained today. The power of this site comes a year from now when the there are another half dozen core books, 3 Forgotten Realms books, 3 Eberron books and lots of Dragon magazines and Dungeon Magazines. Now where was that feat, oh and copy and paste monsters, awsome!
This is a hugh step in the right direction. Can it get better, yes, is it a better resource than previous editions, yes, imho.
I have been playing D&D since and elf was a class and many editions later I am amazed at how far we have come.
Regards
Thanks.
Will all of the Monster Manual monsters be loaded to the compendium?
Thanks.
According to Digital Insider #7, posted yesterday:
By the time we launch our subscription service, the Compendium will include content from all 4E books and magazines published through the end of September (including Adventurer’s Vault and FR Player’s Guide).
Advanced search options, in particular boolean modifiers to terms.
For instance, if I want to find all rogue powers that don't require the use of light blades the search would probably look like this
rogue NOT "light blade"
and I'd then go to the powers tab.
However, said search doesn't work currently. Instead it retuturns Scorpian Strike and Walking Wounded, two rogue powers that do require a light blade and happen to have the word "not" in their description.
Make item categories a compound structure (similar to "Role" for monsters). Especially for magic items. If I apply a Weapon filter on my search results, I'd like the magic weapons to show up too, not just the mundane ones. As they all magic items are categorized as "Magic Item" regardless of whether they are weapons, armor, or equipment.
Secondly, add "Implement" as an item category.
My point: As the amount of content grows, the importance of prompt updates to the Compendium grows with it. If the Compendium lags a month or more behind the print production schedule, it really loses a lot of utility.
I was wondering those of us who like 3.5 better than 4.0 could still use this. My friend let me create a character from eberron as an artificer but i cant find the abilities!!!
Well, if you prefer 3.5 the Artificer rules are in the Eberron Camapaign Setting.
For 4E we don't yet have a full release for the Artificer. There's a playtest version available in Dragon #365. You can download the full issue (the "legal" version) by clicking the graphic here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drtoc/365 .
I find the Compendium useful and easy-to-use, but its usefulness is on a downward curve because updates are so slow in coming. Dragon 366 has been out almost a whole month now, but the powers from the warlock article, for example, aren't in the Compendium database yet. Ditto for Forgotten Realms book content, though I can understand why you might intentionally hold off on that content until the subscription fee kicks in.
My point: As the amount of content grows, the importance of prompt updates to the Compendium grows with it. If the Compendium lags a month or more behind the print production schedule, it really loses a lot of utility.
I would agree. Also, if this is something that I am going to pay for, I expect it to be kept up to date. If the current rate of updating is any indication, I don't feel its worth my money.
In the meantime, Im glad they opened a separate forum for Dragon/Dungeon Errata, where players can post any errors they spot.
Its a step in the right direction.
I was going easy and just looking for the 'ritually speaking' article from a month and half ago, and nothing about them are there. In fact the only outside source so far is the FRCG rituals that really aren't for players anyways... DDI REALLY needs a dedicated compendium update team. (now if it is just holding back for subscription... I guess thats ok, a cheap shot, but we'll live)
I don't think that all of the monsters from the MM have been added yet.
What he said
Feature request:
When the results of a search come up, the tab with the most results (and thus the most likely one to contain what it is we're looking for) should be the one exposed. As is, "Races" is always the one exposed, even when searching for things which only net a single result on another tab.
There are several possible variations on this theme, depending on how you do your searching, but working to make the default focus tab more relevant to your search is fairly high on the feature list we're working on.
There appears to be a paragon path missing from the Compendium: Paragon multiclassing. It would be nice to see this added.
This was found earlier in the thread (I think it was this one, I might be wrong). It's a little wierd in how it fits into the data model, so we're having some hiccups with it on the db side and it's not a simple data update. We're working on wedging it in.
I'd like to see an 'Actions' Tab added.
To include special actions such as Run, Bull Rush, Charge, Drink a Potion, Draw a weapon, Basic Melee Attack, Basic Ranged Attack, Shift, Move, Second Wind, etc.
Each entry would include what action it requires (Standard, Move, Minor, Free, Immediate), A description of what the action accomplishes or does, and any penalties or modifiers that are applied as a result of this action.
I'm tired of having to dig up my book to look up what penalties Run applies. :P
This would probably be in the "Glossary" tab that has already been suggested in this and other threads. It is a feature we are actively looking at.
Would it be too much to assume from your comment that we will be actually seeing a more wiki-like system coming in the not-to-distant future?
I wouldn't make that assumption. Adding Wiki functionality is fairly major. It's on our list of feature's we think could be a good fit, so it's not out of bounds.
Will all of the Monster Manual monsters be loaded to the compendium?
Thanks.
Officially I cannot answer that question.
Unofficially, well, it would be kind of silly to create a monster tab and not.....
I don't know if this would be useful or not, but I think it might be useful if we could search by product to see all elements from a specific book.
We've had a number of requests in this direction, trust me, we're keeping that in mind as we expand filtering.
Mahalo
One sample of why I am asking. T
here are 4 class features listed as Class features in the Ranger entry.
Beast mastery, Fighting Style, Hunter's Quarry, Prime Shot
Using the last three as search options (Fighting Style, Hunter's Quarry, Prime Shot) brings up Ranger in the class tab. But the first, Beast mastery, requires that you use Beast master as the search entry. Beast mastery returns no results. Why the difference with "y" or no "y"?
Any one with search tips?
I don't think that will answer your specific question about beast mastery though.
What's missing (imho) are images, images, and images.
I would like to see an image library that includes *all* of the graphics from the books and modules. I want to be able to select a book and a page number, and be able to download reasonably high resolution jpgs that I can use with my group.
Things like:
- a map of Loudwater from the FRCG that I can print off and mark up for my players;
- a picture of a Kruthik Hatchling that I can show my players without using my big hands to cover the rest of details on the page;
- a diagram of the Monastery of the Precipice that I can project down on my table with my projector;
Class features: Bravura Presence, Combat Leader, Commanding Presence, Inspiring Word, Resourceful Presence.
I don't see Bravura or Resourceful Presence listed under the Warlord entry in my PH. Where do these come from?
There's a great deal of good advice on this sort of issue at http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI from the W3C.
As a specific example of how to do this well, I'd point you at http://www.d20srd.org/ which I've been using for my 3.5e character sheets.
Under the WARLORD entry:
I don't see Bravura or Resourceful Presence listed under the Warlord entry in my PH. Where do these come from?
One could assume the new Martial Power book.
What are the chances of being able to search for an already put together NPC. Such as a 5th level wizard. The stats and powers are already there, just like monsters stats.
Mahalo
Not in our current plans, but it's an interesting idea. I'll bring it up with the team.
Check the Q&A thread for Cort. I believe thats where he gave the details of the Compendium's string building.
I don't think that will answer your specific question about beast mastery though.
Yes, I included all the details for QueryString management of the Compendium in an earlier post, I'd really rather not type it all out again
As for searching, currently Compendium is a pure "text in text" search; you search for a keyword and it returns a hit if that text is found in the areas we define as searchable (it's a bit more complex than that, but that gives you the general idea). We get that's not the "know what I mean, not what I say" search people would prefer and are working on ways to make it "smarter" and give more human intuitive results, but those are still works in progress.
The feat 'fastidiousness' is misspelled, which makes it hard to find.
Reported to the data team.
I use homebrewed HTML character sheets for my local games. It would be very useful for me to be able to link various keywords on the sheet (skills, feats, items) to the relevant rules online. The problem with the Compendium is that the URLs seem to change whenever your database is updated.
There's a great deal of good advice on this sort of issue at http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI from the W3C.
As a specific example of how to do this well, I'd point you at http://www.d20srd.org/ which I've been using for my 3.5e character sheets.
This should not be the case, can you give specific examples?
Greetings,
My Character has just leveled to 4th. I added one to Charisma and Intelligence.
Intelligence 16 modifier +3
In what circumstances does the half level modifier NOT apply to ability modifier?
example:
Armor Class
Warlock 4th Level
16 Intelligence
the way I calculated
Base Score 10
One half Level 2
Delvers Leather
Armor +1 3
Intelligence mod 3 ( because the armor is light )
plus one half level 2 ( the DM claims this is double dipping and not allowed, i quoted page 27 PHB Level Modifier[ it is on the current Character sheet with arrows running through the stat to the various dense scores ])
Total 20
Am i wrong and could there be a better example of leveling given ?
This is a rules interpretation question, you should be asking that here:
http://wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1303
My interpretation of rules are occasionally.... unique.... and if I air them publically R&D comes by and hits me with a stick.
A few wrinkles I noticed might need some ironing ...
- Searching for the "Swordmage" and "Fighter" classes, accidentally brings up the "Wandering Swordmage" and "Pit Fighter" material too (but not with the other Paths).
- The Artificer "Rotes" and the Swordmage "Aeges" (plural?) are listed as "Level 0" - which is great but should be consistent. For example, Wizard "Cantrips" and Cleric "Channel Divinity" powers could also be listed as level 0. Generally, level zero helps identify class features and racial powers.
Im happy with the Compendium. When the glossary gets added, Il use it frequently while playing in reallife, as well as online.
Thanks,
Hdier
Hey, I think that this might've been mentioned before, but I'd really like to see the ability to see the type of power (at-will, encounter, daily or utility). The thing is, I keep on trying to use the Compendium to build a character because it has all of the up-to-date stuff, but after I get past Class and Race, which I figure out before I even open the compendium because that is part of the concept, I get stuck.
Thanks,
Hdier
Understood, we're looking at filtering and enhancing it (not to mention adding it to the other eight data types), so this kind of feedback is good for us. We won't be able to do everything, but knowing what's important to people is very useful.
After subscription, why is it that I cannot access the subscriber features?
Could be a number of reasons. There are two main places to get help right now...
First is the forum thread dedicated to this issue, which you can see stickied at the top of this forum, and second is the official customer help page: http://wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1444
"elf"
heres what I got
Server Error: NullReferenceException
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
StackTrace:
at Misc_ServerError.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Web.Util.CalliHelper.EventArgFunctionCaller(IntPtr fp, Object o, Object t, EventArgs e)
at System.Web.Util.CalliEventHandlerDelegateProxy.Callback(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)
http://ww2.wizards.com/Site/Error/ServerError.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/dnd/insider/database.aspx
This should not be the case, can you give specific examples?
Sure. Leather armor, for example, used to be http://ww2.wizards.com/dnd/insider/item.aspx?id=851. That URL later ended up pointing to one of the magical armors from the Adventurer's Vault -- I can't tell you which one exactly, because now it doesn't point to anything. At the moment I'm writing this, the key for leather armor appears to have changed from 851 to 3613.
What would be ideal would be to assign a canonical name to each item (e.g. "leather armor") and use that rather than the key to construct URLs. The key ought never to be revealed to the external world.
I was just opening the monster tab, looking for level 1 monsters and thought "wow what's this?"
Next second I noticed I was involuntarilly totally spoilered.
Especially for us DM's who have the luxury to sometimes play as a "normal" player, this is really mean ;)
Thank you so very much seeing this has improved my day immensely,
Hdier
OK, I just noticed this, and I'm sorry if the change has been around for a while (a combination of schoolwork and the flu have been keeping me busy the past couple of weeks), but the fact that the Power List for each class is linked is extremely optimistic for me. I can not begin to express how much this small change has brightened my view of the compendium (which was fairly good to begin with). ...
We are glad you like it. A little note on this though: the link is for now mainly an "automated" search using the class name. So when you look for the wizard powers from this link, you will find some entries related to the powers from the "Wizard of the Spiral Tower" for example. As WOTC-Cort mentioned in another thread, we will be working on improving these filters even more. In the meantime, we do our best to provide more functionalities within the existing framework.
A) Minimum enchantment bonus
B) Additional Defense bonus (as in the AV armors)
Is this a bug? When is it going to be fixed?
After subscription, why is it that I cannot access the subscriber features?
I'm assuming you have logged in. If you have purchased a subscription and can't see the content, contact Customer Service right away, they will make sure you are properly entitled.
I was trying to build a character the other day, and I was trying to filter powers by class, of a certain level and a certain type (at will, encounter, daily, utility). Definitely need these filters for ease of char creation... at least until the char creator goes beta/live.
Yeah, additional filters are on the to do list, believe me. Obviously I can't give dates, but they are definately on my current working list.
I tried it Today to look at
"elf"
heres what I got
Server Error: NullReferenceException
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
StackTrace:
at Misc_ServerError.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Web.Util.CalliHelper.EventArgFunctionCaller(IntPtr fp, Object o, Object t, EventArgs e)
at System.Web.Util.CalliEventHandlerDelegateProxy.Callback(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
at System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive()
at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint)
http://ww2.wizards.com/Site/Error/ServerError.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/dnd/insider/database.aspx
Hmm, that would be Compendium having an issue talking with it's database. Ignoring for a moment that you probably shouldn't be seeing that impolite an error message (add that to my list, check), there have been a few restarts and hotfixes and the like as we clean up post launch issues, my first suspicion is that you just happened to run into one of those as I can't get any naughty behavior out of the Compendium today. If you continue to see this behavior, or can dependable repeat it, please post the repo steps here and I'll jump on it.
thanks!!
Sure. Leather armor, for example, used to be http://ww2.wizards.com/dnd/insider/item.aspx?id=851. That URL later ended up pointing to one of the magical armors from the Adventurer's Vault -- I can't tell you which one exactly, because now it doesn't point to anything. At the moment I'm writing this, the key for leather armor appears to have changed from 851 to 3613.
What would be ideal would be to assign a canonical name to each item (e.g. "leather armor") and use that rather than the key to construct URLs. The key ought never to be revealed to the external world.
Got it, and tracked this one down. The issue will only happen to data in the "Items" category. Basically we pull data from a central storage area, magical things happen, and it's in a format most useful and efficient for Compendium. With the items data the formats were unusually discongruent and we had to do more data massaging than normal. The short end of this is the unique IDs we use are getting regenerated every time we do an import, instead of being pulled directly across. There is a good reason it had to work that way, but it had this unintended side effect.
So we know about it and we're looking at ways to fix it, but for now at least Item IDs may well change from data import to data import. All other data types will remain reliable.
Well, it should be definitely possible to filter away all the monsters from the adventures. And I really would like that to be the default.
I was just opening the monster tab, looking for level 1 monsters and thought "wow what's this?"
Next second I noticed I was involuntarilly totally spoilered.
Especially for us DM's who have the luxury to sometimes play as a "normal" player, this is really mean ;)
Agreed, and you are not the first to bring up the "unintentional spoiling" factor. Being able to filter by source should at least somewhat fix this, and that's already on the to do list.
OK, I just noticed this, and I'm sorry if the change has been around for a while (a combination of schoolwork and the flu have been keeping me busy the past couple of weeks), but the fact that the Power List for each class is linked is extremely optimistic for me. I can not begin to express how much this small change has brightened my view of the compendium (which was fairly good to begin with). As soon as I can persuade my dad, I'm getting a subscription (which shouldn't be to much longer, because I can label it a present for Christmas :D).
Thank you so very much seeing this has improved my day immensely,
Hdier
Thanks, we do try!
LOL! The Compendium is basically an Optimizers wetdream. Having every option at ones fingertips, helps build a character whose powers synergize elegantly.
Working to enable the lives of min/max-ers everywhere......
YOu need to fully log out (log out and then completely close the browser) and then log back in for the subscription to take effect. I suspect it has something to do with cookies.
Actually it's has to do with cache optimization of user state data, it will "fix" itself with a little time, but logging out and back in forces a reset instantly.
Thanks,
Hdier
As for the other stuff...it's okay. But its nothing i couldn't live without honestly. I paid for the one month subscription to test it out and i'm not really feeling like I got my moneys worth. I really wanted to like it too =/
Compendium would be kind of handy when i dont have my books handy. It's ashame i just paid for a subscription and i can't access it. It tells me i need to Log on to DDI, when i allready am.
As for the other stuff...it's okay. But its nothing i couldn't live without honestly. I paid for the one month subscription to test it out and i'm not really feeling like I got my moneys worth. I really wanted to like it too =/
log out, close (all of) your browser window(s), log back in - and it should work.
[EDIT]
TOTALLY wanna derail the thread thanks to MBs reply (below this one) - but I'll take the high road. ^_^
Hint - I have pics of myself as a pirate
Thanks!
Hey, I was looking at the Forgottem Realms preview stuff, and I saw that the Gensai is fully given for free, here. Why isn't this viewable in the compendium? I understand that you lock things like Blade Intiate, as that is only viewable through the FRPG, but why can't we see the things that we can already see for free? Was this intentional, or an oversight?
Thanks,
Hdier
I just checked. The Genasi are listed in the compendium. It has all five of the builds listed plus everything else. Are you sure you are spelling it right?And Blade Initiate is viewable also.
I just noticed that all masterwork armors do not reveal their
A) Minimum enchantment bonus
B) Additional Defense bonus (as in the AV armors)
Firstly, congrats I see that a "special" field has been added to (most) masterwork armors. Thanks for that.
Secondly, unfortunately I still do not see minimum enchantment required.
Also, I'm greatly appreciating the tools and content, please keep up the good work!
Just wanted to remind everyone that a good way to make sure your feedback (complaints, compliments, etc) about the compendium is to file them at the following KB entry:
http://wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1425
Just click on the link at the bottom of that page titled "Submit Dungeons and Dragons Insider Compendium Feedback" an you'll be taken to a form. The proper topics are already filled out to make sure it gets to the right place, all you have to do is choose the type of feedback you're giving from the drop down, give it a subject line, type up your feedback, then hit submit.
You can submit complaints about broken features as well as suggestions for improvements using this form. You can also send compliments with that form as well ;)
Happy Gaming!
And Blade Initiate is viewable also.
Are you logged into D&Di? Because I'm talking about viewing it for free: I click on the link to the race and get the following message:
Save Time with Every Search—Subscribe Now
Gain Full Access to the complete rules text for every race, class, paragon path, epic destiny, skill, feat, power, item, and ritual—from every D&D rulebook and online magazine article. The D&D Compendium offers you the fastest way to find what you’re looking for—and to discover even more.
D&D Insider -- Subscribe Now!
Thanks,
Hdier
EDIT: There is not a book style guide. You have to search a keyword for anything to pop up. A glossary or index would be great.
A few suggestions:
1. In the class powers list, being able to sort them by type, IE At will, Utility, Encounter, and Daily would be great.
2. In the feats section, being able to sort by racial feats would be welcome.
3. The basic progression chart from the PHB, the one that has the level, xp, feats, powers, and everything on it would be great to have for those who want to stat out there characters.
4. In the weapons and armor tabs, being able to search for them by there required proficiency would be nice.
If I have anymore, i will let you know.
Let me be more specific, I can find the invulnerable coat of arnd, but when I type in the word artifact, nothing comes up.
Can this be added to the item search list function?
Otherwise it works pretty well for what I have run.
I thought, and correct me if I am wrong, that the Compendium will pretty much have everything from the books. Not the actual rules on character creation, but all the various options and stuff. So, if that is true, shouldn't the spellscarred and the genesi powers be listed.
Now, it could just be because they haven't gotten around to it. And if that is so, okay, I can accept that because it will eventually be added.
Now, it could just be because they haven't gotten around to it. And if that is so, okay, I can accept that because it will eventually be added.
Of course, they said that all data would be available when they started selling subscriptions. They need to add it sooner rather than later, I think.
I'm guessing it has been mentioned before (I have no wish to go through 9 pages) but the spellscarred powers are not in the compendium. The feat that starts it all is, but not the indivdual powers.
Check here for more details on this.
Neither are the racial powers of the Genesi, though I don't know about others.
They are now available in the Genasi race tab, under the Genasi entry. They were indeed not available there until today's monthly update because of a data glitch.
That would be my #1 problem with it at the moment because I fear the same annoying problem is going to happen with the Character Builder in the next couple of weeks making it a pain to use.
Being able to sort is nice and all, but I just want to see for instance all the feats from the last dragon magazine, but there is no good way to do this.
Or maybe I'm trying to create a new 9th level daily power for a paladin and want to see all 9th level daily powers for comparison.
Basically anything we can sort on, I'd also like to be able to filter on.
Also for item filters, Category does not appear to be working. And I'm not sure how data is entered, but it would be nice to be able to filter for something like all +1 heavy armors (which would include "any"), or all +1 heavy blade weapons (which also would include "any").
Typically I use the compendium when I don't have books available, or want to look up something quick, and I might go some length, say 20 minutes, before I need to look something up through the compendium.
I guess this is more of a curiosity question than any real pressing need. Though if I get logged out automatically after a certain amount of time, it would be great if there was a place on the compendium where I could just log back in without having to close everything up, go back to the web site, log in, and open the compendium again.
On a side note, could we get the bonus tools to open up in a separate window like the compendium? That would be cool, but not a disappointment if not.
There has been some discussion about the issue and with luck time out period will become longer. No stated change of plans yet, just that it will be considered.
Hey, I was looking at the Forgottem Realms preview stuff, and I saw that the Gensai is fully given for free, here. Why isn't this viewable in the compendium? I understand that you lock things like Blade Intiate, as that is only viewable through the FRPG, but why can't we see the things that we can already see for free? Was this intentional, or an oversight?
Thanks,
Hdier
Probably just not locked down yet. We tend to not put material in the Compendium until it's official. I can't speak to that exact example, I'd have to ask the data team, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't show up soon.
Having figured out how to use the compendium, i think its great.
A few suggestions:
1. In the class powers list, being able to sort them by type, IE At will, Utility, Encounter, and Daily would be great.
2. In the feats section, being able to sort by racial feats would be welcome.
3. The basic progression chart from the PHB, the one that has the level, xp, feats, powers, and everything on it would be great to have for those who want to stat out there characters.
4. In the weapons and armor tabs, being able to search for them by there required proficiency would be nice.
If I have anymore, i will let you know.
Additional sorting/filtering options is pretty much at the top of our list currently, never fear, more options are coming
I'm guessing it has been mentioned before (I have no wish to go through 9 pages) but the spellscarred powers are not in the compendium. The feat that starts it all is, but not the indivdual powers. Neither are the racial powers of the Genesi, though I don't know about others.
I thought, and correct me if I am wrong, that the Compendium will pretty much have everything from the books. Not the actual rules on character creation, but all the various options and stuff. So, if that is true, shouldn't the spellscarred and the genesi powers be listed.
Now, it could just be because they haven't gotten around to it. And if that is so, okay, I can accept that because it will eventually be added.
Spellscarred powers are a known issue and addressed in a few other threads. Long story short is that the data doesn't fit into our template (dang those creative types, always beaking the rules!). So I've got to tweak the template and the import to make these poor, mutant children viable. It's on the list, just competing with other projects.
Need more filters.
Being able to sort is nice and all, but I just want to see for instance all the feats from the last dragon magazine, but there is no good way to do this.
Or maybe I'm trying to create a new 9th level daily power for a paladin and want to see all 9th level daily powers for comparison.
Basically anything we can sort on, I'd also like to be able to filter on.
Also for item filters, Category does not appear to be working. And I'm not sure how data is entered, but it would be nice to be able to filter for something like all +1 heavy armors (which would include "any"), or all +1 heavy blade weapons (which also would include "any").
More filtering is a high priority for us as well, can't promise dates because marketing beats me with sticks, but it is something we are actively working on.
Here's a question I couldn't find an answer to. I have noticed that after a certain amount of time/inactivity I will automatically be logged out of DDI. (I know i get automatically logged out when I close my browsers.) A lot of the time I open up the compendium after logging in and close the rest of my browsers. Will I automatically be logged out again if I do this and/or will I be automatically logged out of the compendium after a certain amount of time?
Typically I use the compendium when I don't have books available, or want to look up something quick, and I might go some length, say 20 minutes, before I need to look something up through the compendium.
I guess this is more of a curiosity question than any real pressing need. Though if I get logged out automatically after a certain amount of time, it would be great if there was a place on the compendium where I could just log back in without having to close everything up, go back to the web site, log in, and open the compendium again.
On a side note, could we get the bonus tools to open up in a separate window like the compendium? That would be cool, but not a disappointment if not.
We do have a system that auto-logs people out after a period of inactivity. While this behavior is required we are re-examining the amount of time before the auto-logout.
Using the Encounter Builder and the Compendium, I was able to prep three combat encounters for my group in about an hour. That's a big improvement for me.
With the encounter builder, it took me about 10 minutes to tweak and build a standard encounter, and then another 10 minutes with the compendium to look up the monsters I had selected, screen capture them, and paste them into a word document so I could print all the monsters in an encounter on on page.
So, these tools are already impacting my preparation time. Even though I wish for more versatility (and deep down a "Grand Unified" encounter/monster builder), what you are offering already is positively impacting my game.
We do have a system that auto-logs people out after a period of inactivity. While this behavior is required we are re-examining the amount of time before the auto-logout.
Why is this required?
Why can't we have a 'remember me' option?
Are you concerned that someone will remain logged in after their subscription has expired?
I'm now the guy in charge of the Compendium. I was doing the Bonus Tools before, and now I have the Compendium, too.
I didn't originate the Compendium, but I'm one of those who identified the value of the Compendium early on and got it on track. There are a lot of excellent improvements we can make to the Compendium. I use the Compendium myself, both for work and for play.
I see that Cort has been keeping you in the loop. He's a good man, and I'm happy to be working with him on the Compendium.
and while I have an openeing to a bonus tools person, is there any particular reason the bonus tools do not work on linux? I am not sure if its specific to ubuntu or not, but the tool's fields all turn up blank on my linux box. I'm not crying fould or anything, just was wondering if it was a known issue.
hurrah for more compendium staff!
and while I have an openeing to a bonus tools person, is there any particular reason the bonus tools do not work on linux? I am not sure if its specific to ubuntu or not, but the tool's fields all turn up blank on my linux box. I'm not crying fould or anything, just was wondering if it was a known issue.
A lot of them are flash apps. How's the flash setup? I have flash setup, but it's a 64-bit fedora using nspluginwrapper, and they bonus tools hardly work. I havn't tries swfdec yet to see if that works better.
I'm using flash 10 on 64 bit as well.. come to think of it I haven't tested on 32... but that shouldn't make a difference in this matter (i am very potentially wrong though)
Does flash work on normal sites? I know I've read at least one thing about the new version not being supported by nspluginwrapper. (I tried swdec. No worky, at all.)
I assume you are using the latest version, 8.10, with firefox 3.
Using Flash 9. That may be the difference.
@JoT - Is Cort still going to be around?
Since you are in charge now, can you tell us what sort of new things are coming down the pipe? *hoping for some wiki-like functionality*
Here are the problems as I see it and some suggestions:
I have a problem with the applications basic interface.
When you click on the application it opens into a separate window with a simple search box. What I would like to see is a Windows Explorer like tree format with categories and sub-categories on the left and details on the right. The benefit of this basic change would be to help the casual computer user achieve a level of personal satisfaction because the interface would be one that he is already familiar with, instead of the level of frustration he might feel dealing with an unfamiliar interface.
I also find it hard to use in ways that I would want.
As an example, I was building a character for my wife and I tried to use the compendium to search for feats that would be good for a 6th level Barbarian.
I quickly became frustrated as there was no way to filter the findings, No way to drill down to what I wanted and exclude the feats that were not appropriate.
It seems that all I could do would be to read through each and every feat to find out if it was what I was looking for.
I would like to be able to filter feats by prerequisites as well as tier. I would also like to see a brief description of the feat, like WotC does in there books, so I don't have to open and read each one.
Also, I appreciate having the Revision data displayed on the Feat (rule) in question, but the way it is displayed forces me to read the original, broken or changed rule, then read the changes below and mentally make these changes as I re-read the rule again. I would like to see the text change to reflect the errata changes, and then, if desired by the reader, a button or a hidden field that could be opened to show the original version. I can't honestly see anyone wanting to know the original rule first, and then wanting to see how it was changed. What a player or DM wants most it to know what the current rule is so that they can use it in its updated version immediately, not the history of a changed rule.
Another thing I would like to see: hyperlinks to rules definitions. Click on "Action Recovery (Human)" and see a hyperlink to the Human Race, the Action Point rules and any conditions that are mentioned.
To me, it just makes sense.
The Compendium could very well be most important part of any 4E game and I highly encourage WotC to continue to make it an important part of the D&DI.
@JoT - Is Cort still going to be around?
Since you are in charge now, can you tell us what sort of new things are coming down the pipe? *hoping for some wiki-like functionality*
Cort is still going to be around. He's at AmberCon right now, so I doubt he's reading this thread today, but he's not going anywhere as far as I know.
Expect an upgrade to data and functionality on Tuesday the 25th. I know what we're planning, but plans don't always turn out, so please be patient as I resort to being vague.
As for wiki functionality, I've been advocating some sort of wiki functionality in general for some time, but it wouldn't be tied specifically to the Compendium, and it's outside my direct area of responsibility.
Can we have monster imagens for the compendium?
It's on my to-do list, but it's a long list, and images aren't at the top.
It's on my to-do list, but it's a long list, and images aren't at the top.
Is there anything we could do to help prioritize this? All the images already exist in the image galleries... And this would be a _major_ help to DMs. I was putting together encounters using the compendium, and it was working great---filtered by monster levels, type, role, etc., and was able to get what I want in record time---not to mention getting some monsters from RPGA stuff that I'd never have seen otherwise. But, I didn't have any of the pictures to show my players that I'd normally get
. Really this would make the monsters tab pretty much awesome.We're working on a better interface. I'll pass along your Windows Explorer suggestion to the fellow working on it.
As for finding the right feat, you might find that the Character Builder is going to do a good job at that. People are using the Compendium to build characters because the Character Builder isn't out yet, but once it releases, users aren't going to use the Compendium that way as much.
As for revisions, can you give me an example? I checked out Ogre Savage, and it gives me the revised damage in the stat block, with the original damage noted at the bottom.
is there any particular reason the bonus tools do not work on linux?
Not that I know of, but I'm no expert.
As for revisions, can you give me an example? I checked out Ogre Savage, and it gives me the revised damage in the stat block, with the original damage noted at the bottom.
Here is an example:
Action Recovery [Human]
Paragon Tier
Prerequisite: Human
Benefit: When you spend an action point to take an extra standard action, you can immediately make a saving throw against each affect on you that a save can end.
Revision (7/28/2008)
Replace "gain" with "take", "roll" with "make", & "condition affecting" with "effect on". Remove word "standard" before action. *All in Benefits sentence.
First published in Player's Handbook.
I would imagine it would be better if it was just corrected, maybe with a date notation, and then someone could check the rules history to see what it used to be and what was changed. No one really wants to read an outdated rule first, then figure out what it should be. We just want to know what it is.... save the Rule history for those of us writing term papers on "The History of the Action Point"
Here is an example:
Action Recovery [Human]
If you look at that example, you see that all the errata have been incorporated into the main text, except that the word "standard" has been accidentally retained. ("Effect" has also been misspelled by our data enterer.)
In general, the detail pages do indeed provide the corrected text, as you correctly identify as the right way to do it. Action Recovery looks like a one-off mistake. I've alerted Didier, the fine fellow who handles our database.
If you find other mistakes like this one, keep letting us know and I'll keep passing them along to Didier.
If you find other mistakes like this one, keep letting us know and I'll keep passing them along to Didier.
A few typos I noticed while using the compendium lately:
Monster id 1076 - Assassin Imp - XP should be 300 not 600
Monster id 109 - Cave Bear - Cave Bear Frenzy should do 2d8 + 5 damage, not 3d8 + 4
Monster id 1107 - Sinruth, Hobgoblin Chieftain - XP should be 625 not 150
A few typos I noticed while using the compendium lately:
Monster id 1076 - Assassin Imp - XP should be 300 not 600
Monster id 109 - Cave Bear - Cave Bear Frenzy should do 2d8 + 5 damage, not 3d8 + 4
Monster id 1107 - Sinruth, Hobgoblin Chieftain - XP should be 625 not 150
These kind of things seem weird to me... wouldn't it be a worthwhile effort to write something that parses the PDFs and extracts the necessary information, instead of entering it by hand and getting it wrong? Heck, I bet it'd be even easier if you had access to pre-publication data (i.e. whatever the PDFs are generated from).
If you guys are interested, contact me sometime after the holidays and I'll write a program like that for you... would make Dragon/Dungeon updates a lot faster, too, I would imagine.
It'd be cooler if they made a book maker program, that parsed XML and made the books... keep it all in a database, keep it all easy.
Meh, I would imagine that's too much of a departure from how things are usually done... my guess is they don't want to invade the territory of the authors/layout makers/whoever for their online stuff.
But yes, if I were starting the process from scratch, that'd definitely be the way to go... come up with a schema, build a front-end tool for authors to use that creates a monster XML file fitting that schema, then compile to the myriad sources: PDF, Compendium, character builder, errata files, collectible monster cards, ... generalize as appropriate to other entities (powers and items being obvious ones).
A few typos I noticed while using the compendium lately:
Monster id 1076 - Assassin Imp - XP should be 300 not 600
Monster id 109 - Cave Bear - Cave Bear Frenzy should do 2d8 + 5 damage, not 3d8 + 4
Monster id 1107 - Sinruth, Hobgoblin Chieftain - XP should be 625 not 150
There's a Submit Bugs & Feedback link at the bottom of the page in the Compendium. In your case, I clicked on that link and pasted your text into the message I sent. Anyone can report data errors in this way, plus other bugs or suggestions. Obviously, we could use a bunch of eyes on the text to catch this sort of thing. Your fellow Compendium-users will thank you.
Meh, I would imagine that's too much of a departure from how things are usually done... my guess is they don't want to invade the territory of the authors/layout makers/whoever for their online stuff.
But yes, if I were starting the process from scratch, that'd definitely be the way to go... come up with a schema, build a front-end tool for authors to use that creates a monster XML file fitting that schema, then compile to the myriad sources: PDF, Compendium, character builder, errata files, collectible monster cards, ... generalize as appropriate to other entities (powers and items being obvious ones).
Our approach is indeed to have R&D use the database from the start, and this database serving the various D&DI tools as well as the book production. We have been working toward achieving that goal from the start but this is not something that was really do-able while 4th Edition was being designed, so we have implemented an intermediary solution with a data entry process... but our long term goal is to integrate this more in R&D design and editing process, and we are working with R&D to that end.
There's a Submit Bugs & Feedback link at the bottom of the page in the Compendium. In your case, I clicked on that link and pasted your text into the message I sent. Anyone can report data errors in this way, plus other bugs or suggestions. Obviously, we could use a bunch of eyes on the text to catch this sort of thing. Your fellow Compendium-users will thank you.
I've tried to use that link, but it (and all wizards.custhelp.com pages as well) does not work. It just gives a blank page. This is using Opera 9.62 on Vista. I used to be able to access pages like the PHB FAQ a few weeks ago, but now everything is just a blank page.
Edit:
Some fiddling around and finally deleting the cookies associated with wizards.custhelp.com fixed the problem. I'll be using that to report errors now.
Edit: I just noticed that now, even though I just downloaded some issues of Dungeon and Dragon this morning, I'm shown currently as no longer being subscribed, which is interesting, since I was thinking that one month would mean either 30 days or from October 14th to November 14th, not November 8th . . . and I also wasn't thinking much about it since I thought these were automatically charged unless canceled.
Am I the only one right now that is clearly logged on but when I try to access anything on the Compendium, I'm told that I need to subscribe? I'm looking at my nice little green light under my name in the right hand corner, and yet, the compendium is telling me that I need to subscribe.
Edit: I just noticed that now, even though I just downloaded some issues of Dungeon and Dragon this morning, I'm shown currently as no longer being subscribed, which is interesting, since I was thinking that one month would mean either 30 days or from October 14th to November 14th, not November 8th . . . and I also wasn't thinking much about it since I thought these were automatically charged unless canceled.
Your not the only one. I am having the same issue. I can not find anything the FAQ about it. Set WoTC an email, hopefully it will be fixed soon.
Edit: I just noticed that now, even though I just downloaded some issues of Dungeon and Dragon this morning, I'm shown currently as no longer being subscribed, which is interesting, since I was thinking that one month would mean either 30 days or from October 14th to November 14th, not November 8th . . . and I also wasn't thinking much about it since I thought these were automatically charged unless canceled.
I'll forward this up the chain and see if we can get an answer about it.
Edit: I checked another thread, and it looks like someone who had the same issue is no longer having a problem. Are you still experiencing this?
There's a Submit Bugs & Feedback link at the bottom of the page in the Compendium.
I'm not seeing that button pop up on my screen; it still lists the Twofold Pact as requiring Tiefling, and when I looked for the button at the bottom it wasn't there.
Thanks,
Hdier
Report Bugs Shown:
BugReport Missing:
Wizards,
PUT THE BUG REPORT LINK ON EVERY PAGE!!!
Seriously, it's rediculous to not be able to report an error from the page you found it in...
Thanks,
Hdier
EDIT: Oh, and I was searching through the compendium (I'm still giddy about finally subscribing...) and noticed that there aren't enough links...for example, when going through the powers it should have a link to the class it comes from when the class name pops up in the power. Things like that.
Why is this required?
Why can't we have a 'remember me' option?
Are you concerned that someone will remain logged in after their subscription has expired?
No, it's more that someone could be logged in and leave a computer unattended, which would allow another to do unfortunate things to their subscription; particularly if they are using a public system like a library.
I'm using Ubuntu and it works fine for me. Tried the Encounter Builder and it showed up fine.
I assume you are using the latest version, 8.10, with firefox 3.
Using Flash 9. That may be the difference.
@JoT - Is Cort still going to be around?
Since you are in charge now, can you tell us what sort of new things are coming down the pipe? *hoping for some wiki-like functionality*
Cort is still around
Cort is still going to be around. He's at AmberCon right now, so I doubt he's reading this thread today, but he's not going anywhere as far as I know.
Expect an upgrade to data and functionality on Tuesday the 25th. I know what we're planning, but plans don't always turn out, so please be patient as I resort to being vague.
As for wiki functionality, I've been advocating some sort of wiki functionality in general for some time, but it wouldn't be tied specifically to the Compendium, and it's outside my direct area of responsibility.
AmberCon Northwest! Snobby elitist roleplaying for the win!
WotC_JoT manages the feature and business ends of things, he's not a developer, so you are getting an "in addition to" not an "instead of".
Not that I know of, but I'm no expert.
The Bonus Tools are flash applications, so I suspect you're conflict is happening at that level. Are other flash apps working on that system?
Am I the only one right now that is clearly logged on but when I try to access anything on the Compendium, I'm told that I need to subscribe? I'm looking at my nice little green light under my name in the right hand corner, and yet, the compendium is telling me that I need to subscribe.
Edit: I just noticed that now, even though I just downloaded some issues of Dungeon and Dragon this morning, I'm shown currently as no longer being subscribed, which is interesting, since I was thinking that one month would mean either 30 days or from October 14th to November 14th, not November 8th . . . and I also wasn't thinking much about it since I thought these were automatically charged unless canceled.
It should auto re-subscribe. If you're not seeing that behavior I'd contact customer service and see if there is an issue with your account.
It appears to be available only on some pages. It appears to be visible on search result pages, but not on individual power pages. Click images for larger size
Report Bugs Shown:
BugReport Missing:
Correct, the links are on the "grid view" as we call it, but not on the object detail pages. We try to keep those fairly uncluttered as people have very specific needs when they are on those pages.
Oh! OK, thanks, I was wondering why I couldn't find it.
Wizards,
PUT THE BUG REPORT LINK ON EVERY PAGE!!!
Seriously, it's rediculous to not be able to report an error from the page you found it in...
Thanks,
Hdier
EDIT: Oh, and I was searching through the compendium (I'm still giddy about finally subscribing...) and noticed that there aren't enough links...for example, when going through the powers it should have a link to the class it comes from when the class name pops up in the power. Things like that.
Interlinking is on the list, but we really need to do the Gallery section before we can get enough content to make it really useful. So it's an idea we like as well, we just have steps to go before it would be practical.
No, it's more that someone could be logged in and leave a computer unattended, which would allow another to do unfortunate things to their subscription; particularly if they are using a public system like a library.
Some of the net folk consider me over security minded, this though is worst then me.
It strikes me as very low risk any would be using a library computer in the first place and that the few that use a public computer at all would leave an open connection to a paid service. Even if the risk exists at all, why 30 minutes instead of 5 minutes? I can walk away from my box and have cat walk over keyboard in less then a minute.
A game session average is 4 hours based on reports, perhaps you might be able to sell that time out as an idea.
Of course risk assessment team clearly should be consulted, however an idea to consider.
Interlinking is on the list, but we really need to do the Gallery section before we can get enough content to make it really useful. So it's an idea we like as well, we just have steps to go before it would be practical.
GALLERY SECTION!?!?
As in...
PICTURES!?!?!
I LOVE YOU!!!
Thanks,
Hdier
Correct, the links are on the "grid view" as we call it, but not on the object detail pages. We try to keep those fairly uncluttered as people have very specific needs when they are on those pages.
Agreed. It should be fairly uncluttered.
However, you should be able to add a Report Bug link in a very unintrustive manner, no? A simple icon with a bug on it and a tool-tip that shows on mouse over, or mouse hover seems ideal.
No, it's more that someone could be logged in and leave a computer unattended, which would allow another to do unfortunate things to their subscription; particularly if they are using a public system like a library.
As someone else pointed out, it is not your responsibility to protect people like this.
And in the case of a 'remember me' feature, no one would use it on a public computer, so keeping the 30 minute, or even a 10-minute time-out feature would be great for public use, if you can turn it off with 'remember me'.
BTW, welcome back! Don't let my critisism fool you. We're glad to see you back.
At least they are starting to put more content on the magazines now, the last articles have been worthy and the adventures are GOOD.
I would like to see more maps of mysterry or printable dungeon tiles.
Also, it would have been nice if the tools were actually working before they started charging a fee...
The Items section of the Compendium should be re-structured.
As a DM, the biggest advantage of having a section like this in the Compendium is to help build treasures and parcels for my characters. But as it is built now, this tool is nearly useless for this function.
The major issue I have is with the 'Category' field applied to each item. There are only 4 categories: Armor, Equipment, Magic Item, and Weapon. The Equipment category seems ok, it just lists all of the standard adventuring equipment found in the PHB.
The Armor and Weapon categories only list the basic weapons (those with no magically enhancement) and all of the Masterwork Armors. These categories are a bit misleading because if I do a search for level 8 weapons, it pulls up nothing. If I do a search for all weapons or all armor, everything is level 0.
The Magic Items category contains EVERYTHING ELSE... which is a very big list, and not really a category.
Here is what I propose:
There should be many more categories: Equipment, Armor, Weapons, Implements, Arm, Neck, Feet, Waist, Hand, Ring, Wondrous Item, Reagent, Alchemy, Potion, etc... ( and probably some more that I cannot think of at this moment)
AND THERE SHOULD BE NO MAGIC ITEM CATEGORY.
Armor and Weapons can still keep the base items as Level 0, but they should also include all magic armor and weapons as well.
The search should also include an option to select a range of levels, and the categories should be selectable by check boxes, so you can pick more than one at a time.
Thanks,
Hdier
Searching is very good for most purposes, but since the Compendium is the only truly up to date source of rules, it would be very good to be able to look up the rest of the rules that do not correspond to any of the tabs, and an index seems like the best way to do so.
((no, I'm not saying that you should've read 305 posts to find out if that had already been mentioned...I just figure that the more posts that talk about it, the quicker it will get done))
Speaking of which, I haven't seen much talk about the URL's. I've been putting links to the compendium into Lord_Ventnors Swordmage guide, and it would be a hell of a lot more convenient for me if the URL's were something like 'www.wizards.com/compendium/lookup/Twin_Strike'. My school laptop can't access www.wizards.com (curse you, DeepNines!), so I'm stuck doing it all at home, and being bored in school during open mods when I have no homework (Fridays are a real problem with over an hour of no classes at the end of school...). Could more sensible URL's be implemented, please? I understand that it wouldn't be very high on the priority list, but getting that done eventually would make me very happy.
Thanks,
Hdier
The Gnoll entry is missing one of the Gnoll Article's racial abilities- Pack Attack.
I apologize if this has already been mentioned, but I'd really like to see the source and page number for equipment and powers. For example when I'm looking at level 2 magical items in a search and Dwarven Armor comes up I want to see that it's from the Players Handbook pg x. This will be nice if I could make a note of the page, in case I need to look it up in the book during a session.
It's our policy to avoid page numbers, as they can change with reprints. Page numbers would be ideal, but we've got a lot of higher priorities, and probably always will.
We're looking at other efforts that might allow this sort of very detailed information, but we're not talking about those efforts until they're more solid.
AND THERE SHOULD BE NO MAGIC ITEM CATEGORY.
If there's an irritating feature that deserves an all-caps complaint, this one might be it. We're working on it.
rules that are not directly tied to a game person, place, or thing.
The functionality to see all weapons in a group is on the to-do list. Creating a table would require a new approach to how we use Compendium data, so we're unlikely to do it any time soon. For now, we're focusing on improving the Compendium's functionality, not adding new ways to treat its data.
Speaking of which, I haven't seen much talk about the URL's. I've been putting links to the compendium into Lord_Ventnors Swordmage guide, and it would be a hell of a lot more convenient for me if the URL's were something like 'www.wizards.com/compendium/lookup/Twin_Strike'.
Good thinking on the Compendium links. The web works best when interlinked.
I just asked WotC_DM about simpler URLs, and he sadly shook his head. Not really feasible.
Fire beetle has an extra +3 damage to the Fire Spray ability. I don't see an errata to add that.
The Gnoll entry is missing one of the Gnoll Article's racial abilities- Pack Attack.
I submitted these via the same bug-report system that is on the Compendium. As I'd rather spend my time on the Compendium's bigger issues, I'd ask that y'all use the bug report link for details like these. It's faster and it's easier. (OK, it's easier for me, but that's gotta count for something!)
I submitted these via the same bug-report system that is on the Compendium. As I'd rather spend my time on the Compendium's bigger issues, I'd ask that y'all use the bug report link for details like these. It's faster and it's easier. (OK, it's easier for me, but that's gotta count for something!)
I tried, but I get sent to a URL that ends "SecurityQuestionsForm" that Firefox says will loop forever and never complete. (like the typical buerocracy)
I tried, but I get sent to a URL that ends "SecurityQuestionsForm" that Firefox says will loop forever and never complete. (like the typical buerocracy)
I had problems doing that as well. Don't remember if it was the same problem or not. I can't say I tried very hard as I tried to alert WotC about the sword wielding wererat in dire rat form and discovered I needed to create an account on the WotC help system. That barrier is enough for me to not bother. I haven't gotten the impression that WotC really wants to fix issues (except for WotC_JoT and other DDI tool workers anyway). For example, the errata forums have little to no WotC presence. I understand if you guys have other work to do but the impression I get is that support isn't that important.
I can't get any of the tabs to open... The only way I can access the Compendium is by clicking the related link in the Character Builder. But I can't do additional searches from there - typing anything in the search bar brings up a list of tabs with number of articles listed, but clicking (and clicking, and clicking) on the tabs does absolutely nothing. The search bar, tabs, and the related links bar are all that ever appear. Is this a problem with Vista, or maybe the Internet Explorer 8 beta?
I tried, but I get sent to a URL that ends "SecurityQuestionsForm" that Firefox says will loop forever and never complete. (like the typical buerocracy)
Smart as I like to think I am, you need real experts for these sorts of problems. Cort and Jen say you can contact customer support at this URL
http://wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php
or at this phone number
1-800-324-6496.
Good luck.
GALLERY SECTION!?!?
As in...
PICTURES!?!?!
I LOVE YOU!!!
Actually, gallery as in defined terms, glossary probably would have been a better term.
and the love is lost.....
As someone else pointed out, it is not your responsibility to protect people like this.
And in the case of a 'remember me' feature, no one would use it on a public computer, so keeping the 30 minute, or even a 10-minute time-out feature would be great for public use, if you can turn it off with 'remember me'.
BTW, welcome back! Don't let my critisism fool you. We're glad to see you back.
Yeah, it may not technically be our responsiblity, but we do try to look out for these folks. It's a balacing act. That said, we know the time out is .... annoying.... folks and it's something we are actively looking at.
And thanks, I wasn't really "gone", my responsiblities at Wizards have enlarged somewhat and I have a fairly full plate sometimes, but it is a priority for me to come back here and connect with you guys. So be patient with me, I may not be here every day, but I will be here
Sorry if this has been discussed before, but here goes...
The Items section of the Compendium should be re-structured.
As a DM, the biggest advantage of having a section like this in the Compendium is to help build treasures and parcels for my characters. But as it is built now, this tool is nearly useless for this function.
The major issue I have is with the 'Category' field applied to each item. There are only 4 categories: Armor, Equipment, Magic Item, and Weapon. The Equipment category seems ok, it just lists all of the standard adventuring equipment found in the PHB.
The Armor and Weapon categories only list the basic weapons (those with no magically enhancement) and all of the Masterwork Armors. These categories are a bit misleading because if I do a search for level 8 weapons, it pulls up nothing. If I do a search for all weapons or all armor, everything is level 0.
The Magic Items category contains EVERYTHING ELSE... which is a very big list, and not really a category.
Here is what I propose:
There should be many more categories: Equipment, Armor, Weapons, Implements, Arm, Neck, Feet, Waist, Hand, Ring, Wondrous Item, Reagent, Alchemy, Potion, etc... ( and probably some more that I cannot think of at this moment)
AND THERE SHOULD BE NO MAGIC ITEM CATEGORY.
Armor and Weapons can still keep the base items as Level 0, but they should also include all magic armor and weapons as well.
The search should also include an option to select a range of levels, and the categories should be selectable by check boxes, so you can pick more than one at a time.
This is a known request. The issue has to do with how the data is structured, in order to fix it we would have to do some major work behind the scene. So yeah, I don't disagree it would be a better way to arrange things and more useful, it's just a matter of prioritizing a time block big enough to do the messy bits in the back we would have to to make it possible.
When the Gallery gets added, will the pictures there be available for Portraits in the Character Bulder? Right now, I'm using pictures I find online, copying them into Paint, then saving them. A bigger selection would be nice.
Thanks,
Hdier
Heh, Glossary, not Gallery. And I'm not even promising the Glossary, I just said it was something we would need to build first before interlinking would be possible.
However, clearly there is a show of public desire for a gallery feature! I will push the desire up to the powers that be as something to look at.
That's been brought up before: I think they said that they're considering it, but have more important things at the moment (such as the gallery...can't wait!)? That along with autolinking has been requested a lot, I'd be surprised if they didn't add it.
((no, I'm not saying that you should've read 305 posts to find out if that had already been mentioned...I just figure that the more posts that talk about it, the quicker it will get done))
Speaking of which, I haven't seen much talk about the URL's. I've been putting links to the compendium into Lord_Ventnors Swordmage guide, and it would be a hell of a lot more convenient for me if the URL's were something like 'www.wizards.com/compendium/lookup/Twin_Strike'. My school laptop can't access www.wizards.com (curse you, DeepNines!), so I'm stuck doing it all at home, and being bored in school during open mods when I have no homework (Fridays are a real problem with over an hour of no classes at the end of school...). Could more sensible URL's be implemented, please? I understand that it wouldn't be very high on the priority list, but getting that done eventually would make me very happy.
Thanks,
Hdier
I can add it as a request, although that's all I can promise.
I have a specific complaint.
The Gnoll entry is missing one of the Gnoll Article's racial abilities- Pack Attack.
Hrm, I'll report to the data team.
resurrecting the auto-logout issue. It's irritatingly short.
Resurrection not required, we're well aware of it and looking at solutions. The trick is finding one that doesn't involve rewriting the back end or impacting other applications using a shared back end. But we have some ideas, I can't give an ETA obviously, but it's not an issue we're ignoring.
I submitted these via the same bug-report system that is on the Compendium. As I'd rather spend my time on the Compendium's bigger issues, I'd ask that y'all use the bug report link for details like these. It's faster and it's easier. (OK, it's easier for me, but that's gotta count for something!)
Just seconding what WotC_JoT says here. If you post a bug, particularly a data bug, we'll forward it to the appropriate parties but you actually have a better case with the bug report link. That goes directly into the system and is not as easily ignored as my email is.
I tried, but I get sent to a URL that ends "SecurityQuestionsForm" that Firefox says will loop forever and never complete. (like the typical buerocracy)
Really? Pausing for a moment to revel in the irony of reporting a bug on our bug reporting..... OK, I'd like to get our QA looking at this, can you post your Firefox version and OS?
I had problems doing that as well. Don't remember if it was the same problem or not. I can't say I tried very hard as I tried to alert WotC about the sword wielding wererat in dire rat form and discovered I needed to create an account on the WotC help system. That barrier is enough for me to not bother. I haven't gotten the impression that WotC really wants to fix issues (except for WotC_JoT and other DDI tool workers anyway). For example, the errata forums have little to no WotC presence. I understand if you guys have other work to do but the impression I get is that support isn't that important.
Our system should auto-generate your account if you are logged in, and we do follow up on these things, if not sometimes as visibly as people would like.
This is a known request. The issue has to do with how the data is structured, in order to fix it we would have to do some major work behind the scene. So yeah, I don't disagree it would be a better way to arrange things and more useful, it's just a matter of prioritizing a time block big enough to do the messy bits in the back we would have to to make it possible.
Any idea why Items do not even show up on the Compendium interface?? I typed in FeyLeather, an item from the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. No entry... nothing.
But it is a brand new item in 4.0, only problem is no price data can be found. Not in PHB, DMG or either Forgotten Realms book, that I can find. This is something I am interested in. And I assumed that the Compendium would have it.
Perhaps WoTC should look at adding an Boolean Search interface to allow the paid users of the Compendium to better define searches. It is something that can be done with DBase3 files, SQL files and FoxPro Files. I know I used to work for a company that did so! And I was the main Filter writer for the DBase3 product.
Note: Google uses Boolean Search filters in its main page, IF you know how to add them. So it can be done on large scale databases.
I found feyleather in the Items section when I searched for it. Special armors such as feyleather don't have costs per se. They can only be used as magic armor, and you just use the price of the magic armor. Feyleather has a minimum enhancement of +4, so if you get armor with a bonus of +4 or more, then it can be feyleather 'for free' (at no additional cost).
Perhaps WoTC should look at adding an Boolean Search interface to allow the paid users of the Compendium to better define searches.
We certainly should, and don't be surprised if you see it in an upcoming upgrade. We upgrade the Compendium on the 4th Tuesday of a month, and boolean search isn't coming in November, and that's all we're saying at this point.
We certainly should, and don't be surprised if you see it in an upcoming upgrade. We upgrade the Compendium on the 4th Tuesday of a month, and boolean search isn't coming in November, and that's all we're saying at this point.
I can haz christmas present??
I can haz christmas present??
[derail]
Remember, kids.
Every time you "can haz" God kills a LOLcat.
Please, think of the LOLcats.
[/derail]
Good thinking on the Compendium links. The web works best when interlinked.
I just asked WotC_DM about simpler URLs, and he sadly shook his head. Not really feasible.
if you really want to do this, you should take a short look into url-rewriting.
there are IIS compatible versions to mod_rewrite from apache for those who really believe they should be running windows+iis.
mapping something from /powers/valiant%20strike/ to the current format
/database.aspx?searchterm=valiant%20strike#tab=powers
would be a one line rewriting rule:
RewriteRule ^/?([a-zA-Z_]+)/([a-zA-Z_]+)/$ database.aspx?searchterm=$2#tab=$1
Heh, Glossary, not Gallery. And I'm not even promising the Glossary, I just said it was something we would need to build first before interlinking would be possible.
A) Good! The Glossary is the single best thing that I can think of at the moment to improve the compendium.
B) No promises...
:D
I searched for "Impaling Weapon" from Dragon 365 and got the "Impaling Weapon" from Adventurer's Vault.
Er... There are/were two different Magic Item types with the same name, my head asplode!
Only one, obviously, showed up in the Compendium... the AV one. The Dragon 365 one is gone.
How do we distinguish between items with the same name in the Compendium if this happens in the future?
[derail]
Remember, kids.
Every time you "can haz" God kills a LOLcat.
Please, think of the LOLcats.
[/derail]
They have a .net compiler plug in to add LoLcode to Visual Studio. I so wanted to write the Compendium in LoLcode.
I was denied.
I haz a sad.
if you really want to do this, you should take a short look into url-rewriting.
there are IIS compatible versions to mod_rewrite from apache for those who really believe they should be running windows+iis.
mapping something from /powers/valiant%20strike/ to the current format
/database.aspx?searchterm=valiant%20strike#tab=powers
would be a one line rewriting rule:
RewriteRule ^/?([a-zA-Z_]+)/([a-zA-Z_]+)/$ database.aspx?searchterm=$2#tab=$1
When I had to do things like this I usually use HttpHandlers, but there are still efficiency costs I'm not fond of. We would have to have a mapping dictionary (there really isn't any way to generate it automagically) and given the ever increasing numbers of items in the Compendium it could get weighty.
I would have to agree on it being possible, but probably problomatic, especially given all the other things we want to do with the Compendium.
Martial Power is supposed to get added tomorrow. That is probably why you aren't seeing it today.
:D
There was a .... moment.... and some martial powers went out early. Which is why you were only seeing some. They will be all out there with the update.
Umm, a feature to just display all articles from a single book would be great
We don't have articles in the Compendium, but we are adding source to the filtering, so you should be able to filter for only the objects from a specific book or Dragon/Dungeon.
Er... I'm confused.
I searched for "Impaling Weapon" from Dragon 365 and got the "Impaling Weapon" from Adventurer's Vault.
Er... There are/were two different Magic Item types with the same name, my head asplode!
Only one, obviously, showed up in the Compendium... the AV one. The Dragon 365 one is gone.
How do we distinguish between items with the same name in the Compendium if this happens in the future?
Multiple items with the same name shouldn't be a problem for the Compendium, the name isn't a unique field. To get one vs the other you'd use the source filter. However, that doesn't explain why the other one isn't there. I'll check with the data folks.
I don't have the book Martial Power either, unfortunately, so I'm not completely sure what I would look for. I tried searching for Wolf and Lizard in the monster section, as well as the Power section. I hope it gets added some time in the future. So's I can use it, o' course.
When I had to do things like this I usually use HttpHandlers, but there are still efficiency costs I'm not fond of. We would have to have a mapping dictionary (there really isn't any way to generate it automagically) and given the ever increasing numbers of items in the Compendium it could get weighty.
I would have to agree on it being possible, but probably problomatic, especially given all the other things we want to do with the Compendium.
oh come on... you need to contact whoever did it with magic cards...
Click the Very Black Lotus
there's even its own forums tags for it.
this is what i want to see for compendium and the forums:
[noparse][power=Valiant Strike]i hit the monster with my[/power][item=+2 Flaming Longsword]big firey sword[/item][/noparse]
---
oh, and about the costs of httphandlers: i agree. that's why i'd rather use apache/mod_rewrite, its pretty fast in comparison. but since you are bound to microsoft, it might be worth to give the alternatives a try.
ah, and about the lookup table: huh? you already have a database of the names, just search in there? no need to use the id if you can have the name as reference, too. this is what the people were complaining about, by the way.
A search done in the Firefox page fails - it shows a number of hits in parentheses next to the tab name, but clicking the tab name doesn't do anything.
It seems to work fine in IE.
I'm really glad that the Martial Power stuff seems to have been added. But I noticed there's kinda something missing. I can't seem to find the Beast Companion stats anywhere. Are updates made throughout the day or are all things accounted for?
I don't have the book Martial Power either, unfortunately, so I'm not completely sure what I would look for. I tried searching for Wolf and Lizard in the monster section, as well as the Power section. I hope it gets added some time in the future. So's I can use it, o' course.
Beast Companions are weird in that they don't easily fit into one of the existing categories. We are adding them but we had to fiddle things a bit to make them fit in. So fear not, they are coming.
oh come on... you need to contact whoever did it with magic cards...
Click the Very Black Lotus
there's even its own forums tags for it.
this is what i want to see for compendium and the forums:
[noparse][power=Valiant Strike]i hit the monster with my[/power][item=+2 Flaming Longsword]big firey sword[/item][/noparse]
---
oh, and about the costs of httphandlers: i agree. that's why i'd rather use apache/mod_rewrite, its pretty fast in comparison. but since you are bound to microsoft, it might be worth to give the alternatives a try.
ah, and about the lookup table: huh? you already have a database of the names, just search in there? no need to use the id if you can have the name as reference, too. this is what the people were complaining about, by the way.
Name isn't a valid indexer, we don't enforce uniqueness.
I'm noting a bug/rendering issue in Firefox 3.0 that isn't showing up in IE: when I access the compendium via Firefox, I get the normal background, but the tabs are not visible, and instead the tab titles are listed vertically in plain text (well, hyperlinked text) like so:
A search done in the Firefox page fails - it shows a number of hits in parentheses next to the tab name, but clicking the tab name doesn't do anything.
It seems to work fine in IE.
That's not good, forwarding to our QA department. Can you give me exact Firefox version and OS you are using?
I'm not the same person, but I have the same problem. I am using Firefox 2.0.0.18 with Ubuntu Linux 8.03..
If not well you should put a disclaimer like "this entry differs slightly from that published in the FRPG"
That's not good, forwarding to our QA department. Can you give me exact Firefox version and OS you are using?
I am using Firefox as well but mine comes up with the tabs. Just not ALL the tabs are visible.
As you can see the Items tab is cut off on the far right side.
I am using Firefox 3.0.4
Name isn't a valid indexer, we don't enforce uniqueness.
neither does magic, look at the island-example:
Island
you could do a source selection like there is a printings selection.
i'm pretty sure now, it's not a technical lack here, but you simply don't want to do that lookup - i can't imagine why, however.
Beast Companions are weird in that they don't easily fit into one of the existing categories. We are adding them but we had to fiddle things a bit to make them fit in. So fear not, they are coming.
Not to sound like a whiny seven year old (because I've know exactly how that can make your teeth ache), but is there an ETA on that?
And, so that I'm not a 100% complainer - I had the same problem with Firefox, but logging out, emptying my cache and logging back in fixed it.
That's not good, forwarding to our QA department. Can you give me exact Firefox version and OS you are using?
Firefox 3.0.4; Windows Vista Home Premium SP1
Not to sound like a whiny seven year old (because I've know exactly how that can make your teeth ache), but is there an ETA on that?
And, so that I'm not a 100% complainer - I had the same problem with Firefox, but logging out, emptying my cache and logging back in fixed it.
I dunno...beast companions seem to fit well within "Monsters." Just put 'em there, with a note that says something like "Beast Companion."
I am using Firefox as well but mine comes up with the tabs. Just not ALL the tabs are visible.
As you can see the Items tab is cut off on the far right side.
I am using Firefox 3.0.4
same thing happens to me and I'm using Internet Explorer.
I searched for "Impaling Weapon" from Dragon 365 and got the "Impaling Weapon" from Adventurer's Vault.
To reduce confusion, we've renamed the Dragon "impaling" weapon to "goring weapon."
I can't seem to find the Beast Companion stats anywhere.
Beast companions will appear in a later data update. Since they amount to a new sort of data (not really a class feature, not really a monster), they require a little extra planning to make them fit into the Compendium.
I'm noting a bug/rendering issue in Firefox 3.0 that isn't showing up in IE: when I access the compendium via Firefox, I get the normal background, but the tabs are not visible, and instead the tab titles are listed vertically in plain text (well, hyperlinked text) like so:
I had the same problem in Firefox until I did Tools>Clear Private Data. See if that helps.
Thanks, that worked. In particular, I just checked the clear-the-cache box and that worked fine.
You can also set Firefox to clear all private data and temp files on closing the browser. So that you do not have to remember to do so manually each time...
Bel
Also, where's Tiamat? Is she just too awesome for the Compendium? :P
Artifacts could really use a more complete writeup than what they have at the moment. I'd love to see a concordance table, the effects different concordances have, and good leaving/bad leaving effects.
Also, where's Tiamat? Is she just too awesome for the Compendium? :P
Well she breaks the rules in some very brutal ways, so she propably did not fit into the data structure.
Honestly speaking, as a developer after seeing her stats I would have to fight breaking down crying on my table because I had to completely redesign my entity relations ;)
Will the Gladiator data from Dragon #368 be added to the Compendium soon?
What are you looking for that isn't there?
Artifacts could really use a more complete writeup than what they have at the moment. I'd love to see a concordance table, the effects different concordances have, and good leaving/bad leaving effects.
Also, where's Tiamat? Is she just too awesome for the Compendium? :P
The data in the Compendium comes from a database that not only stores text but actually designates the values of individual stats. That's a nice feature, but it does mean that the database is not as flexible in terms of what data can be entered into it. When printing a page in a book, we can put in whatever information we want because it's just ink. We can invent a unique rule and trust the DM to understand how to execute it. In the database, however, it's all live data that could be manipulated, so some of the data for the more unusual things in the game don't fit yet. Databases don't like unique formats and rules. It's going to take extra work and time to fit them in.
Can you change the item search so we can pick what type of item? Like head, feet, axe, scale, etc... PRETTY PLEASE!
It's on our to-do list. In the mean time, the character builder has a pretty good interface for sorting items by slot, kind, etc.
I am currently having a problem though. I paid for my subscription, but when i go through the compendium, its giving me the "Please pay for a subscription..." Page when i go to a search result.
I am currently using the most updated version of Mozilla's Firefox v3.0.4.
Have you logged in through the WOtC website first, and then gone to the compendium??
Yes. Multiple times, and it persists.
If not, your best bet then would be to contact CS.
The best way to contact CS if you have a problem is to use the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page. If you have never submitted a ticket before, you may have to register again.
Issue 369 was the one with Playing Minotaurs, where the article cruelly removed the Oversized Weapon racial feature from the Minotaur's racial features list and replaced it with Heedless Charge. On the compendium's description of Minotaurs, there is no replacement; Heedless Charge is put directly between Goring Charge and Oversized Weapons.
Also, whereas with the Warforged and Gnoll whom have their own "Playing with X" articles and as such the reference is detailed as the issue of that article (and not the Monster Manual), the Minotaur entry is still detailed as referencing the Monster Manual.
So um, any hope that Minotaurs were suddenly decided to now get both racial features? Or is this a mistake?
Yes. Multiple times, and it persists.
When I use the compendium I have it open in its own tab in Firefox (stupid pop-up windows I hates them pop-up windows). When the "Subscribe to use" thing shows I find that I need to go back to the main Compendium page first. In another tab I then log into the D&D site. Then I go to the Compendium tab hit F5 and viola problem solved.
Its a stupid problem created by no one thinking to put a "Log In Now" form on that "You need to be a Subscriber" page.
And can this thread be stickied - maybe replacing that Cort Questions one?
I have noticed a strange error in the Compendium.
Issue 369 was the one with Playing Minotaurs, where the article cruelly removed the Oversized Weapon racial feature from the Minotaur's racial features list and replaced it with Heedless Charge. On the compendium's description of Minotaurs, there is no replacement; Heedless Charge is put directly between Goring Charge and Oversized Weapons.
Also, whereas with the Warforged and Gnoll whom have their own "Playing with X" articles and as such the reference is detailed as the issue of that article (and not the Monster Manual), the Minotaur entry is still detailed as referencing the Monster Manual.
So um, any hope that Minotaurs were suddenly decided to now get both racial features? Or is this a mistake?
Oversized will never be a PC race capability, from what I hear - it's drastically overpowered (note that's what I hear, not some analysis I've done). So either you're looking at the Minotaur monster entry, or it's just a mistake.
Is this something that can be added to the Compendium? Or am I missing something?
Oversized will never be a PC race capability, from what I hear - it's drastically overpowered (note that's what I hear, not some analysis I've done). So either you're looking at the Minotaur monster entry, or it's just a mistake.
Today the Open Beta for the Character Creator came out. And to my surprise, the Minotaur entry has both Oversized and Heedless Charge as racial features. And it says that this minotaur is legal (I made a character, obviously). And also that all this stuff is readable in the Monster Manual. It cites the Monster Manual for Dragon article stuff.
Wizards, why hast thou ditched reference to the magazines when the magazines are owed it? And are Minotaurs honestly getting both racial features? Is this slip of the type two times in a row, or is this some sort of "third time's the charm" correction?
Today the Open Beta for the Character Creator came out. And to my surprise, the Minotaur entry has both Oversized and Heedless Charge as racial features. And it says that this minotaur is legal (I made a character, obviously). And also that all this stuff is readable in the Monster Manual. It cites the Monster Manual for Dragon article stuff.
Wizards, why hast thou ditched reference to the magazines when the magazines are owed it? And are Minotaurs honestly getting both racial features? Is this slip of the type two times in a row, or is this some sort of "third time's the charm" correction?
This is still a beta version of the application, so as any beta data, you can't use it to make this minotaur build legal RPGA-wise.
We in fact already have fixed the issue with the minotaur entry, and Oversized has been removed. The Compendium should be updated with that change when the update goes out in December, and the character Builder full version will also have that correction when it launches.
Thanks for reporting this issue to us. In that case, we had already caught it (but not in time to update the Open Beta..)
BTW, I want also to bring some details about why the Minotaur is credited to the Monster manual and not the Dragon Magazine. We are currently recording the book where the race in that case was first published, which is the Monster Manual. Even if the entries were later revised in a future book, we have decided to keep it that way so that from the compendium, these races can be visible to non subscribers, like the Monster Manual content level 1 to 3 is. We are planning to credit both the Monster Manual and the Dragon Magazine for this entry in the future, both in the compendium and the character builder, but we have for now higher priority items to work on. This is something that we have clearly identified in our backlog.
I looked over the DDI News and did not see anything on that in it. I would hate to have to reinstall and lose my characters I already have.
The full version of the Character builder will have an update feature, however it has not been built into these beta versions.
I had a character which I had applied, using homebrew rules, two powers from Martial Power. When I loaded the character into the new build those powers were then correctly applied
Not that this has anything to do with the Compendium.
Are there any plans to add traps and skill challenges to the compendium? (Please say "yes" :D)
Oh man, TRAPS!!
Almost as good as PICTURES!
So, how could i show my DM (who isnt a insider subscribber) that the rule changed if there's no errata to download?
EDIT: Ah, my bad. That change is already on last update. So, this was only a Compendium revision.
A 'tree' to navigate around content would be nice to. Sometimes you dont know what your looking for to use a search engine;)
Are there any plans to add traps and skill challenges to the compendium? (Please say "yes" :D)
Yes, traps and skill challenges are on our backlog list of things to do. We have no ETA for them yet though.
All they have is the Swordmage and Warlock powers. What happened? Please bring them back! In the Compendium, where is the Eyes of Selune and other clerical powers from the FRPG? They used to be there but now they are gone!
This power is visible in the feat section, because it is a feat-related power. Our November update fixed some display issues on the powers that are not related to classes, and we moved these powers under their related feat (or race for example). The powers were only supposed to show class related powers, and not feat related ones... In the future, we do want to revisit this with a full access to all the powers from the power tab, but we need to updated the list display to properly feature them.
Okay. I find them under "feats" when I search for "divine" but they don't show up if I search for "cleric". The only feat that shows up in a search for "cleric" is "Initiate of the Faith". Any chance of getting the FRPG feats to show up when one searches for "cleric"? And I also had no luck searching for "selune" but is that because of the ^ over the u?
The thing is that these divinity feats are not really specifically associated to Cleircs like the cleric's powers are. They do not have cleric as a requirement, because they can be taken by anybody that have channel divinity. This is more a rule choice than a data issue.
On a slighly related note, it would be nice if things appearing in multiple sources (e.g. races that appear in the Monster Manual, and were then detailed somewhere else) could be mentioned as appearing in both in the Compendium; this will become especially relevant as more filters are added.
EDIT: <3 the new login box on the Compendium! Thanks!
EDIT2: Minor error on Dragonborn Sellsword; the tag is still visible under Tactical Withdrawal.
Basically what happens is I go to wizards page and log in. I then click on the compendium and do a search. When I click on an item in the search it takes me to a page that says I need to log in. When I do so it starts the cycle over. It's not telling me that the password is invalid or anything like that (because it's not). I emailed customer support, but doubt I'll hear anything for a few days.
Quite satisfactory, really.
A longer timeout for the login.
When working on a character, I've found the compendium much faster than paging through all my books. (Already! The compendium is the killer app of 4e.) But I spend some time thinking about something, I read a discussion on the char op board or something, and then I adjust my sheet and move on to the next decision. By this time I invariably get the suggestion to register for DDi. I then have to:
1) Close the compendium window go back to the main page on the website.
2) Reload it, because it still thinks I'm logged in.
3) Click login (my browser keeps the data)
4) Click login again. This is frustrating, but would take comparatively longer to fix.
5) Relaunch the Compendium.
I can't see you losing any money if the auto-logout was pushed forward to many hours, and it would definitely improve my experience.
I just purchased a year’s subscription to D&D Insider and went to the compendium to do some searches. When I look for Tiamat, I get several hits (such as an aspect of Tiamat), but not Tiamat herself. However, she is in the Draconomicon. Why can’t I find her?
The database can't support her yet because of usual features she has. They haven't said anything about when she might be added.
The DDI compendium is one of the most pointless pieces of software a company has ever expected their customers to pay for. I could use the paid version of any PDFS compiling software that has a search function with strings and search for rules more quickly and efficiently...
Ghostintheshell
This assumes two things: (1) DDI members, in general, have access to paid PDF software. (2) DDI members, in general, would rather construct their own search environment than have it available through the same software as the rest of their DDI package.
My vote is for a single environment. However, if the search function of the PDF software is indeed more efficient, then WOTC is doing something wrong; but I haven't seen any proof of this.
Use the Advanced Search function. Search for Subtype (Goblin), but leave everything else blank. What do you get?
Not goblins.
Weird. I guess someone messed up the (goblin) tag.
I searched "the raven queen" and got all kinds of good stuff, but not what her chosen weapon is.
- I would love to see pop-up tool tips for each search result on a list. For shorter content (powers, feats, etc.) this could easily show the whole description. For bigger stuff it could give key information. This would make browsing search results much less tedious.
- Fix the issue where the scroll position on a search results page is reset to the top whenever the page is loaded. By default, the browser back button will retain the previous scroll position, and you can script your back link to do the same. This will improve the back and forth from details pages.
- Add a check box next to each search result, and an option to filter checked results to ease narrowing down lists. Process the filter via GET, so we can link and bookmark lists, creating a powerful tool - linkable lists of monsters in an encounter, items in a treasure trove, powers on a character, and more.
- Fix your log-in issues. Your log in expires in minutes, and logging in doesn't send you back to where you came from. Other areas of the sight allow you to stay logged in for (that I've seen) two weeks, so I'd at least try to be consistent with that in this section.
Those are just the first few things that came to mind as I was playing with the Compendium tonight. Each and every one of them can be accomplished with some pretty basic web-work, and they would add a lot to the feature.
I have to confess, my first impression of the Compendium was somewhere between cumbersome and frustrating, which isn't what anyone wants. That being said, I see huge potential in this tool. As a some-time web developer myself, I can see that it wouldn't take a lot to develop it from a rather awkward resource into a extremely powerful and useful tool, and I find that possibility exciting.
I have a search-related question about the Compendium. I typed in "Martyr's Retribution" and it came up with nothing under any tabs. I double-checked my spelling to make sure I didn't get a sudden case of "fat fingers" (hitting two keys at once) and it all checked out. To be sure, I tried a couple of variations but still go no results. When I entered "Retribution" by itself, there it was, exactly as I had typed it the first time. This seems to have happened on every search where there is an apostrophe in the title, regardless of whether it's a power, class feature, etc. What's the deal with this? It's a annoyance, and I've been able to work around it, but why is the apostrophe causing this problem?
My first guess would be that the apostrophe character is filtered out of search strings to protect against SQL injection attacks (or their equivalent, for whatever type of database they use). It's possible to allow it in a safe way, but simply excluding it is not unheard of.
Another possibility is that the names contain the ’ character instead of the ' character (note the subtle difference). MS Word and some other applications convert them automatically, and they like to sneak into things. Neither character gets the proper search results though, so this probably isn't it.
Last but not least, this could happen if there were insufficient protection against injection attacks, since ' is a special character in database queries. They would probably be seeing a lot of database errors if this were the case however, so I think this is unlikely too.
Everytime I try to access info found in previews etc. I'm being asked to suscribe. Fair enough, there's a handy place to enter my email/password to login (again) in the popup window. The problem is I log in (yet again) and I [i]still[i] can't access the info! I paid $60 for this and the rest of D&Di, so please, let me play with the new toy!
Please?
I have tried to find it in the Compendium (during a game session last night and again right now) but can't find it. Either I have the name totally wrong, or it's not in the Compendium at all.
Is it missing?
Cheers
Blakey
Apologies if this has been posted...
Everytime I try to access info found in previews etc. I'm being asked to suscribe. Fair enough, there's a handy place to enter my email/password to login (again) in the popup window. The problem is I log in (yet again) and I [i]still[i] can't access the info! I paid $60 for this and the rest of D&Di, so please, let me play with the new toy!
Please?
Hi, I'm sorry to read that you're having trouble accessing content in D&DI. The best way to get help with your issue is to contact [a:url=http://www.wizards.com/customerservice]Customer Support[/a]
Use your forums log in, and then choose the "email us" tab. From the drop down menu labeled "Topic" choose "Role playing games" then "D&D Insider" then "D&D Insider Account" then "Report a bug"
Customer service should get back to you within 2 business days. You can keep track of how your incident is handled in the "My Stuff" tab, under "Questions"
I hope this helps.
1. Not helpful.
2. Not the way this is supposed to work.
3. Being fixed or at least looked at.
Please? I've not actually seen anyone officially admit that this is happening in the Compendium.
Cheers
Blakey
What with the Character Builder scheduled to come out by the end of the month, it would not surprise me in the slightest if changing the timer for the compendium is not being looked at right now.
However, it is something that they are aware of and will probably look at once the crunch of releasing the Character Builder has passed.
In the mean-time, there is a work-around.
Make sure that you are logged into DDI, then go to one of the DDI-only article pages. Set up a refresh timer on the webpage, and set it for about 8 or 9 minutes. That should keep you logged into the compendium.
In the mean-time, there is a work-around.
Make sure that you are logged into DDI, then go to one of the DDI-only article pages. Set up a refresh timer on the webpage, and set it for about 8 or 9 minutes. That should keep you logged into the compendium.
This of course goes a long way to reducing server load, extent the bloody time to at least hours, the relogin causes more server load than having a cookie expire in 30 minutes or less (requiring a relogin that adds to server load).
it's probable that someone else has already asked this and i that have stupidly not been able to find the answer but... will the character builder be able to apply the templates from the dmg?
No, not that I know.
and if not... why?
Because they are applied to NPCs, not PCs
In the mean-time, there is a work-around.
Make sure that you are logged into DDI, then go to one of the DDI-only article pages. Set up a refresh timer on the webpage, and set it for about 8 or 9 minutes. That should keep you logged into the compendium.
Sounds good. How do you do this with IE7? Or do I need to change browser to use the Compendium? (This would be annoying but okay for now).
Sounds good. How do you do this with IE7? Or do I need to change browser to use the Compendium? (This would be annoying but okay for now).
I wish I could help you. I use FireFox.
However, a quick google search brings up a number of options. Be careful, some of the options listed are not free. There does appear to be a bunch of free options though. I have never tried them, so use at your own risk.
I don't have my Adventurer's Vault with me right now but I know there is a Ritual in there called something like "Transfer Enchantment", which allows you to move enchantments from one magical item to another.
I have tried to find it in the Compendium (during a game session last night and again right now) but can't find it. Either I have the name totally wrong, or it's not in the Compendium at all.
Is it missing?
Cheers
Blakey
No one answered this, and its still not there, nor is it in the CB data I just upgraded to...
Any one know what happened to it?
If you do, and it still isn't there, report the bug to the CS team, and they will get it put in for the update.
Silly question, but do you have the right name??
If you do, and it still isn't there, report the bug to the CS team, and they will get it put in for the update.
Yes, he has the right name, "Transfer Enchantment." Adventurer's Vault, p. 199. But it's not in the Compendium (or the title was mistyped during data entry or something like that).
Silly question, but do you have the right name??
If you do, and it still isn't there, report the bug to the CS team, and they will get it put in for the update.
Sorry to be crap but how do I do this?
Yes, he has the right name, "Transfer Enchantment." Adventurer's Vault, p. 199. But it's not in the Compendium (or the title was mistyped during data entry or something like that).
This will be fixed with the next update
Please use this thread to discuss your feedback on the D&D Compendium.
The feedback link for bugs and feedback is bugged. ("A technical error has occurred. Please close your browser and try again.")
I find this ironic.
Here's a suggestion: allow a "report bug" option on all compendium items, or maybe just beta testing ones. That way, the beta testing would actually work like a, you know, beta test.
(In particular, I was trying to submit feedback for the Component Modification feat for Warforged. It allows the warforged racial to grant temp hp, but it already grants temp hp, so it's buggy and unclear how it is supposed to work.)
Try clearing your cache and deleting all temporary files.
You could also try the link here: http://wizards.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wizards.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_prods=514,919,947,948&p_cats=
Why is there no index for the Compendium ?
The compendium really has too much data to make use of a single index. However, there are pseudo-indexes available for each of the tabs. If you click on a tab, and see an option for 'view all' such as under rituals, you can see a list of all of the rituals in the compendium.
In the mean-time, there is a work-around.
Make sure that you are logged into DDI, then go to one of the DDI-only article pages. Set up a refresh timer on the webpage, and set it for about 8 or 9 minutes. That should keep you logged into the compendium.
Awesome. I have just set up my browser to refresh the compendium page every minute. I don't like this solution, but I'll be able to stay logged in much longer, and thats whats important.
i really hope this is fixed soon.
Awesome. I have just set up my browser to refresh the compendium page every minute. So, I'll make WotC spend more money on their hosting fees. As an added bonus, I'll help add congestion to the server, along with everyone else who takes this sort of action. But I'll be able to stay logged in much longer, and thats whats important.
i really hope this is fixed soon.
I've just tested this and you can get it to refresh every ten minutes and you stay logged in. The way which works best for me is to have one of my Compendium tabs on a 10 minute refresh and that way all my compendium tabs stay logged in. Not a great work around because of all the extra strain on the server but the bottom line is that I can now use it during a game session.
Can you make the web page "Title" for each page in the Compendium come up with the Name of the monster, item, power, ritual etc that you are looking at please?
I use the Compendium in a tabbed view (I expect most do) and have one tab open for all the monsters in an encounter, with one spare tab for ongoing queries as and when I need them (e.g. when a PC uses a power I am unfamiliar with). It would be very handy in this tabbed view to easily see which monster each tab was showing without having to guess/flick through all the tabs.
Cheers!
Blakey
A request:
Can you make the web page "Title" for each page in the Compendium come up with the Name of the monster, item, power, ritual etc that you are looking at please?
I use the Compendium in a tabbed view (I expect most do) and have one tab open for all the monsters in an encounter, with one spare tab for ongoing queries as and when I need them (e.g. when a PC uses a power I am unfamiliar with). It would be very handy in this tabbed view to easily see which monster each tab was showing without having to guess/flick through all the tabs.
Cheers!
Blakey
Yes, please!! Use the descending format if you must, e.g.
"Frigid Blade < Powers < D&DI Compendium < Insider < Dungeons & Dragons"
(But, best would be
"Frigid Blade (Swordmage Attack 1) < D&DI Compendium".
It's kind of silly how you repeat all three words of "D&DI" in the title right now, by spelling them out as well as including them in the abbreviation.)
I am so happy to see this.
No, not that I know.
Because they are applied to NPCs, not PCs
am i the only one that wants to use the character builder to build npcs?
Most NPCs don't need the Character Builder. They are very simple, and don't last more than a few rounds of combat, or they never see combat at all.
i like my campaign long villains to have full fledged character sheets and i want one of them to have the vampire lord template. as of right now the builder is the easiest way to put high level characters together fast. i really really don't want to have to pencil in changes to his sheet and power cards. it seems like it would be all to easy to have a template section. even if that meant that the character sheet would same "NPC" on it just like in now says "houseruled." i'm not trying to be whiny. i just thought it seemed like something people could use.
am i wrong? am i the only one who wants to use the templates on a full character sheet wielding npc?
Its just that the Character Builder isn't meant for NPCs. And the Monster Builder isn't meant for that sort of thing either. This is one of the situations where you are still stuck doing things manually, or seeking third-party solutions.
am i the only one who wants to use the templates on a full character sheet wielding npc?
Probably not the only one, but one of a few. I have started to create an excel sheet to create NPCs (which may be downloaded here but got so little feedback that I decided that I will only continue to create it for personal use.
i like my campaign long villains to have full fledged character sheets and i want one of them to have the vampire lord template. as of right now the builder is the easiest way to put high level characters together fast. i really really don't want to have to pencil in changes to his sheet and power cards. it seems like it would be all to easy to have a template section. even if that meant that the character sheet would same "NPC" on it just like in now says "houseruled." i'm not trying to be whiny. i just thought it seemed like something people could use.
am i wrong? am i the only one who wants to use the templates on a full character sheet wielding npc?
Eek, that would not be fun for me. Here's a high-level solo NPC I created using the NPC-as-monsters paradigm:
http://www.domenicdenicola.com/ForFun/DungeonsAndDragons/Monsters/Warmage.htm
Definitely much easier than a character. Trying to take care of all those feats, powers, conditional modifiers and capabilities, etc.? Being constrained only to powers that exist in the books? Having to apply templates in order to bring my hp/etc. to solo level? And how to ensure you get a solo's complement of actions? No good.
Could it be IE 8 that is causing the problem?
You aren't wrong.
Its just that the Character Builder isn't meant for NPCs. And the Monster Builder isn't meant for that sort of thing either. This is one of the situations where you are still stuck doing things manually, or seeking third-party solutions.
1) Will a future version of the character builder display attack and damage stats for all weapons carried, rather than just mainhand/offhand?
1a) Will the custom object feature save to the inventory list so it can be saved for future use and use with other characters
1a(1)) Will listed objects be editable to include notes, and custom objects include stat caculations
2) Will the compendium be linked to the bonus tools, so for example you can generate a encouter sheet with statistics, rather than just the monster names?
3) Thanks!
1) Will a future version of the character builder display attack and damage stats for all weapons carried, rather than just mainhand/offhand?
1a) Will the custom object feature save to the inventory list so it can be saved for future use and use with other characters
1a(1)) Will listed objects be editable to include notes, and custom objects include stat caculations
2) Will the compendium be linked to the bonus tools, so for example you can generate a encouter sheet with statistics, rather than just the monster names?
3) Thanks!
1) This should already be true. Right click on a power card to customize it. Right click on the character sheet attack workspace to customize it.
1a) Eventually yes, but not in the next few months.
1a(1)) Seriously, who came up with this numbering system? Eventually yes, but we have learned not to post dates at some point recently.
2) I would like this. So probably yes in the long term. It might be easier for us to just build it into the Adventure Builder since people will want it for that anyways.
3) np.
1) Browsing. I want to browse the compendium, not just search.
2) Thick client. A stand alone verison (like the character builder) with a local database so I can use it while offline.
I realize that this could cause a conflict of interest with selling printed books. I humbly advice you to solve that conflict (by issuing unique activation code with each printed book maybe) rather than to purposefully degrade the functionallity of your online toolset.
2) Thick client. A stand alone verison (like the character builder) with a local database so I can use it while offline.
Adobe Air would be an excellent medium for this, as it wouldn't require a lot of re-work.
1. Hyperlinks. I mean, c'mon, this is the web. If an attack knocks a foe "unconscious" why can't I click on the work "unconscious" to get a summary of that status effect?
Without this feature the compendium is only 1/2 useful; after all, 99 times out of a 100 I already have the power card in front of me. What I need is some elaboration on a term used in the power card, like "sleep" or "invigorating."
2. There's a bunch of rules missing. Where are the combat rules? Status effects? As an SRD goes this is very poor. And an SRD is what I want. A list of feats and prestige classes that my DM doesn't have the book for (and therefore aren't options in the campaign) is less than useful. What this would be perfect for is a quick-reference for ALL the rules in D&D, not just some of them.
2. There's a bunch of rules missing. Where are the combat rules? Status effects? As an SRD goes this is very poor. And an SRD is what I want. A list of feats and prestige classes that my DM doesn't have the book for (and therefore aren't options in the campaign) is less than useful. What this would be perfect for is a quick-reference for ALL the rules in D&D, not just some of them.
Hi there, this was not designed to be an SRD. I fear you might need to buy the books (for your DM?). The Compendium is designed to be a quick references to some rules elements to save you or your DM from flipping pages.
Hi there, this was not designed to be an SRD. I fear you might need to buy the books (for your DM?). The Compendium is designed to be a quick references to some rules elements to save you or your DM from flipping pages.
actually, the compendium was always called the "rules compendium". at that, it actually does a very poor job, because it does not handle rules at all. it displays most of the stuff in the game, except for, well, rules...
Hi there, this was not designed to be an SRD. I fear you might need to buy the books (for your DM?). The Compendium is designed to be a quick references to some rules elements to save you or your DM from flipping pages.
I fear you've presumed that I don't own the books. I do. But I thought the Compendium would "save me from flipping through pages". And it doesn't. If I still need to look up what "dazed" or "Brutal 1" means or whatever, it's not much help.
Like I said, 99 times out of 100 I already have the race entry or power card in front of me. I don't need that. I need the explanatory rules - and the Rules Compendium is missing the frackin' rules.
Whatever the Rules Compendium was "designed to be", the result is "mostly useless" without the explanatory rules, hyperlinks to rules, or the ability to browse the rules. If Wizards if looking for feedback, here's some: The Rules Compendium is currently not a reason for me to keep my subscription active.
I fear you've presumed that I don't own the books. I do. But I thought the Compendium would "save me from flipping through pages". And it doesn't. If I still need to look up what "dazed" or "Brutal 1" means or whatever, it's not much help.
Like I said, 99 times out of 100 I already have the race entry or power card in front of me. I don't need that. I need the explanatory rules - and the Rules Compendium is missing the frackin' rules.
Whatever the Rules Compendium was "designed to be", the result is "mostly useless" without the explanatory rules, hyperlinks to rules, or the ability to browse the rules. If Wizards if looking for feedback, here's some: The Rules Compendium is currently not a reason for me to keep my subscription active.
I tend to agree. Where I find the compendium useful is for pulling down monster stats. If it was a Monster Compendium? It would be fabulous. As a "rules" compendium, it's less fabulous.
I must agree here. I own all the books, but don't know where to look up various terms. Where is "Brutal 1" defined? Not in the non-existant glossary. Finally found it, but took searching different sections of 3 books (PHB, DMG, AV) before findingit, and now I've lost it again.
FWIW, it's in Adventurer's Vault, p. 8. Top right-hand corner of the page.
The Compendium should not try to be an SRD or to replace the rulebooks. But this is a perfect example of a useful addition to the Compendium -- a comprehensive glossary (especially since Adventurer's Vault lacks an index).
For details on powers, items, rituals, and monsters over 3rd level, plus all paragon and epic tier feats, paragon paths, and epic destinies, plus complete material beyond the PH, MM, and DMG, subscribe now. Gain full access to the complete rules text for all these elements—from every D&D rulebook and online magazine article. The D&D Compendium offers you the fastest way to find what you’re looking for—and to discover even more.
Launch the D&D Compendium and enjoy complete access to the rules text for every race, class, paragon path, epic destiny, skill, feat, power, item, and ritual—from every D&D rulebook and online magazine article. It’s the fastest way to find what you’re looking for—and to discover even more.
(bold added by moi)
This isn't a rules compendium. It isn't even called a rules compendium. It's the "D&D Compendium". Nowhere in it's description does it offer rules beyond what's mentioned already or claim to be a substitute for having the books. A glossary would be a nice addition, I agree, but don't try to breathe somethign into it that was never promised to begin with.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dramp/20080507a
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4news/20080507a
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/insidernews/20081008a
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/insidernews/20090114
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4dnd/20080815b
Bottom line: it's no longer called the Rules Compendium. You are correct that it was only ever promised to contain "rules elements" or be a "searchable content database," but "Rules Compendium" is what it used to be called.
This isn't a rules compendium. It isn't even called a rules compendium. It's the "D&D Compendium". Nowhere in it's description does it offer rules beyond what's mentioned already or claim to be a substitute for having the books. A glossary would be a nice addition, I agree, but don't try to breathe somethign into it that was never promised to begin with.
I don't think a glossary is too much to ask for a database of information. It helps make the information useful. Information that is not useful is useless.
The anti-Dragon paragon paths from Dragon magazine are marked as Dungeon Magazine 160.
E.g. Draconic Antithesis
It has been called the Rules Compendium many times, by the people who market it.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dramp/20080507a
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4news/20080507a
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/insidernews/20081008a
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/insidernews/20090114
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4dnd/20080815b
Bottom line: it's no longer called the Rules Compendium. You are correct that it was only ever promised to contain "rules elements" or be a "searchable content database," but "Rules Compendium" is what it used to be called.
Caveat emptor. It's my policy never to trust a salesman... or a politician... or a recruiter. ;) Curious, did the description at the actual product itself ever call itself a rules compendium? If so, then I can understand the misunderstanding (or blatant misleading as the case may be).
Caveat emptor. It's my policy never to trust a salesman... or a politician... or a recruiter. ;) Curious, did the description at the actual product itself ever call itself a rules compendium? If so, then I can understand the misunderstanding (or blatant misleading as the case may be).
I don't remember, honestly - I think the one actual advertisement just called it the "Compendium" - it was all of the various authors of various columns who called it the "Rules Compendium."
I don't care all that much - it'd be nice if the actual rules were in there, I suppose, but I don't use it when I play anyway - you can't stay logged in long enough to be worth it.
And, it would make it so people still need to buy the books to have the full ruleset available to them!
I see no downside, Wizards. Make it happen :D
The glossary addition is an excellent idea.
The idea was for this to be the D&D Compendium. People accidentally called it other things, but it was always intended to the D&D compendium. I can see how the message has been confusing though.
Yeah, it was pretty consistently called "rules compendium." After first seeing it, I realized what it really meant (basically, it meant "things that actually work pretty well in a database" rather than "every piece of content") and I'm not upset, but it's a message thing.
I don't even have problems with searching and finding what I need. Only thing that irritates me about it is that it logs me out in an impractical timeframe. I would prefer, say, "keep me logged in every time I open it" or "log me in for two weeks" or something. As it is, it's not useful in-game because I have to visit four pages to get to it: the main page twice (since it makes me log in twice every time), then the compendium page, then the compendium itself. And if it is open, the login from the compendium itself doesn't work.
There's some work needs done, but it's not enough to get me mad or anything.
In fact I think the logout problem was fixed already.
The idea was for this to be the D&D Compendium. People accidentally called it other things, but it was always intended to the D&D compendium.
i wonder. in the first interviews, it was told that you can search for rules in there as well.
rules compendium has been the key phrased term for over a year now. how come noone EVER sent out an internal mail to correct that in further
also, the compendium ad still says
"search for ... and other rules elements!"
also, even though the descriptive text is better now, it still states
Gain full access to the complete rules text for all these elements—from every D&D rulebook and online magazine article. The D&D Compendium offers you the fastest way to find what you’re looking for—and to discover even more.
this does not sound to me like it says "no actual rules contained"
No, but it does contain the "complete rules text for all these elements". There's the qualifier.
"... and other rules"
"...for all these elements"
i fail to see where that would imply any ruling to be in or out of it.
For details on powers, items, rituals, and monsters over 3rd level, plus all paragon and epic tier feats, paragon paths, and epic destinies, plus complete material beyond the PH, MM, and DMG, subscribe now. Gain full access to the complete rules text for all these elements...
Looks pretty plain to me.
Looks pretty plain to me.
well, i for one look at the ad-pictures. and there it's not plain. reading the text then, does not make it completely clear. also "complete material" can be pretty much everything... i'm not saying that they are misleading or something - but they could be more precise.
it did not help as well, that both their bosses (randy+bill) always called it the rules database. they coined a completely wrong term.
One other thing that I noticed that is not included in the Compendium, is the poisons listed in the DM's Guide.
It's potentially confusing to have Daily and Encounter also under Kind on the Power filtering screen of the compendium.
Maybe it's just a data entry error which causes them to show up there at all. There's only one ability which shows up if you filter for Daily in the Kind field, Death Locus. Also, there are only two abilities which show up if you filter for Encounter in the Kind field, Deathly Retort and Song of Radiant Dawn.
I eventually figured out I should be using Daily and Encounter under the Usage field, so I don't have a problem anymore, but I thought it might be a mistake that they're showing up under Kind.
Hi, I did a search for 'background' on this thread and nothing came up, so....
Please add backgrounds to the Compendium. It would be very helpful to have these in one place besides the character builder. Being able to search for them by title would be great, but also being able to search for a specific skill and see all the backgrounds that give a bonus or training in that skill would be very helpful.
Thank you. Love the tools.
Also, according to the website for the Compendium, skill powers were added on Sept 1st. For the life of me, though, I cannot find them in the compendium. Am I missing something? If they're there and I'm just missing them, can someone give me semi-detailed instructions on how to find them?
Sorry if this has been posted and responded to already. I couldn't find anything with a search.
Thanks!
Aoi
I'd be interested in seeing a way to sub-filter for Artifacts. Only a small number of them have the word Artifact included in it so you cant find them all by simple searching for Artifact.
Also, according to the website for the Compendium, skill powers were added on Sept 1st. For the life of me, though, I cannot find them in the compendium. Am I missing something? If they're there and I'm just missing them, can someone give me semi-detailed instructions on how to find them?
Sorry if this has been posted and responded to already. I couldn't find anything with a search.
Thanks!
Aoi
Skill powers did not make it into the compendium for some kind of data reason but they can be found in Character Builder. We intend to add skill powers to the compendium in the future.
Thanks.
Hello,
I appears that a couple of monsters in the compendium have errors in their defenses. At least all minions from Seekers of the Ashen Crown and Khyber's Harvest have defenses in the 20's-30's. The low level minions from other adventures also seem to have errors as well. The level 7 "Tong Minion" from "RPGA Falling Snow White Petal" has an AC of 33. That seems rather high.
An error is also present in Monster Builder, defenses are too high, but not as high - I will submit a bug through the link shortly.
A compendium search on
'"AC 29"' or '"AC 30"' (etc.) will find some of the errant beasts.
--
jciii
Neither the Compendium nor the Builder seem to list anything regarding artifact concordance, instead assuming that items are at their maximum concordance. How am I supposed to put one of these in my game if I can't see what effect's it's concordance and what changes at each concordance level?
Perhaps, add to the builder & compendium the versions of the item at each concordance range, and add to the compendium a chart per item of what effects their concordance?
It should definitely be in wiki form. The current version just isn't workable. Users could track down all pertinent information on a subject much faster in a wiki.
www.wizards.com/dndinsider/compendium/mo...
The attribute bonuses are wrong for his listed attributes. Namely:
Str 10 (+2) Dex 14 (+4) Wis 17 (+5)
Con 12 (+3) Int 18 (+6) Cha 12 (+3)
These wrong bonuses are repeated in the Monster builder, even if you open him to edit and adjust an ability score: they all have a blanket +2 to the attribute bonus, for some reason.
Oh wait I'm an idiot. I get it: the Compendium/MB show the stat bonus with the 1/2 level bonus added (which is... useful, I guess, although it obscures the actual bonus if I'm doing somethign like giving a creature an additional attack that adds their stat bonus (only) to damage or something).
I cut and paste from the compendium to create my encounters for my group and it slows me down when they perform a knowledge check and I have to flip the the pages of a monster manual to look up their result. And I have to pretty much wing it on the fly if they investigate a creature I pull from a web published adventure.
Suggested behavior: if an exact match is found for the name (e.g. of a race, a power, an item), default to the tab with the exact match.
Example: I'm trying to look up the text for the power "Twin Strike." Even if I use quotes, I get taken to the feats page (there are a number of fighting styles that augment that power.). The preference should be for the exact match first, on the powers page.
If there are two or more exact matches found (this happens with races frequently), default to one which is NOT the glossary. If two or more non-glossary exact matches are found, default to the one with more entries as before.
If no exact match is found, use current behavior.
Also, does anyone know how to do any logical operations? such as AND, OR, NOT. I'd especially like NOT to work, as commonly I want everything that includes one phrase, but NOT another. For instance, if I am looking for Revenant feats, and I've already chosen my "past." I'd like to see all the feats that have Revenant, but do NOT have "soul" in the desc. or name.
Anyone else having this problem?
The Rupture Demon (lvl 5 minion) entry lists its basic attack as 'Slimy Extrusino' - presumably thats supposed to be 'Slimy Extrusion'
Hi, I did a search for 'background' on this thread and nothing came up, so....
Please add backgrounds to the Compendium. It would be very helpful to have these in one place besides the character builder. Being able to search for them by title would be great, but also being able to search for a specific skill and see all the backgrounds that give a bonus or training in that skill would be very helpful.
Thank you. Love the tools.
This was quite a while ago (about five months). I saw no reply in the thread.
I've been (wrongfully, apparently) assuming that backgrounds would be added. Adding simple data entries to the database should be straighforward. Added a simple selector for backgrounds on the Compendium's page should not be difficult either.
Has anyone heard anything about backgrounds being added to the Compendium?
Can anyone from WotC please throw us a bone?
-Thomas
For example right now I'm in an email conversation with a friend of mine who doesn't have DDI, and I'd like to tell him where in the PH2 to look for a particular block of text about "implements," but the only way for me to determine that would be to comb through the PH2 and find it myself.
On the whole though, if you have to prioritize requests, please prioritize backgrounds over this one. They are more important.
Thanks!It's expressed properly in the Character Builder, so you see how it's supposed to work if you actually stat the character out. Putting the Hybrid Talent Feat header and introductory paragraph under the class feature listing in the Compendium would solve the problem.
You need to redesign the login feature in the compendium, let it borrow the login from the main wizards.com/dnd site
The "Dazed" condition does not appear in the compendium glossary.
- All conditions (e.g. Dazed)
- Abyssal Genasi sub-races
- Item set bonuses
- Skill Powers
- Backgrounds
- Missing Artifact information
The PHB3 Skill Powers were added to the Compendium 3 weeks ago!
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be possible to list all the utility powers pertaining to a particular skill.
It would be nice to either add the skills to the list of classes, or to make it possible to search for "[Skill] Utility" (quotes included) -- same way it is already possible to search for "[Class] Utility".
- Splug from the Dark Awakening solo adventure in Dragon Magazine 382 is not in the database.
- I think the Glossary and Skills section of should viewable by those without D&D Insider. That way your players can quickly check on rules without having to log in. That capability would be greatly appreciated by players and DMs.
Stormclaw Scorpion
Medium elemental humanoid
Ankheg
Large natural beast
Gelatinous Cube
Large natural beast (ooze)
Rust Monster
Medium elemental animate
Macetail Behemoth
Large immortal humanoid (reptile)
Bloodspike Behemoth
Large elemental humanoid (reptile)
Cave Widow
Medium fey magical beast (spider)
Scyllan
Huge immortal humanoid
This is all copy/paste directly fom the compendium.
It's possible that my idea of what the Compendium should be just doesn't align with what the goals for the Compendium set out to accomplish. In fact, it doesn't seem to me that the scope and goals of the Compendium were ever clearly defined.
As an example, I just went to find information on grappling. A quick search on "grappling" or "grapple" yielded nothing helpful.
Searches don't always yield information I know to exist. A search on "sword" in the Player's Handbook returns only the entry on "Dancing Weapon," but nothing else. That's just bizarre.
The interface is terrible. If I search on a particular source, then change from one category to another (say, items to monsters), it resets my search filters. Why? If I were designing the interface and somebody was searching on items in Eberon, their search for monsters might also be in Eberon. There's even a "Reset filters" button for me to press if I want to, so why automatically reset them?
In fact, speaking of filters, sometimes *everything* gets reset. I haven't quite figured out the pattern, but if I'm searching on items, and I change a filter, sometimes I lose the focus on items and it broadens back out to a search on everything. Folks, this is user interface 101. Quite frankly I'm horrified to think that such a fantastic group of game designers would allow this past beta.
Again, maybe I just don't "get" Compendium. I had pictured a kind of Google for D&D, but maybe that's not the intent. But even if the scope is much narrower than a search engine for the product, the information that it does serve up is buggy, inconsistent, and hard to get to.
You know what would be magnitudes better than Compendium? An officially sanctioned Wiki. Make access part of DDI if you must, but I honestly can't see paying a monthly subscription for something of such limited use. Toss it all out, fire up a Wiki engine, and give subscribers somethign that is well and truly useful.
it is at "best" updated.
however its status as "updated" is very very hit and miss. many many things are not in the compendium that should be. the compendium and the builder are supposed to be updated monthly butoften one or both is pushed back or forgotten.
i paid for two years of a DDI sub where i expected monthly updates.
this did not and will most likely never happen.
WoTC does not know how to meet deadlines or follow up on things that they advertise to customers.
be happy with what you see in print , expect the print versions to be errata'd to hell and back , and learn to have very little expectations and you will be happy
the problem is that the compendium is no longer supported.
I actually think the problem is with the product itself. Even if the Compendium were updated with the latest and greatest up-to-the-minute content, it's just not that useful. Certainly the keyword "sword" using "Player's Handbook" as a filter should turn up some relevant entries, amiright?
It's the conception of the tool that concerns me. The basic design. From a company where design is literally everything, the Compendium seems more trouble than it's worth, and I just don't see how it could ever be a useful part of my gaming table, even with the latest content. A keyword search engine that just returns relevant page numbers in the source materials would be much more useful.
As an example, I just went to find information on grappling. A quick search on "grappling" or "grapple" yielded nothing helpful.
You want to search for the word 'Grab' or 'Grabbed' under the glossary. 'Grappling' is no longer a recognized action in 4th edition. The compendium does not support previous editions.
Searches don't always yield information I know to exist. A search on "sword" in the Player's Handbook returns only the entry on "Dancing Weapon," but nothing else. That's just bizarre.
This is a known bug. Filtering on Items only returns magical items. No mundane items, such as 'longsword' or 'short sword' will be returned. I expect this to be corrected within the next 1 or 2 rounds of updates.
The interface is terrible. If I search on a particular source, then change from one category to another (say, items to monsters), it resets my search filters. Why? If I were designing the interface and somebody was searching on items in Eberon, their search for monsters might also be in Eberon. There's even a "Reset filters" button for me to press if I want to, so why automatically reset them?
The filters reset because there is a different set of filters for each searchable category. If you want to find all eberron specific material, you would be better off entering the word 'eberron' in the search bar, rather than using filters.
In fact, speaking of filters, sometimes *everything* gets reset. I haven't quite figured out the pattern, but if I'm searching on items, and I change a filter, sometimes I lose the focus on items and it broadens back out to a search on everything. Folks, this is user interface 101. Quite frankly I'm horrified to think that such a fantastic group of game designers would allow this past beta.
I'm afraid I can't help much with this one. If you figure out the pattern though, maybe I can provide some insight into why, or help to get it fixed.
Again, maybe I just don't "get" Compendium. I had pictured a kind of Google for D&D, but maybe that's not the intent. But even if the scope is much narrower than a search engine for the product, the information that it does serve up is buggy, inconsistent, and hard to get to.
The compendium is nothing more than a reference for the D&D rules.
You know what would be magnitudes better than Compendium? An officially sanctioned Wiki. Make access part of DDI if you must, but I honestly can't see paying a monthly subscription for something of such limited use. Toss it all out, fire up a Wiki engine, and give subscribers somethign that is well and truly useful.
There are several unofficial wikis available on the web, but there is one official wiki, for everything that the Compendium does not cover. There is a link to it at the top of this page in bold text that says 'WIKI'
I hope this has helped you understand the compendium a little bit better. If you find other bugs or suggestions, please submit them. The Development team is pretty good about getting them fixed in a timely manner.
As an example, I just went to find information on grappling. A quick search on "grappling" or "grapple" yielded nothing helpful.
You want to search for the word 'Grab' or 'Grabbed' under the glossary. 'Grappling' is no longer a recognized action in 4th edition. The compendium does not support previous editions.
Fair enough, I should have know better on "grapple,"
. Here's another example: "Initiative." 4 results are returned, none of which is the actual Initiative mechanic. There are more, I'll report them as bugs.Searches don't always yield information I know to exist. A search on "sword" in the Player's Handbook returns only the entry on "Dancing Weapon," but nothing else. That's just bizarre.
This is a known bug. Filtering on Items only returns magical items. No mundane items, such as 'longsword' or 'short sword' will be returned. I expect this to be corrected within the next 1 or 2 rounds of updates.
Ah ok, thanks for the info.
The interface is terrible. If I search on a particular source, then change from one category to another (say, items to monsters), it resets my search filters. Why? If I were designing the interface and somebody was searching on items in Eberon, their search for monsters might also be in Eberon. There's even a "Reset filters" button for me to press if I want to, so why automatically reset them?
The filters reset because there is a different set of filters for each searchable category. If you want to find all eberron specific material, you would be better off entering the word 'eberron' in the search bar, rather than using filters.
Think about it this way: when you're using Google to search for images, does Google reset back to the text search engine every time you do a new search?
You actually nailed the biggest problem I have with the interface: "there is a different set of filters for each searchable category." But the one filter that's common to them all is "Source." Again, it stands to reason that if I'm searching on items from, say, Forgotten Realms, then I'm probably also going to be looking for Powers from FG. That's going to be the more common case, so at the very least the Source filter should remain unchanged until I choose to reset the filters.
I also think it should be robust enough to let you choose more than just a single source at a time. If I'm running a Forgotten Realms campaign but I only want to draw on sources from PHB1, FRCG, MM1, and DMG, why not allow this multi-selection to be top level source choices that apply to all searches this session? (again, until I hit the "Reset filters" button) Likewise, I should be able to select all sources except, say, RPGA sources, or all Dragon magazine sources except issue 165 (because, presumably, I didn't much care for issue 165
).In fact, speaking of filters, sometimes *everything* gets reset. I haven't quite figured out the pattern, but if I'm searching on items, and I change a filter, sometimes I lose the focus on items and it broadens back out to a search on everything. Folks, this is user interface 101. Quite frankly I'm horrified to think that such a fantastic group of game designers would allow this past beta.
I'm afraid I can't help much with this one. If you figure out the pattern though, maybe I can provide some insight into why, or help to get it fixed.
I'll see if I can duplicate and submit as a bug. I'm at work right now, probably not a good idea for me to be playing around in Compendium. (or surfing these forums for that matter, but then I'm just a rebel without a clue...
)You know what would be magnitudes better than Compendium? An officially sanctioned Wiki. Make access part of DDI if you must, but I honestly can't see paying a monthly subscription for something of such limited use. Toss it all out, fire up a Wiki engine, and give subscribers somethign that is well and truly useful.
There are several unofficial wikis available on the web, but there is one official wiki, for everything that the Compendium does not cover. There is a link to it at the top of this page in bold text that says 'WIKI'
I'm aware of the Wiki, thanks. The Wizards Wiki doesn't actually allow content from the Compendium, so it's really not relevant: Don't post copyrighted material from Wizards of the Coast or any other company. This includes posting stat blocks for published monsters or copy and pasting text directly from books or web sites.
My suggestion was that the information contained within the Compendium might be better suited to a Wiki interface, rather than the current customized interface.
I hope this has helped you understand the compendium a little bit better. If you find other bugs or suggestions, please submit them. The Development team is pretty good about getting them fixed in a timely manner.
Thanks. I posted my thoughts to this thread because the thread is linked directly from the Compendium page (to the left of the link you circled in your post). And I just want to add that I'm not griping just to make noise. I like the concept of Compendium, and I can't count the number of times something like this would have been really useful over the years. I appreciate the hard work that's gone into it, but I just think that in its current incarnation it's got a long way to go, mostly in the usability department. As it stands right now, searching through the books is still a faster and more likely to return what I'm looking for than Compendium, which makes me less likely to spend money on DDi that I could just be spending on gaming materials. But again, I love the concept, and I hope it gets better.
You actually nailed the biggest problem I have with the interface: "there is a different set of filters for each searchable category." But the one filter that's common to them all is "Source." Again, it stands to reason that if I'm searching on items from, say, Forgotten Realms, then I'm probably also going to be looking for Powers from FG. That's going to be the more common case, so at the very least the Source filter should remain unchanged until I choose to reset the filters.
I also think it should be robust enough to let you choose more than just a single source at a time. If I'm running a Forgotten Realms campaign but I only want to draw on sources from PHB1, FRCG, MM1, and DMG, why not allow this multi-selection to be top level source choices that apply to all searches this session? (again, until I hit the "Reset filters" button) Likewise, I should be able to select all sources except, say, RPGA sources, or all Dragon magazine sources except issue 165 (because, presumably, I didn't much care for issue 165
I think that this is a great idea. Have you submitted this as a recommendation for improvement? If not, I think you should.
I'm aware of the Wiki, thanks. The Wizards Wiki doesn't actually allow content from the Compendium, so it's really not relevant: Don't post copyrighted material from Wizards of the Coast or any other company. This includes posting stat blocks for published monsters or copy and pasting text directly from books or web sites.
My suggestion was that the information contained within the Compendium might be better suited to a Wiki interface, rather than the current customized interface.
Don't take this as gospel, but I think there was consideration for a Wiki when this was being developed but it was not something that they could easily restrict to paying subscribers in the way they wanted. At least not for the development team they had at the time. The current development team works hard to keep the compendium up to date, and usable as much as possible, while still balancing the development of new products. I think the general opinion is that Compendium, as it currently works, is good enough that they don't want to divert the resources needed for a complete overhaul, while there is so much other work that still needs to be done.
Thanks. I posted my thoughts to this thread because the thread is linked directly from the Compendium page (to the left of the link you circled in your post). And I just want to add that I'm not griping just to make noise. I like the concept of Compendium, and I can't count the number of times something like this would have been really useful over the years. I appreciate the hard work that's gone into it, but I just think that in its current incarnation it's got a long way to go, mostly in the usability department. As it stands right now, searching through the books is still a faster and more likely to return what I'm looking for than Compendium, which makes me less likely to spend money on DDi that I could just be spending on gaming materials. But again, I love the concept, and I hope it gets better.
I'm glad you posted here. The more feedback we have for the Devs, the better the product becomes. I figure some of the issues you were seeing were just from lack of familiarity with the Compendium. For my part, I've been using it for a long time, and I couldn't fathom going back to looking up a rule in the books. And it does keep getting better. Every new book that comes out has its rules imported into the compendium.
But the nice thing is that you also had some great feedback about ways to improve the product. Keep that coming. If you've got any other questions about other DDI tools, feel free to post them around these forums. We've got plenty of people willing to help.
I think that this is a great idea. Have you submitted this as a recommendation for improvement? If not, I think you should.
I haven't, but I will.
Don't take this as gospel, but I think there was consideration for a Wiki when this was being developed but it was not something that they could easily restrict to paying subscribers in the way they wanted. At least not for the development team they had at the time. The current development team works hard to keep the compendium up to date, and usable as much as possible, while still balancing the development of new products. I think the general opinion is that Compendium, as it currently works, is good enough that they don't want to divert the resources needed for a complete overhaul, while there is so much other work that still needs to be done.
And as a project manager myself, I can definitely understand why you wouldn't just up and decide to shift everything over to a Wiki or anything else. Although it does goes back to my original statement that I don't think Compendium was scoped out very well, but you're right: it is what it is, a lot of development effort has been sunk into it already, so the basic nuts and bolts of the interface are probably not going to change.
(here's an idea for an even better interface...what if they took the stuff that's in the Compendium, and put it all in some kind of bound paper mechanism...
)
I'm glad you posted here. The more feedback we have for the Devs, the better the product becomes. I figure some of the issues you were seeing were just from lack of familiarity with the Compendium. For my part, I've been using it for a long time, and I couldn't fathom going back to looking up a rule in the books. And it does keep getting better. Every new book that comes out has its rules imported into the compendium.
But the nice thing is that you also had some great feedback about ways to improve the product. Keep that coming. If you've got any other questions about other DDI tools, feel free to post them around these forums. We've got plenty of people willing to help.
Sure, it could partially be an unfamiliarity problem. I'm currently running a Dark Sun campaign, so once the update hits, I'll give it a spin for a session and see how well it works out.
(here's an idea for an even better interface...what if they took the stuff that's in the Compendium, and put it all in some kind of bound paper mechanism...
Wish Granted <
The traps link in the compendium is broken. Please fix it.
Have you reported this bug through the proper channels?
I tried the "superior" keyword, and/or filtering by source (PHB3) and/or category -- they are all listed as Weapons instead of their actual implement categories, which might be a bug in itself by the way.
Anyway, clicking on the [View All] button seems to be the only way to display them... haystacked in a list of 8179 items.
but I have now: 100920-000201.For those entries that have images that is. I don't expect to see images on the feats, but some items that have images on the Adventure Vaults, would be great. Specially for monsters. Is that upgrade on the plans?
Why are the monster stat blocks in the old format again? I thought they were updated to the MM3 format.
From what I recall, they are only oging to be updtaing monsters to the MM3 statblock as they are re-used with the MM3 statblock.
(Let me know if that makes sense to you.)
From what I recall, they are only oging to be updtaing monsters to the MM3 statblock as they are re-used with the MM3 statblock.
(Let me know if that makes sense to you.)
Do you mean that your explanation makes sense or that they are only using the new statblock for MM3 monsters makes sense??
From what I recall, they are only oging to be updtaing monsters to the MM3 statblock as they are re-used with the MM3 statblock.
(Let me know if that makes sense to you.)
Do you mean that your explanation makes sense or that they are only using the new statblock for MM3 monsters makes sense??
My explanation. :P
My explanation. :P
LOL. Then yes.
I want to be able to print the monster stats the same way they appear in the books... not stripped of all the color and tables and yet at a high quality, so screen shots are out.
Anyone?
Also, having items print out the size of the power cards would be good so I can put them in sleeves and hand them out to my players.
I presume this is to avoid a huge number of results from common words like "be", "the", etc. But then, how is it possible to find, for exemple, all the feats that give a bonus to Will? Or all the level n powers of class X targetting Will?
Under the Items Tab, the Level filter needs to have a 'Level 0' setting for the non-magic items.
Instead of selecting Armor, Equipment or Weapons from the drop down above? Oh, you want one that will give you every mundane item in one selection set. OK, I can see that, I'll add it to the request list.
I think this is still an issue. As a side effect of this, I noticed that the mundane items are not displayed when filtering items by source. For example if you search items for the word "talenta" you'll see that there is an item named Talenta Boomerang from the Eberron Player's Guide. However, if you use the filter to display items from the Eberron Player's Guide all the non-magical items (like the Talenta Boomering) are not displayed.
I would like to see even the mundane items when using the filter.
I get the reason for the delay of the CB update, just not the Compendium update; one does not depend on the other...
The following creatures don't list their sizes:
Lingerer Fell Incanter
Fleshglutton Favored One
Blistered Soul
Emerald Claw Scout
A lot of the Rituals have incorrect Market Prices listed (in the Market List column, not in the text). This effect all Rituals who has a Market Price with a ',' in them.
For example, "Arcane Barrier" has a Market Price of "3,200 gp" but in the Market Price column it's only "3", it's been truncated at the comma.
"Aberrant Totemic Link" on the other hand has a market Price of "3200 gp" (no comma), so it's correctly listed as 3200 in the market price column.
Is there any word on when themes will finally be included in the online Compendium? For multiple reasons, the online Character Builder doesn't work very well for me, so I rely on the Compendium a lot. Very annoying that I still can't look up themes in it.
Announced a month ago... likely to occur at the end of the year.
At least, give the possibility to change back to the standard version, so I can filter what I want.
Thank you.
Using I.E., the item filtering is working smashingly. However, when I try to use Firefox, none of the 'category' items filters are working. That is to say, the drop down box for 'category' under the major heading 'items' does not work. It works for feats, classes, powers, etc, just not for the items.
I hope I expressed that clearly. If anyone has information, I'd greatly appreciate it; thank you.
I was reading this post and saw some issues with the item filtering; I have a slight problem based on this issue and was wondering if it is a current bug, or there's something I can do to fix it:
Using I.E., the item filtering is working smashingly. However, when I try to use Firefox, none of the 'category' items filters are working. That is to say, the drop down box for 'category' under the major heading 'items' does not work. It works for feats, classes, powers, etc, just not for the items.
I hope I expressed that clearly. If anyone has information, I'd greatly appreciate it; thank you.
Zhandra, I ran into the same issue with Item filtering last night on Mac OS X with both Safari and Chrome. I submitted a bug report through the feedback system (Ref #111005-000146) and hopefully we'll have a resolution soon.
It's not just Category, by the way; I also can't filter by Level or Enhancement. Bizarrely, filtering on Source works, I've learned since submitting the problem report.
New issues:
- Karruuk's Circlet - Server error.
- Lenses of the Luminary - Server error.
Reported earlier but still not fixed:
- Lingerer Fell Incanter - Size is missing from the keywords.
- Fleshglutton Favored One - Size is missing from the keywords.
- Emerald Claw Scout - Size is missing from the keywords.
- Blistered Soul - No keywords.
- Imprison - This power has the wrong color, it uses the atwillpower css rule instead of dailypower.
My specific issue is the categories dropdown always defaults to 'creatures', meaning I can't look up anything else. Makes the Compendium mostly useless.
Thanks!
Sorry if this has already been brought up, but I thought it worthy of additional mention if it has...
I believe that the addition of more filters to the DDI Compendium would be useful due to the seemingly lack of working interior filters. If you are to type in elf in a search for specific feats, I personally do not find it necessary for every single half-elf feat to show up on the list as well. For this example, 74 feats will be listed and although I like hunting through feats, that is a bit ridiculous.
Another example would be searching for class specific feats and when you are playing a Dwarven cleric, receiving a list of feats for gnomes, eladrin, and humans.
WTF did you guys do?! It's actually worse now than it was before.
Currently for me it won't let me use any version other than mobile...while I'm on my laptop.
I cleared my cookies, clicked "Launch Compendium" while logged in, and it takes me to the mobile page. Tried removing the mobile's from the URL and nothing.
• no advanced search features
• search results only give name (as opposed to name and some details) - this is huge
• can't "next"/"prev" through your search results
• *themes* just disappeared! - anything else gone that i didn't notice?
• have to remember all the slot names yourself when looking for items
• results screens and the description pages are both harder to read
• ... i'm sure there's more, but it's probably not worth listing if nobody is listening...
was this user tested with anybody?
i guess if i need to look up creatures between certain level ranges i can use the monster builder, but there are so many different magic items spread out over so many books that it's very difficult to find a range of magic items between certain levels right now.
please try to fix this...