Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 jimmydeemo Mar 10, 2009 9:41:30	Ok so i'm still new to D&D, have yet to sit down and play yet as my books have not worked their way to me yet. Could someone explain to me what the whole D&D Insider subscription is about? I'm interesting in the follow; What is it? What do i get for my money? What does it get me that a non-subscriber won't get? What will it get me in the future? Is it worth it? (in your oppinion of course) Also can someone please explain why WotC are bringing out multiple bit of the books? Why have a PHB2? Could these not have been included in the first one? I guess i can mainly see the point with the PHB but what is the DMG2 going to contain that wasn't in the first one? Help much appreaciated. Thanks.
#2 jorrit Mar 10, 2009 9:51:36	Ok so i'm still new to D&D, have yet to sit down and play yet as my books have not worked their way to me yet. Could someone explain to me what the whole D&D Insider subscription is about? I'm interesting in the follow; What is it? What do i get for my money? What does it get me that a non-subscriber won't get? What will it get me in the future? Is it worth it? (in your oppinion of course) I think it is worth it. You get online subscription for the dragons and dungeons magazines and I think these are very good and nice to read. You also get the full character builder which is a really great tool (although it has a lot of bugs currently) with a lot of future promise. You also get access to a lot of early information like playtests for future classes and stuff. Also can someone please explain why WotC are bringing out multiple bit of the books? Why have a PHB2? Could these not have been included in the first one? I guess i can mainly see the point with the PHB but what is the DMG2 going to contain that wasn't in the first one? Help much appreaciated. Thanks. Well I guess the other races where not ready when they made the first PHB. They could probably have waited but then we wouldn't have gotten a fourth edition yet. It is simply a way to expand the game and not have to wait too long before releasing something. Also it would probably have made the PHB a bit too big as a single book. I think the DMG2 is going to contain additional information. Mostly on skill challenges and stuff that wasn't explained very well in the first DMG. People (and even companies) learn. It gives them a new chance to re-explain things and share new insights. Greetings,
#3 lemonfrosted_dup Mar 10, 2009 9:58:32	Insider also includes some online bonus tools for quickly generating point-buy stats, monsters (normals only at the moment, though), and encounters. If the PHB1 included everything everyone wanted it would be five inches thick and cost a thousand dollars.
#4 tedkordlives Mar 10, 2009 10:02:49	DDI is pretty cool. I have enjoyed my subscription so far. The biggest thing you get is access to Dungeon and Dragon magazines, which give a lot of really cool bonus content. This month's Dragon had an article called "Art of the Kill" which is about 20 pages of powers, feats, and prestige paths for assassin-themed characters that was worth March's monthly payment on its own. I haven't used the online character builder very much, but it's a really neat tool. There are some other features on the horizon that, when they are finished, will be very cool, such as the virtual game table, and the character visualizer. As for the PHB2 and the like, the real reason is that spitting out all your content in one book isn't really a good business model. D&D is a business and a product, and to keep it alive, they need new content every so often. It builds interest in the game, and yes, gets those dollars out of your wallet. Also, if they spent all the time it takes to develop these ideas on just the first book, we'd be waiting around another 10 years. If they rushed it out, it would have tons more problems, and quickly get labeled an inferior product, and lead to way more work later on.
#5 Hocus-Smokus Mar 10, 2009 10:10:35	Ok so i'm still new to D&D, have yet to sit down and play yet as my books have not worked their way to me yet. Could someone explain to me what the whole D&D Insider subscription is about? I'm interesting in the follow; What is it? D&D Insider is just what it sounds like it is. It gives players an inside look at development, new ideas, tools, excerpts, etc. What do i get for my money? Dragon Magazine Dungeon magazine Previews Playtests Character Builder Compendium Encounter Builder Ability Generator Monster Builder News Etc. What does it get me that a non-subscriber won't get? See all of the above (except the occassional playtest or news article). What will it get me in the future? Supposedly: The Game Table The Character Visualizer Is it worth it? (in your oppinion of course) Worth every penny for me. For $60 a year, that's a ton of goodies that boild down to something like 40 cents per month per feature. Also can someone please explain why WotC are bringing out multiple bit of the books? Why have a PHB2? Could these not have been included in the first one? To add new classes and races to the game. There's simply no way a single book could contain every race/class/power/ability/spell/etc. for every conceivable idea that might come out. The PHB I gave us the majority of "classic" bases, such as the Wizard, Rogue, Fighter, Paladin, Cleric, etc. The PHB II will expand on that. I guess i can mainly see the point with the PHB but what is the DMG2 going to contain that wasn't in the first one? More concise Skill Challenge details, on top of containing the planar city of Sigil (if the rumors are to be believed). I'm sure there will be plenty of added rules for more exotic types of combat and such as well.
#6 dreadarchon Mar 10, 2009 10:25:03	What is it? Tools and magazine articles about the game, covering both fluff (story stuff) and crunch (feats, powers, etc.). What do i get for my money? The Character Builder is incredible (though not without flaw), and you can use it decently well without even subscribing every month. You get published adventures in Dungeon, many of which I like as a DM, and you get a lot of variety in Dragon articles--again, this ranges from fluff to feats and powers. For example, a recent article gives feats, Paragon Paths, and multiclass options to make characters into Assassins, and a similar article was released a few months back for Gladiator-types. Articles that make Monster Manual races into full player races have also been common. What does it get me that a non-subscriber won't get? Besides the above, you have an online monster builder, an online Compendium of crunch, and an online monster encounter generator, should you want them. You also get previews of upcoming content. Mostly, you get the things I listed for the last question. What will it get me in the future? More of the same, and there's also supposed to be a dungeon builder, character art creator, and virtual game session interface at some point. I'm mostly in it for the Character Builder and the Dungeon and Dragon magazine articles. Is it worth it? (in your oppinion of course) The Character Builder is almost worth it alone; I'd definitely purchase one month out of every four-ish, just for the Character Builder updates. I also read the Dragon articles and use the Dungeon adventures, so I think it's definitely worth subscribing every other month at minimum. Why have a PHB2? Could these not have been included in the first one? That would be really long. It'd be unbalanced, due to WotC not knowing what works well and what doesn't (no experience between books), and we'd have to wait like two years between books if they did it that way because it would take forever to write and test. It's also nice to have separate books for time when you only want one of them, or people at the table want to take turns looking things up, etc. ...what is the DMG2 going to contain that wasn't in the first one? More traps and encounter mechanics, and a full write-up of the city of Sigil. I'd buy it just for the Sigil part. Hopefully it also includes things like the Random NPC Quirks and Random Rumors in Town tables that the 3.5 DMG2 had. I still use the 3.5 DMG2, and I'd like to be able to stop carrying it around without losing the handy things it has in it.
#7 jimmydeemo Mar 10, 2009 13:43:24	Well from all those replies i've got a pretty good idea what is involved. Perhaps when i start playing i will see the full benefit. I like the idea of the Game Table it looks like it will be really good once it has been finished. Could you please tell me more information aboutwhat are in the magazines? What are the differences between the two?
#8 tedkordlives Mar 10, 2009 13:46:52	Well from all those replies i've got a pretty good idea what is involved. Perhaps when i start playing i will see the full benefit. I like the idea of the Game Table it looks like it will be really good once it has been finished. Could you please tell me more information aboutwhat are in the magazines? What are the differences between the two? In general, Dragon has information that's geared towards players, while Dungeon has information that is most useful to DM's. They both have a wealth of knowledge, advice, and ideas for characters and campaigns. A lot of time they have character options and abilities in them that aren't included in any of the books, Dragon especially.
#9 spellwyrm Mar 10, 2009 13:56:14	I haven't bothered with DDI because I'm a player most of the time, and only a part-time GM. My GM friend has a subscription though, and he says it's fantastic for his purposes but not really useful for the average gamer, or even the more advanced players. He finds DDI to be far more GM-oriented overall, and since he's let me take a peek here and there I'd have to agree. There are some nifty feats, powers and such here and there, but not enough to justify a hefty price tag, at least not if your just a casual player. I'd suggest really only going into it if you start to take on the GM role more and more, I've gotten a peek at some of the insightful articles they have for GM's, so its pretty good. I might subscribe one of these days if I decide to take on the GM role more heavily, or the price of admission is cut a bit, but not at the moment no. I guess this doesn't really answer all your questions, but having had a small look here and there for myself I figured I'd play the role of Devil's Advocate to all the glowing reviews so far. :P
#10 Dndungeoneer Mar 10, 2009 14:09:26	What is it? The digital initiative for D&D, containing a bunch of helpful tools and two full-blown magazines without the advertisements. What do i get for my money? You get the bonus tools (small web-based applications), the Character Builder, the Dungeon and Dragon Magazines. Oh, and access to the Compendiums full features. What does it get me that a non-subscriber won't get? Non-Subscribers can use the compendium to get page references and the Character Builder from Level 1 to 3 only. What will it get me in the future? Access to all further products from DDI, including the GameTable, Visualizer and Dungeon Builder once they are released (may take some time). Is it worth it? (in your oppinion of course) Yes, totally. Sadly I can't get a subscription, since I'm from germany and in germany credit cards are... well, mostly not used. I know nobody who has a credit card. At all. Leichenreiter, said it pretty well, IMO. I just subscribed to DDI yesterday and I think its wonderful. The two magazine subscriptions by themselves is worth the monthly fee, but you also get the Character Builder, Compendium, ect. Early play-tests are pretty sweet! Very worth IMO.
#11 jimmydeemo Mar 11, 2009 4:04:28	Thanks for all of the replies, as it turns out i will probably be taking on the role of the GM more so in that respect the magazines might help me out. I will consider it when i have played a bit more, the feature that makes me want it the most is the game table to be honest. Will be keeping a close eye on that.
#12 tiornys Mar 11, 2009 4:37:49	If you like using pre-made adventures, or cannibalizing material from pre-made adventures, Dungeon alone might be worth the subscription. Each issues tends to have 2-3 adventures, some rather long (and connected to others published in prior issues), and some short and sweet. For me, one of the biggest draws is the fact that the Compendium gives me access to basically all of the crunch out there, regardless of whether I own the books/magazines they were published in. For example, I will be purchasing a PHB II for a number of reasons, but if I were short on cash, I could delay purchasing it and still have access to all of the new classes, feats, paragon paths, etc. thanks to the Compendium. t~
#13 dreadarchon Mar 11, 2009 17:15:08	Thanks for all of the replies, as it turns out i will probably be taking on the role of the GM more so in that respect the magazines might help me out. Ooh, yeah, the magazines are good for DM'ing. The bonus fluff and maps and monsters and adventures are super-handy if you get pressed for time.