The new online Monster Builder is a wonderful creation. However, it is a couple steps shy of a masterpiece.
Please recognize the following:
1. RTF export and/or copy to clipboard is a must. It is truly the only thing that is tying us to the old monster builder. Once you provide us with that functionality, the old monster builder can be completely purged from our systems. Please recognize the importance of an RTF format export and hear the pleas and grant us this functionality.
2. Please fix the monster math to adhere to the MM3 so our monsters are statistically accurate. I am certain that you see the importance of this, as the monster builder is a tool for us DM's to expedite creating and adding monsters to our encounters. Having to fine tune the math both lengthens the time significantly and is prone to error.
These are the items that I would need to see addressed before I can put my final stamp of approval on it. Without those items, which I feel are critical, the Monster Builder will fall short of being something that I use exclusively. And if I cannot use something exclusively, I most assuredly look for alternative solutions.
Thank you.
If others have items to add to this list, please feel free to add to it. This thread is to add our thoughts on necessary items that make the Monster Builder the be-all end-all of monster needs.
This thread is not for people to come in and offer alternative solutions to people's ideas. Most of us know the alternatives and we don't want alternatives; we want the Monster Builder to live up to all of our expectations.
I would add more storage or access to local storage. In addition to RTF add a one step copy to image as well for those that prefer that output.
As it currently stands, my only option for getting information out of the MB and to my table is to print one stat block per page with nothing else on that page, or go through the process of taking screen shots, cropping them, saving them, and importing them into another document. There is, as it stands, no way built into the program to incorporate stat blocks into encounter and adventure notes. The lack of any easy export or copy/paste feature to facilitate adding stat blocks to adventure/encounter notes shows a complete lack of understanding of how people would be using this product. And this is something that people have been clamoring for. Its not a new request. I don't care what format the output is: rich-text, images, save-to-file, grab-to-clipboard. But I need something.
The end result is a very shiny looking product that most DMs can't use without adjusting math and working around the lack of functionality and spending as much time on image manipulation and page layout as they spend on planning encounters and designing monsters. If I had bought this program outright, on a disc or download, from a store, I would feel ripped off. But, I continue to pay a subscription month after month on the hope that this will all get sorted out. I am paying, on an ongoing, for a work in progress. I understand that. And I've been happy to. But I am becoming increasingly convinced that the needs of the end user are being misunderstood (or ignored) on a fundemental level. Its like paying a contractor, a little at a time, to remodel your bathroom. But then, one day, you notice the contractor is putting in a stove. And he hasn't ordered a bathtub yet. And you start to wonder if he understands what a bathroom is supposed to be. There comes a point when you need to stop writing checks and fire the contractor instead of hoping he's suddenly going to "get it."
Otherwise, the points Jharii has made here and that Alphastream has made in the general September Update discussion thread are exactly on target.
1. RTF export and/or copy to clipboard is a must. It is truly the only thing that is tying us to the old monster builder. Once you provide us with that functionality, the old monster builder can be completely purged from our systems. Please recognize the importance of an RTF format export and hear the pleas and grant us this functionality.
This.
I can handle having to re-do numbers, as I re-do them mainly anyways for my group. But not being able to copy/paste images of the stat blocks to Word for my adventure is preventing me from using this thing at all. Can't even export from the online version to the old version, as it gets majorily screwed up.
Something that can go farther down the list, but would eventually be useful: I would greatly appreciate the ability to sort powers in custom monsters. I've got a custom monster I've built that has its powers out of what the preferred order would be, as I added them as they occurred to me. Now that I'm more-or-less finished with it, I'd like to be able to reorder them into a more logical sequence without building the whole thing over again.
This is something I would really like to see. The old builder had the ability to reorder powers within their type. I like to order my standard action from most used at the top (ie- basic attacks and at-wills)to least used (recharges, encounters, dailies). This makes it a LOT easier to run the monsters in a complex fast paced battle.
I agree wholeheartedly with all the suggestions in this thread thus far!
Since the most important issues have already been addressed I'll post something of a pipe dream type of feature. I would love to have sharing between accounts "in the cloud." This goes for all DDi applications, but I think it is pretty important. DMs like very much to steal ideas wherever they can find them, and the DDi community is a fantastic resource that is currently being under utilized. Sharing ideas in this way, fully formed and ready to go will vastly increase the options available to the DDi subscriber.
Dear Wizards DDI staff,
The new online Monster Builder is a wonderful creation. However, it is a couple steps shy of a masterpiece.
Please recognize the following:
1. RTF export and/or copy to clipboard is a must. It is truly the only thing that is tying us to the old monster builder. Once you provide us with that functionality, the old monster builder can be completely purged from our systems. Please recognize the importance of an RTF format export and hear the pleas and grant us this functionality.
2. Please fix the monster math to adhere to the MM3 so our monsters are statistically accurate. I am certain that you see the importance of this, as the monster builder is a tool for us DM's to expedite creating and adding monsters to our encounters. Having to fine tune the math both lengthens the time significantly and is prone to error.
These are the items that I would need to see addressed before I can put my final stamp of approval on it. Without those items, which I feel are critical, the Monster Builder will fall short of being something that I use exclusively. And if I cannot use something exclusively, I most assuredly look for alternative solutions.
Thank you.
If others have items to add to this list, please feel free to add to it. This thread is to add our thoughts on necessary items that make the Monster Builder the be-all end-all of monster needs.
This thread is not for people to come in and offer alternative solutions to people's ideas. Most of us know the alternatives and we don't want alternatives; we want the Monster Builder to live up to all of our expectations.
I second this wholeheartedly, as well as the suggestion for re-ordering powers. This went from being completely useless to almost completely right in one update--maybe October can get us that last 5%?
I do have another to add...
Please allow us to designate a local directory on our hard drive that is included in the monster list for search capabilities. Thus, our 50 monster cap is virtually unlimited as far as our search and filter capabilities are concerned.
Thanks all for your additions and thoughts.
Please allow us to designate a local directory on our hard drive that is included in the monster list for search capabilities.
Since the MB is a silverlight implementation, I think that it is quite tricky to include a local directory. In Silverlight all file I/O is limited to virtual file system, called isolated storage. It is possible to store files there, usually user settings, but you cannot access them like you are used to. They are stored in a storage file which belongs to one silverlight application.
Thanks all for your additions and thoughts.
Please allow us to designate a local directory on our hard drive that is included in the monster list for search capabilities.
Since the MB is a silverlight implementation, I think that it is quite tricky to include a local directory. In Silverlight all file I/O is limited to virtual file system, called isolated storage. It is possible to store files there, usually user settings, but you cannot access them like you are used to. They are stored in a storage file which belongs to one silverlight application.
There are solutions, and if I can import one monster individually, I can most certainly access more than one. A "master monster list" file could be stored in the cloud, which merely contains all of my custom monsters (file names) as well as their location on my local computer. Designating one directory as this location and storing the value in the same file eliminates redundancy.
"Tricky" is one thing that developers love to find solutions for.
There are solutions, and if I can import one monster individually, I can most certainly access more than one.
You can access the local filesystem only via UI Dialog, not from your code.
There are solutions, and if I can import one monster individually, I can most certainly access more than one.
You can access the local filesystem only via UI Dialog, not from your code.
Strange that my searches are turning up solutions to this issue.
In Silverlight 4, it was possible to only access files and folders present inside a fully trusted folder like My Documents. You could use COM APIs from fully trusted OOB Silverlight applications.In Silverlight 5, you don't need any COM APIs. If your Silverlight application is a trusted out-of-Browser application, you can access any files or folders present inside your system very easily (as you do it in other applications like Win Form, WPF etc.).
Regardless, this thread is for requests, not debating the requests.
Strange that my searches are turning up solutions to this issue.
Congratulations! And now you´ve got this far, why don´t you implement the feature yourself and post the code to wizard?
Congratulations! And now you´ve got this far, why don´t you implement the feature yourself and post the code to wizard?
There is no reason to be confrontational. But since you agree that it can be done, there really is no reason to carry on.
But who knows....
Exactly. The request has been made. It would be highly useful to DMs. Nothing changes that, particularly speculation on how difficult something is to accomplish in Silverlight.
Now, back to the topic please.
I'd like for them to use the correct, up-to-date math for all new monsters and update existing official monsters as they are addressed in the magazines.
I'd personally like to see an ability similar to the new Character Builder feature of custom portraits to link a picture of the monster to the stat block. Especially in an environment where sharing between subscribing members is enabled such a feature would be invaluable in communicating what type of creature the stat block describes. In fact, I'd love to see a more full-featured monster layout similar to the Monster Manual page layouts for use in sharing.
In fact, I'd love to see a more full-featured monster layout similar to the Monster Manual page layouts for use in sharing.
I think this is a great idea.
The ability to host my own Monster Manual, with my creations, on the community site for others to browse... is a dreamy thought. And to be able to browse other manuals as well. Complete it all with a link at the button to "Save as .monster" so people can store them and import them into their OMB.
Good stuff, Jharii. I don't have access to my typical computer this week, but I'll try to help more next week. One interesting task might be to look at our old requested features thread and see what has been resolved and what is still outstanding.
I forgot about this thread. Wow, I can't believe that it is almost a year old......
I did a quick once over. Not much of what was requested was implemented. Maybe a few items specifically. I'll try to look through in greater detail tonight.
One major feature from the old list is the possibility to apply templates and themes. It is still missing, but it would be great to have it. To add custom themes, would be great too.
Another nice feature would be the option to build companion characters or NSC. I am not sure if they should be placed in the Monster builder, but their stat block does not differ very much from an ordinary monster stat block.
And point three is traps and hazards. This is also mentioned in the old request list. But I am not sure if they belong to the monster builder at all. May be another Adventure Tool?
Copy+Paste
New maths
Themes & Templates
Any chance of traps too?
Really need to be able to export so I can print 3-5 monsters a page. The new math should be at least mandatory for new creatures, and an indication of what existing monsters use new vs old math would be great.
Since export is already available, you should be more specific as to what format you are wanting.
Heck, +1 to this whole thread. I resubbed cuz of the good news that the monster builder was gonna build monsters, I even red somewhere, think it was Paolo, not sure, that it would have the new math. I'm more optimistic than not again though.
+1 to Paolo, WotC Huscarl, and the rest of the DDI team for a definate major improvement
I also brought this up to WotC Huscarl on another thread, Angels and fiends from the MM1 are missing excepting the dretch, there are others, but thats off the top of my head, no old math, no new math, just missing...
Timoteo
"
Quick reply from a tiny hotel room in Paris:
Export format: Just like the cb, it uses the XML monster format used by the old mb. This will enable full interoperability between the two tools. No RTF at the moment but it should not be a big pain for an enterprising developer to convert the exported XML to any other format...
Storage: for now, 50 monster in "the cloud"
Math: as far as I can tell (bugs notwithstanding), it uses mm3 calculations and stat block.
printing: the mb prints one stat block at a time
it is, after all, a "monster builder". Printing multiple stat blocks and laying out other things should be better left to a specialized tool. As a side note, a single stat block should not pose the same problems as a multiple full page output like the cb.
Export format: Just like the cb, it uses the XML monster format used by the old mb. This will enable full interoperability between the two tools. No RTF at the moment but it should not be a big pain for an enterprising developer to convert the exported XML to any other format...
Storage: for now, 50 monster in "the cloud"
Math: as far as I can tell (bugs notwithstanding), it uses mm3 calculations and stat block.
printing: the mb prints one stat block at a time
it is, after all, a "monster builder". Printing multiple stat blocks and laying out other things should be better left to a specialized tool. As a side note, a single stat block should not pose the same problems as a multiple full page output like the cb.I could live without rich text format copying, truly. However, the only option left is export (since printing this crap continuously is a bigger money sink than a monthly subscription). The exported xmls are broken; they won't load properly into the old monster tools, or any other xml reading software I use. Information is either missing or wrong. In example, minions when imported into OMB come up with full damages (instead of static numbers). Would just like a working export =)
Try installing CutePDF or any other print to PDF software. There's a ton of free ones out there. Basically it sets up a virtual printer on your machine that generates PDF documents of whatever you send it to print. PDF's can then be loaded into word or power point or whatever you're using.
RTF export would solve a lot of problems. The fact it hasn't been included already mystifies me. Maybe WotC is worried it will somehow be used to steal the intellectual property, maybe through the use of bots that would be set up to auto export every monster. Who knows?
RTF export would solve a lot of problems. The fact it hasn't been included already mystifies me. Maybe WotC is worried it will somehow be used to steal the intellectual property, maybe through the use of bots that would be set up to auto export every monster. Who knows?
You could already do that by scraping the compendium. RTF just increases the usability of the data from the plain text.
Dear Wizards DDI staff,
The new online Monster Builder is a wonderful creation. However, it is a couple steps shy of a masterpiece.
Please recognize the following:
1. RTF export and/or copy to clipboard is a must. It is truly the only thing that is tying us to the old monster builder. Once you provide us with that functionality, the old monster builder can be completely purged from our systems. Please recognize the importance of an RTF format export and hear the pleas and grant us this functionality.
2. Please fix the monster math to adhere to the MM3 so our monsters are statistically accurate. I am certain that you see the importance of this, as the monster builder is a tool for us DM's to expedite creating and adding monsters to our encounters. Having to fine tune the math both lengthens the time significantly and is prone to error.
These are the items that I would need to see addressed before I can put my final stamp of approval on it. Without those items, which I feel are critical, the Monster Builder will fall short of being something that I use exclusively. And if I cannot use something exclusively, I most assuredly look for alternative solutions.
Thank you.
If others have items to add to this list, please feel free to add to it. This thread is to add our thoughts on necessary items that make the Monster Builder the be-all end-all of monster needs.
This thread is not for people to come in and offer alternative solutions to people's ideas. Most of us know the alternatives and we don't want alternatives; we want the Monster Builder to live up to all of our expectations.
HOLDING PEN! The new monster builder is useless without a Holding Pen. One thing is they use a crap program as Silver Light, but to not include the Holding Program from the previous monsterbuilder is incompetent.