Setting this feedback thread in advance for Digital Insider #23, scheduled to go live 01/28/09.
Many thanks!
That said, I was hoping that the Digital Insider would have given us some insight on which application they plan to focus on next. Maybe something for next week?
And yes, the tone of the DI has substantially changed. I'm not complaining, just noting that I now expect something different from the weekly update; as opposed to what it was before Mr. Slavicsek took over.
*goes back to tinkering with the character builder*
We also get confirmation that the Shaman is coming up next week, as indicated by the monthly calendar.
Nothing groundbreaking. One thing that surprised me is that he refers to the compendium as the D&D Rules Compendium. Does that mean that more rules elements are going to be added soon, instead of basic element statistics, or is it simply that he considers the statistics to be a core rules element?
Nothing groundbreaking. One thing that surprised me is that he refers to the compendium as the D&D Rules Compendium. Does that mean that more rules elements are going to be added soon, instead of basic element statistics, or is it simply that he considers the statistics to be a core rules element?
probably not. they always referred to the compendium as the "rules" compendium.
also, i have to say even though there is good news in this installment, it still lacks the flair and amount of information randy was able to dish out - why is this so?
No news on the progress of the auto renewal issues.
WOTC still has not put up the info on the main DnD page the the character maker is done and live. You would think with alot of people asking about when it would be done, WOTC would put the info up in as many places as possible, as this would get more people to subscribe. But that makes too much sense I guess.
Could you at LEAST provide me with a FULL download, rather than this half baked installer/downloader that doesn't work with proxies?
HAVING SAID THAT...
You can't expect the guy to be someone he isn't, and that's all there is to it. Randy doesn't work here any more, and Bill is doing what he's been asked to do to the best of his ability.
Next week I would like a hint about the next tool in development, which I guess would be the Visualizer.
If you go to the main Insider page, all mention of other tools have been removed (the tabs for them are gone).. except the visualizer. I suspect that they want to stop intimating at a Dungeon Builder and Digital Game Table until those components are something more than just ideas.
Whereas I know a prototype Visualizer does exist.
...the D&D Character Builder Known Issues list, which deals with some minor bugs we’re aware of.
It may very well be true that when an application goes down its minor. Financial industry crash - MAJOR. I need to restart making the character for my imaginary world - MINOR.
;)
If by any chance you run into a problem as you’re creating characters, feel free to let us know by reporting a bug.
You know...just incase you see a bug... ;)
I hope people actually do use the report bug feature and don't just keep posting bugs in the forums. This is a solid product, hats off the the DnD Insider team.
Did up 3 npc's from the 3 games I run and it was fan-tabulous! it caught a few things I missed while rushing the level gains during sessions and the cards are soooo great. I am so looking forward to next game night when I let everyone on my pc to print out a nice set of cards!
Thanks for the great value Wizards!
It makes no sense to me to place Winter Fantasy, wait...DnD Experience, in the same state that Gen Con will be help in just a few months. I would have made an effort to go to this convention if it had been held in Pittsburg as the rumors after last year's held. Or, if it had stayed in Arlington, VA, I would have not only attended, but probably helped out in other ways, such as DM'ing events. I would encourage Wizards to consider moving it back to Northern Virginia, and supporting different smallish West Coast con, to spread the gaming goodness across the country throughout the year. Having Indiana host everything doesn't make much sense.
Otherwise, very nice work on the Character Builder. Look forward to more information about the next elements in the digital offerings....
It also goes a long way towards widening the appeal of Insider to people who wouldn't otherwise want an account. I have some players in my campaigns who are more casual about the game. They wouldn't get much use out of the ecological background to the cockatrice, but I'm sure they'd love a program that does all the hard work of char/gen for them.
Thanks for the hard work. After the setbacks last year, I appreciated the team setting a release month and getting it released that month.
I have a lot more poking around to do with this thing, but so far I'm not sure how best to select magic items for my new above-level-1 characters. The Level+1/Level-1/Level+0/gold-equivalent-to-Level+0-item rule works fine, but I wish that, along with everything else the builder does for me, it kept track of this for me.
could the launch of the CB be any less advertised on the D&D home page?
I haven't come across any other threads on this, so I'll register my displeasure with DnD Experience 2009 here.
It makes no sense to me to place Winter Fantasy, wait...DnD Experience, in the same state that Gen Con will be help in just a few months. I would have made an effort to go to this convention if it had been held in Pittsburg as the rumors after last year's held. Or, if it had stayed in Arlington, VA, I would have not only attended, but probably helped out in other ways, such as DM'ing events. I would encourage Wizards to consider moving it back to Northern Virginia, and supporting different smallish West Coast con, to spread the gaming goodness across the country throughout the year. Having Indiana host everything doesn't make much sense.
Otherwise, very nice work on the Character Builder. Look forward to more information about the next elements in the digital offerings....
Not to derail the thread but this did catch my eye so I will comment on this.
For the past few years D&D Experience has been in Crystal City Virginia, just outside of Washington DC. Attendance was good and we were able to reach a lot of people on the eastern shore but there were issues with having the event here.
1) It was expensive. Travel, hotel rooms, venue space, and food are all DC prices (AKA land of the government contract expense account). Not good for gamers on a budget.
2) The hotel was not very accommodating to us or our customers (I am being very diplomatic here but ask someone who went to a show here)
So we looked for a locations a lots of cities were discussed (St Louis, Pittsburgh, NYC, etc) and it turns out when Winter Fantasy was in Fort Wayne we had year over year greater attendance than any other venue/locale.
With that in mind and the fact that the mid-west is a gaming hotbed, the Ft Wayne convention center is brand new refurbished, and it is very affordable to run a show there it was a no-brainer to go back to Indiana for this show.
Finally! I am very happy to finally have this product in my hands. Between this program and the Bonus Tools setting up for the game I run has never been easier.
Time to roll up some characters.
7-8 Months AFTER it was supposed to be out.
I've heard a lot of people say "DDi is back on track, Yay!" Not yet. Release another tool soon and I'll start to have a bit more faith in DDi. Now you just have my attention.
I wouldn't go so far as to say its back on track, but this is definitely a sign of good things to come. Lets hope WotC keeps this momentum going.
we'll see. first, they need to get the character builder (at least a bit more) bugfree. the list with known bugs and issues seems to pile up every minute.
then, they'll have to produce the next products in a somewhat shorter timespan - else 2011 will see the release of the gametable, none earlier.
btw: DDI can never be back on track. they missed the track, once, majorly, and then decided to never again make one. (no dates, no promises, but also no other information is available to the public)
--
the way i see it, the CB is high-school level. time to go to college (dungeon builder) and then university (game table)
pcgen and other various tools have been offering about the functionality of the current CB, minus some drag n drop feature which are mainly used as eyecatchers, for years.
I'm happy to be subscribed to Insider, and like all the content I've been getting. I really want a gaming table though! I know several people that would definitely sign up if there were a gaming table.
I DM a six-player game over Skype and GameTable. I and three of the players use Macs. I paid for DDI, a year's worth even, but I dislike that I'm getting less than the full product for the full price, because for some reason, maybe technical maybe not, you chose not to use Java.
The Compendium, now, that I love to death.
Y'all know this and will likely ignore it, but I'm going to say it anyway.
I DM a six-player game over Skype and GameTable. I and three of the players use Macs. I paid for DDI, a year's worth even, but I dislike that I'm getting less than the full product for the full price, because for some reason, maybe technical maybe not, you chose not to use Java.
The Compendium, now, that I love to death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallels_Desktop_for_Mac
I've heard this works quite well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallels_Desktop_for_Mac
I've heard this works quite well.
sure. 50-80$ for purchasing parallels, 60-100$ for a legal copy of windows, just to get the cb working? good deal.
and yes, it works really well. still, if you are not already running those tools at home (or bootcamp, or vmware, or...) then you might not consider this a good price, actually. for a little more than that, you can already get an eeepc...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallels_Desktop_for_Mac
I've heard this works quite well.
It does, I am running it on my work MacBook and that's how I use the CB.
It does, I am running it on my work MacBook and that's how I use the CB.
seriously - just because some emulation works well, does not mean you are running it on your macOS. also, the costs to get this working are significant.
seeing this statement however, makes me wonder even more about WOTC:
why, if everyone over there seems to be using macs, do you program something that is NOT MAC compatible without additional tools?
I haven't come across any other threads on this, so I'll register my displeasure with DnD Experience 2009 here.
It makes no sense to me to place Winter Fantasy, wait...DnD Experience, in the same state that Gen Con will be help in just a few months. I would have made an effort to go to this convention if it had been held in Pittsburg as the rumors after last year's held. Or, if it had stayed in Arlington, VA, I would have not only attended, but probably helped out in other ways, such as DM'ing events. I would encourage Wizards to consider moving it back to Northern Virginia, and supporting different smallish West Coast con, to spread the gaming goodness across the country throughout the year. Having Indiana host everything doesn't make much sense.
There are a variety of reasons in choosing Fort Wayne as the location for DDXP.
I know I won't explain it as well as it was explained to me, but research was done, and it's been found that - on average - most gamers are willing to drive ~6 hours to attend a convention of this size. Beyond that and they start wanting to fly instead of drive, which adds the the cost and starts to limit people out.
As it happens, IN is within a six hour drive of a good chunk of the country's population - and an even bigger chunk of the RPGA/DCI player base.
Fort Wayne was chosen, specifically, because the remodeled/expanded convention center is actually a really nice location (this is my first time here, but I'm quite impressed) and the convention space is, I'm told, very affordable.
Not to derail the thread but this did catch my eye so I will comment on this.
For the past few years D&D Experience has been in Crystal City Virginia, just outside of Washington DC. Attendance was good and we were able to reach a lot of people on the eastern shore but there were issues with having the event here.
Didn't see Scott had chipped in. This is why I should read entire threads before I post.
FWIW - I'm hearing that play numbers are very comparable (and even up a little bit) compared to DDXP07 (DDXP08 was inflated a good bit due to the sneak peek at 4E).
That's with weather, the economy, and a "new" location all working against the show.
2) The hotel was not very accommodating to us or our customers (I am being very diplomatic here but ask someone who went to a show here)
Having been there twice, "very diplomatic" is an understatement.
WotC's management of the show, and their people, was exceptional, which in a way made the status of the hotel all that worse in contrast. Really, the best show in the worst venue.
I hope people actually do use the report bug feature and don't just keep posting bugs in the forums. This is a solid product, hats off the the DnD Insider team.
I would love to. I've come across several so far (all very minor) and I'd love to report them before I forget them.
But the report bug page, the FAQ page, and the known problems page all open blank windows! Well that's all I get, I assume others are getting the actual pages.
Just because I'm finding bugs I wish I could report doesn't mean I don't think that Character Builder isn't a great program. There has obviously been a LOT of work done to handle the wide ranging details. I am VERY happy with the program, but would like to help make it better. Most of the bugs I'd like to report are just a few details that got missed. The one that isn't is just that I'd like to be able to print just the power cards that changed rather than having to reprint all of them after making a minor change to the character (like adding a new magic item).
I really cannot wait till they come out with the gaming table and the character visualizer.
I am looking forward to the rest of the applications. It is awesome. Keep up the good job guys.
...but I'm not going to nearly let you guys off the hook for how you dealt with the situation back in June.
Horrid. Terrible. Shady.
It took you 7-8 months to release a product that you were telling us was right on track up until a MONTH before the release. Not only was it just THIS product, but 3 others. These products don't have any signs of being out within a year from their original release date. We have no timetable. No nothing.
I wouldn't be doing this if you hadn't advertised the way you did and had actually had the guts, the fortitude defense or constitution score if you will, to come out and say "We're working on these products and they'll be released at different points throughout the next year or two and this is what we want them to be." But you didn't do that. The way it was advertised before (as in, before the month where you dropped the single post on the website that said it would be delayed) was such that 4e and DDi were intertwined and 'now you can level up your game!' No apologies, no nothing, and an apparent inability of anyone there to take responsibility for what happened (if I'm wrong here, link it to me in a PM or something and I'll eat crow). Horrible community relations on a product that is based on retaining the loyalty of your fanbase, and thankfully for you there are those of us loyal to THE GAME.
With that said
This is an amazing program. It truly is and I am absolutely thrilled to be using it. I know it takes time, but all I'm looking for is accountability and some initiative to be taken by this company to deliver what I think to be one of its crown jewels to its very loyal fanbase. Everything seems so very lax. It doesn't seem like WOTC is completely on board with DDi.
O_O Shock! Awe! Amazement!...still, glad to see some positive comments.
Seconded. I agree completely. Now let's see us some more apps!
There are a variety of reasons in choosing Fort Wayne as the location for DDXP.
I know I won't explain it as well as it was explained to me, but research was done, and it's been found that - on average - most gamers are willing to drive ~6 hours to attend a convention of this size. Beyond that and they start wanting to fly instead of drive, which adds the the cost and starts to limit people out.
As it happens, IN is within a six hour drive of a good chunk of the country's population - and an even bigger chunk of the RPGA/DCI player base.
Fort Wayne was chosen, specifically, because the remodeled/expanded convention center is actually a really nice location (this is my first time here, but I'm quite impressed) and the convention space is, I'm told, very affordable.
It also should be noted that PentCon (indiana's longest running continous convention) is there at the Grand Wayne center every 2nd weekend of November. I always attend that, but I generally have to limit myself to two con's a year, GenCon and PentaCon.
Not to derail the thread but this did catch my eye so I will comment on this.
For the past few years D&D Experience has been in Crystal City Virginia, just outside of Washington DC. Attendance was good and we were able to reach a lot of people on the eastern shore but there were issues with having the event here.
1) It was expensive. Travel, hotel rooms, venue space, and food are all DC prices (AKA land of the government contract expense account). Not good for gamers on a budget.
2) The hotel was not very accommodating to us or our customers (I am being very diplomatic here but ask someone who went to a show here)
So we looked for a locations a lots of cities were discussed (St Louis, Pittsburgh, NYC, etc) and it turns out when Winter Fantasy was in Fort Wayne we had year over year greater attendance than any other venue/locale.
With that in mind and the fact that the mid-west is a gaming hotbed, the Ft Wayne convention center is brand new refurbished, and it is very affordable to run a show there it was a no-brainer to go back to Indiana for this show.
I did go to the show there last year, but didn't stay at the hotel.
So, the mid-west is well served, and the rest of the country...waits until Gen Con.
I understand that this is all about the finances. However, there are many more hotels in Northern Virginia than those in Crystal City. Out by Dulles Airport, for example, there are hotels, restaurants, a convention center, gaming stores, movie theaters, etc. Everything one needs to run a convention, and it's much more affordable than Arlington. Pls consider moving the convention back to the Mid-Atlantic, and look at western Fairfax County for a much more affordable location...