Community

Thadir wrote:

----added 22/08/2007------

Pick which one you like?

I like that one. :D


The highlight tag will also give you red, if you didn't want to use the color tag.

Not-highlighted and highlighted

IsThisNameTaken wrote:

I would also predict that the quality of the initial books will be lower. They'll be happy to leave things "broken" in the initial release so you'll have to pay online to "fix" them. If I want to pay monthly to play a game, I'll buy (or rent, I should say) an MMO. I just want a COMPLETE game, that I'll OWN once I purchase it. Is that too much to ask? If they develop a quality product in the first place, there shouldn't be too much need for an online "service".

Nonsense. Books have limited space. The internet does not. Having fully functional books does not eliminate the coolness of online extras. Personally, I am willing to pay the $10/month pittance for the online goodies. Some people will choose not to, and that is fine. You don't have to buy the collectible miniatures, either.

seTiny wrote:

I like that one. :D


The highlight tag will also give you red, if you didn't want to use the color tag.

Not-highlighted and highlighted

Ok ill use the Higlicht tag.

Eny how I updated bost FAQ. And ill wait a while becouse I need to bother staff mebers to udpate the sticky FAQ.

Also ill start reading the webpage.. And Ill start adding them 2 as soon as I haev the whole FAQ thread >

seTiny wrote:

You don't have to use the highlight tag, I was just informing you that it was there.

Uh, I find it weird that you can't edit the stickied FAQ. Now that you are a Scribe I thought you'd be able to edit certain locked threads.

Keep up the great work and thank you for doing this.

:D

This forum is a bit difrent. IDK why but I know WotC is working on it till that time.. I got 2 threads to maintain..

WotC_DM wrote:

The character and campaign vaults' concept are that they will be an online repository of information dedicated to your character(s) and/or campaign(s).

As a player, you will be able to present your character to the world, possibly keeping a journal of your adventures (with tools like blogs for example), and allow others to see what your character is about. This is also where you can load your character(s)' file from the D&DI applications (character sheet and character builder mainly) so that others could use it in their own D&DI applications suite if they want to (and if you want them to access it)

As a DM, you will be able to showcase your campaign, keep track of what is going there, provide background information on such to selected group of friends (your gaming buddies certainly, but you will be free to open or restrict that as you see fit). You will get access to tools like wiki for example, and can also upload information taken from the D&DI applications suite (The dungeon builder and the encounter builder for example) for others to use (always with the ability to chose what you want others to see and get access to).

These are, in a nutshell, the concepts behind the Character and Campaign vaults. More information on all these will be released in the upcoming months through dndinsider.com, so stay tuned, be patient and keep playing!

WotC_DM wrote:

To be entirely clear about the vaults, I did not say that all these functionalities will require to have a D&DI subscription.
Some of the functionalities, like the blog and the wiki for example, are tools that the gleemax infrastructure could provide to anyone having an account, even if they have not subscribed to D&DI.

We still are working to figure out some of the details of the interactions between the subscription based features and the features that are simply linked to having a Gleemax account.

My post was made to provide an overview of the functions that this specific forum highlights. This area is where there will be the most cross-over between D&DI and Gleemax and were all of the "powered by Gleemax" features will be the most visible.

[D&D Insider - Dungeon Master’s Kit]
Will D&D Insider be marketed as 'necessary' for the play and enjoyment of the game? Will it in fact be necessary, having within it's digital folds important rules referenced no where else?

WotC_DM wrote:

No, all the D&D Insider benefits will not be necessary to play. They will add extra features and tools, for a cost that you can choose to pay independently of the published products.

one last thing that would be intresting is to allow the DM to edit communication between players on the voice chat. for example, to explain a room, the DM mutes all players and explains. when done, he unmutes players. another example would be to limit communication to players apart from each other.

WotC_DM wrote:

We do plan to offer integrated functionalities from the VOIP to allow Dungeon Masters to manage their communications and channels with their players the way they want. More details on these features will be posted in the future, so stay tuned on dndinsider.com

[D&D Insider - General]

I see in the teaser video a laptop on the table, does this mean that I have to use a laptop during my game sessions?

WotC_Dave wrote:

For the record, I play 4e every Thursday night with my buddies. And the most complicated piece of tech at the table is a three-ring binder.

This doesn't mean I'm not excited to get some prep-time digital help when Insider is up and running. But the game I'm working on right now involves just as much sitting at the table, talking in funny voices, rolling dice, and moving little dudes around as it always did. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

--David Noonan, game designer, Wizards of the Coast.

are you at liberty to give more details on what is and isn't a part of 4th and its mechanics to quell the endless posibilities that people can imagine?

WotC_Dave wrote:

Mostly no, I shouldn't give mechanical details. Two reasons: First, the game ain't done yet. That's a pretty obvious reason. Second, it's unfair and misleading just to give you little, disconnected peeks. You'd just be touching part of the proverbial elephant. The nifty part of the D&D ruleset--or of pretty much any hobby game--is how the parts work in concert.

So my "no mechanical details" answer is just the answer for right now, tonight. We'll inundate you with information long before you face a purchasing decision or need to do anything special with your ongoing game. We'll talk until we're blue in the face. You'll get those questions answered. We just aren't going to do it tonight. And we should probably get the game completely done, too. That seems important.

One thing I can tell you, right now, tonight, is how the game is functioning at my Thursday night table. We're getting around the table faster than we did when this was a 3.5 game. We're hitting rules hitches at more or less the same rate as in 3.5--but this is playtesting, where the only alternative to finding problems is, well, not finding problems. I gotta believe those will fade away as we polish things up. And as the DM, the "information processing" load (bookkeeping, lookups, resource management) on me is way, way down. This does wonders for my ability to DM because I can focus more brainpower on making the encounter come to life.

My players--a mix of other game designers and friends from outside the game industry--are having a good time. (But the point is that we're friends, so the rules can't really take credit for that.) My players have some issues with the game still, and I'm madly taking playtest notes as we play.

So that's where we're at right now. If I were in your shoes, I'd sure want to know as much as possible, right away, proverbial elephants be damned. But May 2008 is a ways off. Just check in with us, volunteer to playtest, and eventually you'll see for yourself, long before the book is on the shelves.

--David Noonan, game designer, Wizards of the Coast.

IF you player 2E, 1E, OD&D, etc as a DM as well as 3.x then with relation to the ability to speed the game along during the game session, does this mean that you find yourself needing to prepare more for your game session sicne more can and probably is getting done in the overall plotline?

WotC_Dave wrote:

That is a damn good question, and it's one that I hadn't given much thought to. So lemme see...

I think my away-from-table preparation time is a little lower than in 3.5. While it's true that I have to have more encounters ready for each given session, the prep process itself tends to go faster. Well, the implementation of my fiendish DM plans goes faster, anyway. Sadly, 4e doesn't make me hatch sinister plots any faster. The creative, brainstormy stuff is pretty much the same.

But I'd hesitate to draw any grand conclusions from that, for a couple of reasons. First, my prep time is highly variable. I'm (perhaps unreasonably) confident in my ability to improvise with this group, so I can get away with minimal prep sometimes. On the other hand, it's a complicated, intrigue-laden campaign, so there are a lot of NPC balls to keep in the air.

Second, the fact that we're playtesting affects the prep-to-play ratio. I have a whole department sitting around me, cranking out new monsters, etc., for me to use. That lowers my personal prep time. And my players tend to engage in rules theory digressions between encounters. That hurts our "encounters per night" pace a bit.

So I'm going to go with my "a little less prep time for a significantly faster play pace" answer, but I'm not totally confident in that answer.

--David Noonan, game designer, Wizards of the Coast.

I have a couple of random thoughts/questions about the way D&D Insider will operate.
1. We've all heard about how the "D&D Game Table" handles VoIP. I was wondering however, if there was an option to use text as well or instead? I have a rather pronounced accent, which can cause trouble when I'm trying to be understood. I also know of a few deaf and/or mute D&D players who could also benefit from such an option being included.
2. Also, as we all know, when you purchase a 4E book you get an included code that allows you to pay a nominal fee to download an EBook version and add the included rules to the various DDI databases for use with the Character Creator, Dungeon Master’s Kit, etc. What if I'm only interested in the database update and don't want the download at the time (perhaps later or perhaps never)? Am I going to be forced to pay the same as a person who wants the full monty, or is it possible to get it at a lesser cost/free (after all, I'll already be paying a monthly fee for the DDI account and paid full price for the book, it seems a little much to have to pay an additional cost every time I want to add a few new feats or skill or classes from the book I just bought to the Character Creator produced by the same company).
3. Will there be a way to export a DDI created item so another DDI user can use it (like share a Game Table dungeon with another DM or pass your player an updated Character Sheet, for example)?

WotC_DM wrote:

1) yes, text chat and VOIP will both be available in the game table. Our VOIP partner is Vivox, and the VOIP will be fully integrated in our game table application.

2)As ScottR mentioned in another thread, our plan is to allow you to build a character with the character sheet application using any of the published rules when you are a D&DI subscriber. Having the E-Book will unlock the details of the race, class, feats, skills, ... in electronic format. If you do not have the E-Book, you'll only see the name of the race, class, feats, skills, ... and will be informed of where the detailled information has been published.

3)I can't answer that question yet. Stay tuned on dndinsider.com to know more about the features that the D&DI applications will offer, and be patient .

1) Will users without DDI subscriptions be able to obtain digital versions?
2) Will the digital books be in a standard format and will standard programs be able to open them?

WotC_DM wrote:

1)Yes

2) Stay tuned on dndinsider.com to learn more about these features. At that time, this is not a question we can answer.


We are very aware of all these aspects you describe. It is still too early for us to communicate more details in that area, though.

Piracy, regardless of the reasons behind it, is stealing somebody else's property. There are no arguments to validate this kind of action. We will take the proper steps to protect our intellectual properties, while making our applications as widely useful as possible to our customers based on the budget and timeframe we have.

1) I perfectly understand the idea behind varying levels of access and content based on subscription level, but does this mean there simply won't be ANY free content at all - essentially forcing a subscription of SOME kind?
2) And even with the appropriate subscription, will the downloadable content (acrobat files, map images, etc) have DRM? Will I be able to share data with the players in the group I DM?
3) And, on the subject of downloadable content, I still am not satisfied on one of the original questions posted in this thread - is a web-accessible PC/PDA required at the gaming table to play 4e? I've seen a lot of acromonious churning, but have yet to read a simple yes/no answer to a simple yes/no question. And by that, I'm not refering to books purchased. After all, all that is really required is the three core books and you've got 4e - but admittedly at a basic, no-frills-added level.
4) Paying for online access to Dragon or Dungeon magazines is certainly understandable. After all, I had to pay to get them on paper, so that's ok with me. But presently, Paizo has enhancements and maps available for all to download. Will WotC force me to pay a subscription for those as well? And what about FAQ's, errata, and "web enhancements"?
THAT'S my concern.

WotC_DM wrote:

1) No, there will still be content available without subscription. Things like the Dungeon articles or the Dragon's Articles will require the subscription though.
2) Stay tuned on dndinsider for more information on this in the coming months. This is not a question we can answer fully at that stage. We are aware of the needs of sharing material, but we also want to make sure we protect our Intellectual Properties appropriately.
2) No, anything related to D&D Insider is not required nor necessary to play 4th Edition at your gaming table.
4) Some answer have already been provided to this here. By the way Wizards has had art and maps available for download for free for years... Stay tuned on dndinsider to learn what will be the future of the web enhancements in the upcoming months.

[D&D Insider - D&D Game Table]

[b]Do you have to have 4e to use D&D Insider's tools?

WotC_DM wrote:

The D&D Insider applications will not be required to play 4th Edition D&D.

They are mainly tools to help connect people wanting to play D&D while not being in the same room, and they will help facilitate some aspects of the game.
For example, there will be a dungeon builder and an encounter builder applications. The dungeon builder will help create tactical maps for your games, while the encounter builder will help tie encounter information together and format those to be used in the game table. As it has been mentioned in the seminars at Gencon, 4th edition encounters are not necessarily combat encounters, but also social encounters and other type of challenges.

The Die Roller prototype shows dice rolled on the screen. There is a special link between the gamers and their dice and we all feel this link is fully a part of the D&D experience, which the D&DI applications simply brings up as if playing on your own table. But seeing dice rolling is a feature that can be turned off. Random numbers can be generated without having to see the dice rolling if you do not want to.

There are many different type of gamers out there, and we are designing the D&DI applications to be as flexible as we can make them. For example, the "slow" motion of the miniatures used in the movie was meant to clearly show what was going on, but the DM will be able to set the speed of this movement that fits his or her game style.

A few qwestions:
1)The listed specs are sufficient to run the award-winning game Oblivion. Is WotC promising to have graphics on par with Oblivion at release?
2)Is it true that you're repurposing the Neverwinter Nights 2 engine?
3)How much value are graphics on par with Oblivion in a virtual tabletop game?
4)What justification is there for requiring a machine capable of running nearly any full-fledged PC game available, for a character generator?
5)Since DI is so compute-intensive, will you be porting it to xbox 360 and ps3?
6)Few development studios have the knowledge in house to develop games which can utilize all that power. Which big-name development studio are you contracting with to develop this software?
7)What is your five-year maintenance lifecycle for this software? Will we be required to download frequent patches to keep it up to date?
8)Since the DI will be requiring such hefty systems, will you be redesigning the website so that it works better on larger screens?
9)Will there be any mode for working disconnected from the network?
10)Why aren't you considering Web 2.0 technologies like the rest of the internet?

WotC_DM wrote:

To my knowledge recommended specs are not a statement of similarity with other products.
1) Oblivion is a computer game, D&DI applications are accessories to the D&D pen and paper game if that terminology makes it clearer. i.e. they are not necessary for playing D&D, and mainly enhance your ability to play D&D with gamers by providing an online game table to meet and play.
The game table and the character visualizer are both driven by our 3D engine. As you have seen in the prototypes, we plan to have some lighting and shader effects, and these recommended specs provide information for what system to have to get the most out of these. There is no comparisons with such products as Oblivion...

2)Where have you heard that? It would be nice to refer to your source...
In any case, Atari produces the Neverwinter Nights 2 application which is a full blown game with it's own engine. There is no repurposing and, for that matter, D&DI applications have no link with this game or engine.

Once again, D&DI applications are meant to expand abilities of D&D players to play the pen and paper game using internet as their kitchen table. The 3D engine we use is not the one Atari uses.

3)The movie prototype was designed to give our customers a view of where we are heading. I do not think the value you refer to is anything I can judge. In the end, the customers will decide of the value by themselves..


4)character generator? You are using a term we do not use: we have mentioned a character sheet application and a character builder application. The character builder allows you to build a representation of your character in 3D and create your miniature for the game table. This is the second part of the prototype movie, and we want this tool to be flexible and the textures, tints and lighting to help getting a character that looks great.

Note that I am not saying that there will not be any character randomized/automated generation. We are still working on those details, and I can't say more on that topic at that stage...

I also have not mentioned the minimum specifications. If you read carefully, the specifications provided are recommended specs, and not minimum specs, so they are not "required".

5)I do not see the point of your question.. Will a CAD program done for architects be ported to xbox 360 and ps3 because it is 3D intensive? I'm sure some are even more compute-intensive than D&DI...

6)Our partner for this code development is Radiant Machine. You can refer to our press releases (or theirs) to know more about them.

7)I can't talk yet about our lifecycle details at that stage, but we do plan to have patches download to keep our applications up to date...

8)I'm not directly involved in what's going on with the web, but I will pass the information. In any case, the requirements for D&DI applications are independant from the web usage.

9)We are still working on those details. Keep tuned with dndinsider.com to learn more in the coming weeks and months.

10)D&DI is part client applications and part web resources. The client applications will be rich windows clients, and not web based. Other aspects of D&DI will be web based. More information will filter out in the upcoming weeks and months at dndinsider.com.

There was a quote that said you would be able to turn off rules enforcement to allow for house rules, so I imagine they are going to be building in some of the basics at least. No real indication of how much or how little it will handle yet though.

WotC_DM wrote:

The game table will not adjudicate game rules. This is similar to your existing game table in your living room/kitchen/family room/attic/basement... It is not the table that helps you adjudicate your own game rules, so like your normal games it will be up to the DM to share his or her house rules for his or her players, and enforce them using the voice interaction provided by the VOIP, the text chat window, and the DM's settings.

For example some DMs allow players to draw on the game map, others prefer to do that themselves. There is no "good" or "bad" approach to this, so the game table will allow the DMs out there to decide by themselves how things will be done in their game.

We will provide more details on these in the upcoming months. So stay tuned with dndinsider.com

Won't the GAME Table make it to mutch RPG and take over way to mutch of the jobs of the DM?

WotC_DM wrote:

Our goal with the game table is not to adjudicate game rules. There is a DM to that effect. The game table is simply a way for people to meet in a new space (online) when they can't physically get together in the same room.
We will take advantage of some of the aspects of the 3D engine (like for lighting for example), but we will not enforce any rules within the game table.

By the way, this also means that the game table is just a new online space allowing you to play Role Playing Games in the old fashioned pen-and-paper like way. Because it does not adjudicate rules, it is not specific to any particular role playing game system.

I have a few questions about the Game Table if anybody from WotC cares to answer them for me. How many licks does it take till you get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?
Would all my information be locked to my account or my computer? Meaning, if my computer dies, will I lose everything or will it be safely tucked away on your servers?

WotC_DM wrote:

I can't answer that one, as I never went that far.. I do not like Tootsie Pops..

The things that you buy will be safely stored on our servers, and linked to your account. We already are doing this for Magic Online users: they buy cards (as digital objects) and we know what they have bought and make them available to them when they log in.

There is a difference between what the subscription entitles you to do, and "things" you buy online. For example, the E-Version of the book is not linked to your subscription payment. You pay a nominal fee if you so chose to get the E-version of the book, and you own that E-version. You will keep that access to the E-Version regardless of your subscription status.
Now, the entitlement to use the D&DI applications comes with the payment of a subscription fee. If you stop paying the subscription, you lose the entitlement to use them.

Both entitlement and ownership are stored on our servers and linked to your account.

For the rest of your questions, stay tuned on dndinsider, and be patient.

[D&D Insider - Dungeon and Dragon Magazines]

Finally, the page is up. But I can't log into the Insider. When I fill the e-mail and start filling the password it switches e-mail to guest!

Wotc_Mark wrote:

Because the volume of traffic to our site is quite high at the moment we have temporarily enabled a single "Guest" sign-in to help decrease the load on the servers. We will fully activate the login feature when the server load normalizes sometime this coming week.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

--MJ

I do believe it's been said that the D&D Insider free preview will last through to the end of the year.
You have a point. Take note, Wizards! Let the people preview so they know what they'll be paying for later!

WotC_Thomasson wrote:

Our free preview of D&D Insider editorial content will last through spring, 2008. Basically, once the Player's Handbook is headed to the shelves, we'll start charging. Our goal is also to substantially increase the amount of our online content at that point as well. That's not to say we don't have a lot of plans between now and May, because we do. But we'll be able to do even more once the new edition is out.

Over the next few months, we'll be trying a lot of new things--new columns, new features, and so on--and looking for feedback. So if there's something you like, let us know. Or if there's something you see that's missing and you want it back, let us know that too. In the latter case, rest assured that in the vast majority of cases, if it's missing, it's probably just on hiatus, not gone for good. In fact, I can't think of anything from the magazines that won't be back at some point.

Thanks!

EDIT: I have been informed that the hard date of April for charging for the subscription wasn't accurate. That's my bad. It will be in the spring, around then, but we're not set on a firm date for launch, other than that we're aiming to coincide with the release of the PH, if not earlier.

Chris Thomasson
Producer, D&D Insider
Wizards of the Coast

WotC_Thomasson wrote:

As far as needing D&D Insider to play 4th Edition, I hope everyone finds it as indispensible as their Player's Handbooks. Heck, my job kind of depends on making it as appealing as we can to as many players as we can. But do you absolutely NEED it to play? No. This is still a table-top game. All the content we'll be producing is additional material meant to enhance your game, exactly like Dragon and Dungeon content was before. As with previous editions, you can still just buy your PH and play to your heart's content. Or heck, borrow one.

So to reiterate: D&D Insider, not required. But it's gonna be super cool. I really do hope everyone checks it out. I know I'm gonna start a game on the D&D Game Table as soon as I can with my friends in Saipan, L.A., Washington D.C., and locally. I haven't been able to game with these guys together in years, since we all scattered after college. But now I'll be able to get them together and play D&D again. Of course, adjusting for the Saipan time difference will be tricky...

Oh, and I saw a quote from someone that said we weren't paying our freelancers, but I haven't been able to find the original post. That's absurd. Of course we're paying our freelancers. Our per word rate is listed right in our writer's guidelines ($.06 for those keeping track at home). We've got articles by Robert Schwalb and Ari Marmell coming up in September, and James Jacobs, Nicolas Logue, Scott Gray, and Amber Scott, among others, in October. Each and every one of them was paid (on acceptance, I might add).

Thanks!

Chris Thomasson
Producer, D&D Insider
Wizards of the Coast

[D&D Insider - Character Creator]

Please tell me that it will have Support for all Supplements

WotC_ScottR wrote:

Our plan is that when you buy a book it will have a unique code and with a very nominal fee you can unlock the e-book version. This will also auto-populate the data bases in the character creator so the system knows what books you own/play with.

[b]I want the ability as a DM to say - I want a level 7 wizard, level 8 rogue... generate the details. And then be able to tweak them. This is so much faster than building a character level by level.

WotC_ScottR wrote:

You'll be able to do this with rules turned on or if you want to go gonzo (house rules) have the rules turned off.

I am hoping that the new books will each come with a CD or online key that will enable purchasers to download the upgrades or add-ons to the original program.

WotC_ScottR wrote:

it will be a key code that for a very nominal fee you can unlock your e-book and it will auto populate your databases.

Please explain to me how you (WotC) can justify charging a second fee to un-lock online use of a product you've just purchased?? Even if it's just $0.99, that's pretty bloody low, if you ask me.

WotC_ScottR wrote:

1) it is a verification step that helps us deal with less than honest people who take the code and activate it.

2) there is cost, albeit small, with making the e-book and we either build that cost into the cover price and everyone pays whether they use it or not (sort of a tax on non-ebook users) or we do it this way where it is variable and let the user self select.

How will homebrew material work? will "homebrew" simply not be an option at the Insider's online tables? Or will DM's be able to write up a set of custom feats/classes/races in say a formatted text file and import them into the Character Creator for their players to use? Or from a spread sheet or xml or whatever format.

WotC_ScottR wrote:

You'll be able to toggle off rules and make homebrew rules versions of your character.

You can print, save (multiple versions) etc

Will the Character Creator function of the Digital Initiative / DnD Insider be
solely for 4th edition, or will it also include 3.0 and / or 3.5 edition?

WotC_ScottR wrote:

Just 4e. This system is being built from the ground up to be fully 4e compatible.

Two questions:
1) how large is "very nominal"? (not that I really expect an answer yet)
2) slightly off-topic, but will it auto populate databases other than for character creation? Databases that dm's might want for monsters, for example.

WotC_ScottR wrote:

1) can't say right now but I guess about the cost of a coffee (what I can't say is if it drip or a Starbucks triple vente chocolate mocha.)

2) yes

1) From what I understand you will be able to save 10 PC's to the system. If I've used up all 10 "slots" can I delete one and create a new one?
2) Are the e-books going to be pdf's? If so can I save them to my computer?
3) Will I only have access to the e-books as a member of DDI?

WotC_ScottR wrote:

1) I don't believe there are slot limitations
2)Our goals is that you will be able to use them offline
3)Our goal is that you don't need to be a subscriber but you will need to give us your info to activate

WotC_ScottR said you could "turn off the rules". So maybe you have to pay the small fee to have it automate it for you, or you could just manually do it in "rules off mode"?

WotC_ScottR wrote:

It will be part of the functionality with "Rules legal" and "home rules" options

WotC_ScottR, a lot of gaming groups have one person buy a book, and then many players using the book. I understand that only one account (attached to the person who buys the book) will have access the online digital version of the book, but will there be a way for players to populate the database attached to their online accounts with rules from a book that they did not personally buy?

If not, are you saying the only way for a group of 5 people to use the options of one book with the DI database is for all 5 people to buy the hardcopy of the book?

WotC_ScottR wrote:

yes.

Will all of the DI work on my Mac?

WotC_ScottR wrote:

Maybe, depends on the Mac. See this blog entry here

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=908201

ok first of all for the love of tempus dont, DONT make this part subscription only!!! as a poor person this is probably the only function ill use with any regularity. Secandus make it accessible for all classes if i want to create a draconic, warforged psion let me!

WotC_ScottR wrote:

We are not giving this away, it is costing us a lot of money to develop.

Any chance the Character Visualizer will be available before the new edition? It's pretty useful for the current edition as well...

WotC_ScottR wrote:

our goal is to put it up early so people can play with it in the trial free preview period

1)OK so there is 'nominal fee.' How is this fee to be paid?
2)What happens if we don't pay the recurring fee? Is our stuff deleted if we miss a payment, or something big happens to us in real life and we can't keep up with informing Wizards about it?
3)I guess the big question is, if I just want to keep getting together with my friends and tabletop gaming, why do I need 4E? Mind you, the word in that question was need not what might I find interesting or useful from 4E, but what is needed as badly as the updates to 3E were needed?

WotC_ScottR wrote:

1)We are looking at many forms of payment that will not require a credit card including paypal. More on this in the next few weeks.
2)Good question. I don't know right now but when I am back I am going to find out what we are doing with data on lapsed accounts. Stay Tuned.
3)There are other threads for this. The short answer is because 4e will be fun whether you play at a table or via D&DI

I'm hoping they offer a flexible pricing plan. Say $9.95 for a month by month basis, or $100 if you commit to a full year. Magazines (especially news magazines) and various websites follow similar models.

WotC_ScottR wrote:

Final pricing is TBD still but our thought is those who make a longer commitment get a price break much like MMOs

Will your data bases recognize community property laws? In the great state of Texas my spouse and I own things jointly. What about our minor children? Or will only one of us be able to use the e-book version?

WotC_ScottR wrote:

I have no idea. Does anything you have online accounts do this? MMOs? Email? PayPal?

Since we are assuming this will be a pay for product, I would love it if the character creator would have the option of printing full rules sources for the character's abilities, spells, feats, etc. Not just a page and book abbreviation, but the full text of that ability/feat/spell/etc

WotC_DM wrote:

This is in fact a feature that we have already created for R&D play tests from the databases holding 4th Edition information.
The playtesters at WOTC can record their playtest characters and only print the relevant information based on their choices. It is too early today to promise that such feature will also make it to the character sheet application, but it will be seriously considered.

Keep in mind that getting access to the full rules sources in the character creator will be linked to your ownership of the physical book, and this also applies to any referencing the D&DI data system will provide.

I'm not sure what he means either by lumping in Macs with "lower end platforms". I'm sure my quad-core Mac Pro would run circles around the high end computers they're aiming it at.

WotC_DM wrote:

There are at least two reasons why we chose the PC/DirectX route. The first one is related to Market research indicating that PC users are a much larger user base than Mac users, and the second is the fact that we already had in house a direct-X based 3D game engine, and there was no point reinventing something we already had available

I wanted to add something about my note regarding Mac dual boot systems. It was not my intention to disparage Mac machines when I mentioned them, just to indicate that we are looking into ways to allow owner of such machines (which are indeed often high end machines) to use our D&DI applications if we can make it possible. We are still figuring out the minimum specs, as well as the details of this possible usage.

1) From what I understand you will be able to save 10 PC's to the system. If I've used up all 10 "slots" can I delete one and create a new one?
2)If not, are you saying the only way for a group of 5 people to use the options of one book with the DI database is for all 5 people to buy the hardcopy of the book?

WotC_ScottR wrote:

I have expanded information now that I am back in the office

1)There will be slot limitation as we can't provide infinite space. We are still figuring out how many slot there will be for each account as it will depend a variety of factors including average file size. We don't want to have a situation where the limited slots number hurt usability but how many that is is still TBD.

2)Yes. So to clarify this point each subscriber to D&DI will be able to build characters using all the options published in the released books.

Unless they have the e-book they will not be able to get the expanded text/details (use the browse or print form) without the e-book, but will have the information on where these options were published. The e-book gives a D&DI user extra functionalities above the base functions in the character creator.

1)I have a question in how errata will relate to the character creator and other Insider programs. From what I have gathered so far it sounds like the system will work similar to this (please correct me if I am wrong): I create a character, lets say a figher as an example, for now I'll use 3.x examples since we don't know any rules for 4e. So, I choose a feat for my fighter, lets say Power Attack. If I don't have the e-book unlocked and I want more info on how Power Attack works, it'll tell me what book and what page it is on, correct? If I do have the e-book, it'll link directly to that info in the e-book?
2)Ok.. lets say that a few months down the road a new book comes out and changes the rules to Power Attack. Will the insider tool tell me both books the info is in? Will it tell me which is the newest info? If I do have the e-book and own both books will it link directly to the most up to date info? will it give me a choice on which to link to (say if I don't like the updated version and choose to use the old version in my game)?
3)Ok, lets take a different route with this. Lets say that Power Attack is errataed online only. I know that there will be free downloads for updated errata, but how will insider react to this? If I don't own any e-books, will it tell me the most up to date info is in the errata and where to download it? Will there be an option for those of us with e-books to have them display the errata in the e-book itself, or at least maybe have a link to the errataed information?
4)I currently hate the way errata is done as you don't always know that something is errataed, or even if you do you have to look in 8 different places to find it. With all the online tools you're planning, I think it would be great to have our e-books auto populate or at least update with errata links. Sometimes I feel like current hard books are obsolete when half the time I'm using the errata pages to look up info (this is especially true with outdated books like the Epic book).

WotC_DM wrote:

1)Yes, this sums up as an example what ScottR mentioned in his update. There are two caveats:
- It is unknown at the time if the information will be accessed directly from the E-book or from databases. We are looking at the best and most flexible option.
- I you do not have the E-book, we will not mention any page number as various edition print may shuffle page numbers around.. you'll get the reference of the book in which it has been printed, and you can refer to the index there to find the page number.

2)Yes, it should refer to all sources where the feat was published if you don't own any E- book and yes it should refer to the most recent one you have the E-book for to see the details.

3)It is our goal to have any errata published for a book to also update the E-book content appropriately. It is too early though to say if this function will be available for launch, as it will become relevant after launch in any case. But our goal is to streamline the errata process.

4)Yes, this is an issue we are aware of, and that D&DI should help us fix. This is no easy task though, and may not be available immediately after launch, but this is where we want to go...

All in all I'm very excited for 4e based on the little info we have so far, and insider seems like it'll be no brainer for me :D

Glad to hear :D

Is this a confirmation that the 4th edition books will be fully indexed again?
I have really missed the index. I hope it will be present in every printed
volume (as a requirement to be printed in fact). While we can always do a
search in an electronic text format, we are not so lucky with a hardbound book.

WotC_DM wrote:

There are plans to get index in the books indeed. I would not call that a confirmation though, but an indication that we plan to do it if we can.

Furthermore, it's also based on the idea that from what I've seen, it's looking like it will turn out that even if you own the book, if you unsubscribe from the DDDI you lose the digital copy of that book (that you paid extra for, separate from the subscription cost of the DDDI).

WotC_DM wrote:

This is incorrect. The ownership of the E-Version is independent of your D&DI subscription. You will be able to own the E-Version and not be a D&DI subscriber, or be a D&DI subscriber without having to get the E-Version. If you own the E-Version and are a D&DI subscriber, then you get an extra benefit from owning the E-Version in the sense that, in the D&DI applications suite, you will get the details of the game elements relevant to the book(s) you own the E-version of. If you do not own the E-Version, you will simply see in these applications the names with reference to the published book where these elements have been published.

Other official sources
The Blogs
James Wyatt, D&D Lead Story Designer
There are no updates to be found at this moment. See the rest of the FAQ here.
Rich Baker, D&D Senior Designer
There are no updates to be found at this moment. See the rest of the FAQ here.
Bill Slavicsekr
There are no updates to be found at this moment. See the rest of the FAQ here.
Podcast
There are no updates to be found at this moment. See the rest of the FAQ here.

Kurama Youko wrote:

So whats going on in terms of story. With a New Edition Im assuming that some major story plot has happened. Some gods have died, some new gods have arisen, the former heroes have died (Krusk) some have retired (Tordek), some new evils have risen to power.. What do we know about the actual in game world, what changes have come about.

There better be a good explaination of some awesome event in game to merit this edition upgrade.

Since there is no default setting, Krusk, Tordek and Pelor all just live happily in some other dimension. Other than the dedicated settings (FR and Eberron) there really isnt a story to be advanced from the sound of it.

Xeran wrote:

Yes, there is a default setting. They call it Greyhawk. Hence the reason why Greyhawk Gods are in the PHB as the base gods.

4th ed is going to be genre generic. Hence Greyhawk is going to be a supplement (that is the hope) instead of CORE. I think the norse gods may be in the PHB (odin,thor,hercules) but I am just speculating. It won't be the Grayhawk gods.

jeff-heikkinen wrote:

That doesn't make it any less absurd to claim that the existence of optional extras you don't want to use somehow makes the core less worthwhile. That's like saying the 3.5 Player's Handbook is worthless because you don't like Magic of Incarnum.

Well... there are those of us who, because of distance involved, are MORE interested in the online tools than anything else DDI offers. Our group is now spread across the country, and it would have afforded us the opportunity to start up again. We're predominently Mac users, so we've been cut out of the loop. And, of course, we would've needed all the new books to be able to put it all to use. Now.... no reason to buy the books... or the subscription to DDI.

Xeran wrote:

Yes, there is a default setting. They call it Greyhawk. Hence the reason why Greyhawk Gods are in the PHB as the base gods.

In 3e. Supposedly 4e will be setting neutral.

thaX wrote:

4th ed is going to be genre generic. Hence Greyhawk is going to be a supplement (that is the hope) instead of CORE. I think the norse gods may be in the PHB (odin,thor,hercules) but I am just speculating. It won't be the Grayhawk gods.

not to be an ass but hercules was greek not norse

wardogs wrote:

Actually, anyone with common sense will realize that DDI content for, let's say, 4th Ed PHB will be like Director's Cut DVD's. For $14.99 you get the whole movie, but if you pay $19.99, you get some deleted scenes, commentaries, alternate endings, behind the scene looks and production, etc. Really, at some point we simply have to get people to stop getting mad at a business trying to provide a product. You either want the product or you don't. This is basic consumerism: if you value the extra content more than you're e-fee then you will pay it. If you don't you won't. As a business, WOTC will simply have to make sure they present enough value to enough customers or they will lose money.

But here's a thought: before we decide we will we won't buy the product, perhaps we should let WOTC produce the product first. And perhaps, just maybe, we should not get angry at a business that is trying to provide a product for profit. That's the goal of every company in the world.

I agree. It is a service to the customer that they offer it as an add-on price. Otherwise it would just be built into the price of the book, whether you used it or not. They have to make their margins to stay in business. At least they have given us a choice.

rook1138 wrote:

Will your data bases recognize community property laws? In the great state of Texas my spouse and I own things jointly. What about our minor children? Or will only one of us be able to use the e-book version?

Quote:
Originally Posted by WotC_ScottR View Post
I have no idea. Does anything you have online accounts do this? MMOs? Email? PayPal?

I think he is mainly asking about the joint ownership of the hardcopy, or, at least, that's my main question.
When I get married at the end of the year, and my wide and I both legally own a single copy of the book, will we both be able to activate the ebook in our separately paid for insider accounts? or would each of us need to buy a separate hardcopy in order to activate it in our respective accounts, thus voiding the whole concept of the community property laws that exist in several states.

Or, will you be having a multi-user account option for households, thus making sure that if this account is used as a play tracker, all persons that can claim ownership of a single hardcopy have access to the ebooks and resources available without causing a "only one person in the house can play Mod X, since you all use the same account".

The comparison to MMOs is not quite accurate (from what I can tell anyway, don't care for MMOs since I can't justify the monthly fee compared to the time I'd play them), and email accounts can easily be made 'joint', and PayPal would easily be joint if it was linked to a joint account...

Matt T
RPGA member
Current LG Triad
Planning on playing 4e
Getting married in a few months, and she games, so these are actually real concerns

Though you would have to consult an attorney who specializes in probate and/or divorce, I believe that state community property laws are related to the disposition of property upon death or divorce (there are also some tax implications). As far as I know, it has absolutely nothing whatsoever, like nothing, (did I say nothing?) to do with your right to obtain double utility out out of a purchase. You may not exceed the EULA of software, share a movie ticket, or an all-you-can-eat buffet, or share a web service intended for one user.

ArkhamInmate wrote:

not to be an ass but hercules was greek not norse

Roman, actually. Heracles was Greek.

Voric wrote:

You never had a licensed character generator prior to 2000, and the release of 3.0 either, and yet your world continued to turn.

I'm sure that some third party will eventually grant your wish via the OGL in some manner in the near future. Let's not hold our breath and kick our feet while waiting.

Sorry that I am just getting to this, and no, I did not read all 100 million pages, but Core Rules 2.0 by SSI was THE BEST version of a licensed character creation tool. It was for AD&D. In 3 clicks of a button you could create an entire, random, NPC party, not just 1 NPC.

I too am worried about the online version. I hope it will work, but I have my reservations.

Xeran wrote:

Well I have heard from one of the staff members that the gods will still be Greyhawks, with some changes to represent some changes in the setting.

Yeah? Who?

Gadren wrote:

Ok, I hope I'm not repeating an already asked question, but I really hope I can get an answer to this?
Will each class be designated as one of the four roles, or do you choose your role separately?
Do I have to be just one?
I personally almost always play multi-"role" characters, and I really, REALLY hate the idea of being told how to play my class, or assigning a stereotype to my class so the other players are all going to expect me to play a specific way every time I pick that class.

We don't know enough about roles yet to be able to answer this, but I was under the impression they won't be mechanically enforced as such, they'll just be the areas you can do something in all day long without running out of resources or otherwise being "punished".

Gadren wrote:

Ok, I hope I'm not repeating an already asked question, but I really hope I can get an answer to this?
Will each class be designated as one of the four roles, or do you choose your role separately?
Do I have to be just one?

It seems possible that each class is designed to fit into a given role but I do hope they in fact make it so you can chose a path with your class, maybe not having all roles open to you but more than one. Like a cleric could be either the Healer or the Defender depending if he chose to specialize on healing and buffing and support magic and abilities or if he chose to focus on divine might and retribution.

But it does definately seem that their planned system is that, even if each class can fit into multiple roles, each character chooses an individual role to fill. This does not mean he can not perform functions of another role just that he is at his best in one role over the others. The idea being to help build a balanced party where each player knows what their purpose should be in an encounter and goes about accomplishing that. It is a good idea in many ways but it seems likely to mean that you are going to want at least 4 people in your party unless the DM specifically tailors encounters to match the roles that are filled in your party. This could be a problem for some play groups which are rather small and might only have 2 or 3 players showing up sometimes.

shikage wrote:

It seems possible that each class is designed to fit into a given role but I do hope they in fact make it so you can chose a path with your class, maybe not having all roles open to you but more than one. Like a cleric could be either the Healer or the Defender depending if he chose to specialize on healing and buffing and support magic and abilities or if he chose to focus on divine might and retribution.

But it does definately seem that their planned system is that, even if each class can fit into multiple roles, each character chooses an individual role to fill. This does not mean he can not perform functions of another role just that he is at his best in one role over the others. The idea being to help build a balanced party where each player knows what their purpose should be in an encounter and goes about accomplishing that. It is a good idea in many ways but it seems likely to mean that you are going to want at least 4 people in your party unless the DM specifically tailors encounters to match the roles that are filled in your party. This could be a problem for some play groups which are rather small and might only have 2 or 3 players showing up sometimes.

Emphasis mine. This is why I'm curious about roles, because most of the time I end up playing in one of these group where its just two players and a DM. in 3.5, this is ok, because I usually play a wizard, which, if played right after level 5 or so, can fill all four of those roles. And thats what I like best about being the 3.5 Wizard: there's very little you can't do.

(This also broaches the sweet-spot thing they are talking about, which I definately see. The campaign I'm running right now starts at level 5, and will probably end around 18.)

jeff-heikkinen wrote:

We don't know enough about roles yet to be able to answer this, but I was under the impression they won't be mechanically enforced as such, they'll just be the areas you can do something in all day long without running out of resources or otherwise being "punished".

Everything I've read seems to indicated that the roles essentially means that they'll give the fighter things that makes him the best class at his role, so that you don't have the case in 3rd Edition where clerics and druids could, when optimized, be better melee classes than the fighter, as well as doing normal cleric things. I don't think that's as bad an idea as what some make it sound like.

ToxicWiz wrote:

I stare at this strange and somewhat cold creature WotC has become (maybe has always been, I have simply been too blind to see) and ask the same. It is low. And the worst thing is, we both know that people will give them money for this 'additional feature'.

It's already been explained that the cost of the digital content is not included in the cover price because they don't think it's fair to charge people for digital content they won't use.

So, really, I think you're being childish and ignorant.

Xeran wrote:

Yes this edition update is premature. Regardless of whether it was needed now, from a business standpoint to me it looks like a poor move. Look at how many people they alienated.

Yeah, they totally alienated like 12 dudes on the forums.

GG Wizzards!

In all seriousness, you must understand that the people that are most active on these forums are not the run of the mill D&D players. They are, generally speaking, going to represent the extreme poles of any given issue or debate. For every 5 people on this forum that absolutely can't wait to buy the new books and would love to start play testing immediately, there are 5 that want nothing to do with 4e and feel offended by most of the announcements we've seen. But, for every 5 and 5, there are probably 50 people that don't even look at these forums that will play 3.5 until they're handed something better. Whether or not 4th will be that something remains to be seen.

Xeran wrote:

I think that comment a little false. Regardless of personal beleifs, last time I checked the Doomsday thread was far larger then the Hallalijua thread. I play in two different tabletop groups and I am rather active at the hobby shop, so I think I have a good feel for how tabletop players in my area feel as well. All that comment meant was that there are several people who feel that it was a poor move on WotC's part to release it now, especially after WotC promised a year advance warning. Regardless of both of our experiances however all we can reliably refer to however is the facts we can see. And that is the amount of people on these forums. All other facts and figures are misleading. Neither you nor I can ever hope to reliably grasp the gaming demographics of the entire worldwide D&D gamers. From the facts we can see, ie the online community we are both part of, releasing 4e would perhaps have been better advised a year or two, even a simple three month, later. That being said, I am all for 4e. I am a huge supporter, will buy the core books, and hope to even playtest it.
-Xeran

Generally the vocal minority is usual just that.

I am looking forward to 4E, but I don't see a need to jump on the Hallelujah thread to say...Hallelujah. I am content with the decision and how things are shaping up. Those who are not content usually have a lot to say, and say it vociferously and repeatedly. The number of posts to the threads mean very near nothing as it is simply anecdotal in nature.

GK

Dork_in_Hiding wrote:

Dear Wizards,

Will I be reimbersed for the thousands of dollars I've spent on 3 and 3.5 books?

Dear Dell/Gateway/Asus/Intel/Seagate/etc:
Will I be reimbursed for the tens of thousands of dollars I've spent on computers that have since gone obsolete?

Dear CRT Television and VHS Manufactureres:
Will I be reimbursed for my CRT television and VHS player? They have since been obsoleted by HD and DVD players.

Dear Wizards of the Coast:
Will I be reimbursed for the hundreds of dollars I spent on magic cards that are no longer type 2 legal?

What's stopping you from using the old books anyway?

doctork wrote:

Generally the vocal minority is usual just that.

I am looking forward to 4E, but I don't see a need to jump on the Hallelujah thread to say...Hallelujah. I am content with the decision and how things are shaping up. Those who are not content usually have a lot to say, and say it vociferously and repeatedly. The number of posts to the threads mean very near nothing as it is simply anecdotal in nature.

GK

I totaly agree on that

Xeran wrote:

It is still better then going back and forth saying each of us is the right one. I am talking about the facts. The fact is that WotC promised a year advance warning, then gave nine months advance warning. The fact is some people did not like this. The fact is that if WotC kept its promise some people would be receiving it more warmly, because the source of the ire would be nonexistant. Those are all facts doctork.
-Xeran

Could I get some kind of citation as far as this "promise" of exactly one year's warning before the release of the 4th edition?

All I remember hearing was that we would probably get ample warning like, about a year, for example. I don't remember anyone ever telling me we would definitely get exactly one year of warning.

Splendide wrote:

Will gnomes be in the PHB????

Yes but they are taller, have horn's and are called Thieflings now :P

Just joking ... I have no Idea if they will be in PHP 1 or not.

Trixten_The_Kender wrote:

Ok, so here is a question I wish someone would answer since I've seen it asked numerous times, but cannot find the answers ANYWHERE!!!!


What about Multi-classing? From the sound of the new "roles" it sounds as if there is no multi-classing. (a wizard is a wizard, end of story)


PLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSSEEEEEE give me an answer or show me where the answer is!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of try to ask these qwestions in the right places . I mean we got a 4E Class Discussion for a reason.

Second I dont think they will trow a way the Multi classing system. It was there in 2nd adision 2 I think.

Thadir wrote:

First of try to ask these qwestions in the right places . I mean we got a 4E Class Discussion for a reason.

Second I dont think they will trow a way the Multi classing system. It was there in 2nd adision 2 I think.

So this doesn't qualify as a Frequently Asked Question? And I looked over there, no one was answering the question so I came here...........in the thread that has "FAQ" in the title.........to as a question............

And it seems like they are re-vamping everything, even stuff that has been in 2nd Edition, a perfect example is the spellcasting which has been around since the beginning.

DeMyztikX wrote:

I believe that "role" is a metagame term to define what you do for the group, not an actual limitation. A Cleric can be a defender or a healer for a role. That's my understanding of what they're said so far at least.

True, but somehow it sounds to me like there is no room to grow. I've had characters change from one thing to another over the course of a campaign and going from the party's wizard to the party's rouge sounds like changing "roles" in the new system.

Trixten_The_Kender wrote:

True, but somehow it sounds to me like there is no room to grow. I've had characters change from one thing to another over the course of a campaign and going from the party's wizard to the party's rouge sounds like changing "roles" in the new system.

Switching from wizard to rouge wouldn't be much different from changing from tank to mascara.

BigNosedGoblin wrote:

There are a number of media info sheets up on ENWorld. The D&D Insider one puts it at $9.95 per month. Now its possible that someone created this and fooled the folks at ENWorld into thinking it is official, but I'd be surprised if that were the case.

Well, that person would have had to disguise himself as Scott Rouse, have an accomplice disguised as BilL Slavicsek, and somehow fool me when handing me the CD with the information on it! :D

Xeran wrote:

Sorry, you cannot get that citation from me. I just know that on four different websites I have heard of it from the begining as people were citing the various reasons they thought 4e was horrible. Personally I am really looking forward to 4e. I plan to get D&DI and all the core books.
-Xeran

To be completely fair though, if I recall the promise correctly, the 1 years warning was made by someone who is no longer with WotC. In addition, I recall a disclaimer of, "If I have anything to say about it." Which, if he's not there anymore, he doesn't have much to say. He also said it was going to happen 2010, I think.

It's been a while since I've seen it...

Calestin Kethal wrote:

To be completely fair though, if I recall the promise correctly, the 1 years warning was made by someone who is no longer with WotC. In addition, I recall a disclaimer of, "If I have anything to say about it." Which, if he's not there anymore, he doesn't have much to say. He also said it was going to happen 2010, I think.

It's been a while since I've seen it...

It was Charles Ryan, former Brand Manager who, as you say, is no longer with WotC:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t … arles+ryan

Morrus wrote:

It was Charles Ryan, former Brand Manager who, as you say, is no longer with WotC:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t … arles+ryan

Thank you! I couldn't remember the details. While the search function is back, my search-fu is weak, and I couldn't find it on the WotC forums.

KIDS wrote:

I cannot find anything about this, will there be an option of a preorder for PHB/MM/DMG on Amazon or the like? Thanks.

p.s. looking forward to 4E, I'm satisfied with the state of the game at this moment but I hope for some more improvements!

Yes. Amazon is already offering pre-orders for both the preview books, the Keep on the Shadowfell 4E preview adventure, and the 4E Player's Handbook.

Thevail wrote:

2.) I can't believe that anyone at WotC would be dense enough not to see the marketability of a hard copy or CD/DVD anthology of online content for the past year to be released say in February of the next year to a happy market of offline gamers.

I don't know about the rest of the D&DI content, but there will be a hardcover "Best of . . ." available for Dragon and "possibly" Dungeon Magazine. I believe Bruce mentioned it in an interview on Gamer Radio Zero.