Community

Bumpity Bump (and a well deserved) Bump.

I have to jump on the bandwagon here in the hopes that WoTC is indeed reading these posts.  In short, the new Character Builder is a step backwards--stand by for specifics.

First of all, I have to say that I REALLY liked the original character builder and found it extremely useful, so most of my criticism is based on comparison between the two.

Negatives
1.  Web based.  You MUST be online to use and that is a huge hinderance not to mention a bit exclusive.  Not all DnD players have internet access.
2.  Inflexible.  One of the great things I found in the original version was that I could include/omit panels or power cards, change them, move them around and tailor the character sheet the way I wanted it.  VERY nice. The new sheet is locked in place and frankly a bit boring.
3.  No character summary sheets for the DM--these were really useful to avoid having to ask what passive perception/insights, other skill levels or defenses (AC, Fortitude, etc) were.
4.  The essentials version character sheet omits Passive perception/insight altogether.  Also, languages are cut off and aren't included if a character has more than say two or three.  Poor programing.  There also isn't a list of powers which you may think is redundant but is very helpful.
5.  Limited portrait choice.  While some may scoff at this, many players spend a lot of time drawing/painting and then scanning their own character portraits so they can have THEIR character on THEIR character sheet instead of stock artwork.  Nothing wrong with your stock artwork, obviously, but (again) the ability to CHOOSE was nice
6.  Overall look of the sheet is, well for lack of a better word, cheesy.  like a Trade Paperback Digest version.  Unappealing fonts, wasteful layouts (LOTS of white space gang--seriously). 
7.  Power cards.  unable to selectively print cards--Every time I level up I have to print ALL new cards.  And I don't have the option of NOT printing cards either. Again, wasteful not to mention annoying.  Also, I do NOT like the new style of the power cards--see cheesy above--the original format was much more appealing to the eye.
8.  Lack of the attack/damage worksheets.  Putting everything on the cards is not the best idea.  For one, it forces people to print out all new power cards when they get new weapons, armor, items, levels, etc.  So if you were to get a new sword for instance, you would be FORCED to print out new cards to get the correct numbers for attack bonuses, etc. 
8a. No breakdown of attack bonuses.  Believe it or not when you see a +12 vs AC it is very helpful to know WHERE that +12 comes from.  The attack/damage worksheets accomplished this.
9.  Bugs bugs bugs.  One would imagine that a company (any company) would try very hard to at least give the impression that they had their act together.  You guys scored a bullseye (IMO) with the original character builder.  Why change it?  And furthermore, why change it to something far less valuable?  And again, why make that less valuable product not work correctly?  It gives the impression that a. you don't care or b. you aren't capable. 

Look folks, I've been a big fan (read PURCHASER) of original 4e (I'm still a bit dubious on where essentials is going, however).  But you are killing the insider members here.  I'm dismayed that I am paying a hefty yearly fee for LESS than I signed up for originally.  One of the primary reasons I joined the insider group was 1.  Character Builder and 2. Monster Builder.  The dragon and dungeon magazines are...well not as useful for me.  In fact, I recommended your DnD Insider to a friend of mine SOLELY based on the functionality of the original Character Builder.  Fortunately, he hadn't plumped any money down so he wasn't surprised along with everyone when you unleashed this new garbage. 

WoTC, please, please, please, go back to the original Character Builder.  If you can't or won't then you better come up with something snazzy soon or I probably won't renew my subscription either--the Dragon and Dungeon magazines aren't enough to warrant your prices (I could elaborate, but not here).  Seriously WoTC, I'm THIS close to ditching you and going over to Black Pigeon Press and playing their excellent game "HACKTASTIC", or maybe even Metal Magic and Lore--check 'em out gang.  If you get fed up, these are good alternative games.  

I'm getting very tired of defending you guys to my gaming group.  Don't forget, I'm the customer so MY opinion is the ONLY thing that matters when it comes spending MY money.  So quit screwing up.

Dec 8, 2010 -- 4:32PM, ndmpatte wrote:

I could forgive the slowness, some of the random bugs and missing/wrong items in the CB, but when it flat out doesn't work...I can't believe I paid for this.

That's funny!  Actually  you never paid for this.  What you paid for is discontinued.  If you had had the opportunity to try it and make an informed decision, you would have passed.

I used to spend an hour or two every day on the old CB (as both a DM & player, I have much need for this kind of software support, plus it's just good clean fun to create characters).  Now THAT was money well spent!  I tried the new online one and simply gave up in disgust ... I'm back to open books, pen & paper, Excell spreadsheet, just like in the goold old stone age days of roleplaying.  I'm very tempted to do it by candle light too!

I can afford to wait a few more months to see if things get better, but my patience-o-meter is runing out of coins ...  

It's not like the old tool wasn't without flaws, but it was useful and was slowing growing into a mature product.  NOw, if you are going to move to 'cloud services' then you have a duty at the very least to deliver on its most basic premises: available, reliable, fast, the illusion of infinite data space, otherwise my own computer will do fine thank you.  Compelling user scenarios and accuracy are close seconds, there is nothing complicated about a glorified spreadsheet + relational database.  Prettiness comes last.  But you can tell they put most of their effort on that last point (with mixed results IMHO).