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2 years ago ::
Jul 19, 2011 - 10:31AM
#51
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Keeping in mind that I let my subscription lapse a while back, but have been actively following the changes:
Magazines: C. I would have given them a B before compiled issues were shut down. It's the compilation into one volume that makes something a magazine. Still, I always enjoyed reading the background articles and have used many of the adventures from Dungeon. The new rules material, on the other hand, tends to bog down my game; I could do without.
Character Builder: F, down from B a year ago. The shift to an online format was a total deal breaker for me. I know I am the customer they were aiming for with this switch; I updated DDI two or three times a year; on the other hand, I bought all the books and didn't share my installs. Now I don't update DDI at all and I honestly haven't bought any new books since last December, and a lot of that has to do with feeling cheated by the online CB.
Adventure Tools: D. Not awful, but definitely not intuitive either. I've used it to build and level NPCs but it never quite seems like it's worth the time and frustration.
Compendium: B. It's really useful...but I never really used it. Strange.
Virtual Tabletop: F. Now, I've never actually seen it, mind, but considering it was supposed to launch with 4e way back in 08, and was one of the reasons I first subscribed to DDI (the vain, forgotten hope that it might launch next month), I've got to give it a failing grade.
Customer Service:A Never had anything to complain about, and when I've needed something addressed, it was done.
I would resubscribe if the CB went back offline, the mags were released in compiled form every month, and I could be guaranteed a usable VT. I'd also like to see some improvements in the adventure tools. It doesn't look like these things will be happening anytime soon, so I'll be writing up my characters by hand and making do with my back issues for the foreseeable future.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 22, 2011 - 11:50AM
#52
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Date Joined:
May 22, 2011
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Magazines: D There is very little content in the magazines. On top of that splitting the articles into separate downloads isn't necessary and is annoying. It doesn't make any sense to chop up the content of what is supposed to be a magazine like that, and it ends up feeling more like reading a blog with a really bad layout/content delivery system than it does a magazine.
Character Builder: A It does what it claims and it does it pretty well. I haven't had any problems or difficulties with it beyond it occasionally being a little slow or laggy. The interface is nice too. The power card sheets are my favorite feature, they're really handy for keeping track of things. My biggest complaint is that it's online only, making it of little use to my group. Since I realize most groups probably aren't in rural areas with limited or no internet access like mine is I didn't factor that complain into the score, but even a semi-offline builder that required a login once a month to reactivate would be nice for those of us that have internet access at home but don't have net access where we play.
Adventure Tools/Monster Builder: F There is only one tool in the Adventure Tools and that tool, the Monster Builder, doesn't build monsters. Releveling monsters is of little use compared to a working, full-fledged monster builder. This isn't even close to complete and it shouldn't have been released in this state, even with the label of Beta. Again, this would be far more useful in an offline or semi-offline program like the old builder. The primary use I'd have for it is quickly building monsters for unanticipated encounters as a result of my group going a different way than I'd planned and since the tool is restricted online only, I can't use it for that. Like before I didn't factor this into the score, not that it would have changed it any.
Compendium: B The Compendium is pretty handy. I've got a lot of use out of it so far and my only complaint keeping it from being an A is that the UI is clunky. Also, visually it looks like a beta compared to the more colorful approach of the other tools, but that doesn't have any bearing on the functionality of the tool. It's the next best thing to making digital copies of the books available.
Virtual Table: N/A I'm not in the beta. From what I know about it there are better alternatives out there for a virtual gametable experience.
Customer Service: N/A I haven't needed customer service yet, so I have no comment.
Overall: C It does some things well, some things poorly, and some things it claims to do it just doesn't do at all. Overall I've got some use out of it, but I'm not excited for the future of the service. Right now, unless something drastically changes, I don't think I'll be resubscribing again once my current subscription runs out.
I would absolutely be motivated to continue subscribing as long as the service is offered if the tools had offline or semi-offline versions released. Currently I'm glad I subscribed to see what the service is like but I feel that in the future my money will be better spent on books since I can actually use them at the table unlike the current set of tools.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 28, 2011 - 7:09PM
#53
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Just renewed my subscription, and I'd like to know why the online version of monster builder is less useful than the old, downloadable version! Good thing I still have the old, installable version, because I have absolutely zero use for the online version.
You're letting me down, Wizards of the Coast. WAY down. As in, "I have almost zero respect for you" down. I like the things you print, but why is your D&D Insider content years late, and $70 dollars short?
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2 years ago ::
Jul 28, 2011 - 9:56PM
#54
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Date Joined:
Sep 13, 2007
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Just renewed my subscription, and I'd like to know why the online version of monster builder is less useful than the old, downloadable version! Good thing I still have the old, installable version, because I have absolutely zero use for the online version.
You're letting me down, Wizards of the Coast. WAY down. As in, "I have almost zero respect for you" down. I like the things you print, but why is your D&D Insider content years late, and $70 dollars short?
Short version is that the online version is basically ONLY for those using the VT (at this time). You can use it for face to face games, but it has much less usefulness.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 29, 2011 - 11:41PM
#55
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Date Joined:
Jun 14, 2007
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I probably shouldn't even bother posting this, but I'm a hopeless romantic when it comes to D&D: I just want the game I love to work in the modern world.
But, alas, I let my DDI subscription expire and swore off purchases from Wizards due to some of the items below:
Magazines: C before the change to uncompiled at the beginning of this year. After that, completely useless, an F. I wanted and paid for a magazine, not a randomized collection of articles.
Character Builder: F The online-only version is completely unacceptable. As is a 20-character limit. Since it was the big reason I subscribed in the first place, once they destroyed the old version and replaced it with something useless to my gaming group, well ....
Adventure Tools: F I have not used them since they first came out, but they were useless then (worse than useless, actually -- they were actually a hindrance to gaming) and do not seem to have improved since (judging from other people's comments).
Compendium: C It seems like it should be useful, but I can't figure out what it offers. If it's just an encyclopedia, it's terrible. But, some people seem to think it is useful. I never found any use for either version.
Virtual Table: n/a Have never used. Wizards lied to me far too many times for me to waste more money on their vaporware. It seems to be useful to some now, but they never gave me a chance to try it; their treatment of their customers sealed their fate in my book long before the VT ever made it to the field.
Customer Service: B The "help desk" is quite good. However, you have to be using something that's "approved" to get service. Once they dropped service for the working Character Builder, they naturally dropped to an D (but that wasn't the help desk's problem; it's a management decision, apparently). Further, they're official company communication simply cannot be believed at all, which rates an F. So, overall I'm giving this a D.
Total GPA: 0.7 Failing, plus an incomplete due to the "teacher" being AWoL. Sad, but after more than 30 years playing the game, I guess it had to end somewhere.
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2 years ago ::
Aug 01, 2011 - 8:15PM
#56
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Might as well get in on the action
Magazines: B I've seen a lot of improvement over the last three months, I hope the trend continues. It drops to a C if WOTC is paying for those comics to be produced.
Character Builder: D If I spent 10 months producing a program that had severely reduced functionality over an older version, I'd be fired. Aesthetically it's far better, which is why it's not an 'F' - but the older version is more flexible, updated by volunteers more frequently than WOTC's paid staff, and actually does what I need it to do.
Adventure Tools: F Need to use third party tools to scale monsters, or do it by hand. Thank god you guys linked power2ool or I'd be screwed.
Compendium: B The only reason WOTC still has my subscription.
Virtual Table: N/A Don't need it, haven't signed up.
Customer Service: C Never needed to contact you guys directly, but every post from the officials on the forum sounds like PR people desperately trying to wrangle information from important people. Everything from the D&Di announcements (which are frequently broken, and apparently there's nothing MaximumHavoc can do about it) to the posts in this forum (frequently posting things that are never delivered or spoken about again) suggests that there is either no communication or the public's opinion is irrelevant. Also, "playtests" = hours and thousands of great ideas and suggestions on behalf of playtesters who know far more about the game than any of the playtesting staff (or me) which are dumbed down to simple and superficial fixes.
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2 years ago ::
Aug 02, 2011 - 8:55AM
#57
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Date Joined:
Jun 13, 2008
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Magazine: B - Has been improving with the last few months, I just want more.
Character Builder: B - It does what it needs to do, and does it well. If more homebrew options were available then it would be fully an A, custom photos/character sheets would be nice but can wait till after the functionality is complete.
Adventure Tools: D - Currently I get no use from this, usually I just look stuff up in the compendium, then modify it as I need to.
Compendium: A - Overall the driving force of my subscription, just to be able to find information without having to sift through all of the books. A central location for all the data.
Virtual Table: C - Personally my group uses MapTools, and its been a long time since i played with this, but as a community for online games this is the best I've seen. The actual table itself still needs improvement in customization or more images for use.
Customer Service: ? - I don't know I haven't used it in a while, and the forums do nothing but flame it constantly. So seems like this needs some form of a restart before it can actually get a grade. Which brings me to new one
Community: F - These forums are the most hostile, and vile community I visit. I wish I could stop, but I find these forums have the best interface to actually find what I'm looking for. The real difficulty is not getting irritated with the community before I find what I want.
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2 years ago ::
Aug 02, 2011 - 10:19PM
#58
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Date Joined:
Jun 24, 2008
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Heh agreed on the community, nightwalker. There are plenty of individuals who are pleasant enough, but there's definitely a critical mass of hostility and arrogance on here that makes it awfully unpleasant a lot of the time.
[20:53] [SadisticFish] yeah  Llamas convinced me
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2 years ago ::
Aug 03, 2011 - 7:17AM
#59
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Community: F - These forums are the most hostile, and vile community I visit. I wish I could stop, but I find these forums have the best interface to actually find what I'm looking for. The real difficulty is not getting irritated with the community before I find what I want.
Heh agreed on the community, nightwalker. There are plenty of individuals who are pleasant enough, but there's definitely a critical mass of hostility and arrogance on here that makes it awfully unpleasant a lot of the time.
What's really funny is not even taking into consideration that taking potshots at the community is actually contributing to the issue you allegedly show so much disdain for. Grade: T.
Reflavoring: the change of flavor without changing any mechanical part of the game, no matter how small, in order to fit the mechanics to an otherwise unsupported concept.
Retexturing: the change of flavor (with at most minor mechanical adaptations) in order to effortlessly create support for a concept without inventing anything new.
Houseruling: the change, either minor or major, of the mechanics in order to better reflect a certain aspect of the game, including adapting the rules to fit an otherwise unsupported concept.
Homebrewing: the complete invention of something new that fits within the system in order to reflect an unsupported concept.
Default module =/= Core mechanic.
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2 years ago ::
Aug 03, 2011 - 10:07AM
#60
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I'll have to respectfully disagree with that, Jharii. Like Nightwalker and LlamasNotsheep, I see lots of arrogance and unpleasantness on these forums as well. I don't think they were taking potshots, though, but would actually like to see the tone improve. If we don't point out the unpleasantness, it won't change and things won't improve. The other options are to ignore it and continue to put up with it, or walk away and allow it to degenerate further, as when pleasant people leave, only the trolls will remain.
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