|
2 years ago ::
Jul 07, 2011 - 6:28PM
#1
|
Date Joined:
May 11, 2004
|
Lokiare's thread got me thinking. I don't think it is possible for anyone to say whether DDI is "worth the money" for anyone except themselves, because we all place different values on different things. I.e. The CB being online is neither here nor there for me, for for others its a dealbreaker. But I think we can give our own opions of how well they are doing in various ways for people to read and they can see what people like/don't like and why and a "report card" format seems like a nice, non hyperbolic way to do it. Heck, maybe WOTC will be interested in improving their grades. So here are my grades for various aspects, and why. YMMV, of course. The criteria that seemed logical to grade were the various components (magazines, CB, etc) and an overall customer service grade.
Magazines: D+ This may sound harsh but its actually up from the F I would have given them just two months ago. There is still only a minimal amount of content that interests me, but at least now there is some. Plus they have gotten better about turning their work in on time. If they keep it up, their grade can improve.
Character Builder: C Adequate for the task but definately not wow inducing. I can make a character on it alright, but there is sooooo much room for improvement. Customization of th character sheet for instance.
Adventure Tools: D- Not really all that useful in their present form. The only thing that keeps this from being an F is that there have beeen a couple of ocasions that I found the limited functions that it has useful. But those have been few and far between. Needs improvement badly.
Compendium: C Useful at times. But has some omissions and quirks that irritate me.
Virtual Table: B Good but with some annoying quirks. ALso not out of beta yet, so not everyone has acccess. Still, with a bit of polish and some added functionality has a shot an A.
Customer Service: C Their communication has improved, but it wasn't great before. Contacting them with a problem usually gets it resolved quickly, but I have to do it far to often for my taste.
Total GPA: 1.8 Passing, but if my kid brought home a report card like that, there'd be a grounding in their future.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jul 07, 2011 - 9:07PM
#2
|
Date Joined:
Nov 19, 2008
|
My grades:
Magazines: C-. This would be a C if they actually still were real magazines. This would be a B if I weren't skimming the table of contents these days and not reading anything ...
Character Builder: B. Call me crazy but I like it, it works for me, and I don't have any issues at all except for some printing problems. This would be an A grade if I could have more than 20 characters at once.
Adventure Tools: F. Oh boy. The Monster Builder I gave up on - pen and paper and an excel spreadsheet for level up scripts works for me.
Compendium: A-. Fix the typos and the minor errors here and there, and you've got a solid A. I tell people I pay for DDI just for this.
Virtual Table: I. This gets an incomplete because I've never tried it.
CustServ: C. Average, straight up. No complaints, no kudos.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jul 08, 2011 - 4:20AM
#3
|
Date Joined:
Sep 30, 2006
|
magazines: B- i have no problem with them not putting out compiled issues but its a big problem for some people. content-wise i've been very satisfied for the last several months.
character builder B- it's being updated regularly and i like it better than the old one honestly. still a little slow but it looks nice and does a fine job of doing what it's supposed to.
adventure tools F im not a dm but with a monster builder this bad im glad i dont have to use it.
compendium A- by far the most used part of my ddi subscription, i wish the search feature worked a little better but it's by no means bad.
virtual table D- it gets blown out of the water by maptools and has no option to import a dnd4e file from the builder, which could have really set it above other VT programs.
customer service B- whenever i've used it they'e been quick and accurate, other's results might have been different though
overall im very happy with DDI currently and DnD in general, im having a ton of fun playing the game and the tools only get better with each month.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jul 08, 2011 - 7:22AM
#4
|
|
|
Magazines: B
Character Builder: B
Adventure Tools: D
Compendium: A
Virtual Table: A, but could become a lot lower if they dont eventually add features and allow adventure sharing/pc export
CustServ: N/A
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jul 08, 2011 - 11:08AM
#5
|
|
|
magazines: B+ I like new content. This is the most steady stream of new content. It's typically well done, maybe lacking a bit in quantity, but that seems to be on the rise again.
character builder C- I have little to no use for the character builder since I am predominantly a DM. But I'm still not a fan of the latest incarnation. The old CB was average, this is not as good as the old CB.
adventure tools F The offline monster builder is functional. The online one is utterly useless. I'm rating the new since that is the new direction and the old is no longer getting support. There needs to be more adventure tools.
compendium B- Functional and useful but needs an overhaul to make it more efficient. Seems to frequently have holes in the data.
virtual table Incomplete It's in beta. As such, it doesn't even count as part of the DDI package. Fantasy Grounds does a much better job, anyhow.
customer service C- Customer service is good. However, I include forum moderation in this, and that has been anything but consistent.
Overall: If I didn't have the compendium converted for use with Fantasy Grounds, I would unsubscribe in a heartbeat. This is Wizards. They should be the source of all things D&D, including digital. Those should all be B's at worst and always striving for at least A's.
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.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jul 08, 2011 - 11:10AM
#6
|
Date Joined:
Dec 10, 2008
|
virtual table D- it gets blown out of the water by maptools and has no option to import a dnd4e file from the builder, which could have really set it above other VT programs.
I wouldn't argue with your opinions at all but the VT DOES have an option to bring characters in from the oCB. So if you haven't seen that yet, check it out. To me, that's one of the biggest improvements they made since they started it. I believe you can bring monsters in from the oMB as well.
OD&D, 1E and 2E challenged the player.
3E challenged the character, not the player.
Now 4E takes it a step further by challenging a GROUP OF PLAYERS to work together as a TEAM.
That's why I love 4E.
"Your ability to summon a horde of celestial superbeings at will is making my ... BMX skills look a bit redundant."
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jul 08, 2011 - 11:16AM
#7
|
Date Joined:
Dec 10, 2008
|
magazines: B. More content and the ability to download whole issues and fully scaled maps without the spoilers that I can use at my table would get it an A. Still, I get a lot of mileage out of them.
character builder B . We need more ability to add custom content and we need to continue to have bug fixes implemented.
adventure tools F What Adventure Tools? The MB isn't really up to snuff. Yet.
compendium B+ Pretty damn good. Some mistakes in it, but I expect those in such a big database. Just don't create another issue like we had a few weeks ago where searching threw errors most of the time, rendering it almost useless.
virtual table A- Also pretty damn good. Next to Compendium, I think it's the best product they've made, and certainly more complicated than the Compendium so I give them credit for that.
customer service A: I've never had a single problem with customer service yet. They've been excellent answering my questions and acknowledging my bug reports.
OD&D, 1E and 2E challenged the player.
3E challenged the character, not the player.
Now 4E takes it a step further by challenging a GROUP OF PLAYERS to work together as a TEAM.
That's why I love 4E.
"Your ability to summon a horde of celestial superbeings at will is making my ... BMX skills look a bit redundant."
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jul 08, 2011 - 11:40AM
#8
|
Date Joined:
May 12, 2009
|
Magazines: B+ Constant support to the games merits a B+, from character options to adventure, tips etc...Not all content is of use to me in the immediate, but i enjoy my daily offerings.
Character Builder: C+ Adequate for the job but lot of place for improvement, especially on Customizability.
Adventure Tools: F+ Unrated. Tool still in BETA. It's very limited right now but i still used it a lot to level up or delevel monsters for adventures, as well as refluffing monsters, Powers etc...But yeah, ineffective to build new monsters thats for sure. In dire need of Improvement.
Compendium: B+ - Very useful tool despite it's error, wrong data and unupdated content. The majority is up-to-date and it is a remarkable tool to quickly consult any Rules or game elements.
Virtual Table: F+ Unrated. Tool still in BETA. It's very limited right now as it cannot allow custom support and Tiles & Tokens are very limited, but the functionality of Vittie itself is more than adequate and i have run and played dozens and dozens of games with over a hundread different people and the experiences have been all more than enjoyable. A Virtual Table doesn't make the fun, it's the adventure and people you're playing with. Vittie is merely a tool to make D&D a fun experience online, and it achieve it's purpose even if it lack Automations, Customs support etc... It is in need of Improvement still.
Customer Service: B+ Customer Service is good.They answer to all my questions in a short notice, provided Pass for VT quickly in the past, and have just shipped me broken figurines in my Castle Ravenloft Board Game in a rather quick and professional way.
EDIT To add Bonus Tools offered with DDi
Character Name Generator: B+ Very useful tool as a DM to help come up with different names for NPC in the blink of an eye.
Character Sheet: C+ It can be useful to have Pre-generated characters from D&D Encounter Season or D&D Red Box Game Day available for download, as well as the different D&D Character Sheets.
Encounter Builder: C+ This program is a useful tools to build Encounter using XP budget. It's somewhat outdated having only MM 1 Monsters in it though. But if they could link it to the existing Creature Catalog it could be much more useful than it is now.
Ability Generator: C- Though i don't use Random Ability Generator, i think the program itself is okay. It's somewhat outdated having only PHB 1 Races in it though.
Yan
Montréal, Canada
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jul 08, 2011 - 12:30PM
#9
|
Date Joined:
Oct 30, 2008
|
Magazines: B+
I look forward to about an article a week and that's good enough for me. I usually get a good half hour to an hour or so a week of entertainment reading them.
Character Builder: C+
Adequate. I gave it a + because I like where it's going.
Adventure Tools: F+
I really like the potential (hence the +) but it clearly needs work. I don't use it in the state it's in.
Compendium A-
This would be an A if it wasn't for the typos and bugs. Still, it makes running games a breeze and has saved me more than a few hours of tedious bookkeeping for my DM duties.
Virtual Table: Unrated
Despite wanting to try it out, I haven't had time since it was released.
Customer Service B-
I've had extactly two interractions with them. One was fantastic and one was adequate.
Avg: C+
All in all it's adequate and worth the money for me. There's lots of room for improvement and I can see the DDI team attempting to position themselves in a way to take advantage of that but it's not there yet and I can only judge the tools on what's available for now.
|
|
|
|
2 years ago ::
Jul 08, 2011 - 12:44PM
#10
|
Date Joined:
May 11, 2004
|
I can't help but notice that we are all over the place in other areas (as I expected) but it seems to be pretty much universal that the Adventure Tools (or Tool, at this point) is dragging them down hard.
|
|
|
