I'm back - sort of

[DEFCON 1]

Or you could just... you know... get over it.

Wizards of the Coast doesn't owe you anything. And you don't owe anything to Wizards of the Coast. So all this talk about worrying about "supporting" a game, or "supporting" a company is hogwash.

If you bought the 4E books and like the game, great. You've done your part, and they've done theirs. Case closed. If you subscribed to DDI and didn't like what you got, cancel your subscription and take the time you have remaining to get as much of the stuff you're paying for in the time you have left. Case closed.

To put any more thought, feeling, emotion or energy into Wizards (or ANY company for that matter) is stupid. If you like what you have from them, use it. If you don't like it, don't use it. But don't sit here playing their game while at the same time complaining about them as a company. It's waste of your time, and it won't actually solve any of your problems other than letting you get crap off your chest by being able to go online and rail about it on a messageboard.

If that's really all you want to do... then fine. But otherwise... make a choice or get over it.

 

[the Jester]

No,not solved...

without support 4e will die. Period. Buy some books. Or subscribe. Not all books or most books. One single book you like.

Hold on, let's make no mistake: Without support WotC will die. 4e will live- as long as you have the books instead of counting on digital offerings.

D&D is fine; the publisher of D&D is the one in trouble. Yes, I like having new stuff to blow my money on for my game- but even without it, the game still exists.

 

[erleni]

Why?

Because it is difficult to create the higher level PC character sheets without a software tool.

Actually it is not so difficult due to maths or details, the main advantage of CB is that you have everything at hand. But if you don't have to make an high-level PC from scratch (i.e. you start at low levels and normally level-up) then the amount of work at each level is pretty low.

 

[Cryndo]

Or you could just... you know... get over it.

Wizards of the Coast doesn't owe you anything. And you don't owe anything to Wizards of the Coast. So all this talk about worrying about "supporting" a game, or "supporting" a company is hogwash.

If you bought the 4E books and like the game, great. You've done your part, and they've done theirs. Case closed. If you subscribed to DDI and didn't like what you got, cancel your subscription and take the time you have remaining to get as much of the stuff you're paying for in the time you have left. Case closed.

To put any more thought, feeling, emotion or energy into Wizards (or ANY company for that matter) is stupid. If you like what you have from them, use it. If you don't like it, don't use it. But don't sit here playing their game while at the same time complaining about them as a company. It's waste of your time, and it won't actually solve any of your problems other than letting you get crap off your chest by being able to go online and rail about it on a messageboard.

If that's really all you want to do... then fine. But otherwise... make a choice or get over it.

A bit harsh and ill-conceived on your part. Talk about getting crap off you chest so you can rail on a messageboard, what did you just do? I was soliciting ideas and actually got some good help - but not from you.

First off, I'm not playing their game currently, but am strongly considering coming back to it. I do prefer their game, however they HAVE increased their price on DDI while at the same time delivering less than they used to and considerably less than promised.

Second, as a DM with a family and a full-time job, I don't have time for world building and adventure creation, so I would have to use supplements. WOTC has limited my options in this regard compared to 3E-3.5. Additionally, I'm not sure most of my players could make a character without CB.

Third, the post did help me. I was reminded that I could run War of the Burning Sky without needing to buy Wizards products. That is the kind of help I'm looking for. I was reminded that although my options are limited in 4E, there are still some out there.

 

[Cryndo]

The tabletop (at least, the current, 2D version of it.. the 3d one was cancelled) is currently in nearly-complete beta state. It's about to be made available to all DDI subscribers to test.

I really hope you're right, but it's been right around the corner for so long, I truly don't believe what they say anymore. If they release a functioning tabletop, I will certainly be back and subscribing.

 

[the Jester]

The VTT has a bunch of beta testers right now. Unfortunately, it is far less robust than many of the freeware versions that you can find online.

DDI is totally not worth it at the moment imho, but there are other options, and many of the printed products from WotC are quite good, even the adventures... though I'd strongly recommend at least updating monster damage to MV/MM3 standards.

 

[MrMyth]

I really hope you're right, but it's been right around the corner for so long, I truly don't believe what they say anymore. If they release a functioning tabletop, I will certainly be back and subscribing.

While I certainly wouldn't advocate you subscribe unless you want to, I'm not sure if this is quite correct. The VTT hasn't been "right around the corner" for so long - it was scheduled for launch, and that version of it was incomplete and scrapped. And we had two years of them saying it was still a goal, but not currently in development.

And then, several months ago, they announced a new one was on the way, which has been in beta testing. You don't need to take WotC's word for it - many people have played and tested it. It isn't necessarily in final product stage, but it definitely exists.

 

[webrunner]

I really hope you're right, but it's been right around the corner for so long, I truly don't believe what they say anymore. If they release a functioning tabletop, I will certainly be back and subscribing.

From what I hear, they took the closed beta down with the intention of opening the beta like, last week, but found a last-minute bug they're working on squashing, so I assume you'll see it in a week or two.

 

[Cryndo]

While I certainly wouldn't advocate you subscribe unless you want to, I'm not sure if this is quite correct. The VTT hasn't been "right around the corner" for so long - it was scheduled for launch, and that version of it was incomplete and scrapped. And we had two years of them saying it was still a goal, but not currently in development.

And then, several months ago, they announced a new one was on the way, which has been in beta testing. You don't need to take WotC's word for it - many people have played and tested it. It isn't necessarily in final product stage, but it definitely exists.

Well, at launch, WOTC did say the Tabletop would be released soon and they kept reiterating that until they finally scrapped it as you said. My perspective is skewed as I quit shortly after they scrapped the VTT.

As for the product existing, they said that before too, but the product never came to fruition. You are probably right, but until I see a functioning VTT, I won't believe WOTC. They do have a history of saying they are going to release stuff online that never hits.

 

[webrunner]

Well, at launch, WOTC did say the Tabletop would be released soon and they kept reiterating that until they finally scrapped it as you said. My perspective is skewed as I quit shortly after they scrapped the VTT.

As for the product existing, they said that before too, but the product never came to fruition. You are probably right, but until I see a functioning VTT, I won't believe WOTC. They do have a history of saying they are going to release stuff online that never hits.

It does exist in a form usable by people outside of WOTC. I apparently had access to ti but the email saying how to do so got lost - i only received an email announcing when they were shutting it down to launch the all-subscriber version.