Troll Lord Games

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 6:44 pm

Well, WotC started their subscriptions for the DDI today.

I'm a fan of 4e, but still not too sure I'm all that keen on a subscription to the DDI. Despite that, I still signed up for a subscription. My wife is interested in Beta testing the Character Generator and eventually the Character Visualizer too. So, we'll see if it is worth it, or if it totally sucks ass.

Pricing ranges from $7.95 a month and get cheaper for 3 month blocks and yearly blocks. We got a 3 month block for just shy of $20.

Go0gleplex · Post by **Go0gleplex** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:21 pm

Comment in General:

The DDI has me thinking of a quote(s) by P.T. Barnum...
_________________
The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

Julian Grimm · Post by **Julian Grimm** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:44 pm

Let us know how it works DD. I have found your experience with 4e to be quite interesting and trust your opinion on DDI as well.
_________________
The Lord of Ravens
My blog

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:48 pm

Go0gleplex wrote:
Comment in General:

The DDI has me thinking of a quote(s) by P.T. Barnum...

Yeah, because good quality, regularly updated content (3 times a week) complete with art, maps and 40-50 page adventures should be free? Not to mention little extra tools you can use (to be fair, though, the bonus tools are only luke-warm. The critter creator kicks ass though).

Luther · Post by **Luther** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:18 pm

My question is how much worth is there for the non 4e gamer?

In particular, how does the Game Table work? Is it just a bunch of tiles, minis and dice that can be used with any system or are there system specific components built into it?

If it is more universally useful, it would be prudent of WotC to provide a subsription based just on using that feature. I might actually use it for online games if that were the case...
_________________
IMHO, AFAIK, YMMV.

Go0gleplex · Post by **Go0gleplex** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:01 am

My understanding of it is that it's only WotC products, focused on 4e stuff...essentially the online subscription replacement for Dragon and Dungeon with only WotC produced content.

Remember...BIG OGRE is watching...
_________________
The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:35 am

Luther wrote:
My question is how much worth is there for the non 4e gamer?

In particular, how does the Game Table work? Is it just a bunch of tiles, minis and dice that can be used with any system or are there system specific components built into it?

If it is more universally useful, it would be prudent of WotC to provide a subscription based just on using that feature. I might actually use it for online games if that were the case...

The Dungeon & Dragon mags are as useful as they've ever been, and much to my surprise the quality of them has not suffered. It still sucks that it is on-line and not in print though. You could get use out of them regardless of system I think.

The currently available tools wont be useful for non-4e'ers.

The game table isn't available yet, and I'm not sure if they plan to make it usable for other systems as well. I don't game on-line so haven't paid it much mind.

Right now, the biggest part of the DDI is the mags. If you don't mind converting crunch (and you wouldn't have to on everything, some of the articles are all good fluff) and are a purchaser of PDF's, the current subscription rate would be worth the mags alone.

As the DDI grows, the subscription rate will as well. The Character Visualizer looks like it will be a pretty impressive tool allowing you to make a digital rendition of your character. Pretty nifty and since it is a picture, system nuetral.

Will it all be worth it in the long run? I honestly cant say.

I'm a fan of 4e, but since the beginning I've grumbled about the DDI. "Internet subscriptions are for porn." is my motto.

If it were not for my wife, I probably wouldn't have subscribed today. But, I'm kinda glad I am because I can continue to get the Dungeon PDF's now.

So, go figure.

I set our subscription to "non-renewable" and it is a 3 month subscription. I suppose I'll pass judgment in 3 months and see if I renew my subscription or not.

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:36 am

They started the Closed Beta testing for the Character Generator program on Monday. I've only messed with it to an extent at this point, but it is a pretty nice program. Visually, very nice looking and usability is pretty sweet too.Includes powers and such from all the releases (FR, Dragon, Dungeon, etc). Can make a character in 5 minutes.

Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:23 pm

DangerDwarf wrote:
They started the Closed Beta testing for the Character Generator program on Monday. I've only messed with it to an extent at this point, but it is a pretty nice program. Visually, very nice looking and usability is pretty sweet too.Includes powers and such from all the releases (FR, Dragon, Dungeon, etc). Can make a character in 5 minutes.

Nice to hear, sir.
Any news on the Game Table? Last I heard it was going to be unde teh subscription instead of being free (like it was talked about originally). Is it up and running yet?

Bubba Ho-Tep · Post by **Bubba Ho-Tep** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:00 pm

I'm not sure about the DDI, I am not a fan of 4E even though I playtested it, but I do like the concept behind the DDI.

Thanks for your updates and info on the site.

Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:16 pm

Bubba Ho-Tep wrote:
I'm not sure about the DDI, I am not a fan of 4E even though I playtested it, but I do like the concept behind the DDI.

Thanks for your updates and info on the site.

I liked the concept when the only thing that I actually liked, the Game Table, was supposed to be free
I may be in the minority, but I think that the "electronification" of Dragon and Dungeon was a bad thing. Anbd not being a 4e fan doesn't help its cause with me.

Julian Grimm · Post by **Julian Grimm** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:27 pm

I had problems with the change in Dragon and Dungeon. But they ceased to be the same publications they were years ago. The Crusader handles what I want in a mag now and with Mr. Ward at the helm I am optimistic about it becoming a top notch magazine.

As for the DDI, it is an interesting concept and one that was bound to happen. I'm glad that DD is liking it. What I would like to see though is a program suite for C&C that does some things DDI does as well as a good overland mapper and dungeon mapper all in one package.
_________________
The Lord of Ravens
My blog

Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:14 pm

I agree, Julian. For me, it was in the late '80s that Dragon seem to change. Maybe it was Gary's departure, the move to 2nd edition, maybe it was the "giddy, new" feeling of the game wearing off (as I started in '86), or something else entirely. I think right around the turn of the decade the magazine lost its luster a little for me.

As far as Dungeon, I enjoyed it up until the Polyhedron pairing. Then it seemed like 90% of the time Polyhedron didn't have anything of interest and Dungeon was cut short because of content I never asked for.
I have a sub to Kobold Quarterly, but as it appears they may be heading for 4e content (or at least 3e/4e shared content format) I do not think I'll be renewing the subscription.

But yeah, The Crusader now fills all my gaming magazine needs.

Bubba Ho-Tep · Post by **Bubba Ho-Tep** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 8:04 pm

Yea, I agrre that Dragon & Dungeon stopped being what they should have been years agos, still, I did find useful stuff in them on occasion and could just buy that copy, now I have to subscribe to a site and pay for stuff I may not need. I'll pass.

I do plan to subscibe to the Crusader.

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:21 pm

Lord Dynel wrote:
Any news on the Game Table? Last I heard it was going to be unde teh subscription instead of being free (like it was talked about originally). Is it up and running yet?

Noop. No game table yet.

I'm actually hoping for the character visualizer before the game table. But, I don't play on-line either.

Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 1:36 am

DangerDwarf wrote:
Noop. No game table yet.

I'm actually hoping for the character visualizer before the game table. But, I don't play on-line either.

Thanks for the update, sir. The game table looked pretty nice in the demo (as did the visualizer). I could definitely use the game table with some other systems, though. Do you (or anyone) know if there is something akin to the game table already in existence? I like the idea of the game table, but subscribing for it never really thrilled me - I'm still of the opinion of giving WotC as little of my money as humanly possible.