I'm glad to hear you've had a successful launch! I'm very excited for the future of this site!
I DMed by first post-launch D&D game last night. I had no books at the table, and did away with my DM screen, just an iPad and some dice.
It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty great compared to flipping through a stack of hardbacks! I can see how it will improve too, and it sounds like you guys are headed in the right direction.
Still I can't find a topic with discussion of official adventures. In this adventures we have maps with marks for DM, but how i should show them to players? What about maps without marks?
Still I can't find a topic with discussion of official adventures. In this adventures we have maps with marks for DM, but how i should show them to players? What about maps without marks?
The maps in the adventures are equal the printed version: marked with references, traps and secret doors. For now.
You can show the map in the campaign page, posting the image in the Public notes.
Is there a way, to not display the PCs that I create in the Campaigns I create? I'd like to use it for my AL characters, and to organize the games I run, and keep those both separated.
@Cambuil - It was this and the inadequacy of the PDF character sheet that kept me from buying in. They keep saying that improvements will come and I believe them, but I won't pay a dime until that happens. I can wait till it becomes a better product.
I will continue to be patient and I am sure things will happen.
Without, at the very least, NPC generating tools, and encounter building/management I can't see any justification to spend $55/per year for the DM subscription. I was very intrigued and optimistic all the way through the beta but now that it's live with no added functionality to campaign management other than being a virtual file folder for character sheets I don't see much value in this as a tool for running and maintaining a campaign. If broad campaign management functionality gets added in the future I would certainly call the price tag fair and well worth it. But really, robust campaign management should have been complete at launch.
We appreciate the feedback, but we made it very clear from the start that campaign management for launch would be a starting point primarily focused on sharing unlocked content with other players. Saying it "should have been complete" is one perspective among many.
We have had a very successful first week, which would indicate as we expected that many people desire to invest in the service as it currently is. This is a good thing, as it means we will be able to continue development strongly and add the aforementioned robust campaign management over time. We even hope to ramp up our resources with this level of support.
In the meantime, I encourage you to share your feedback on what you would like to see as part of campaign management, as we've come to see that means different things to different people. A thread is consolidating that feedback here.
Thanks!
I'm of a different view here. I did purchase the Master Sub and Legendary Bundle. Not because I'm 100% satisfied (btw impossible for me to be 100% satisfied with anything, I'm a greedy dreamer :P). I did so because I understand that the people working behind the scenes are not suppose to work for free. There is a business model and I respect that. I'm hoping enough people subscribe and purchase bundles to enable the following:
1) Expand resources available to the development teams so that development can outpace (by several orders of magnitude) other pre-existing efforts by other companies (as I'm in no mood to pay a number of other companies to provide overlapping services, sorry but threw my hat in the ring for better or worse with D&D Beyond).
2) Buy myself a legitimate voice to influence the direction of the product. I'm sorry, but I know for a fact there are people who will (and I'm not saying anyone on these forums is like this. Respect to everyone!) would complain the moon hasn't been delivered and when it is, still say, "meh I'm still not subscribing, just 'cause". it's my opinion (just mine and yes I could be wrong, I freely admit it) that in certain circumstances (this being one), paying customers should have a stronger influence on the direction of the product suite.
3) Meaningfully Commit to Continuous Improvement. A subscription model by itself is one that has to be committed to continuous improvement and product evolution/development. And it needs to be more than just keeping up with new content releases by WotC. BadEye has on numerous occasions reinforced this and I appreciate that. Proof is in the pudding so as a community it's our role to keep everyone on their toes.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
Without, at the very least, NPC generating tools, and encounter building/management I can't see any justification to spend $55/per year for the DM subscription. I was very intrigued and optimistic all the way through the beta but now that it's live with no added functionality to campaign management other than being a virtual file folder for character sheets I don't see much value in this as a tool for running and maintaining a campaign. If broad campaign management functionality gets added in the future I would certainly call the price tag fair and well worth it. But really, robust campaign management should have been complete at launch.
We appreciate the feedback, but we made it very clear from the start that campaign management for launch would be a starting point primarily focused on sharing unlocked content with other players. Saying it "should have been complete" is one perspective among many.
We have had a very successful first week, which would indicate as we expected that many people desire to invest in the service as it currently is. This is a good thing, as it means we will be able to continue development strongly and add the aforementioned robust campaign management over time. We even hope to ramp up our resources with this level of support.
In the meantime, I encourage you to share your feedback on what you would like to see as part of campaign management, as we've come to see that means different things to different people. A thread is consolidating that feedback here.
Thanks!
I'm of a different view here. I did purchase the Master Sub and Legendary Bundle. Not because I'm 100% satisfied (btw impossible for me to be 100% satisfied with anything, I'm a greedy dreamer :P). I did so because I understand that the people working behind the scenes are not suppose to work for free. There is a business model and I respect that. I'm hoping enough people subscribe and purchase bundles to enable the following:
1) Expand resources available to the development teams so that development can outpace (by several orders of magnitude) other pre-existing efforts by other companies (as I'm in no mood to pay a number of other companies to provide overlapping services, sorry but threw my hat in the ring for better or worse with D&D Beyond).
2) Buy myself a legitimate voice to influence the direction of the product. I'm sorry, but I know for a fact there are people who will (and I'm not saying anyone on these forums is like this. Respect to everyone!) would complain the moon hasn't been delivered and when it is, still say, "meh I'm still not subscribing, just 'cause". it's my opinion (just mine and yes I could be wrong, I freely admit it) that in certain circumstances (this being one), paying customers should have a stronger influence on the direction of the product suite.
3) Meaningfully Commit to Continuous Improvement. A subscription model by itself is one that has to be committed to continuous improvement and product evolution/development. And it needs to be more than just keeping up with new content releases by WotC. BadEye has on numerous occasions reinforced this and I appreciate that. Proof is in the pudding so as a community it's our role to keep everyone on their toes.
I like you. My sentiments exactly. Bring it on D&D Beyond! We're with you!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The most memorable stories always begin with failure.
I'm of a different view here. I did purchase the Master Sub and Legendary Bundle. Not because I'm 100% satisfied (btw impossible for me to be 100% satisfied with anything, I'm a greedy dreamer :P). I did so because I understand that the people working behind the scenes are not suppose to work for free. There is a business model and I respect that. I'm hoping enough people subscribe and purchase bundles to enable the following:
I'll give a third view. I bought the core three and will probably buy CoS by Friday (next game). I really enjoyed using the Compendium at the table. I did not buy the Legendary Bundle because a large portion of it is adventures and I've realized I'm pretty burned out on published adventures and about 99.5% likely to run custom adventures for the next few years. I'm hoping that, at a certain point, there's enough non-adventure content (especially other setting support) that the discount offered by the LB makes it more attractive (kudos to the Curse team for tracking how much I've spent towards bundles). I have not yet subscribed because:
1) My current group has a Favored Soul and UA Ranger. That means the Character Builder only serves 60% of the PCs. I'm happy to either pay a nominal fee for the UA content or to subscribe and enter it in, myself. Neither option is currently available, so the CB isn't a selling point.
2) The Campaign Manager doesn't actually do anything, currently. This is the only other thing I get out of a subscription, as a DM. So, not really worth the investment.
3) I don't actually do much playing, so six slots are enough for me to manage my one character and my wife's character. I'd include my daughter's character, too, but she's the alt-Ranger. So... I've got 4 extra slots.
4) So far, my players don't seem to want to shell out for the content and use the Character Manager, either. AFAIK, the only player to have bough the content is the one playing the Favored Soul. I'd really love to be able to standardize our tool set, but my willingness to bankroll the group has bounds. I don't have a problem spending $55/year on a tool. I don't even have a problem with the DM spending more on the game than anyone else (everyone else, together) at the table. I do have a problem spending $55/year, just so a couple of my players will send me a copy of their character sheets.
5) I was very excited about DDB, early on. I'm still cautiously optimistic about it -- they did deliver something production ready on time, even if I don't agree it's feature complete in terms of home brew or campaign management. I'm losing quite a bit of confidence base on what appears to be confusion or indecisiveness about what comes next and when. Maybe it's a matter of Curse trying to get a read on what the community wants, and it's officially being phrased as not wanting to get false hopes up. It's coming off as lack of confidence in their own capabilities. What are you sure you can release in Q3? Publish it. What do you hope to release in Q3? Publish it as Q4. What are you sure you can release in Q4, if you make it through at least half your Q3 wish list? Publish it as Q1 2017. I may agree or not with your priorities. I definitely disagree with "dunno, maybe something, maybe not" or "it'll be released when it's released."
You don't have to fix everything. I'm willing to sink a certain amount into things as an investment in the future. I just want to have a basic idea of when it's going to pay off.
I understand investing in a product that you will use as is and that money going to develop it further. That said, I won't use the product as is and there is no guarantee that it will develop into a product that I will use. They say they are doing things and that it will get better, but I am not flush with disposable income that I am will to pay out for something that I may or may not get.
No one in either of my gaming groups likes what they see so far but we do see the potential enough to continue to watch and see where it goes from here.
While working in a friends campaign I made my primary character. I attempted to add a secondary character, but there are no options to add a secondary character in the campaign screen or the character generator. I did manage to add a second character by using the http link but that seems very cumbersome.
While working in a friends campaign I made my primary character. I attempted to add a secondary character, but there are no options to add a secondary character in the campaign screen or the character generator. I did manage to add a second character by using the http link but that seems very cumbersome.
agree -- it's also annoying that if you're the one who creates the campaign you can't just "add a character" you yourself have to also go to the link. I think an "Add Character" option would be great, also an actual "invite" option where you can invite someone via email address or DNDBeyond/Twitch account, rather than having a "public" link (If I give the link to one person, they can then share with anyone and anyone who has it can join the campaign then - there is no verification/authentication that you were actually invited to the campaign)
While working in a friends campaign I made my primary character. I attempted to add a secondary character, but there are no options to add a secondary character in the campaign screen or the character generator. I did manage to add a second character by using the http link but that seems very cumbersome.
Yeah. That link is weird. I'm the DM and own the campaign. After another player added his character, I realized I hadn't added my wife's character. Took me forever to figure out that I needed to use the stupid link. I expected the DM to just have a "add a character" button somewhere.
As far as why my wife's character is created on my account, it's not really worth paying the subscription fee to share the content with just her, especially since I'm the one who maintains it and she just uses a print-off. Of course, as long as the only print option is the PHB sheet, it probably doesn't matter, since I'm not about to use that thing. I offered to let her use the online character sheet during the game and she kinda sneered at the idea of having a digital screen open during the game. Meh, if she doesn't mind a sheet that looks like crap, maybe I should take the easy path and print it. It just so hideous, though.
I'm of a different view here. I did purchase the Master Sub and Legendary Bundle. Not because I'm 100% satisfied (btw impossible for me to be 100% satisfied with anything, I'm a greedy dreamer :P). I did so because I understand that the people working behind the scenes are not suppose to work for free. There is a business model and I respect that. I'm hoping enough people subscribe and purchase bundles to enable the following:
I'll give a third view. I bought the core three and will probably buy CoS by Friday (next game). I really enjoyed using the Compendium at the table. I did not buy the Legendary Bundle because a large portion of it is adventures and I've realized I'm pretty burned out on published adventures and about 99.5% likely to run custom adventures for the next few years. I'm hoping that, at a certain point, there's enough non-adventure content (especially other setting support) that the discount offered by the LB makes it more attractive (kudos to the Curse team for tracking how much I've spent towards bundles). I have not yet subscribed because:
1) My current group has a Favored Soul and UA Ranger. That means the Character Builder only serves 60% of the PCs. I'm happy to either pay a nominal fee for the UA content or to subscribe and enter it in, myself. Neither option is currently available, so the CB isn't a selling point.
2) The Campaign Manager doesn't actually do anything, currently. This is the only other thing I get out of a subscription, as a DM. So, not really worth the investment.
3) I don't actually do much playing, so six slots are enough for me to manage my one character and my wife's character. I'd include my daughter's character, too, but she's the alt-Ranger. So... I've got 4 extra slots.
4) So far, my players don't seem to want to shell out for the content and use the Character Manager, either. AFAIK, the only player to have bough the content is the one playing the Favored Soul. I'd really love to be able to standardize our tool set, but my willingness to bankroll the group has bounds. I don't have a problem spending $55/year on a tool. I don't even have a problem with the DM spending more on the game than anyone else (everyone else, together) at the table. I do have a problem spending $55/year, just so a couple of my players will send me a copy of their character sheets.
5) I was very excited about DDB, early on. I'm still cautiously optimistic about it -- they did deliver something production ready on time, even if I don't agree it's feature complete in terms of home brew or campaign management. I'm losing quite a bit of confidence base on what appears to be confusion or indecisiveness about what comes next and when. Maybe it's a matter of Curse trying to get a read on what the community wants, and it's officially being phrased as not wanting to get false hopes up. It's coming off as lack of confidence in their own capabilities. What are you sure you can release in Q3? Publish it. What do you hope to release in Q3? Publish it as Q4. What are you sure you can release in Q4, if you make it through at least half your Q3 wish list? Publish it as Q1 2017. I may agree or not with your priorities. I definitely disagree with "dunno, maybe something, maybe not" or "it'll be released when it's released."
You don't have to fix everything. I'm willing to sink a certain amount into things as an investment in the future. I just want to have a basic idea of when it's going to pay off.
I'm actually supposed to be "off" today, so I'll only address #5.
We are completely confident and know exactly what is coming next - there exists no indecisiveness at all. I may be one of the most decisive people on the planet, and I can assure you I've already made decisions that will impact everything for months, if not years.
I have already shared what we are working on currently in several places. I'll reiterate it here:
Character builder/ sheet improvements (short term)
Native mobile app initial release with offline access (medium term)
Encounter building and monster progression (longer term)
New things for campaign management (longer term)
The fact that I'm not going to share dates for those things right now is not remotely a lack of confidence. I'm incredibly confident in our team and our ability to move quickly. The character builder didn't even exist (seriously, at all) three months ago.
I won't give dates because it's a terrible idea to do that in software/ web development. Google doesn't give dates. Heck, video game developers don't really give dates until they actually know. And even then, when Red Dead Redemption gets pushed, people complain and complain.
We're going to do "good" for the community, as I believe we have demonstrated through beta and launch. The fact that launch has "gone well" is going to help us make it a reality.
My priorities will probably never align with the communities vast needs, and the poles created prior to release have been posted before.. But having a fully featured wifi ready product on one platform seems to me far more effective than having two platforms half able to service it's potential.. I look at that list and just have to wonder if that's still true now that the product is released.
I'm of a different view here. I did purchase the Master Sub and Legendary Bundle. Not because I'm 100% satisfied (btw impossible for me to be 100% satisfied with anything, I'm a greedy dreamer :P). I did so because I understand that the people working behind the scenes are not suppose to work for free. There is a business model and I respect that. I'm hoping enough people subscribe and purchase bundles to enable the following:
I'll give a third view. I bought the core three and will probably buy CoS by Friday (next game). I really enjoyed using the Compendium at the table. I did not buy the Legendary Bundle because a large portion of it is adventures and I've realized I'm pretty burned out on published adventures and about 99.5% likely to run custom adventures for the next few years. I'm hoping that, at a certain point, there's enough non-adventure content (especially other setting support) that the discount offered by the LB makes it more attractive (kudos to the Curse team for tracking how much I've spent towards bundles). I have not yet subscribed because:
1) My current group has a Favored Soul and UA Ranger. That means the Character Builder only serves 60% of the PCs. I'm happy to either pay a nominal fee for the UA content or to subscribe and enter it in, myself. Neither option is currently available, so the CB isn't a selling point.
2) The Campaign Manager doesn't actually do anything, currently. This is the only other thing I get out of a subscription, as a DM. So, not really worth the investment.
3) I don't actually do much playing, so six slots are enough for me to manage my one character and my wife's character. I'd include my daughter's character, too, but she's the alt-Ranger. So... I've got 4 extra slots.
4) So far, my players don't seem to want to shell out for the content and use the Character Manager, either. AFAIK, the only player to have bough the content is the one playing the Favored Soul. I'd really love to be able to standardize our tool set, but my willingness to bankroll the group has bounds. I don't have a problem spending $55/year on a tool. I don't even have a problem with the DM spending more on the game than anyone else (everyone else, together) at the table. I do have a problem spending $55/year, just so a couple of my players will send me a copy of their character sheets.
5) I was very excited about DDB, early on. I'm still cautiously optimistic about it -- they did deliver something production ready on time, even if I don't agree it's feature complete in terms of home brew or campaign management. I'm losing quite a bit of confidence base on what appears to be confusion or indecisiveness about what comes next and when. Maybe it's a matter of Curse trying to get a read on what the community wants, and it's officially being phrased as not wanting to get false hopes up. It's coming off as lack of confidence in their own capabilities. What are you sure you can release in Q3? Publish it. What do you hope to release in Q3? Publish it as Q4. What are you sure you can release in Q4, if you make it through at least half your Q3 wish list? Publish it as Q1 2017. I may agree or not with your priorities. I definitely disagree with "dunno, maybe something, maybe not" or "it'll be released when it's released."
You don't have to fix everything. I'm willing to sink a certain amount into things as an investment in the future. I just want to have a basic idea of when it's going to pay off.
I'm actually supposed to be "off" today, so I'll only address #5.
We are completely confident and know exactly what is coming next - there exists no indecisiveness at all. I may be one of the most decisive people on the planet, and I can assure you I've already made decisions that will impact everything for months, if not years.
I have already shared what we are working on currently in several places. I'll reiterate it here:
Character builder/ sheet improvements (short term)
Native mobile app initial release with offline access (medium term)
Encounter building and monster progression (longer term)
New things for campaign management (longer term)
The fact that I'm not going to share dates for those things right now is not remotely a lack of confidence. I'm incredibly confident in our team and our ability to move quickly. The character builder didn't even exist (seriously, at all) three months ago.
I won't give dates because it's a terrible idea to do that in software/ web development. Google doesn't give dates. Heck, video game developers don't really give dates until they actually know. And even then, when Red Dead Redemption gets pushed, people complain and complain.
We're going to do "good" for the community, as I believe we have demonstrated through beta and launch. The fact that launch has "gone well" is going to help us make it a reality.
Thanks!
Fair points! Take your day off properly BadEye, we'll still be here many pages later on the forums :P. Also, if it's deemed appropriate it would be cool if you could post stats (maybe a full month after launch) on the uptake of the products (just in general terms ie) XXX Master Subs, YYY Heroic Subs, AAA Legendary Bundles sold and BBB Hundreds of One-Offs, etc. We'd (well I would :P) like to know how well things are going are they going as expected or better than expected?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
I'm of a different view here. I did purchase the Master Sub and Legendary Bundle. Not because I'm 100% satisfied (btw impossible for me to be 100% satisfied with anything, I'm a greedy dreamer :P). I did so because I understand that the people working behind the scenes are not suppose to work for free. There is a business model and I respect that. I'm hoping enough people subscribe and purchase bundles to enable the following:
I'll give a third view. I bought the core three and will probably buy CoS by Friday (next game). I really enjoyed using the Compendium at the table. I did not buy the Legendary Bundle because a large portion of it is adventures and I've realized I'm pretty burned out on published adventures and about 99.5% likely to run custom adventures for the next few years. I'm hoping that, at a certain point, there's enough non-adventure content (especially other setting support) that the discount offered by the LB makes it more attractive (kudos to the Curse team for tracking how much I've spent towards bundles). I have not yet subscribed because:
1) My current group has a Favored Soul and UA Ranger. That means the Character Builder only serves 60% of the PCs. I'm happy to either pay a nominal fee for the UA content or to subscribe and enter it in, myself. Neither option is currently available, so the CB isn't a selling point.
2) The Campaign Manager doesn't actually do anything, currently. This is the only other thing I get out of a subscription, as a DM. So, not really worth the investment.
3) I don't actually do much playing, so six slots are enough for me to manage my one character and my wife's character. I'd include my daughter's character, too, but she's the alt-Ranger. So... I've got 4 extra slots.
4) So far, my players don't seem to want to shell out for the content and use the Character Manager, either. AFAIK, the only player to have bough the content is the one playing the Favored Soul. I'd really love to be able to standardize our tool set, but my willingness to bankroll the group has bounds. I don't have a problem spending $55/year on a tool. I don't even have a problem with the DM spending more on the game than anyone else (everyone else, together) at the table. I do have a problem spending $55/year, just so a couple of my players will send me a copy of their character sheets.
5) I was very excited about DDB, early on. I'm still cautiously optimistic about it -- they did deliver something production ready on time, even if I don't agree it's feature complete in terms of home brew or campaign management. I'm losing quite a bit of confidence base on what appears to be confusion or indecisiveness about what comes next and when. Maybe it's a matter of Curse trying to get a read on what the community wants, and it's officially being phrased as not wanting to get false hopes up. It's coming off as lack of confidence in their own capabilities. What are you sure you can release in Q3? Publish it. What do you hope to release in Q3? Publish it as Q4. What are you sure you can release in Q4, if you make it through at least half your Q3 wish list? Publish it as Q1 2017. I may agree or not with your priorities. I definitely disagree with "dunno, maybe something, maybe not" or "it'll be released when it's released."
You don't have to fix everything. I'm willing to sink a certain amount into things as an investment in the future. I just want to have a basic idea of when it's going to pay off.
I'm actually supposed to be "off" today, so I'll only address #5.
We are completely confident and know exactly what is coming next - there exists no indecisiveness at all. I may be one of the most decisive people on the planet, and I can assure you I've already made decisions that will impact everything for months, if not years.
I have already shared what we are working on currently in several places. I'll reiterate it here:
Character builder/ sheet improvements (short term)
Native mobile app initial release with offline access (medium term)
Encounter building and monster progression (longer term)
New things for campaign management (longer term)
The fact that I'm not going to share dates for those things right now is not remotely a lack of confidence. I'm incredibly confident in our team and our ability to move quickly. The character builder didn't even exist (seriously, at all) three months ago.
I won't give dates because it's a terrible idea to do that in software/ web development. Google doesn't give dates. Heck, video game developers don't really give dates until they actually know. And even then, when Red Dead Redemption gets pushed, people complain and complain.
We're going to do "good" for the community, as I believe we have demonstrated through beta and launch. The fact that launch has "gone well" is going to help us make it a reality.
Thanks!
Fair points! Take your day off properly BadEye, we'll still be here many pages later on the forums :P. Also, if it's deemed appropriate it would be cool if you could post stats (maybe a full month after launch) on the uptake of the products (just in general terms ie) XXX Master Subs, YYY Heroic Subs, AAA Legendary Bundles sold and BBB Hundreds of One-Offs, etc. We'd (well I would :P) like to know how well things are going are they going as expected or better than expected?
I'd be interested too, it might be good for publicity, and it shouldn't take too much effort.
Enjoy your day off, BadEye.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I'm of a different view here. I did purchase the Master Sub and Legendary Bundle. Not because I'm 100% satisfied (btw impossible for me to be 100% satisfied with anything, I'm a greedy dreamer :P). I did so because I understand that the people working behind the scenes are not suppose to work for free. There is a business model and I respect that. I'm hoping enough people subscribe and purchase bundles to enable the following:
I'll give a third view. I bought the core three and will probably buy CoS by Friday (next game). I really enjoyed using the Compendium at the table. I did not buy the Legendary Bundle because a large portion of it is adventures and I've realized I'm pretty burned out on published adventures and about 99.5% likely to run custom adventures for the next few years. I'm hoping that, at a certain point, there's enough non-adventure content (especially other setting support) that the discount offered by the LB makes it more attractive (kudos to the Curse team for tracking how much I've spent towards bundles). I have not yet subscribed because:
1) My current group has a Favored Soul and UA Ranger. That means the Character Builder only serves 60% of the PCs. I'm happy to either pay a nominal fee for the UA content or to subscribe and enter it in, myself. Neither option is currently available, so the CB isn't a selling point.
2) The Campaign Manager doesn't actually do anything, currently. This is the only other thing I get out of a subscription, as a DM. So, not really worth the investment.
3) I don't actually do much playing, so six slots are enough for me to manage my one character and my wife's character. I'd include my daughter's character, too, but she's the alt-Ranger. So... I've got 4 extra slots.
4) So far, my players don't seem to want to shell out for the content and use the Character Manager, either. AFAIK, the only player to have bough the content is the one playing the Favored Soul. I'd really love to be able to standardize our tool set, but my willingness to bankroll the group has bounds. I don't have a problem spending $55/year on a tool. I don't even have a problem with the DM spending more on the game than anyone else (everyone else, together) at the table. I do have a problem spending $55/year, just so a couple of my players will send me a copy of their character sheets.
5) I was very excited about DDB, early on. I'm still cautiously optimistic about it -- they did deliver something production ready on time, even if I don't agree it's feature complete in terms of home brew or campaign management. I'm losing quite a bit of confidence base on what appears to be confusion or indecisiveness about what comes next and when. Maybe it's a matter of Curse trying to get a read on what the community wants, and it's officially being phrased as not wanting to get false hopes up. It's coming off as lack of confidence in their own capabilities. What are you sure you can release in Q3? Publish it. What do you hope to release in Q3? Publish it as Q4. What are you sure you can release in Q4, if you make it through at least half your Q3 wish list? Publish it as Q1 2017. I may agree or not with your priorities. I definitely disagree with "dunno, maybe something, maybe not" or "it'll be released when it's released."
You don't have to fix everything. I'm willing to sink a certain amount into things as an investment in the future. I just want to have a basic idea of when it's going to pay off.
I'm actually supposed to be "off" today, so I'll only address #5.
We are completely confident and know exactly what is coming next - there exists no indecisiveness at all. I may be one of the most decisive people on the planet, and I can assure you I've already made decisions that will impact everything for months, if not years.
I have already shared what we are working on currently in several places. I'll reiterate it here:
Character builder/ sheet improvements (short term)
Native mobile app initial release with offline access (medium term)
Encounter building and monster progression (longer term)
New things for campaign management (longer term)
The fact that I'm not going to share dates for those things right now is not remotely a lack of confidence. I'm incredibly confident in our team and our ability to move quickly. The character builder didn't even exist (seriously, at all) three months ago.
I won't give dates because it's a terrible idea to do that in software/ web development. Google doesn't give dates. Heck, video game developers don't really give dates until they actually know. And even then, when Red Dead Redemption gets pushed, people complain and complain.
We're going to do "good" for the community, as I believe we have demonstrated through beta and launch. The fact that launch has "gone well" is going to help us make it a reality.
Thanks!
Fair points! Take your day off properly BadEye, we'll still be here many pages later on the forums :P. Also, if it's deemed appropriate it would be cool if you could post stats (maybe a full month after launch) on the uptake of the products (just in general terms ie) XXX Master Subs, YYY Heroic Subs, AAA Legendary Bundles sold and BBB Hundreds of One-Offs, etc. We'd (well I would :P) like to know how well things are going are they going as expected or better than expected?
While I don't have numbers, I was able to get a very subtle wink from one of the mods that said one might extrapolate that curse was originally "optimistic" about the commercial launch and that they did, indeed, "find themselves surprised"
And that they have done well enough to continue development as is for a good long while.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The most memorable stories always begin with failure.
I realize Campaign Management is a big and very loose as it's up to individual DM's and groups to figure out what works for them. But I feel that it essentially needs to be comprised of small systems. I know the feature request thread asks for specific features. But I feel each feature should almost have the word "Management" attached to it. So when someone wants to have an hourglass, I get it, it's just an hourglass request. But it should open up the discussion to talk about "Time Management" as whole and what that may mean.
Similarly with Loot, Inventory, NPC, Experience, Dice,. In the larger context I see these each as systems that tie together with the word Management associated with each.
The people that put together D&D Beyond, one core strength I've seen so far is meta-data management and wrapping around things to create better context for everyone. Text lists within list within lists is great and all but not very useful. It's how things connect together that matter to me the most.
My suggestion would be as the Campaign Management Feature requests thread fills out, to start bucketing things out more, and have meaningful discussion around how important and how feature-rich each piece can get, then the internal team and discuss what is "feasible" and then put a poll forward with concrete, "If you choose this, this is what can be reasonable delivered". Better than polling maybe even consider investing in strategic priority and ranking tools. No need to re-invent the wheel, this is a well research area (even within the field of software development).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
Thank you for being so interactive with the users, Bad Eye. It's comforting to have devs address the community's concerns. I will throw my two cents into the conversation as it pertains to campaign management.
My 2 other friends and I pooled together enough money to purchase the Legendary Bundle and the Master Subscription for the DM of our group. It was the content sharing function of the campaign management tool that convinced us to do so. Between us, we own multiple copies of every official print source for 5e, so the sharing took a bit of the sting out of paying for the digital content. We understand that there is no real way to know who has what book and we also recognize that we are paying for the hard work people put into getting the content on DnD Beyond. All that being said, we still view our purchase/subscription as an investment in the future of this tool.
We have all been very impressed by how slick DDB is and how useful the current functionalities are. However, while I still use it as a player, the real attraction for me lies in its potential as a campaign management tool. Obviously, having a place to reference monsters, spells, items, etc is useful for DMs, but I think what has the potential to set DDB apart is the connectivity between the players and the DM. Yesterday, our DM was using the DDB to help a brand new player create a character in our campaign, and it went a hell of a lot smoother than our other attempts on Roll20 or in person. It's also been nice for our DM to see our stats/inventory easily and weigh in on our abilities. It's this connection that has me excited about this platform.
Our groups prefer to play in person, when possible, and I hope that an expansion of the campaign management tools will fill the role of connecting the players and DM without necessarily being an online DnD platform. For instance, my group personally hopes to see some way to communicate within the campaign with something akin to campaign forums, a group inventory, and a system in which the DM can easily award players items with some kind of alert telling the player they've received an item. For me, the management tool will make or break DDB and will influence my future decisions about continuing to pay for the services provided. I'm very excited to see what the future holds and it sounds like you guys have a lot of cool stuff on the horizon for us!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I'm glad to hear you've had a successful launch! I'm very excited for the future of this site!
I DMed by first post-launch D&D game last night. I had no books at the table, and did away with my DM screen, just an iPad and some dice.
It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty great compared to flipping through a stack of hardbacks! I can see how it will improve too, and it sounds like you guys are headed in the right direction.
Thanks!
Still I can't find a topic with discussion of official adventures. In this adventures we have maps with marks for DM, but how i should show them to players? What about maps without marks?
Is there a way, to not display the PCs that I create in the Campaigns I create? I'd like to use it for my AL characters, and to organize the games I run, and keep those both separated.
@Cambuil - It was this and the inadequacy of the PDF character sheet that kept me from buying in. They keep saying that improvements will come and I believe them, but I won't pay a dime until that happens. I can wait till it becomes a better product.
I will continue to be patient and I am sure things will happen.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115008597088-Virtual-Tabletop-Gameboard
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
The most memorable stories always begin with failure.
I understand investing in a product that you will use as is and that money going to develop it further. That said, I won't use the product as is and there is no guarantee that it will develop into a product that I will use. They say they are doing things and that it will get better, but I am not flush with disposable income that I am will to pay out for something that I may or may not get.
No one in either of my gaming groups likes what they see so far but we do see the potential enough to continue to watch and see where it goes from here.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
A variety of Campaign Tools & Functionality are likely to be worked on soon.
Take a look at the Campaign Wish List thread and "vote" and/or add your own suggestions. :)
We really want to know what features you'd like to see, that would make D&D Beyond the product you want it to be.
Pun-loving nerd | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
While working in a friends campaign I made my primary character. I attempted to add a secondary character, but there are no options to add a secondary character in the campaign screen or the character generator. I did manage to add a second character by using the http link but that seems very cumbersome.
How do you get a one-armed goblin out of a tree?
Wave!
The fact that I'm not going to share dates for those things right now is not remotely a lack of confidence. I'm incredibly confident in our team and our ability to move quickly. The character builder didn't even exist (seriously, at all) three months ago.
I won't give dates because it's a terrible idea to do that in software/ web development. Google doesn't give dates. Heck, video game developers don't really give dates until they actually know. And even then, when Red Dead Redemption gets pushed, people complain and complain.
We're going to do "good" for the community, as I believe we have demonstrated through beta and launch. The fact that launch has "gone well" is going to help us make it a reality.
Thanks!
My priorities will probably never align with the communities vast needs, and the poles created prior to release have been posted before..
But having a fully featured wifi ready product on one platform seems to me far more effective than having two platforms half able to service it's potential..
I look at that list and just have to wonder if that's still true now that the product is released.
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115008597088-Virtual-Tabletop-Gameboard
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
And that they have done well enough to continue development as is for a good long while.
The most memorable stories always begin with failure.
I realize Campaign Management is a big and very loose as it's up to individual DM's and groups to figure out what works for them. But I feel that it essentially needs to be comprised of small systems. I know the feature request thread asks for specific features. But I feel each feature should almost have the word "Management" attached to it. So when someone wants to have an hourglass, I get it, it's just an hourglass request. But it should open up the discussion to talk about "Time Management" as whole and what that may mean.
Similarly with Loot, Inventory, NPC, Experience, Dice,. In the larger context I see these each as systems that tie together with the word Management associated with each.
The people that put together D&D Beyond, one core strength I've seen so far is meta-data management and wrapping around things to create better context for everyone. Text lists within list within lists is great and all but not very useful. It's how things connect together that matter to me the most.
My suggestion would be as the Campaign Management Feature requests thread fills out, to start bucketing things out more, and have meaningful discussion around how important and how feature-rich each piece can get, then the internal team and discuss what is "feasible" and then put a poll forward with concrete, "If you choose this, this is what can be reasonable delivered". Better than polling maybe even consider investing in strategic priority and ranking tools. No need to re-invent the wheel, this is a well research area (even within the field of software development).
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115008597088-Virtual-Tabletop-Gameboard
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
Thank you for being so interactive with the users, Bad Eye. It's comforting to have devs address the community's concerns. I will throw my two cents into the conversation as it pertains to campaign management.
My 2 other friends and I pooled together enough money to purchase the Legendary Bundle and the Master Subscription for the DM of our group. It was the content sharing function of the campaign management tool that convinced us to do so. Between us, we own multiple copies of every official print source for 5e, so the sharing took a bit of the sting out of paying for the digital content. We understand that there is no real way to know who has what book and we also recognize that we are paying for the hard work people put into getting the content on DnD Beyond. All that being said, we still view our purchase/subscription as an investment in the future of this tool.
We have all been very impressed by how slick DDB is and how useful the current functionalities are. However, while I still use it as a player, the real attraction for me lies in its potential as a campaign management tool. Obviously, having a place to reference monsters, spells, items, etc is useful for DMs, but I think what has the potential to set DDB apart is the connectivity between the players and the DM. Yesterday, our DM was using the DDB to help a brand new player create a character in our campaign, and it went a hell of a lot smoother than our other attempts on Roll20 or in person. It's also been nice for our DM to see our stats/inventory easily and weigh in on our abilities. It's this connection that has me excited about this platform.
Our groups prefer to play in person, when possible, and I hope that an expansion of the campaign management tools will fill the role of connecting the players and DM without necessarily being an online DnD platform. For instance, my group personally hopes to see some way to communicate within the campaign with something akin to campaign forums, a group inventory, and a system in which the DM can easily award players items with some kind of alert telling the player they've received an item. For me, the management tool will make or break DDB and will influence my future decisions about continuing to pay for the services provided. I'm very excited to see what the future holds and it sounds like you guys have a lot of cool stuff on the horizon for us!