What's probably going to happen is that it will be implemented when it gets revised for the 2024 rules.
At least, that's my hope.
I'll +1 on this hope for 2024-updated sidekicks to get character sheets on DDB. I don't end up using sidekicks because this doesn't exist, so fingers crossed.
It's so frustrating seeing this conversation from 2021 with nothing done. Like legit what does the dndbeyond team do? It more or less runs like it did 5 years ago and still has the same issues. Such as this.
I'm feeling you on this, I really am. Specific editions aside, the increasingly monstrous range of key features - bought and paid for in core supplements but never implemented in Beyond - is astounding. Especially considering the high baseline prices for content here; which are more than doubled if you buy it again, due to the pervasive digital/hardcover divide.
I would still love a sidekick creator, but realistically? They are yet to implement usable core features from popular classes and subclasses, amongst countless other features that we all paid a premium for. Adding insult to injury, a lot of functionality in the Homebrew backend has also been heavily gated, making workarounds either long winded, flat out clunky, and/or simply impossible to achieve RAW.
Since the acquisition of Beyond by Wizards, the dev team has been scaled back so much - and/or prioritised away from platform development- that changes like this are simply never going to happen. At the least the original Beyond crew cared enough to read and acknowledge these glaring omissions, and work on what they could, when they could; in spite of the staffing challenges involved with managing a much smaller company. Since Wizard's acquisition? Not so much, if at all.
Make no mistake: this is exclusively a platform management issue, and one that won't be changing unless it hurts their hip pockets in meaningful ways. So new rules/edition or not, as long as we are all happy to pay for unfinished implementations of D&D products here, users will continue to be cash cows, and there is zero evidence this approach is changing any time soon.
So, the best we can do? Either we learn as much as we can about the clunky homebrew system, then use it to creatively solve issues that should not exist in the first place (if those changes are even possible with the tools we have been permitted); or, we use Beyond for what it can do, as needed, and reluctantly discard the rest. If, like myself, you find all of that simply unpalatable, then the third option is to discard Beyond almost entirely for what it is today: an easy money-spinner for Wizards, rather than a useful tool for players. The net result is either regressing back to pencil and paper games; or moving on to more modern systems where the support is ongoing, comprehensive, and development is significantly more proactive. FWIW, I've chosen both of those options for myself, leaning increasingly into the latter. It's a big TTRPG world out there, people. With a multitude of modern, well-supported systems to try.
Lastly, for sake of clarity, I still enjoy D&D. Though after drawing my own lines in the sand, I rarely if ever spend here now; having as little to do with the system as practicable. I do still enjoy the occasional campaign, con-game, or short arc; but every time I play or run one? I'm reminded of how little Beyond has changed in well over half a decade. Possibly closer to a whole one now. All this, and other bizarre business decisions (like the recent removal of buying individual content "a la carte"), scream of "enshittification" to me. Beyond's days are numbered not because of the functionality it provides, but primarily due to all that it doesn't. As more and more people cotton-on to the dearth of new features, and our lack of agency to fix the issues via homebrew hacks, players will simply shift to systems that provide what they need to play. It really is that simple, and evidence of this is already widely available, so it's not a new phenomenon. Just one that makes me feel sad.
I'll +1 on this hope for 2024-updated sidekicks to get character sheets on DDB. I don't end up using sidekicks because this doesn't exist, so fingers crossed.
It's so frustrating seeing this conversation from 2021 with nothing done. Like legit what does the dndbeyond team do? It more or less runs like it did 5 years ago and still has the same issues. Such as this.
I'm feeling you on this, I really am. Specific editions aside, the increasingly monstrous range of key features - bought and paid for in core supplements but never implemented in Beyond - is astounding. Especially considering the high baseline prices for content here; which are more than doubled if you buy it again, due to the pervasive digital/hardcover divide.
I would still love a sidekick creator, but realistically? They are yet to implement usable core features from popular classes and subclasses, amongst countless other features that we all paid a premium for. Adding insult to injury, a lot of functionality in the Homebrew backend has also been heavily gated, making workarounds either long winded, flat out clunky, and/or simply impossible to achieve RAW.
Since the acquisition of Beyond by Wizards, the dev team has been scaled back so much - and/or prioritised away from platform development- that changes like this are simply never going to happen. At the least the original Beyond crew cared enough to read and acknowledge these glaring omissions, and work on what they could, when they could; in spite of the staffing challenges involved with managing a much smaller company. Since Wizard's acquisition? Not so much, if at all.
Make no mistake: this is exclusively a platform management issue, and one that won't be changing unless it hurts their hip pockets in meaningful ways. So new rules/edition or not, as long as we are all happy to pay for unfinished implementations of D&D products here, users will continue to be cash cows, and there is zero evidence this approach is changing any time soon.
So, the best we can do? Either we learn as much as we can about the clunky homebrew system, then use it to creatively solve issues that should not exist in the first place (if those changes are even possible with the tools we have been permitted); or, we use Beyond for what it can do, as needed, and reluctantly discard the rest. If, like myself, you find all of that simply unpalatable, then the third option is to discard Beyond almost entirely for what it is today: an easy money-spinner for Wizards, rather than a useful tool for players. The net result is either regressing back to pencil and paper games; or moving on to more modern systems where the support is ongoing, comprehensive, and development is significantly more proactive. FWIW, I've chosen both of those options for myself, leaning increasingly into the latter. It's a big TTRPG world out there, people. With a multitude of modern, well-supported systems to try.
Lastly, for sake of clarity, I still enjoy D&D. Though after drawing my own lines in the sand, I rarely if ever spend here now; having as little to do with the system as practicable. I do still enjoy the occasional campaign, con-game, or short arc; but every time I play or run one? I'm reminded of how little Beyond has changed in well over half a decade. Possibly closer to a whole one now. All this, and other bizarre business decisions (like the recent removal of buying individual content "a la carte"), scream of "enshittification" to me. Beyond's days are numbered not because of the functionality it provides, but primarily due to all that it doesn't. As more and more people cotton-on to the dearth of new features, and our lack of agency to fix the issues via homebrew hacks, players will simply shift to systems that provide what they need to play. It really is that simple, and evidence of this is already widely available, so it's not a new phenomenon. Just one that makes me feel sad.
*sad trombone*
Frequently flippant; sorry for being an apologist.