Pair O’ Dice Games

So the Character Builder Beta was released to those who have subscribed to D&DI, and being one of those willing to fork over the bucks I was able to download it and check it out. Personally I can’t say I was impressed but then I doubt they could have impressed me.

I felt I needed to post something on it primarily because the Digital Insider that went up today had heaps of glowing praise from all around the net and while I think the program is competent, for me statements like “Great program I feel like my year long subscription is totally worth it now.” just make me scratch my head.

All I can figure is that some people (perhaps many people) are far more into Character Builders than I have ever been. I played around with the program and got bored within moments. I know I tend to be a paper & pencil kind of person, so you sort of need to look at where this opinion is coming from, but essentially people are heaping praise on a program that simply sticks numbers into slots so they don’t need to do it themselves. I simply cannot imagine that a program like this is worth $60 a year.

Still, it’s a fine program that does pull up information for you. I guess my real issue is… how often do people see themselves using it? How often do you really create characters? I do have one player with a tradition of bringing in new characters on a semi-regular basis (often in the past due to tragic great ax accidents) but even for him this program would only get used a few times a year. Then again, you do get to use it when you level up to find that one new feat or one new power and flipping through a couple different books is pretty hard work…

Fell free to disagree with my assessment but personally I will just keep waiting for the promised Dungeon Builder.