New Web-based Character Builder… Take Deep Breaths…

Welcome to Weem’s Booth of Relaxation (+1 Relax)!

Take a seat here and breath in, slowly… exhale… good.

Okay, so you just tried the new character builder from Wizards of the Coast – what did you think?

There are a lot of complaints on Twitter for sure (which is to be expected). That’s not to say there aren’t valid concerns being raised, or issues being experienced because their are, but as we all know, we are more vocal when things aren’t working for us.

Like most people, I started my morning occasionally refreshing the DDI Character Builder page. There was a lot being said about a system no one outside of WoTC had tried yet, and we were all excited to get in there and see it for ourselves.

It didn’t take long for me realize, “there’s many others refreshing this page right now, and at a much more frequent rate I’m sure. Many are bound to let those of us on Twitter know about so you know what… I’ll let them do the work!

It wasn’t much longer before the tweets began pouring in and we were off!

One of the first things I noticed was how well it ran. It was quick and it was clean. Any data I was after appeared instantly upon requesting (clicking) it and it seemed to run better overall than the previous incarnation (which ran okay).

New CB running in multiple browsers
New CB running in multiple browsers
But, I’m not really here to tell you about my first impressions. First of all, there will be tons of those online shortly (and there are some already, including the one by @ThadeousC over on his site).

I am also a non-standard case I would imagine. I am a web designer/developer – as such, my connection here at work and at home is great, and my computer (I have the same one at home as I do at work) is really REALLY nice. When I open and run the new character builder in every browsers I have available (at the same time), they run just fine for the most part (IE gave me some issues from time to time).

With that said, what I did want to say was simply, “Take a deep breath”.

If you hate the system, take a deep breath. If you LOVE it, but hate seeing the negative comments, take a deep breath.

Love or hate what you have seen so far, we’re barely a few hours in (at this point). You will see issues in any release like this, and you will continue to see more. I had issues with the first character builder, as did many others – but I had forgotten about those days of frustration until today, seeing the complaints about the new system (which works better for me out the door than the first one did for sure). These first days will expose most of the problems and they will be resolved, and soon after forgotten.

You have to decide whether this system will work for you, and then go from there – but as a developer, I would recommend giving it some time to allow for kinks to get worked out (if there are some causing you issues) before making a decision either way.

Some of you have concerns that go beyond bugs, and that’s completely valid – if it’s not for you, it’s not for you. Some of you, like me, have had a good impression so far – but I know I will be waiting until I have had some time with it (before and during games) before deciding if it’s for me.

Give it some time, either way, and take a deep breath.

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3 comments

  1. It’s been a bit buggy for me (MacOS v10.5.8, Firefox v3.6.12), but it recovered almost all the data I’d input when it “bugged out”. I’m on DSL, so not a lightning-fast connection, and some of the delays have been frustrating. But, it does work. All things considered, I’d rate launch day as “serviceable”.

  2. I think taking a deep breath is a good thing. I haven’t checked this morning, but the new builder wasn’t working at all for me last night. It also ran slowly, but my machine is a dinosaur so I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I enjoyed making an essentials character while it was working. I really hope they get it back up soon. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t remember having this many problems with the offline builder.

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