BONUS: MetalJim discusses the current state of virtual Dungeons and Dragons…

As you may recall, I made a few posts in recent months about the plans for the new D&D Insider service and it’s $10 a month subscription fee.

Just for the sake of plot summary, let me say that I am on record as supporting the idea of a subscription service provided that WotC actually delivers what they have promised in terms of applications, functionality, and content.  However, I also voiced a note of skepticism, given how poorly WotC has done in the past in terms of delivering digital products.

So, here’s the latest update…

We have the official “oops we over-hyped it” post over at the D&D website, presented in terms of “hey, part of what we promised is sort of ready.”  It’s very easy to infer, based on what ISN’T being hyped in this article, that the big digital project is behind schedule.

The folks at WotC have figured out how to update the D&D website three times a week.  Lately, they’ve been giving us some fairly awesome preview articles, with some previews having more crunch than others.  The WotC folks promise us that once the new edition is released, that they will shift from supplying previews into supplying bonus materials.  We will probably get playtest versions of character classes, magic items, and monsters that are being prepared for future print releases.  The Dungeon section of the website will, we are told, provide us with some adventure paths for 4th edition and other cool resources for game masters.

Providing web updates three times a week is nice, and they aren’t going to charge money for this in the near term.  I don’t think that this counts as quite as much material as they were promising when they first promoted the idea of online magazine subscriptions, but for now I won’t complain.

It’s also looks like we will get a preview of a new online “rules database” once 4th edition hits the streets.  My suspicion is that you will be able to type in the name of a feat, and then get a block of rules text for what that feat or special class power actually does.  It would be nice if you could type in the name of a monster and get a complete stat block, but we’ll see if that function is there or not.

I have been on the record as saying that THE CRITICAL APPLICATION for the D&D online tools was an effective character sheet creation tool.  This was supposed to be a key component of the new Insider package.

We were also promised a Virtual Game table, tools for designing virtual dungeon tile layouts, and a “visualizer” for turning your PC into a virtual miniature figure.

None of these “client-side” tools will go live on June 6^th.  Count this as a fumble for WotC.

Well, the good news is that it will be some months yet before anyone actually needs to pay for this online service, since WotC knows they don’t yet have something worth charging money for.  As the various digital tools get into shape, the folks who keep checking in on the website will get chances to download free previews of the services before the full subscription kicks in.  The community may end up doing a little beta-testing for WotC, but I think most people are actually prepared to live with that.

Best case scenario – during June, July and August we see previews of most of the virtual tools.  I think that the character sheet software is THE critical component, though I would be willing to live with a version that only supported character levels one through ten if I knew that the “full” version would take another three months to code properly.  By the beginning of September, enough people have tried out the various sub-programs that WotC feels good about kick-starting the subscriptions, with some nice discounts for early adopters.

Worst case scenario – large components of the software turn out to be vaporware.  WotC can’t compile versions of the code that survive for longer than 10 minutes without a crash to dektop, unless under super-controlled lab conditions.  Fourth edition limps along, once again, without useful digital tools for editing character sheets, but WotC goes around suing people in the community who try to make their own character sheet software.  The full subscription service never materializes, and WotC goes on making half-assed updates to the website, and churning out print books.

Likely scenario? I think we will see a “gimped” version of character sheet software before September.  We will also see demos of the virtual miniature tool, because that is flashy, except that people in the community will report that the software is underwhelming and not sufficiently awesome to render THEIR uber-character correctly.  At some point they will release a demo of the virtual gaming table, but the interface will end up to be just a little too confusing, and the system will be just buggy enough to make it impossible to get through a four hour game session without at least one major crash, lag slowdown, etc.  Nevertheless, WotC will feel some pressure from the corporate parent to go live with the subscription service, and will try to start charging by October.  WotC will make copious promises that the tools are “getting better every day”, but if things are bad enough they may have to lower their target for subscription prices, maybe down into the $6 a month range for someone willing to pre-pay for a whole year.

Once upon a time, I was optimistic that I would get to run some sort of online test with the virtual game table software by July.  I wasn’t really expecting everything to be in tip-top shape on June 6^th, but I was hopeful that things would materialize during the month of June.  Now, I am not so sure.  I would be surprised if I actually say the words, “OK, roll for initiative” into a microphone with players on the other end listening any time before September.

In the meantime, there’s still a program out there called Map Tool.  If WotC is asleep at the wheel, other folks in the community just might pick up the slack.