Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I don't actually have a game going atm as I've had a few issues with my group, but I still however spend my time prepping adventures so I'm ready for when one turns up. I often make characters whilst I'm bored, and would like to make monsters for a frosty/icey setting but find I'm pretty awful at building monsters. The magazines seem like an added bonus. Adventure builder may help me with structure but I seem to be quite good at plotlines and the shizzle that goes with them.

So, taking all this into account, is it worth it for me to get insider???

You get out of it what you put into it so the short answer is 'maybe'. I like playing with the character builder and just mess around with variations. The guy I share the account with uses the DM's Tools quite a bit and is fairly useful. He is also beta testing the virtual tabletop which sounds like a pretty handy tool. Dungeon Magazine and Dragon Magazine sometimes have useful info in them. If

I think it sounds good to me then, the one thing I have a problem with though is automatic renewal, do I have to check the box to auto renew because I actually only want to pay for one month and see what it's like? Thanks for your time.

I don't know. My friend and I split the cost of an annual. I gave him half and he made the account so I can't say for sure about that.

Its very worth it.. I pay for it myself and people just pay my portion of food orders

Can I ask one of it why it is so many people split paying for it? Do you give the account name to the whole group or something so everybody can access it?

scarskull5 wrote:Can I ask one of it why it is so many people split paying for it? Do you give the account name to the whole group or something so everybody can access it?

It is kind of like players splitting the cost of the rule books/associated stuff (such as dungeon playing tiles, game mats, etc). It is kind of unfair if the DM has to buy all the books and stuff he needs to run the game for all the other players. If everyone chips in it means that everyone pays equally to get access to the game. Also means that you can probably get more and better stuff, as the DM may not be able to pay £100+ for stuff, but if everyone in a 5 player group puts in the cost of the player handbook +£10, you have an extra £50 for the DM to either cover the extra cost of the game books, or to put towards expansions, etc.

I'm heavily biased, as I'm a mondo fan of 4e. I would say, though, that D&D Insider is worth it.

I like it, though I get angry at how inferior the web-based character builder is to the old one.

The downside to sharing an account, now that they've gone to the online character builder, is that multiple people can't use it at the same time. Changes one person makes will affect the other guy's character. You have to schedule usage or something.

I think a lot of people sharing it is a sign of how much it's really worth it to people. I've considered getting ti recently, btu it's a bit more than I want to pay to organize character sheets, essentially.

Interestingly, I actually downgraded my desire to buy it because WotC has cut their printed book release list back. DDI has a value in proportion to the printed release, as it contains material from those books. Less books, less interest. yet at the same time, it is also a replacement for those books: If I am interested in one D&D book this year, then buying the book is a better deal*. If I wanted 4-5 books, DDI might be more attractive.

The main book I was interested in, that I've heard has been canceled, was the Class Compendium.

* Note that this analysis does not take into account some advantages and disadvantages to both format.The books are getting heavy.

I won't be able to purchase it for another week or so, would one of you possibly lend me your account so I could check out the tools and see how good they are? Thanks in advance if anybody decides to