D&D Tools is dead; long live the D&D Tools

tacticslion · 11-21-2014, 08:02 AM

Copy/paste from a different forum, because dang it, internet access, and tiny phone to type stuff whiff Izzy annoying and typo-prone.

From my post on Paizo

First: I know Paizo's policy of linking 'Pirated' material: you do not have to worry about that with the link below anymore. The only thing displayed in that location is an explanation of the site being taken down and a farewell address/open letter.

D&D Tools has received a Cease and Desist letter after five years.

While I accept that WOTC was entirely within it's legal rights to demand the removal of the page, I am also personally saddened by it's lost. As an owner of most of those books, I found myself using the site from time to time to know where to look, regardless of the situation, as well as an aide in those cases - like now - when I don't have access to my books*. What's even nicer is that, over the years, they're easy access and neat categorization and references allowed me to find and purchase a few books that I would never otherwise have acquired.

So it is for all this and more, I am grateful for the five years it's been running, and all of the great things they've done and, while I understand WotC's decision (both legally and, presumably, financially***), I mourne for the loss of a valuable community resource.

Pirating is not something I condone, personally, in the sense of "People should get what they want for free!" but I find it difficult to reconcile my own edperiences with sites and things that have been valuable to me, increased my purchases, and generally been an over-all boon to both enjoyment and business (from my perspective and experience) being taken down for those reasons. I understand them: I am not angry at WOTC, merely disappointed and frustrated by the loss of a great online community and a strong resource and tool that Inused to augment my legally acquired goods.

Though I know (intellectually) it is different, in some ways it feels (emotionally) much like the end of their d20 run with a slew of C&Ds for no discernible gain to the community or company****.

Regardless, I will be grateful for the benefits that I've personally had from D&D Tools over the years, will hope that the C&D comes because WOTC is planning on doing something similar themselves, and just wanted to share the unfortunate news.

Peace to you and yours, and let us salute a solid site and it's passing.

Mods, please feel free to move this to Gamer Talk or Gamer Connection, if you feel that's where it goes instead. I chose D&D 3.5/d20/OGL because that seemed the most appropriate. Thank you!

* Because, for example, my newborn is in the hospital, being premature, and we, forced out of town, are staying at the Ronald McDonald House** without most of our stuff. In fact, to be specific, with no access to my Dungeonscape (which is at home and which I lack room for, here), I was able to look up a few key class features from the Factotum class quickly on my iPhone (though it's hard to read a screen that tiny - also, REALLY hard to type this on a screen/with buttons that tiny; please forgive typos). Really helpful in running the solo game I currently am for my wife.
** An awesome place. They deserve your money and respect. They've earned mine! I never knew what they did until now.
*** I presume this hurt their sales somehow?
**** This statement refers to when they were not publishing that edition anymore; now, of course, the PH, DMG, and MM are once again for sale. It is a different situation, and a different time.

Aldurin · 11-21-2014, 07:16 PM

It's sad, but since I'll be migrating to 5e I won't feel the full impact of losing that "where the fuck is that from?" assist.

Honestly it was surprising that it took this long for WotC to load its lawyerpult, but having a website basically transcribe all of the content from its books is inevitable. I hope that there can be a semi-revival where instead of ripping the entire entry they just list the book and page number where the spell/feat/item/class/whatever comes from, because that works as well.

If you want a good mobile option for your sourcebooks, tactics, you might want to look into scanning your preferred materials into PDFs and upload them onto your own Google Drive account. It's convenient for desktops/laptops since you can create a normal computer folder that synchronizes directly to your Drive contents, but for mobile phones everything on your Drive can be downloaded as you need it so that your storage space isn't devastated.

11-21-2014, 08:02 AM	#1
tacticslion Regulator Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,842	D&D Tools is dead; long live the D&D Tools Copy/paste from a different forum, because dang it, internet access, and tiny phone to type stuff whiff Izzy annoying and typo-prone. From my post on Paizo First: I know Paizo's policy of linking 'Pirated' material: you do not have to worry about that with the link below anymore. The only thing displayed in that location is an explanation of the site being taken down and a farewell address/open letter. D&D Tools has received a Cease and Desist letter after five years. While I accept that WOTC was entirely within it's legal rights to demand the removal of the page, I am also personally saddened by it's lost. As an owner of most of those books, I found myself using the site from time to time to know where to look, regardless of the situation, as well as an aide in those cases - like now - when I don't have access to my books. What's even nicer is that, over the years, they're easy access and neat categorization and references allowed me to find and purchase a few books that I would never otherwise have acquired. So it is for all this and more, I am grateful for the five years it's been running, and all of the great things they've done and, while I understand WotC's decision (both legally and, presumably, financially), I mourne for the loss of a valuable community resource. Pirating is not something I condone, personally, in the sense of "People should get what they want for free!" but I find it difficult to reconcile my own edperiences with sites and things that have been valuable to me, increased my purchases, and generally been an over-all boon to both enjoyment and business (from my perspective and experience) being taken down for those reasons. I understand them: I am not angry at WOTC, merely disappointed and frustrated by the loss of a great online community and a strong resource and tool that Inused to augment my legally acquired goods. Though I know (intellectually) it is different, in some ways it feels (emotionally) much like the end of their d20 run with a slew of C&Ds for no discernible gain to the community or company*. Regardless, I will be grateful for the benefits that I've personally had from D&D Tools over the years, will hope that the C&D comes because WOTC is planning on doing something similar themselves, and just wanted to share the unfortunate news. Peace to you and yours, and let us salute a solid site and it's passing. Mods, please feel free to move this to Gamer Talk or Gamer Connection, if you feel that's where it goes instead. I chose D&D 3.5/d20/OGL because that seemed the most appropriate. Thank you! Because, for example, my newborn is in the hospital, being premature, and we, forced out of town, are staying at the Ronald McDonald House** without most of our stuff. In fact, to be specific, with no access to my Dungeonscape (which is at home and which I lack room for, here), I was able to look up a few key class features from the Factotum class quickly on my iPhone (though it's hard to read a screen that tiny - also, REALLY hard to type this on a screen/with buttons that tiny; please forgive typos). Really helpful in running the solo game I currently am for my wife. An awesome place. They deserve your money and respect. They've earned mine! I never knew what they did until now. * I presume this hurt their sales somehow? **** This statement refers to when they were not publishing that edition anymore; now, of course, the PH, DMG, and MM are once again for sale. It is a different situation, and a different time. __________________ Make the best decision ever. I look forward to seeing you there! You should watch this trailer! It's awesome! (The rest of the site's really cool, too!) I have a small announcement to make. And another!

11-21-2014, 07:16 PM	#2
Aldurin Lakitu Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 4,648	It's sad, but since I'll be migrating to 5e I won't feel the full impact of losing that "where the fuck is that from?" assist. Honestly it was surprising that it took this long for WotC to load its lawyerpult, but having a website basically transcribe all of the content from its books is inevitable. I hope that there can be a semi-revival where instead of ripping the entire entry they just list the book and page number where the spell/feat/item/class/whatever comes from, because that works as well. If you want a good mobile option for your sourcebooks, tactics, you might want to look into scanning your preferred materials into PDFs and upload them onto your own Google Drive account. It's convenient for desktops/laptops since you can create a normal computer folder that synchronizes directly to your Drive contents, but for mobile phones everything on your Drive can be downloaded as you need it so that your storage space isn't devastated.