All good things must come to an end, and the much-loved Dungeons & Dragons Insider (DDI) is no exception, shuttering its digital doors on January 1, 2020 and casting a fatal blow to the formal support tools of the controversial 4th Edition (4E).
DDI was first revealed at the 2007 Gen Con as an electronic supplement to Dungeons & Dragons, with a subscription model that included an online character builder that made building characters simple and streamlined. From the moment players caught a glimpse at what was changing in the newest edition, the player base became divided heavily thanks to the major departures from the 3rd Edition.
At its core, 4E was created in a way that successfully integrated a balanced and tactical experience for all players and their classes. While previous editions often had, for instance, caster classes significantly outperform martial characters a high level, 4E allowed for every class to feel relevant at all stages of a campaign.
However, one of the biggest obstacles that 4E could not overcome during its release had to do with image, and players simply saw a significant departure what they knew and loved about D&D. As a result, many players stuck with their previous editions rather than move forward. On the other hand, other players embraced and absolutely fell in love with everything 4E had to offer, and the closing of DDI at the end of the year marks the end official support for one of the most misunderstood editions twelve years after its launch.
DDI is not closing due to a lack of user support, but rather because of a technical limitation. The emails sent to users of the website state that Microsoft Silverlight will not longer be supported in 2020, and without that, the tools used by DDI cannot function.
For now, users of the service should head over to save or print out any character sheets they may wish to keep in case the service is discontinued prematurely. Over on the 4E subreddit, fans of the game and the tools lament the upcoming loss, but also share ideas about alternatives to use that can be helpful for parties looking to continue using the edition as well. It is a great place to find like-minded players, and maybe to inquire about offline tools as well.
Love it or hate it, 4E certainly made a splash on the D&D community, and many of its outstanding mechanics and balance changes went on to become a core part of 5E. DDI has been a great resource for the past twelve years, and it is sad to see such a useful tool fade away.
Source: ddi.wizards.com