Dungeons & Dragons Facebook Application

[Doctor Setebos]

Courtesy of scifi portal Tor.com (http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=3972) comes word of a new Facebook app for D&D players, straight from Wizards of the Coast. It's called Dungeons & Dragons Tiny Adventures (http://apps.facebook.com/tinyadventures/).

What a bunch of really smart folks at Wizards of the Coast have done is distill out the essential ambience of Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition into something that you can play with simple clicks. It’s got beautiful production values and some very entertaining writing.

Dungeons & Dragons Tiny Adventures starts by offering you choice of a spread of starting adventurers, covering all the races and classes in the new player’s handbook. The FAQ is very well-done and covers nearly everything you’ll need to know to play with this.Even though each adventure is a solo quest, if you have Facebook friends that also have the app installed, you can all keep tabs on each other, sending out calls for help, exchanging heals, trading equipment, or just sending encouragement for the completion of their quests.

Just installed it myself and rolled up a half-elf pally. Join me!

[Doctor Setebos]

Here's a couple of screenshots I took of the app.

http://fileflood.googlepages.com/ScreenShot017.jpg

http://fileflood.googlepages.com/ScreenShot018.jpg

[alienhead]

I guess the tiny adventure is trying to find a working link.

[modeps]

FAILSAUCE!!!

User wizapps_wotc has already more than 'max_user_connections' active connections

[nnanji]

This was linked to on another website yesterday. The link has never worked for me, but other people have used it just fine.

I also saw that some people who were playing were getting Max_User errors, so the app might just be overloaded.

[Doctor Setebos]

Ouch. I think Wizards greatly underestimated the number of people that might be interested in this app. :(

[Snark]

The URL should be...
http://apps.facebook.com/tinyadventures/
...instead of...
http://apps.new.facebook.com/tinyadventures/
.

I get max connections messages every now and then but I've already created a character and started an adventure. The next event begins in 20 seconds.:eek:

[Doctor Setebos]

Ah, thanks Snark! I forgot that I'm on the new FB platform at the moment. I'll change the URL.

(though to be fair, that isn't the problem that people are experiencing - either link should work for anyone, though using the link with "new" in it might force a switch to the new design platform).

[Whimbrel]

My dwarf apparently tried to play the Max Power way.

[Doctor Setebos]

Grrrr. Everytime I try to start an adventure, I get the max_user_connections error.

[Citizen Philip]

Cool. OVerwhelmed connections, but cool.

[Ghostbear]

neat, my eladrin wizard is going after some drow!

[Citizen Philip]

neat, my eladrin wizard is going after some drow!

You aren't allowed to play that. I just made that too. Except I am going after cutthroats.

[Doctor Setebos]

"I put on my wizard's hat and robe...."

[nnanji]

Finally got on, made the half-elf paladin and am taking it to some bandits. They totally deserve it.

[Abednigo]

It says my next event is ready but it doesn't seem to do anything. I bought a potion but can't figure out how to equip it. What am I missing? I'm wondering if parts of the app are being blocked here at work. Facebook never seems to behave when I'm here.

[LongStepMantis]

Finally got on, made the half-elf paladin and am taking it to some bandits. They totally deserve it.

Unless they changed the rules about paladins...how is that possible?

Damn kids and your multi-racial facebook paladins. Back in my day we only had human paladins on paper and we liked it! :p

*shakes fist*

[Doctor Setebos]

Unless they changed the rules about paladins...how is that possible?

Damn kids and your multi-racial facebook paladins. Back in my day we only had human paladins on paper and we liked it! :p

*shakes fist*Actually, they made a ton of great updates in D&D4, including more multi-racial job options. The game is so much more user-friendly and fun these days.

[Doctor Setebos]

In this thread (http://www.new.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=23415053320&topic=4912), Wizards posted a notice that people might experience technical difficulties with the app. At first, they said they used up all of their bandwidth. Then, just a couple of hours ago, they posted (http://www.new.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=4912&post=19500&uid=23415053320#post19500) that they have encountered a server error, and are working to resolve it.

Our overloaded bandwidth is causing your encounters to "lag behind." I have some fixes in place for now, and we are starting to make progress on the backlog of encounters to process. It may take some time still, but your encounters should eventually get processed.

Again, thanks so much for your patience as we work through this as quickly as we can.

[LongStepMantis]

Actually, they made a ton of great updates in D&D4, including more multi-racial job options. The game is so much more user-friendly and fun these days.

Actually I always thought race restrictions on classes were bullshit anyways. If you wanted to play as a half-orc paladin who has amended his naughty ways ala Drizzt, then dammit you should be able to.

It just struck me as funny that in a game that was supposed to be entirely about story-telling and getting into a character, they would say "No, you can't be that."

[BlackScarab]

This is awesome. Too bad my Dwarf Warlord got pwned by the final encounter in the first area I went to.

[Doctor Setebos]

My first adventure went great. But so far in my second adventure, I've had nothing but rotten luck.

Three encounters in a row where I only rolled a 4. :p

http://fileflood.googlepages.com/ScreenShot021.jpg

[Chris_D]

I just get a blank page when I click on the application (after I've installed it). Is this a sign of it being overloaded again?

[Abednigo]

I just get a blank page when I click on the application (after I've installed it). Is this a sign of it being overloaded again?

It must be. I tried it again now that I'm home and am getting the same thing. I'm glad it's not just me. :)

[Snark]

We are currently seeking a new hosting service for Tiny Adventures. It was so popular that it blew away the limits and capabilities of our old service provider.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=23415053320

Awesome. I can't wait to continue adventuring. Well, I can but I must show my enthusiasm somehow, eh?

[Doctor Setebos]

Source: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=23415053320

Awesome. I can't wait to continue adventuring. Well, I can but I must show my enthusiasm somehow, eh?Wow, they actually thought a miniature D&D4 campaign contained within a Facebook app wouldn't be popular? FAIL.

[Citizen Philip]

I finished one adventure, in the swamp. It was pretty cool - don't have a screencap. However I had to defeat the leader in single combat and needed a 37 and I rolled a 41.. I wish I knew if that was a natural 20 or something cool.

[nnanji]

I believe when you look at your past adventure recaps they will break down the roll and modifiers for you. You'll know soon if it was a nat 20.

[JimmyDanger]

5pm Thursday, August 21st

Your Server was exploring the dungeon and preparing to battle the mighty dragon when it encountered a horde of good-looking, expert Tiny Adventure players.

Your Server made a server load check with a difficulty of 3700 . . . and rolled 1

Your Server was dominated by the exited players and its CPU was trampled. Your Server headed back to the shop to purchase a huge upgrade for itself and will be back tomorrow. The horde of players was thanked again for their enthusiasm and patience.

Please check back tomorrow afternoon (Friday August 22nd).

Soon. Soon.

I really want to play this now...

[ascl]

Your Server was exploring the dungeon and preparing to battle the mighty dragon when it encountered a horde of good-looking, expert Tiny Adventure players.

Your Server made a server load check with a difficulty of 3700 . . . and rolled 1

Your Server was dominated by the exited players and its CPU was trampled. Your Server headed back to the shop to purchase a huge upgrade for itself and will be back tomorrow. The horde of players was thanked again for their enthusiasm and patience.

Please check back tomorrow afternoon (Friday August 22nd).

:(

[Doctor Setebos]

Soon. Soon.

I really want to play this now...HA! I like that they posted that message. Makes the wait just slightly more tolerable than if they had just left some cookie-cutter "we'll be back after we fix some stuff" message.

[OUX]

Soon. Soon.

I really want to play this now...

Reading old Knights of the Dinner Table and now this? God wants me to roleplay.

[addik]

Unless they changed the rules about paladins...how is that possible?

Damn kids and your multi-racial facebook paladins. Back in my day we only had human paladins on paper and we liked it! :p

*shakes fist*

biggest paladin change:

no more lawful good requirement. :eek:

[Ravenlock]

I've been wanting to get in on a 4E campaign pretty much since I listened to the awesome PvP & Penny-Arcade podcast of those guys playing with a WotC DM. It was hilariously great.

In the meantime, once they get the server back up, this will do as an appetizer.

[Doctor Setebos]

I've been wanting to get in on a 4E campaign pretty much since I listened to the awesome PvP & Penny-Arcade podcast of those guys playing with a WotC DM. It was hilariously great.Those podcasts were fantastic. And just by listening you learned a great deal about all of the new changes to the system.

[Rommel]

I would prefer if they got the damn virtual game table and other hyped online features of 4E working. 4E is so lacking in depth that its only benefit is as a plausible online feature set.

3.5 > 4 = TRUE

[JimmyDanger]

And the latest -


Your Server was dominated by the excited players and its CPU was trampled. Your Server headed back to the shop to purchase a huge upgrade for itself and will be back tomorrow. The horde of players was thanked again for their enthusiasm and patience.

Update:

The skill challenge before our wizards requires more successes than we initially believed. While we will continue to make arcane skill checks through out the evening, we do not expect our ritual to complete before Friday midnite (Friday, August 22nd).

Thank you for your patience. We will update you if this changes.

[greensky]

"Actually, they made a ton of great updates in D&D4, including more multi-racial job options. The game is so much more user-friendly and fun these days."

I sorta thought that D&D4 sorta butchered the game. For one you don't roll a dice to see how many hit points you get. I really prefer the 3e rules.

[JimmyDanger]

It's all working!

It's quite fun - and kinda addictive..

oh - sorry - gotta go update my adventure screen!

[Doctor Setebos]

I sorta thought that D&D4 sorta butchered the game. For one you don't roll a dice to see how many hit points you get. I really prefer the 3e rules.If you really wanted to, I supposed you could convince your GM to allow you to roll for your HP. To be honest, I like that you now just get a set HP number when you start. It was always such a trivial thing to roll for HP, and now it's just one less thing to be concerned about and get you actually playing the adventure sooner.

[LongStepMantis]

If you really wanted to, I supposed you could convince your GM to allow you to roll for your HP. To be honest, I like that you now just get a set HP number when you start. It was always such a trivial thing to roll for HP, and now it's just one less thing to be concerned about and get you actually playing the adventure sooner.

We started doing automatic max HP gain on each level, and from a player perspective I can't complain at all. I dislike being dead.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd315/longstepmantis/hp.jpg

[destoo]

well, server is at 0hp again. Some people just lost access to the app, and server is up and down.

[JimmyDanger]

Due to events beyond our control, Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures will be down until 12 pm PST, Monday August 25. We expect that even when we are able to restore the application to working order that we will have lost some of our data in the process. While we are working hard to prevent this it is likely that we will have to roll back to our stored data from Friday, August 22nd. Thank you for your patience.

Say it ain't so !

Oh well - I've been enjoying this app (almost Level 4 already enjoyment) - and have found it be just as reliable as any other on facebook. Except this app is actually good!

[Citizen Philip]

I would prefer if they got the damn virtual game table and other hyped online features of 4E working. 4E is so lacking in depth that its only benefit is as a plausible online feature set.

3.5 > 4 = TRUE

I disagree, 3.x has become an absolute joke of unbalanced spells and feats - that cobbled together make for characters that are vastly overpowered for their supposed level: multi-classing multiple front-loaded classes, ruins the game unless everyone agrees to play 'cold war D&D' where you stockpile as much ridiculous crap into your character.

The new 4 is a new direction - yes, vastly different. But at the same time, every character has a relatively equal value at every level. The lack of flavour text bickering is a nice change of pace.

[Lance Uppercut]

Too many connections Too many connections Too many connections Too many connections Too many connections

You get the idea. Otherwise, this is one of the better apps on Facebook right now.

[Rogue_hunter]

When the app is working, it's totally great.

But, more often than not, it's gone down faster than a Thai hooker.

[Sirindu]

Too many connections Too many connections Too many connections Too many connections Too many connections

You get the idea. Otherwise, this is one of the better apps on Facebook right now.

Hadn't received that error message before the last update. But now I'm getting it. A lot. Also, my first character was deleted somehow in the big blowup over the last two days. But that's okay... hadn't been doing/gotten anything spectacular with him and hadn't gone very far anyway.

[JimmyDanger]

I will admit - it's been pretty good for me for the last 12 hours or so.

Sure I lost my Lvl 4 cleric that I grinded away over the weekend (when bugs were rife) - but no biggies. It's a free app - and filling (well, partially) a massive hole that was left in my life when scrabulous disappeared.

Thankyou Wizardsbro.

[Lance Uppercut]

Well it looks like the connection problem has been mostly resolved, and my Dragonborn fighter is cruising easily to level 3 now.

[Snark]

...massive hole that was left in my life when scrabulous disappeared.

I have partially filled that hole with Wordscraper (http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2521910901). It's not the same, but it's close enough for me and my friends. It also is made by the developers of Scrabulous.

[JimmyDanger]

Encounter 3: Story Encounter

An ogre with scruffy ape-like features rounded a corner, and townsfolk screamed and ran in all directions. The ogre had a cart full of barrels in tow. He lit a fuse on one of the barrels and threw it down the road toward Jimmy Danger.

Jimmy Danger made a Strength check with a difficulty of 13 . . . and rolled 11

Jimmy Danger jumped the first barrel, but was knocked back by the second. Undeterred, he tried again . . . and again . . . each time Jimmy Danger couldn't get past the second barrel. Fortunately a little boy was sneaking up on the cart and, while the ogre was focused on Jimmy Danger, the boy was able to light the remaining barrels on fire. They exploded, killing the monkey-faced monster.

Jimmy Danger took 2 damage.

Jimmy Danger received 22 XP and 4 gold.

Wow!

Me detect a slight videogame homage....

[Sirindu]

Wow!

Me detect a slight videogame homage....

Wow, I just had the exact same encounter. And failed it. :p It was a story encounter too... so I guess we're playing the same adventure at the moment.

[LongStepMantis]

This app rules.

They seem to have the problems mostly ironed out, the only real hassle I get is during heavy traffic times It likes to kick me to the "Error in this application" page, but it runs smooth at most times.

Got my Half-Elf Pally to lvl 4, and he's shaping up nicely. I do seem to either be blessed or cursed when it comes to rolls though. One adventure I beat every encounter, next one my rolls were 3,4,7,4,11,18,9, and the final encounter...2. Yay?

[LongStepMantis]

I also seem to gets wands and rods in a 3:1 ratio over any other loot except crap armor.
Which would be awesome...if my class could use those. :p