D20srd.org acquired by BoLS Interactive

[Garryl]

It looks like everyone's favorite d20srd.org has been acquired by BoLS Interactive/http://www.belloflostsouls.net. I'm glad that whoever the fellow was that running it before (Jans Carton, if Google's cached pages are accurate) was able to make some money off of it from the sale (presumably, right?). It was always a great, convenient resource.

It's mildly disappointing/annoying that the site has ads on it now, but then what do you expect from a free site? It's more that they're suddenly there, inserted into a layout not designed for them and that I'm used to not having any ads at all than that the idea of ads offends me. I'm sure it won't be as jarring once I get used to it and the new owners adjust the layout appropriately.

Edit: Also, the spell filter tool appears to be broken.

[RedWarlock]

Ughhhh. I just can't even, right now. Seriously? Seriously. This is the worst.

The advertising model is dying, man.  Ad blockers make the whole idea worthless. I work in advertising, I work at a newspaper,  and even after switching so that the paper is a niche product, and the website is their main deal, they are losing their shit over this.  This feels like a horrible, intrusive cash–grab.

 There are better ways.  Patreon and the like are the micropayments that Scott McCloud has been talking about for decades.

[Amechra]

I've been using this one for years.

I've always found it easier to navigate.

[ketaro]

Hahahahaha, I went to the d20srd right now to see what you were talking about and thought "Where are all the ads he was talking about?"

Then I realized I'd forgotten I use an adblocker 

[PlzBreakMyCampaign]

Adds are the graffiti on the architecture

[Ice9]

There are better ways.  Patreon and the like are the micropayments that Scott McCloud has been talking about for decades.

Really?  Personally speaking, I'd rather have some ads on the SRD than have to pay a monthly fee to access it.

And yes, it would have to be for accessing it - it's the SRD for a system that came out 13 years ago, there isn't going to be much new content for people to sponsor.  I mean sure, there's "everyone can access it for free, people just voluntarily donate", but that relies on there being enough big patrons to cover it, and that's by no means a guarantee.

I should add - in this case, it isn't even about the cost, it's about being able to, in the middle of a game, without having my computer around, ask someone to look something up there and they easily can.  So even if it was $0.25 a month, I would rather have ads.

[RedWarlock]

I'm a patreon sponsor for the d20PFSRD, so I'm on the other end. Not everybody needs to sponsor, or even most, hosting costs are negligible.

If I had the option for ads as a free viewer, or monthly sponsorship without ads on a site I used regularly, I would go monthly no problem.

[SorO_Lost]

Hahahahaha, I went to the d20srd right now to see what you were talking about and thought "Where are all the ads he was talking about?"

Then I realized I'd forgotten I use an adblocker 

Same thing here. It also doesn't help I used Sovelior's SRD (Amerchra's link) as a local copy on all my home computers so I generally don't even use the website either. d20srd is for quote links when relevant because the original Sovelior link is ridiculously long.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Looks like they're adding some stuff to the site.

[RedWarlock]

Mmmm. *grudging acceptance*

[Amechra]

Mmmm. *grudging acceptance*

I really don't understand why people are treating this like there's no other option.

Again, dndsrd.net has all of the same information, a full search with a monster and spell filter, and (in my opinion) is better organized and better looking.

It's exactly the same as what Sor0 linked earlier, without the ridiculously long URL.


Can anyone explain to me why d20srd.org is the accepted standard?

[linklord231]

Can anyone explain to me why d20srd.org is the accepted standard?

Because it has a dot org domain name, and people think it's official.  And also because it's like the top non-homebrew result when you search for "d&d 3.5", even above the Wizard's one.

It irks me every time someone appeals to "the" srd, as if it's the only one.  Heck, I always have to double check the information on there because it leaves out crucial example text. 

[nijineko]

I downloaded all that so long ago, that I seldom if ever go to that site. Not to mention the actual srd from wizards. Both of which are easily searchable with any computer with proper indexing set up.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

So ... the dudes in-charge over there, might wanna rethink their Ad Tactics.

Android 4.4 crashes.
Google Chrome crashes.
Mozilla Firefox crashes, on a large mainframe system.

It looks like the site is booting up 2 TV quality video ads at the same time.
So far as I can tell, the systems I have access to, can only handle 1 TV quality video at a time, and it needs time to download it, and I can't have pre-loaded the page, and I can't have been using flash on an unclosed window.  ETC ...

Yer laying too much pipe.

[ketaro]

Use an ad blocker?

If you don't like doing that, just have the ad blocker disabled on all sites except the SRD?

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Yes right.

I ought to get it for my old tablet (someday-ish).
I have something on my Chromebook, but it isn't handling many different sites.
No say so, on the MozFox setup ... it's the weenie filter I've now traditionally beyotched about.


Could try Amechra's link, I think I can, I think I can ...