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[Update 1] Character import: URL changed, update needed
🕑 Added 2020-06-10 20:48:27 +0000 UTCUpdate 1:
Many people voiced their opinion in a very civil way, that was amazing to see, thank you for speaking out for you and everyone else! Tigon - if you were a policital candidate, I would definitely vote for you, your response was amazing to read :)
I was contact by a member of the D&D Beyond staff and we had a very pleasant chat. There is an official response in the forum thread by him, too, and the question was asked and answered in length in today's twitch stream (linked in Molster's post).
It boils down to having a currently somewhat stable character endpoint (the one we switched to), which is in constant and on-going development. That means that there can be changes to the URL as time evolves, but we are in touch now and get to know about the changes (if possible) before they are taking place so we can prepare for the changes instead of reacting to them.
Since we are in touch now, we can provide feedback about the requirements that we have when it comes to structuring the API. This is really, really great and I am looking forward to this. Note: The availability of the API and this "collaboration" is in an undecided point in time. Still, I do feel that we went together into the right direction and I am looking forward to an officially supported API endpoint.
Thanks everyone!
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So many posts this week, I hope I do not bore you. I want to get the latest change as visible as possible:
D&D Beyond began to remove previously undocumented and therefore in-official HTTP endpoints, this was announced two days ago in the Character Sheet Changelog. I checked yesterday, and the /json-URL was still functional, but today it stopped working, instead it showed a 404 - resource not found. Bummer.
I created a quick response, as requested in the changelog: Detailing how we are using the data received by that URL and that it was one of the cornerstones that made D&D Beyond a great management platform that worked insanely well with Foundry VTT as a gaming platform. In the following posts, I was introduced to another URL where the data is presented, albeit in a slightly different way and with minimal changes, we are up and running again.
For now.
So two things are important for you to know:
First, if you are reading this and haven't updated in a while, please do so now. You will be greeted with a popup which is shown only once per module update, to not nag you. It gives you roughly the same info as this post.
Second If you like the character import, you can always voice that opinion on the official D&D Beyond forums. This is not a rallying cry for an internet shit storm - I really like the guys over at D&D Beyond - I just would like to retain some data retrieval URL.
Making your voice visible indicates that this is not the request from a vain developer, but coming from a broader user-base. It might make a difference.
You can find the relevant thread on the D&D Beyond feedback forum. Please remain civil when creating a post there. We are using an in-official URL that was not documented. Still, I would love to have an alternative prior to the removal, and perhaps you are feeling the same.
Thank you,
Sebastian
Comments
Jim R
As the father to two children, and someone who works in the technology industry, no apologies necessary! Time off whether due to a joyous occasion such as the birth of a child, or due to mental fatigue is not only needed but required!
Drunemeton
Thank you for the speedy update!!! My first session for my new Theros campaign was this past Wednesday and (of course) no one did any updating in Foundry until game time…when suddenly the Oh Nossss started pouring in that they couldn't get the JSON data. A super quick visit to the VTTA Discord solved the problem and had us up and running with almost zero downtime.
Good to hear!
Blaine Hewett
So we cannot import PC characters using the tool anymore? I tried that new link and the import tool isn't recognizing it. Edit - Disregard, I was silly and didn't know how to update Foundry modules, got it!
StealthyDruid
The update is fantastic news!! I had just refreshed the forum thread and read Molster's post. Thank you for giving us even more insight on what to expect going forward. This is really GREAT news to hear! I'm so glad to have found Foundry, VTTAssets and I'm really proud to be a supporter on Patreon too. Thank you for everything you're doing for us Sebastian!
Steven Van Cauteren
Done.
Sebastian Will
For now, it does. For how Long is unknown (Imam hopeful, though, that it might be for longer since of the v3, which matches the current char sheet version)
Seth Tobin
So does that mean the new link works?
Seth Tobin
I always figured they would actually buy one. Since Fantasy Grounds is "official" I thought there might be a merger but they could adopt Foundry and let all us needs dev for free for them... guess we'll see what happens.
Scott
Could they not be closing borders against VTT competition as they seem to be looking at creating their own VTT service eventually?
Sebastian Will
I do get that more often recently. They seemed to have upped their detection routines.
Mark Mealman
On the character json: "Access to this page has been denied because we believe you are using automation tools to browse the website." That's really a weird block, considering one of their initial selling points early on was that they've have APIs for third party tools.
