Posted over on the WOTC forums...

Here's what I just posted over on the WOTC forums:

I know it's been a while since I posted, but I wanted to give an update on how things are going.

I started a version 2.0 of the spreadsheet. I know this slows down the data entry part of the sheet, but I believe the 2.0 version has many many improvements built-in. I don't have to try to work around things because I'm using "lessons learned" from all the previous versions.

Some of the improvements:

Being able to pick your class's specializations (Ranger two-weapon vs beast master, wizard implements, warlock pacts, etc.). These are auto-populated in a pull-down menu and can be factored into other parts of the character.

A good example of this is on the feats tab, which now has a "Class Feat" that is automatically populated (toughness if a ranger picks two-weapons, etc.).

This may be minor but the skill sheet now has a simple pull-down YES/NO for trained vs. untrained. This will help new players because typing in "5" to represent a trained skill is not really intuitive.

Variable points buy ability. In case your DM lets you built a character with more than 22 points, you can type this in now. This is extremely minor, since you could have just ignored the warnings when you went over 22 points on the old sheet.

Removal of "Pre-Requisites" from the feat tab. I know this is a downgrade, but it speeds up data entry and I wasn't really using it for anything. It's a lot of work for the sheet to really check for pre-reqs.

Better explanation of calculations, and the automatic inclusion of more and more feats into the final numbers. For example, toughness is factored in based on your level. You'll be able to see anything that affects your AC or to-hit numbers and then choose to fill in the bonuses yourself. Some of it will still be automated, but things that are on/off (such as two-weapon defense) will be listed and you can type in the value. This helps because you used to have to try to figure out what the sheet was automating and what it was missing.

Complete overhaul of the DATA tab to make future entry easier and less-likely to miss things.

New Card Output. Not much of a change, but it looks a little cleaner to me now.

Improved equipment page. It's still a work in progress, but it's better than it was.

Something else... something minor... oh yeah! Paragon and Epic stuff finally!

And, most importantly, more descriptions and instructions. I want to make this the easiest sheet for helping out new players, while still being flexible enough for experienced DMs.

Sorry about the delays. I'm working hard on this and hope to have a beta of 2.0 out very very soon. But like Blizzard and Starcraft 2, it'll be done when it's done.