While I believe this site would be useful to my campaign, it's much more of a luxury item than a necessity. I would happily pay the monthly subscription fee for the service, but I can't justify spending over $100 just to get digital copies of information I already have. And since I can't unlock the full functionality of the site without making that re-investment, it looks like Beyond is not for me.
Yes. I did in fact read that. I still don't feel like my question is answered. I don't understand the product I'm potentially buying, or why it has value.
So all that my subscription gets me is the ability to create characters and share a digital version of content I already own in a different form?
I just wanted to also ask, because have been talking about the purchase of books, the character builder, all that. Will the Campaign Tracking, the Virtual Tabletop, and any other Builders/Randomizers be included in the pricing shown here, or will there be additional add on prices for those services?
Thanks,
No additional site "features" are set to come at an additional cost. Licensed content only.
Checking out as thread is becoming toxic, and i feel i had a hand in it so sorry about that.
final remarks on it, i like the pricing model, and personally can't wait! I hope it develops more and things become clearer for all, and have the confidence it will.
It's not your fault it's just how things are online you have one group that asks a question and is fine with the answer, then you have the other that asks a question gets an answer doesn't like the answer and will throw a fit over it.
How does Unearthed Arcana fit into this? Is that considered official or more like homebrew level
Reddit UA?
UA can't be used as homebrew for copyright reasons. So if they don't publish it officially, you probably can't use it at all.
My understanding is that you can add it as homebrew for your private campaign or personal use, but can't make it publicly available in full.
I can't help but wonder who's going to be the first person to re-type the entire DMG and PHB as homebrew content because they don't want to spend the money. If you time is that cheap, by all means knock yourselves out.
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David Flor (@BrainClouds on Twitter) President, Darklight Interactive
How does Unearthed Arcana fit into this? Is that considered official or more like homebrew level
Reddit UA?
UA can't be used as homebrew for copyright reasons. So if they don't publish it officially, you probably can't use it at all.
Staff have confirmed that there will be a way to officially access Unearthed Arcana playtest rules on D&D Beyond.
Hrm. This whole conversation may just be really premature. I keep seeing "staff have promised" again and again: offline access, mobile tools, export options, unearthed arcana, and so on. Maybe if these things existed, a couple hundred bucks wouldn't feel so expensive.
Checking out as thread is becoming toxic, and i feel i had a hand in it so sorry about that.
final remarks on it, i like the pricing model, and personally can't wait! I hope it develops more and things become clearer for all, and have the confidence it will.
It's not your fault it's just how things are online you have one group that asks a question and is fine with the answer, then you have the other that asks a question gets an answer doesn't like the answer and will throw a fit over it.
Especially when that answer is "No, of course we're not giving it to you for free."
Your pricing Model is . . . well I want to be polite here . . . ridiculous.
What does D&D beyond offer here that Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 do not? I already have digital copies of the books through Fantasy grounds, where I even have offline access to my books, I only need to be connected when I actually want to play a game. I sincerely hope you will be working with the folks at Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 to offer access to people that have already made digital purchases, otherwise this whole thing is pretty much pointless.
Subscription, I can understand. Bandwith costs, money, sites need to be maintained. but subscription plus having to buy the books again?
As it stands I will be pointing everyone I play with to either fantasygrounds.com or Roll20.net where there is much better value for the digital purchases.
I just wanted to also ask, because have been talking about the purchase of books, the character builder, all that. Will the Campaign Tracking, the Virtual Tabletop, and any other Builders/Randomizers be included in the pricing shown here, or will there be additional add on prices for those services?
Thanks,
No additional site "features" are set to come at an additional cost. Licensed content only.
Is there going to be a virtual tabletop? I missed this....
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Grant K. Smith A+, Network+, MCP x 2, BSIT/VC, MIS
Software Engineer & Dungeon Master
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - J. R. R. Tolkien "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup" - Anonymous
As a Canadian, the full price for content in Beyond is more expensive than the physical books on Amazon.ca
I understand they want to make money and not undercut brick and mortar but I can't recommend this to anyone outside the US at those prices... I do however love the cost point for the two Tiers. I think you guys hit the right spot with those.
All that said, as a DM it shouldn't be too hard to convince your group to pitch in for the content you need plus the $9 (CDN) a month or so. For DM's and groups I think this is pretty okay, not great but okay.
Is there going to be a virtual tabletop? I missed this....
I have not received any details on a prospective virtual tabletop, no. The Twitch integration displayed in the Stream of Annihilation trailer is the closest thing I can relate to this currently.
Your pricing Model is . . . well I want to be polite here . . . ridiculous.
What does D&D beyond offer here that Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 do not? I already have digital copies of the books through Fantasy grounds, where I even have offline access to my books, I only need to be connected when I actually want to play a game. I sincerely hope you will be working with the folks at Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 to offer access to people that have already made digital purchases, otherwise this whole thing is pretty much pointless.
Subscription, I can understand. Bandwith costs, money, sites need to be maintained. but subscription plus having to buy the books again?
As it stands I will be pointing everyone I play with to either fantasygrounds.com or Roll20.net where there is much better value for the digital purchases.
The value at those two places is not better to lots of folks. If someone already invested in one of those platforms, then by all means -- stick with it.
I specifically chose not to invest in those platforms because:
content for FG is expensive and has high computer system requirements, and
content for Roll20 is expensive, and its character sheets are uglier than homemade sin.
Core content for DDB is 60% cheaper ($20/book vs $50) than it is at those places, and the digital playmaps aren't (for me, at least) worth the additional content cost. I'm not yet convinced that DDB is the right platform for me, either -- but it looks like it will provide greater value.
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Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid,Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions! I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
content for Roll20 is expensive, and its character sheets are uglier than homemade sin.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! You're not lying!!!!! I'm wondering if anyone will ever put a standard D&D character sheet on there....
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Grant K. Smith A+, Network+, MCP x 2, BSIT/VC, MIS
Software Engineer & Dungeon Master
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - J. R. R. Tolkien "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup" - Anonymous
I have to say that the pricing is ..... interesting...
I don't mind paying the subscription, and those are honestly cheaper than I thought they would be. I'll be purchasing the Master Tier as I'm the DM of my group. They can choose to get their hero tier or not, but with being able to share my content with them, they won't need to, they could just run free accounts and rock and roll.
As for the price per book, I choose to look at it like this -- I am not paying for the content of that book. I am paying Curse to put that book into the DDB format. So I ask myself, would I pay a friend $30 ($20 with first week offer) to take my PHB and put it all into a super cool digital format? You bet your ass I would. Especially since if I let my subscription lapse, I still have access to that content.
Would it suck if I had just paid another friend (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds) to put it into a digital format that doesn't quite do what I need or want? Yup, sucks for sure, but I can't expect my DDB buddy to do his work for free, so I either pony it up, or stick with what I've already purchased.
I'm lucky in that I can afford this these days. There was a time, not so far in the past where I wouldn't have been able to come up with the up front cost on this, and I understand that. But, if it was THAT important to me, I'd find a way to save up a few dollars a month until I could get the content here.
I just wanted to also ask, because have been talking about the purchase of books, the character builder, all that. Will the Campaign Tracking, the Virtual Tabletop, and any other Builders/Randomizers be included in the pricing shown here, or will there be additional add on prices for those services?
Thanks,
No additional site "features" are set to come at an additional cost. Licensed content only.
Is there going to be a virtual tabletop? I missed this....
Bradford: We have no current plans to create a virtual tabletop. Our intention is to work alongside the VTT partners Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 to integrate to add value for players. If you create a character on D&D Beyond, you will eventually be able to export that character to use while playing virtually through Fantasy Grounds or Roll20, and other integrations that make sense in the future.
Your pricing Model is . . . well I want to be polite here . . . ridiculous.
What does D&D beyond offer here that Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 do not? I already have digital copies of the books through Fantasy grounds, where I even have offline access to my books, I only need to be connected when I actually want to play a game. I sincerely hope you will be working with the folks at Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 to offer access to people that have already made digital purchases, otherwise this whole thing is pretty much pointless.
Subscription, I can understand. Bandwith costs, money, sites need to be maintained. but subscription plus having to buy the books again?
As it stands I will be pointing everyone I play with to either fantasygrounds.com or Roll20.net where there is much better value for the digital purchases.
It's not supposed to be a "here, tack this onto the growing bill". It's just another alternative. As someone who doesn't use Roll20 or FG, but knows that they both charge full MSRP for books, where DDB will charge what seems to be a hard max of $30/book, this is the more attractive option when I decide to go digital. That and I like all the tools being offered, as well as the ability to share content with your players as the DM.
I have to say that the pricing is ..... interesting...
I don't mind paying the subscription, and those are honestly cheaper than I thought they would be. I'll be purchasing the Master Tier as I'm the DM of my group. They can choose to get their hero tier or not, but with being able to share my content with them, they won't need to, they could just run free accounts and rock and roll.
As for the price per book, I choose to look at it like this -- I am not paying for the content of that book. I am paying Curse to put that book into the DDB format. So I ask myself, would I pay a friend $30 ($20 with first week offer) to take my PHB and put it all into a super cool digital format? You bet your ass I would. Especially since if I let my subscription lapse, I still have access to that content.
Would it suck if I had just paid another friend (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds) to put it into a digital format that doesn't quite do what I need or want? Yup, sucks for sure, but I can't expect my DDB buddy to do his work for free, so I either pony it up, or stick with what I've already purchased.
I'm lucky in that I can afford this these days. There was a time, not so far in the past where I wouldn't have been able to come up with the up front cost on this, and I understand that. But, if it was THAT important to me, I'd find a way to save up a few dollars a month until I could get the content here.
This right here. Well said. I still don't know if I will buy in, but this is the general tenor of the voice in my head arguing FOR buy-in.
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Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid,Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions! I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
Having read all the posts I'd like to add my two cents.
First and foremost let me say that we all come at this from different financial backgrounds and capabilities. I personally, am about to enter my second year of college, have a very limited budget with only vague plans of even how I will make money tomorrow, not to mention 4 years from now. That being said, come launch I will be shelling out the $90 for PhB, MM, DMG, and VgtM. Luckily, I homebrew my campaigns so I don't need the extra $25 for a campaign. I will also sign up for the Master Tier subscription. Even on my college budget I can handle that. I also will not be asking my party to help me cover these costs. I don't know how long we will be together and I don't know how readily they want to use this service so I'm doing it solo. I find that while on the high end for entertainment prices, I can easily justify a one time cost for that content. As well as I expect to pick up Xanthar's Guide to Everything when it launches for $30 as well. That's me personally.
I am a little disappointed that I don't have the "$15 a month for everything while I'm a subscriber" because that is honestly how I would prefer to use it for the first 2 months while I test it out before making long-term purchases. As well as a college student with my future VERY uncertain, this gives me the most flexibility.
A suggestion. Something Syrinscape (a subscription based tabletop music service) does is offer its service as a subscription for access to the full sound library or flat purchase for each individual track. If you are a subscriber and you stop being one, you keep any new tracks that were released while you were a subscriber. I don't think that is feasible in the same way for DnDBeyond, but perhaps a "After 12 months of support, you receive half off of a book purchase". That would certainly incentivise me to subscribe and keep my subscription.
I have to say that the pricing is ..... interesting...
I don't mind paying the subscription, and those are honestly cheaper than I thought they would be. I'll be purchasing the Master Tier as I'm the DM of my group. They can choose to get their hero tier or not, but with being able to share my content with them, they won't need to, they could just run free accounts and rock and roll.
As for the price per book, I choose to look at it like this -- I am not paying for the content of that book. I am paying Curse to put that book into the DDB format. So I ask myself, would I pay a friend $30 ($20 with first week offer) to take my PHB and put it all into a super cool digital format? You bet your ass I would. Especially since if I let my subscription lapse, I still have access to that content.
Would it suck if I had just paid another friend (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds) to put it into a digital format that doesn't quite do what I need or want? Yup, sucks for sure, but I can't expect my DDB buddy to do his work for free, so I either pony it up, or stick with what I've already purchased.
I'm lucky in that I can afford this these days. There was a time, not so far in the past where I wouldn't have been able to come up with the up front cost on this, and I understand that. But, if it was THAT important to me, I'd find a way to save up a few dollars a month until I could get the content here.
Also.... from now on I will refer to D&D Beyond as my "DDB Buddy" :)
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While I believe this site would be useful to my campaign, it's much more of a luxury item than a necessity. I would happily pay the monthly subscription fee for the service, but I can't justify spending over $100 just to get digital copies of information I already have. And since I can't unlock the full functionality of the site without making that re-investment, it looks like Beyond is not for me.
Yes. I did in fact read that. I still don't feel like my question is answered. I don't understand the product I'm potentially buying, or why it has value.
So all that my subscription gets me is the ability to create characters and share a digital version of content I already own in a different form?
[ Site Rules & Guidelines ] --- [ Homebrew Rules & Guidelines ]
Send me a message with any questions or concerns
David Flor (@BrainClouds on Twitter)
President, Darklight Interactive
"Omne ignotum pro magnifico"
I'm down for 5.99 a month.
Your pricing Model is . . . well I want to be polite here . . . ridiculous.
What does D&D beyond offer here that Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 do not? I already have digital copies of the books through Fantasy grounds, where I even have offline access to my books, I only need to be connected when I actually want to play a game. I sincerely hope you will be working with the folks at Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 to offer access to people that have already made digital purchases, otherwise this whole thing is pretty much pointless.
Subscription, I can understand. Bandwith costs, money, sites need to be maintained. but subscription plus having to buy the books again?
As it stands I will be pointing everyone I play with to either fantasygrounds.com or Roll20.net where there is much better value for the digital purchases.
Grant K. Smith
A+, Network+, MCP x 2, BSIT/VC, MIS
Software Engineer & Dungeon Master
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - J. R. R. Tolkien
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup" - Anonymous
As a Canadian, the full price for content in Beyond is more expensive than the physical books on Amazon.ca
I understand they want to make money and not undercut brick and mortar but I can't recommend this to anyone outside the US at those prices... I do however love the cost point for the two Tiers. I think you guys hit the right spot with those.
All that said, as a DM it shouldn't be too hard to convince your group to pitch in for the content you need plus the $9 (CDN) a month or so. For DM's and groups I think this is pretty okay, not great but okay.
[ Site Rules & Guidelines ] --- [ Homebrew Rules & Guidelines ]
Send me a message with any questions or concerns
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid, Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck
Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions!
I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
Grant K. Smith
A+, Network+, MCP x 2, BSIT/VC, MIS
Software Engineer & Dungeon Master
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - J. R. R. Tolkien
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup" - Anonymous
I have to say that the pricing is ..... interesting...
I don't mind paying the subscription, and those are honestly cheaper than I thought they would be. I'll be purchasing the Master Tier as I'm the DM of my group. They can choose to get their hero tier or not, but with being able to share my content with them, they won't need to, they could just run free accounts and rock and roll.
As for the price per book, I choose to look at it like this -- I am not paying for the content of that book. I am paying Curse to put that book into the DDB format. So I ask myself, would I pay a friend $30 ($20 with first week offer) to take my PHB and put it all into a super cool digital format? You bet your ass I would. Especially since if I let my subscription lapse, I still have access to that content.
Would it suck if I had just paid another friend (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds) to put it into a digital format that doesn't quite do what I need or want? Yup, sucks for sure, but I can't expect my DDB buddy to do his work for free, so I either pony it up, or stick with what I've already purchased.
I'm lucky in that I can afford this these days. There was a time, not so far in the past where I wouldn't have been able to come up with the up front cost on this, and I understand that. But, if it was THAT important to me, I'd find a way to save up a few dollars a month until I could get the content here.
Eshuvenniel Kazander Ravid, Valor Bard and Acolyte of the Goddess of Luck
Caradoc Langham, Halfling Rogue - Lost Magics - Epic of Pre-made Proportions!
I'm not looking for heaven or hell... just someone to listen to stories I tell...
Having read all the posts I'd like to add my two cents.
First and foremost let me say that we all come at this from different financial backgrounds and capabilities. I personally, am about to enter my second year of college, have a very limited budget with only vague plans of even how I will make money tomorrow, not to mention 4 years from now. That being said, come launch I will be shelling out the $90 for PhB, MM, DMG, and VgtM. Luckily, I homebrew my campaigns so I don't need the extra $25 for a campaign. I will also sign up for the Master Tier subscription. Even on my college budget I can handle that. I also will not be asking my party to help me cover these costs. I don't know how long we will be together and I don't know how readily they want to use this service so I'm doing it solo. I find that while on the high end for entertainment prices, I can easily justify a one time cost for that content. As well as I expect to pick up Xanthar's Guide to Everything when it launches for $30 as well. That's me personally.
I am a little disappointed that I don't have the "$15 a month for everything while I'm a subscriber" because that is honestly how I would prefer to use it for the first 2 months while I test it out before making long-term purchases. As well as a college student with my future VERY uncertain, this gives me the most flexibility.
A suggestion. Something Syrinscape (a subscription based tabletop music service) does is offer its service as a subscription for access to the full sound library or flat purchase for each individual track. If you are a subscriber and you stop being one, you keep any new tracks that were released while you were a subscriber. I don't think that is feasible in the same way for DnDBeyond, but perhaps a "After 12 months of support, you receive half off of a book purchase". That would certainly incentivise me to subscribe and keep my subscription.