Stormknight, I believe you posted your big one while I was typing my questions, so I apologize if it seems like I didn't read it or there is some overlap lol.

I'm a DnD adventures league only player.

For$20/$30 I get the PHB for life.

For $30 I get XGE for life. ( PHB+1 Rule)

For $0 I get all SRD content and 6 characters max (which I will delete when not needed)

I paid $50/$60 with no subscription fee and got all that for life. Shut up and take my money.

Quote from CyberNigma >>

Quote from Sedge >>

I bought Overwatch on PC and would love to play with my PS4 friends, but Blizzard isn't reimbursing my copy, nor providing access to the same game on the console.

I'm not seeing why this is expected to be different with D&D Beyond, as it's a proven business practice across multiple products/genres.

 You should try Rocket League or Minecraft (non-java).   You still can't play with your PS4 friends (due to Sony's decision), but you can play Rocket League with your XBone and PC friends or Minecraft (after the update this summer) with your XBone, PC , iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch friends.   :-)

I'm not saying everything is cross-platform (or even should be as it is the platform owner and publishers choice), but you picked one specific example (Blizzard/Overwatch - WoW is cross-platform) so I just thought I'd pick another example to balance it out.

Don't take this to mean I'm siding against you in this argument. I know very well that there is more work to digitizing content (especially in a new usable format like DDB).  I just cringe and believe that sometimes bad or incomplete comparisons bring down a side of the argument for everyone else kind of like a weakest link.

Is it the norm? no, definitely not.  Does it happen? yes, more and more as we move into the future.   Steam is pretty good about allowing you to buy a game once that will play on any platform it supports (PC, Mac, Linux) now.

Quote from Ray57913 >>

Quote from BadEye >>

Quote from DrGerm >>

As an extreme example, and let me say first that I'm really complaining to Hasbro/WoTC, not really with Curse:

So, are you saying that if all I ever wanted to do was to create an Aasimar Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance subclass, with the Purple Dragon Knight Background, equipped with a Dawnbringer and a Blod Stone in his inventory, that I would have to purchase:

1. Player's Handbook for $29.99
2. Dungeon Master's Guide for $29.99
3. Volo's Guide to Monsters for $29.99
4. Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide for $29.99
5. Storm King's Thunder for $24.99
6. Out of the Abyss for $24.99
7. In addition, say I subscribed at just the $3/mo for the next 12 months to see if this actually develops into a proper service and add a homebrew magic shield that the DM created to this character

For a grand total of $205.94 ?

And, mind you, that I've already purchased each of these books (and every other 5e book) twice already, as well as purchasing each for use within Fantasy Grounds in addition to all kinds of stuff off DMs Guild. And even more, having to pay for a separate "real" campaign management package since it looks like you guys are misinterpreting what that term means.

And then nothing at all to show for the 12 months of paying into a subscription model vs just let me pay once for the satisfaction that I've paid my dues and I'm done for the lifetime of 5e.

And, still, none of this includes a legal PDF copy of any of these books?

I just want to be sure I'm fully understanding the extent of how much WoTC is expecting to rip us off.

I mean, I'm a sucker, and I'm lucky to have very good income for hobbies [I've certainly wasted a lot more money on other things *cough* KS1-5 of Dwarven Forge...] I may very well do it if there is something... anything... that you will offer that I really want to use that I can't get elsewhere. But, I guess I'm saying I just want to understand the full extent of how much I'm being taken advantage of before I willingly to go along with it...

No, if that's specifically what you want to play, you could alternatively make for a minimum purchase: Aasimar Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance subclass, with the Purple Dragon Knight Background, equipped with a Dawnbringer and a Blod Stone in his inventory

• Aasimar Race - $2.99
• Paladin Class (with all PHB options) - $3.99
• (Purple Dragon Knight is actually a fighter subclass, but let's assume that you mean some kind of background from SCAG): Shhh, don't tell anyone, but you will be able to customize a background entirely, so if you don't mind a little bit of typing, then the cost is $0. If you really wanted to buy one, then it's $1.99.
• The two magic items for $1.99 each

For a total of $12.95.

There will also be other "bundles" that will give you those things and other things like them for a good bit less than your original assessment.

The model has flexibility. Again, this is framed using your words of "if all I ever wanted to do."

Thanks!

 Yeah Its 12.95 for one character. but what about when you start a new game and are playing a tibaxi rogue criminal who ends up getting different magical items.  That's another 12.95.  What about when they play a 3rd character and 4th?  I have 15 characters saved right now in Hero Lab,  and I only had to pay one price.  I can also use that to run encounters as well.  With Realm Works I can also track an entire campaign and what the party knows.  Yes for pre-generated content I will have to pay for the book again but then its mine, no micro transactions to nickle and dime me.

Quote from Jade >>

I'm a DnD adventures league only player.

For$20/$30 I get the PHB for life.

For $30 I get ZGE for life. ( PHB+1 Rule)

For $0 I get all SRD content and 6 characters max (which I will delete when not needed)

I paid $50/$60 with no subscription fee and got all that for life. Shut up and take my money.

 

Quote from Clarinch >>

Anything special for Amazon Prime members, in terms of pricing?

Personally, I'm happy with the pricing, but I understand the concerns about the cost of individual elements adding up. What if there is an option to "complete my book" that reduces the price of the book by however much you paid for the race or magic item or whatever you already bought (like iTunes lets you complete your albums)?

Quote from RLaundry >>

Quote from Clarinch >>

Anything special for Amazon Prime members, in terms of pricing?

 And can i stack that with my AAA discount too? 😃

I also have a coupon for the Jelly of the Month Club!

Thank you. Will fix.

I just finished my blog talking about the pricing and stuff. For me the price scores very high for DND Players. Things spiral into crazy town for DM's/GRoup Master Tier ( I won't go into my issues with "Group" accounts in a reply)

Quote from Osgood >>

Personally, I'm happy with the pricing, but I understand the concerns about the cost of individual elements adding up. What if there is an option to "complete my book" that reduces the price of the book by however much you paid for the race or magic item or whatever you already bought (like iTunes lets you complete your albums)?

I'm very thankful for the amount of flexibility in this pricing structure.  

I'm happy with the price of the "books."  I don't see it as rebuying content I already own, but as paying for having all that content turned into a database/tool set.   I have twice built a (much smaller, not web-based) relational database from scratch, so I have a great deal of appreciation for the amount of work Curse has put into the conversion.  From an opportunity cost perspective, this is a no brainer for me:  the time it would take for me to input everything from the PHB into the tools is worth far more that $20 or even $30.  Plus, if I purchase the PHB on DDB, it will also function as a second copy of the PHB (which I would have had to pay for).  I can have DDB up on my tablet, and the players can have the PHB on their side of the screen.  I'm already doing this at the games I run at the local library, even just with the SRD available.  I'm also in a PbP game, and I often respond to that one while on break at work, where I don't have my physical books.  Before DDB I was using the SRD pdf; now I use DDB; it will become even more useful once I buy the PHB, since I play a beastmaster ranger not covered in the SRD.

I appreciate the ability to purchase individual items (races, etc) and subsets.  My ranger is a high elf with the booming blade cantrip, so I can purchase just that cantrip, or maybe just the SCAG spells, not all of SCAG if I decide that makes sense. 

I DM mostly, but I don't (at this point) need either of the subscriptions.  I can see how they would definitely be useful for some players & DMs, but glad I don't have to get one to do what I want/need from DDB.   

I plan to start slow, just buying the PHB at launch, and waiting for Christmas/birthdays for additional content.  That also gives me time to assess how much I might use the content of the other books (especially monsters, but maybe also DMGs compendium info and/or magic items) on DDB while at the table.  My guess it for magic items that it will make more sense for me to enter what I need manually as private homebrew.  If the rest of the family gets on the DDB bandwagon, maybe we'll look at the the Master Tier, but right now my teens prefer books over digital content.

I'm a part of the market that simply doesn't have the budget or the need for d20 or FG at their price point or with their functionality, but DDB is a great fit for me, and with the wide variety of options for pricing content and services, I think they've managed to be a viable option for a number of different facets/factions of the market.

Quote from Osgood >>

Personally, I'm happy with the pricing, but I understand the concerns about the cost of individual elements adding up. What if there is an option to "complete my book" that reduces the price of the book by however much you paid for the race or magic item or whatever you already bought (like iTunes lets you complete your albums)?

I have been a Beta user since Day 1.  I must say, am very happy with what is provided for free.  I own all the books and since there will be a PDF print out option, I can quickly write in any that is not covered by the SRD content.  After seeing the pricing structure consider me hooked on the free SRD content and I will continue to buy the books. If Curse followed the DDI model that WotC had for 4E, I would have been OK with paying a subscription fee.   

I was wondering how many player accounts the Master Tier would be able link to? I DM for 3 different groups of up to 6 people at the studio I work at. I'm not looking to exploit the system but at the same time I don't want to have to pay for 3 different accounts and have to purchase the sourcebooks multiple time just for the convenience. 

Hey so maybe this has been answered but if I get the master tier subscription will my players only be able to see what I want them to see? Like I want them to be able to access the PHB for instance but not the adventure I'm running if I buy the digital Storm King's Thunder for example?

Yes you can decide to show them what you prefer. You can even make one of your "guest" DM.

Quote from PainTrainXpress >>

I was wondering how many player accounts the Master Tier would be able link to? I DM for 3 different groups of up to 6 people at the studio I work at. I'm not looking to exploit the system but at the same time I don't want to have to pay for 3 different accounts and have to purchase the sourcebooks multiple time just for the convenience. 

I guess this (pricing) wouldn't be so bad for people starting out. As it is, for those of us that have been playing for some time, myself included, have already spent a boat load of cash on books. Now we are expected to pay another boat load PLUS a monthly sub for digital content? Don't get me wrong I respect the fact that people put a lot of time and effort into this project. Still, these prices seem pretty silly to me. I can essentially get all of these features by using the FightClub5/GameMaster5 and Roll20 programs, which are a whopping zero dollars and w/no monthly sub cost. This company is flashing 'officially licensed content' around like its somehow different from a compendium put together by the community of Roll20 or orthers. The look might be different (sometimes) but the details and numbers are essentially the same. The function is the same. I'm seeing a lot of other disappointed players on other discussion boards regarding this pricing situation. This program may be official content, but it isn't anything completely new. I'm not trying to put down the program itself. Don't get me wrong, I like what I've seen! It's pretty! But when it comes to weighing out the cost with the function and bringing into consideration there are free programs that supplement this program, I'm just not feeling it.  Much love to you guys all the same!