What would it take for legacy content to be added back to DDB? There are many of us that would spend our hard-earned money to buy such content.
Another idea: Since virtually every piece of official content from previous versions has been digitized, how cool would it be to make it all available? Everything from OD&D, BECMI, AD&D1e, AD&D2e, 3e/3.5e, and 4e. I'm positive WotC would make a killing on it all.
For those that want just one edition or another, but want to use content from other versions, there are conversion instructions to convert to any version you like.
I imagine the first stumbling block is obtaining the text. If you look at the sales from DM's Guild of older content, a lot of it contains low quality scans, because they don't have original sources. The second part is, to make it 'work' in D&D Beyond, would require a massive amount of coding to make each part function properly. On a greater scale than the 2014->2024 work. I imagine implementing THAC0, would have zero overlap with their existing AC code.
So while they could make quite a bit of money on the simple sales of sources, they're already doing that on DM's Guild where you can buy all of that content. The coding so the products work in like existing character sheets would be massive for not a big reward.
I don't really mean to build character builders, campaign tools, etc, like 5e/5e+ has. Just make it all available to purchase as downloadable digital content.
With modern OCR tools, it wouldn't take much to get a scan of the text to update it and make it searchable. The images and maps from the lower quality scans may need an update, but a small team could crank out all of that pretty quickly with the right tools and know-how. They could even make the maps into a single-page image instead of how most scans will have them split due to being part of the cover folder.
As for character builders, there are plenty of 3rd party, and even a few licensed builders already out there. (Think PCGen.)
It would be nice to have older material available in a similar format as D&D Beyond has, although that's a pipe dream, I'm sure.
As for 5e legacy content, I know that a lot has been updated in more recent releases, but it would be great if they'd make digital purchasing available for things like VGtM and MtoF. They were available at one time, and if you own it, you can still access it on the site, so why not just add it back in?
I don't really mean to build character builders, campaign tools, etc, like 5e/5e+ has. Just make it all available to purchase as downloadable digital content.
With modern OCR tools, it wouldn't take much to get a scan of the text to update it and make it searchable. The images and maps from the lower quality scans may need an update, but a small team could crank out all of that pretty quickly with the right tools and know-how. They could even make the maps into a single-page image instead of how most scans will have them split due to being part of the cover folder.
As for character builders, there are plenty of 3rd party, and even a few licensed builders already out there. (Think PCGen.)
It would be nice to have older material available in a similar format as D&D Beyond has, although that's a pipe dream, I'm sure.
As for 5e legacy content, I know that a lot has been updated in more recent releases, but it would be great if they'd make digital purchasing available for things like VGtM and MtoF. They were available at one time, and if you own it, you can still access it on the site, so why not just add it back in?
If all you want is the old books in digital form, it already exists, for sale, by WOTC:
What would it take for legacy content to be added back to DDB? There are many of us that would spend our hard-earned money to buy such content.
Another idea: Since virtually every piece of official content from previous versions has been digitized, how cool would it be to make it all available? Everything from OD&D, BECMI, AD&D1e, AD&D2e, 3e/3.5e, and 4e. I'm positive WotC would make a killing on it all.
For those that want just one edition or another, but want to use content from other versions, there are conversion instructions to convert to any version you like.
I imagine the first stumbling block is obtaining the text. If you look at the sales from DM's Guild of older content, a lot of it contains low quality scans, because they don't have original sources. The second part is, to make it 'work' in D&D Beyond, would require a massive amount of coding to make each part function properly. On a greater scale than the 2014->2024 work. I imagine implementing THAC0, would have zero overlap with their existing AC code.
So while they could make quite a bit of money on the simple sales of sources, they're already doing that on DM's Guild where you can buy all of that content. The coding so the products work in like existing character sheets would be massive for not a big reward.
I don't really mean to build character builders, campaign tools, etc, like 5e/5e+ has. Just make it all available to purchase as downloadable digital content.
With modern OCR tools, it wouldn't take much to get a scan of the text to update it and make it searchable. The images and maps from the lower quality scans may need an update, but a small team could crank out all of that pretty quickly with the right tools and know-how. They could even make the maps into a single-page image instead of how most scans will have them split due to being part of the cover folder.
As for character builders, there are plenty of 3rd party, and even a few licensed builders already out there. (Think PCGen.)
It would be nice to have older material available in a similar format as D&D Beyond has, although that's a pipe dream, I'm sure.
As for 5e legacy content, I know that a lot has been updated in more recent releases, but it would be great if they'd make digital purchasing available for things like VGtM and MtoF. They were available at one time, and if you own it, you can still access it on the site, so why not just add it back in?
If all you want is the old books in digital form, it already exists, for sale, by WOTC:
Original Edition: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?filters=0_0_0_0_0_45344_0_0&src=fid45344
BECMI: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/116578/DD-Basic-Set--Players-Manual-BECMI-ed-Basic?filters=0_0_0_0_0_45345_0_0
1st Edition Core Rules:
2nd Edition Core Rules:
If that's not what you want, I'm not sure what you're looking for.