I'm beginning to notice I could buy a bunch of triple A games by the same cost of your most expensive subscription... Am I crazy? I must have misread. This can't be right, I must be missing something.
The most expensive subscription is $54.99 annually. I don't think I could get one AAA title for that!
Unless you mean the Legendary Bundle? That is not a subscription, it is a purchase of all of the books for digital use, database and character builder integration, and reading here and on the mobile app. That is 13+ adventures and 8+ source books. It also includes a discount on future purchases.
The Legendary Bundle is not a subscription. It is a purchase granting 28 sources + 15% discount on future purchases.
Yes, it is very expensive, but reasonably so, considering the amount of sources.
You could get the Legendary Bundle a piece at a time, and in the end you will spend the same amount of money, as every purchase you make lowers the price of the a Bundle by the same amount.
To answer the question in the title of the thread, you can play this game without spending anything, though it does rely on the generosity of others. That they provide the sourcebooks, that they provide the dice, etc etc. If playing online however, all you really need is one of many freely provided dice apps and the free Basic Rules.
If you want to own all of the material yourself, either digital, physical or both, then yes, it is more expensive. However, this is less comparable to a AAA game and more to a gaming system that comes with AAA games.
Ok I already got a bunch of those in hardcover. I need to buy them again just so I can use them in this platform? I don't need adventures either. Is there something cheaper than this? cause I'm seriously thinking about writing an open source app for this sort of thing. After I saw Fantasy Grounds' "Christmas Sale Bundle" for 10 thousand dollars I kind of gave up, you know... People are actually working on game development in this world and they don't make that much money. People programme a little API and expect to be the next Bill Gates... This world is crazy! Not because you're all conning your customers, but because so many of them are falling for it!
Those prices are cheaper than buying the books in hardcover. It is a bargain compared to buying them as paper books at a bookstore or game store. Plus at least 2/3 of the books are only useful to DM’s and those of us who don’t DM don’t want them.
Ok I already got a bunch of those in hardcover. I need to buy them again just so I can use them in this platform?
You can just manually enter the info for any player options you down own on DDB using the homebrew system (which, despite the name, is exactly the same set of tools the developers use for the official options.)
I'm seriously thinking about writing an open source app for this sort of thing.
I wouldn't rightly recommend it, as Wizards of the Coast has been known to take legal action to protect copyright infringements against their intellectual property. Posting intent to do so from your IP wouldn't be the best way to start 2019, methinks.
People programme a little API and expect to be the next Bill Gates...
Well, since it's so easy, why don't you do it and become the next Bill Gates? Imagine how much money you would save on just the infrastructure, rent and salaries of the dozens of employees that D&D Beyond employ by just doing it all yourself?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
I would imagine Fortnite spends a lot more on that stuff and also kudos to them for actually developing an actual game adored by hundreds of millions instead of just licensing D&D and charging a fortune for it. I seriously doubt WotC is to blame for such high prices. I'm sad to see so many of you seem to think so. WotC makes money off of streamers more than anything nowadays. And they are the parent company of D&D actually. And in turn Hasbro is their parent company. Hasbro has licensed a lot of their incredibly successful games for indie devs for reasonable prices. I would expect WotC to do the same. So licensing isn't getting the biggest slice of this ridiculously expensive cake.
About being easy: it is. It's an app with a not so great front end, a database behind and some servers. Mojang still needs a lot more infrastructure to run their dying game, and you don't see them charging unfairly. And they wouldn't have a mod threaten to reveal my IP to Hasbro so they could sue me for copyright infringement. For two reasons: a) they have some class b) none of their moderators would be so unprofessional. That's why I suppose this one works here... oh, reason c) Hasbro's spokesperson would roll their eyes...
It sounds like you have economics all figured out. Please direct your suggestions to these companies and advise how you've found better ways to conduct the business of the D&D property:
What prices, exactly, are you complaining about as being unfair?
You can use the D&D Beyond service without paying a dime. If you want digital copies of the various books, you can purchase them on this service for a bit cheaper than their MSRP. If you want to use some of the additional features of D&D Beyond that are locked behind subscriptions, you can purchase those subscriptions.
None of the subscriptions are as expensive as a AAA video game (though it does recur, which can add up over time). If you're complaining about the cost of adventures/books/etc, then realize that that cost is almost certainly set by WOTC because D&D Beyond shouldn't be completely undercutting the hardbook prices, especially since it provides more of and a better product than the hardcovers themselves.
Yes, it does mean purchasing some things twice if you already have purchased the hardcovers - unfortunately, that was WOTC's decision not to allow people to purchase-once-get-both, though it's technically possible for new purchases to give out a D&D Beyond code with the hardcover (already used once with the Waterdeep Dragon Heist Platinum Box set, though that was I think a special occasion).
As for Fantasy Grounds - that's a different product. D&D Beyond is not Fantasy Grounds. They are not related in any business sense. I'm pretty sure the $10,000 'bundle' you mention doesn't exist, though - that's just the cumulative cost of all Fantasy Grounds 'DLC' on Steam, which includes a whole lot of stuff for a bunch of different RPG systems - and a whole lot of purchasing the same thing multiple times, because there *are* Fantasy Grounds bundles that that price probably doesn't take into account. Nobody's ever expected to purchase $10,000 worth of Fantasy Grounds DLC.
In any case, D&D Beyond is two orders of magnitude cheaper than that at the least.
It sounds like you have economics all figured out. Please direct your suggestions to these companies and advise how you've found better ways to conduct the business of the D&D property:
I'm beginning to notice I could buy a bunch of triple A games by the same cost of your most expensive subscription... Am I crazy? I must have misread. This can't be right, I must be missing something.
The most expensive subscription is $54.99 annually. I don't think I could get one AAA title for that!
Unless you mean the Legendary Bundle? That is not a subscription, it is a purchase of all of the books for digital use, database and character builder integration, and reading here and on the mobile app. That is 13+ adventures and 8+ source books. It also includes a discount on future purchases.
The Legendary Bundle is not a subscription. It is a purchase granting 28 sources + 15% discount on future purchases.
Yes, it is very expensive, but reasonably so, considering the amount of sources.
You could get the Legendary Bundle a piece at a time, and in the end you will spend the same amount of money, as every purchase you make lowers the price of the a Bundle by the same amount.
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ModeratorTo answer the question in the title of the thread, you can play this game without spending anything, though it does rely on the generosity of others. That they provide the sourcebooks, that they provide the dice, etc etc. If playing online however, all you really need is one of many freely provided dice apps and the free Basic Rules.
If you want to own all of the material yourself, either digital, physical or both, then yes, it is more expensive. However, this is less comparable to a AAA game and more to a gaming system that comes with AAA games.
Ok I already got a bunch of those in hardcover. I need to buy them again just so I can use them in this platform? I don't need adventures either. Is there something cheaper than this? cause I'm seriously thinking about writing an open source app for this sort of thing. After I saw Fantasy Grounds' "Christmas Sale Bundle" for 10 thousand dollars I kind of gave up, you know... People are actually working on game development in this world and they don't make that much money. People programme a little API and expect to be the next Bill Gates... This world is crazy! Not because you're all conning your customers, but because so many of them are falling for it!
Those prices are cheaper than buying the books in hardcover. It is a bargain compared to buying them as paper books at a bookstore or game store. Plus at least 2/3 of the books are only useful to DM’s and those of us who don’t DM don’t want them.
Professional computer geek
You can just manually enter the info for any player options you down own on DDB using the homebrew system (which, despite the name, is exactly the same set of tools the developers use for the official options.)
I really suggest you check out A Buyer's Guide to D&D Beyond to understand what your options are.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
I wouldn't rightly recommend it, as Wizards of the Coast has been known to take legal action to protect copyright infringements against their intellectual property. Posting intent to do so from your IP wouldn't be the best way to start 2019, methinks.
oh yeah... that happened to orcpub
Well, since it's so easy, why don't you do it and become the next Bill Gates? Imagine how much money you would save on just the infrastructure, rent and salaries of the dozens of employees that D&D Beyond employ by just doing it all yourself?
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
I would imagine Fortnite spends a lot more on that stuff and also kudos to them for actually developing an actual game adored by hundreds of millions instead of just licensing D&D and charging a fortune for it. I seriously doubt WotC is to blame for such high prices. I'm sad to see so many of you seem to think so. WotC makes money off of streamers more than anything nowadays. And they are the parent company of D&D actually. And in turn Hasbro is their parent company. Hasbro has licensed a lot of their incredibly successful games for indie devs for reasonable prices. I would expect WotC to do the same. So licensing isn't getting the biggest slice of this ridiculously expensive cake.
About being easy: it is. It's an app with a not so great front end, a database behind and some servers. Mojang still needs a lot more infrastructure to run their dying game, and you don't see them charging unfairly. And they wouldn't have a mod threaten to reveal my IP to Hasbro so they could sue me for copyright infringement. For two reasons: a) they have some class b) none of their moderators would be so unprofessional. That's why I suppose this one works here... oh, reason c) Hasbro's spokesperson would roll their eyes...
What prices, exactly, are you complaining about as being unfair?
You can use the D&D Beyond service without paying a dime. If you want digital copies of the various books, you can purchase them on this service for a bit cheaper than their MSRP. If you want to use some of the additional features of D&D Beyond that are locked behind subscriptions, you can purchase those subscriptions.
None of the subscriptions are as expensive as a AAA video game (though it does recur, which can add up over time). If you're complaining about the cost of adventures/books/etc, then realize that that cost is almost certainly set by WOTC because D&D Beyond shouldn't be completely undercutting the hardbook prices, especially since it provides more of and a better product than the hardcovers themselves.
Yes, it does mean purchasing some things twice if you already have purchased the hardcovers - unfortunately, that was WOTC's decision not to allow people to purchase-once-get-both, though it's technically possible for new purchases to give out a D&D Beyond code with the hardcover (already used once with the Waterdeep Dragon Heist Platinum Box set, though that was I think a special occasion).
As for Fantasy Grounds - that's a different product. D&D Beyond is not Fantasy Grounds. They are not related in any business sense. I'm pretty sure the $10,000 'bundle' you mention doesn't exist, though - that's just the cumulative cost of all Fantasy Grounds 'DLC' on Steam, which includes a whole lot of stuff for a bunch of different RPG systems - and a whole lot of purchasing the same thing multiple times, because there *are* Fantasy Grounds bundles that that price probably doesn't take into account. Nobody's ever expected to purchase $10,000 worth of Fantasy Grounds DLC.
In any case, D&D Beyond is two orders of magnitude cheaper than that at the least.
LOL +1 to this response. Thank you Sedge for making my day. xD