As the title suggests, I'm trying to find a way to access the older versions of races and lore, or "Legacy Content" on the D&D Beyond character creator, namely the tiefling variant/subrace options, now that the books have been removed from the Marketplace. Is there any way for me to acquire these sourcebooks or the content therein now that they've been discontinued, or would I have to resort to copying from my physical book into a homebrew creation?
Just a bit of a rant: This, inability to buy old content at all, especially when I have bought individual items from the old books, gives me uneasy feeling about the security of my digital purchases, and makes it less likely for me to buy even the new content.
Solutions to make me feel better:
Allow purchasing the old legacy books, or at least individual items from legacy books. These should be clearly marked as legacy, so nobody buys them accidentally, of course.
For individual items which have upgraded versions in the new books, automatically offer that upgraded version in addition to the legacy version. Like, I have legacy Tabaxi, give me also the new Tabaxi, or at the very least offer discount also for the new book with the new Tabaxi.
I realize that from sales point of view, this is a two-edged sword, as it may reduce the sales of new content. However, with digital content, trust is incredibly important, and anything that erodes that trust is going to hurt overall sales. Not everybody cares, but some of us do.
Just a bit of a rant: This, inability to buy old content at all, especially when I have bought individual items from the old books, gives me uneasy feeling about the security of my digital purchases, and makes it less likely for me to buy even the new content.
Solutions to make me feel better:
Allow purchasing the old legacy books, or at least individual items from legacy books. These should be clearly marked as legacy, so nobody buys them accidentally, of course.
For individual items which have upgraded versions in the new books, automatically offer that upgraded version in addition to the legacy version. Like, I have legacy Tabaxi, give me also the new Tabaxi, or at the very least offer discount also for the new book with the new Tabaxi.
I realize that from sales point of view, this is a two-edged sword, as it may reduce the sales of new content. However, with digital content, trust is incredibly important, and anything that erodes that trust is going to hurt overall sales. Not everybody cares, but some of us do.
This makes little business sense if WotC is changing the direction of their content. Everyone who wanted the Legacy books had ample time to buy them. Accidental purchases happen all the time on this site, even with the overt descriptions listed. We have countless threads of people complaining that their subscription did not get them access to any books or how buying the compendium does not allow them to use the items in the toolset. The point is that people do not actually read what they are throwing their money at and if the content no longer aligns with the company direction, why have it listed at all? It is no longer part of the game and just would invite problems for users who only want to use official content. Your purchase has been protected as a courtesy by making it available for use. I do not understand how that has weakened your trust in making purchases here when it should have the opposite effect; they were under no obligation to allow it to be accessible at all but WotC has allowed it to be available to those who bought it within the communicated timeframe.
Your second bullet point is just asking for free content and as a business model, that is just silly.
Just a bit of a rant: This, inability to buy old content at all, especially when I have bought individual items from the old books, gives me uneasy feeling about the security of my digital purchases, and makes it less likely for me to buy even the new content.
Solutions to make me feel better:
Allow purchasing the old legacy books, or at least individual items from legacy books. These should be clearly marked as legacy, so nobody buys them accidentally, of course.
For individual items which have upgraded versions in the new books, automatically offer that upgraded version in addition to the legacy version. Like, I have legacy Tabaxi, give me also the new Tabaxi, or at the very least offer discount also for the new book with the new Tabaxi.
I realize that from sales point of view, this is a two-edged sword, as it may reduce the sales of new content. However, with digital content, trust is incredibly important, and anything that erodes that trust is going to hurt overall sales. Not everybody cares, but some of us do.
This makes little business sense if WotC is changing the direction of their content. Everyone who wanted the Legacy books had ample time to buy them. Accidental purchases happen all the time on this site, even with the overt descriptions listed. We have countless threads of people complaining that their subscription did not get them access to any books or how buying the compendium does not allow them to use the items in the toolset. The point is that people do not actually read what they are throwing their money at and if the content no longer aligns with the company direction, why have it listed at all? It is no longer part of the game and just would invite problems for users who only want to use official content. Your purchase has been protected as a courtesy by making it available for use. I do not understand how that has weakened your trust in making purchases here when it should have the opposite effect; they were under no obligation to allow it to be accessible at all but WotC has allowed it to be available to those who bought it within the communicated timeframe.
Your second bullet point is just asking for free content and as a business model, that is just silly.
To be concrete, I bought Tabaxi with the expectation that I'd be able to buy Volo's later at that small discount, if I wanted. I no longer can. It was an active, conscious decision by DnDBeyond and/or WOTC took that option away from me, unilaterally. They had every right to do that of course. I also have every right to not like this.
And if I don't like this... why would I buy any more digital books from a place which does things I don't like? They could do something I don't like in the future too.
I'm not gonna get into any debates here, and I'd prefer if replies to my thread not spark any. It was a simple question of whether Legacy content was accessible at all to those who had not purchased it before the removal deadline.
This is more or less a support ticket to confirm my suspicions and ask for help from a technical standpoint if they were incorrect--which it appears that they weren't--and isn't really the place to air your misgivings about any company policies or actions. I have my own opinions on how the WotC handled the whole situation, but it hadn't crossed my mind to include them in the post as it was mostly irrelevant to the question I had.
I would request that moderators close this thread if no further replies can expand upon @IamSposta's answer in a constructive manner, as to avoid a flame thread from brewing.
To be concrete, I bought Tabaxi with the expectation that I'd be able to buy Volo's later at that small discount, if I wanted. I no longer can. It was an active, conscious decision by DnDBeyond and/or WOTC took that option away from me, unilaterally. They had every right to do that of course. I also have every right to not like this.
And if I don't like this... why would I buy any more digital books from a place which does things I don't like? They could do something I don't like in the future too.
In fairness you had roughly two or three months advance notice that the option to purchase Volo’s would be removed. Nothing was taken from you. You can dislike this, but your rationale does not make a lot of sense and your grievance seems to be arranged in such a way as to appear like you have been slighted when in reality, you have not been. WotC is not out to hurt you. I encourage you to critically evaluate this thinking.
You will find no other digital library that would meet your needs. For example, when you punch in “Volo” on Roll20, the search result offers MotM. You are essentially threatening to remove yourself from all digital toolsets if WotC does not sell you things they no longer wish to sell and if they do not give you free stuff.
Honestly, I wish there was a way to still buy legacy books too. I only started playing dnd almost a year ago, and only really started using this site even more recently. That means I never really got the chance to even buy the legacy content before it was taken off the marketplace! Even just keeping some of the content, like the tiefling variants you mentioned, would have been nice.
Seeing how DMSguild has heaps of legacy content, and it seems to be doing quite well financially, it seems that access to legacy content is always desired.
It's only a matter of time before 18 year old kids are saying that they're burnt out from 2024 content and yearn for the "superior" 2014 content.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently playing 5e. I grew up playing AD&D and games from Palladium Books.
As the title suggests, I'm trying to find a way to access the older versions of races and lore, or "Legacy Content" on the D&D Beyond character creator, namely the tiefling variant/subrace options, now that the books have been removed from the Marketplace. Is there any way for me to acquire these sourcebooks or the content therein now that they've been discontinued, or would I have to resort to copying from my physical book into a homebrew creation?
Homebrewing ‘em is yer only option outside of content sharing from someone who already has that content.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Just a bit of a rant: This, inability to buy old content at all, especially when I have bought individual items from the old books, gives me uneasy feeling about the security of my digital purchases, and makes it less likely for me to buy even the new content.
Solutions to make me feel better:
I realize that from sales point of view, this is a two-edged sword, as it may reduce the sales of new content. However, with digital content, trust is incredibly important, and anything that erodes that trust is going to hurt overall sales. Not everybody cares, but some of us do.
This makes little business sense if WotC is changing the direction of their content. Everyone who wanted the Legacy books had ample time to buy them. Accidental purchases happen all the time on this site, even with the overt descriptions listed. We have countless threads of people complaining that their subscription did not get them access to any books or how buying the compendium does not allow them to use the items in the toolset. The point is that people do not actually read what they are throwing their money at and if the content no longer aligns with the company direction, why have it listed at all? It is no longer part of the game and just would invite problems for users who only want to use official content. Your purchase has been protected as a courtesy by making it available for use. I do not understand how that has weakened your trust in making purchases here when it should have the opposite effect; they were under no obligation to allow it to be accessible at all but WotC has allowed it to be available to those who bought it within the communicated timeframe.
Your second bullet point is just asking for free content and as a business model, that is just silly.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock
Try DDB free: Free Rules (2024), premade PCs, adventures, one shots, encounters, SC, homebrew, more
Answers: physical books, purchases, and subbing.
Check out my life-changing EXTENDED SIGNATURE!
To be concrete, I bought Tabaxi with the expectation that I'd be able to buy Volo's later at that small discount, if I wanted. I no longer can. It was an active, conscious decision by DnDBeyond and/or WOTC took that option away from me, unilaterally. They had every right to do that of course. I also have every right to not like this.
And if I don't like this... why would I buy any more digital books from a place which does things I don't like? They could do something I don't like in the future too.
I'm not gonna get into any debates here, and I'd prefer if replies to my thread not spark any. It was a simple question of whether Legacy content was accessible at all to those who had not purchased it before the removal deadline.
This is more or less a support ticket to confirm my suspicions and ask for help from a technical standpoint if they were incorrect--which it appears that they weren't--and isn't really the place to air your misgivings about any company policies or actions. I have my own opinions on how the WotC handled the whole situation, but it hadn't crossed my mind to include them in the post as it was mostly irrelevant to the question I had.
I would request that moderators close this thread if no further replies can expand upon @IamSposta's answer in a constructive manner, as to avoid a flame thread from brewing.
In fairness you had roughly two or three months advance notice that the option to purchase Volo’s would be removed. Nothing was taken from you. You can dislike this, but your rationale does not make a lot of sense and your grievance seems to be arranged in such a way as to appear like you have been slighted when in reality, you have not been. WotC is not out to hurt you. I encourage you to critically evaluate this thinking.
You will find no other digital library that would meet your needs. For example, when you punch in “Volo” on Roll20, the search result offers MotM. You are essentially threatening to remove yourself from all digital toolsets if WotC does not sell you things they no longer wish to sell and if they do not give you free stuff.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock
Try DDB free: Free Rules (2024), premade PCs, adventures, one shots, encounters, SC, homebrew, more
Answers: physical books, purchases, and subbing.
Check out my life-changing EXTENDED SIGNATURE!
Honestly, I wish there was a way to still buy legacy books too. I only started playing dnd almost a year ago, and only really started using this site even more recently. That means I never really got the chance to even buy the legacy content before it was taken off the marketplace! Even just keeping some of the content, like the tiefling variants you mentioned, would have been nice.
Seeing how DMSguild has heaps of legacy content, and it seems to be doing quite well financially, it seems that access to legacy content is always desired.
It's only a matter of time before 18 year old kids are saying that they're burnt out from 2024 content and yearn for the "superior" 2014 content.
Currently playing 5e. I grew up playing AD&D and games from Palladium Books.
So do any of yall have Volo's? I want to download it