I understand all the complaints and in fact agree with a few.
WOTC has pretty much gutted this site.
I personally think their IT guys told them they could execute the new 5.5e rules without effecting all the old purchases and features just by making the old rules legacy. And they have since then found that its not as easy as they thought. I personally think they should have just left this website alone and made a whole new 5.5e sister site.
They had no real reason to drop the purchasing options they already had going. But they did and its pretty obvious they are not bringing it back any time soon. I feel sorry for those who relied on it so much.
Not to mention those that bought big prior to this change that wanted and expected to be able to piecemeal purchase the things that would make the previously purchased content better only to be forced into a binary choice of all or nothing during this fantastic economy (rolling my eyes). I would like to see a list of the business schools the decision makers @WotC went to so I could be sure not to send people to in the future.
school of trickle down economics: 10 send the money to the top; 20 GOTO 10; 30 profit
i came back to d&d after a long hiatus and thought "5e must be the right answer" and "oh, it's digital now?" so now i own a bunch of digital stuff. it's gotten some use, but i really should have looked around to see how those old editions i liked are still doing. some aren't as kaput as i assumed. wizards is camping on the popular answer and bagging easy rabbits as we hop by. and that wouldn't be so bad if only they didn't insist on boiling us alive, daring us to jump out of the pot. "look how many other people are here. where else could you possibly rather be right now??"
I was wondering about this! I originally noticed that they'd removed a la carte when I was trying to quickly build a school of necromancy wizard ($30 for the PHB, for the subclass) with the metamagic adept feat ($30 for Tasha's where that feat is--in other words, $60 for an NPC that my players will probably kill in one session). Can these things be homebrewed? I've only ever homebrewed magic items and spells.
So you are a Dm without any books?
I have hard copies of the PHB and the DMG; nine times out of ten, you can find literally anything else you need online in ten seconds. I use dndbeyond almost exclusively to build NPCs, and I specifically didn't buy digital versions of full books precisely because I already own them. I already gave WOTC my money for those--if I wanted to spend two dollars here or there to build an NPC, that felt really reasonable. Now I'm being asked to repurchase things I own (the PHB) or things I have really limited and specific use for (Tasha's). It's why I'm frustrated with this decision, frankly.
Just a reminder that if you really don't like the decision to remove piecemeal you can homebrew all the missing bits -- it's a lot more work, but it will allow you to bypass paying for any more content. If this causes a loss in revenue, maybe, just maybe, management will listen.
I was wondering about this! I originally noticed that they'd removed a la carte when I was trying to quickly build a school of necromancy wizard ($30 for the PHB, for the subclass) with the metamagic adept feat ($30 for Tasha's where that feat is--in other words, $60 for an NPC that my players will probably kill in one session). Can these things be homebrewed? I've only ever homebrewed magic items and spells.
Yes, you can totally create homebrew feats and subclasses. You Google school of necromancy and metamagic adept and copy/paste your way through it. It'd be easier if you could just spend $4 and be done with it, but that's off the table now.
Just a reminder that if you really don't like the decision to remove piecemeal you can homebrew all the missing bits -- it's a lot more work, but it will allow you to bypass paying for any more content. If this causes a loss in revenue, maybe, just maybe, management will listen.
I was wondering about this! I originally noticed that they'd removed a la carte when I was trying to quickly build a school of necromancy wizard ($30 for the PHB, for the subclass) with the metamagic adept feat ($30 for Tasha's where that feat is--in other words, $60 for an NPC that my players will probably kill in one session). Can these things be homebrewed? I've only ever homebrewed magic items and spells.
Yes, it can totally be homebrew. Most, if not all, the mechanics will auto-apply to the character sheet as long as you set up the right modifiers, conditions, etc. It's mostly a pain because the settings are poorly documented and there are blocks against things that are "too similar" to existing items. It's not super hard, it took me 20 minutes to create a race. Maybe 10 minutes to create a simple feat.
Thanks to both of you for the hb advice! I'm going to do that in the future--annoying, but ultimately costs nothing, I guess!
Thanks to both of you for the hb advice! I'm going to do that in the future--annoying, but ultimately costs nothing, I guess!
I'm with you there. Luckily I snagged a fair chunk of things before this nonsense went down. So if my players need something, I am going to be homebrewing it from now on.
I bought a handful of things a la carte for different characters - and from a completionist point of view, I was looking forward to gradually acquiring the books piecemeal once it got to a point that I might as well. I'm not really interested in the rejigged 2024 rulebooks, but I would have continued to purchase things for 5e characters.
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Currently homebrewing the Mistveil Rogue, an elusive infiltrator that can vanish into thin air.
I can't believe the stupidity of this change. It's so funny how they believe this'll increase their revenue when all it'll do is drive away the already annoyed fans. Not to mention the money they'll loose by poeple being less likely to buy an entire book for a single feature. A rollback is needed this is ridiculous
Have you noticed that they are advertising sales pretty often now, but that the number of books discounted and amount of the discount both seem pretty meager? It feels a bit insulting too me, but it also make me wonder, like, is the company in trouble, and that's why they are acting this way? And even though they say "backwards comparable", to me it doesn't feel like the best idea to pay a whole lot for older books, until we know more about how that works. I also feel like at some point in the not too distant future they're probably going to offer significant discounts on the older books. I can wait, or do without!
Wotc has been using this marketing strategy since purchasing DDB. It is not new, just the way things are now.
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CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
As someone who just recently found this out, I’m so disappointed in you WOTC. I used to buy a lot of the a la carte items. Going forward, you will no longer get a penny from me until you return this feature…..to add, I just cancelled my Sub. Again, you will not see penny from me!
Pretty green DnD player, came back to DNDBeyond after a long break between games to find I have to spend over 75 dollars and buy two separate books in their entirety to make my one singular player character. This is insanely anti-consumer and has put a very bad taste in my mouth. I came willing to spend $10-$15 for what I needed and am now instead I am going to spend $0 and just play my character with pencil and paper instead of continuing to use this site. Really crazy and I hope they will bring back the option to buy races/subclasses individually.
the only book you have to have access to to make a character is the players handbook, all RPGs are like that.
Pretty green DnD player, came back to DNDBeyond after a long break between games to find I have to spend over 75 dollars and buy two separate books in their entirety to make my one singular player character. This is insanely anti-consumer and has put a very bad taste in my mouth. I came willing to spend $10-$15 for what I needed and am now instead I am going to spend $0 and just play my character with pencil and paper instead of continuing to use this site. Really crazy and I hope they will bring back the option to buy races/subclasses individually.
the only book you have to have access to to make a character is the players handbook, all RPGs are like that.
To WotC's credit, you don't even "need" the PHB. You can play with the free Basic Rules. I know that is pretty tone-def of me to say on this thread, but I have to call 'em as I see 'em.
That doesn't chaneg the fact that dumping a la carte was a dick move, though.
it sounds like you've been here before, but just in case, here is a link to the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules (what you get for free) and here is where you can build a character using what is in the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/builder. It's possible that your DM (or perhaps someone you know) has an account set up to share content with players, so that you can have access to more character building content, without buying a whole bunch of books. .
It just doesn't feel as comfortable and friendly, now that the a la carte option is gone.
it sounds like you've been here before, but just in case, here is a link to the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules (what you get for free) and here is where you can build a character using what is in the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/builder. It's possible that your DM (or perhaps someone you know) has an account set up to share content with players, so that you can have access to more character building content, without buying a whole bunch of books. .
It just doesn't feel as comfortable and friendly, now that the a la carte option is gone.
You will own nothing and be happy to over pay for what you want, LOL WotC could at least give their reasons for what they do.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
it sounds like you've been here before, but just in case, here is a link to the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules (what you get for free) and here is where you can build a character using what is in the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/builder. It's possible that your DM (or perhaps someone you know) has an account set up to share content with players, so that you can have access to more character building content, without buying a whole bunch of books. .
It just doesn't feel as comfortable and friendly, now that the a la carte option is gone.
You will own nothing and be happy to over pay for what you want, LOL WotC could at least give their reasons for what they do.
you know, in boardgaming there's a concept of "shopping from your own shelf." instead of browsing sales and online shops and top 10 lists, you could instead turn around and see what's on your own shelf that you haven't played in a while. you continue to own it, so why not better your fun per dollar ratio? i feel like this is a similar situation. Wizards doesn't want to give reasons, and that's fine. But, wow, check out all these modules i own that have encounters i haven't used yet! gosh, i might not need to purchase another book for years!
so, yeah. opportunity in disguise. be happy!
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unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
it sounds like you've been here before, but just in case, here is a link to the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules (what you get for free) and here is where you can build a character using what is in the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/builder. It's possible that your DM (or perhaps someone you know) has an account set up to share content with players, so that you can have access to more character building content, without buying a whole bunch of books. .
It just doesn't feel as comfortable and friendly, now that the a la carte option is gone.
You will own nothing and be happy to over pay for what you want, LOL WotC could at least give their reasons for what they do.
you know, in boardgaming there's a concept of "shopping from your own shelf." instead of browsing sales and online shops and top 10 lists, you could instead turn around and see what's on your own shelf that you haven't played in a while. you continue to own it, so why not better your fun per dollar ratio? i feel like this is a similar situation. Wizards doesn't want to give reasons, and that's fine. But, wow, check out all these modules i own that have encounters i haven't used yet! gosh, i might not need to purchase another book for years!
so, yeah. opportunity in disguise. be happy!
Fair, I own in both formats and at least a decade of playable content without spending another penny; that said piecemeal was the only incentive for the new core rules. Now that is gone much like the potential for me to buy any new rule books, adventures are also a "soft no" as I have so much 1st party content to play, but those are the only books I may buy moving forward and that is coming from a "completionist" mentality. It just so happens WotC has drawn a wonderful line in the sand for me.
To be honest the fact that there is no discount afforded to those that have previously purchased part of the content opens them up to a potential lawsuit in my opinion. Especially because no forewarning or ability to comment on the change was afforded to the public.
And it also just doesn't make ANY sense. It was the perfect system and the biggest reason that I came to DND Beyond as opposed to any other VTT. Its a money grab and its a joke. Just another reason why modern companies are failing so dramatically and losing out on customers. Do better WOTC!
To be honest the fact that there is no discount afforded to those that have previously purchased part of the content opens them up to a potential lawsuit in my opinion. Especially because no forewarning or ability to comment on the change was afforded to the public.
Discounts for previous a la carte purchases can still be applied, you just need to contact customer service to get an appropriate discount code when upgrading to the full book.
To be honest the fact that there is no discount afforded to those that have previously purchased part of the content opens them up to a potential lawsuit in my opinion. Especially because no forewarning or ability to comment on the change was afforded to the public.
That is not true, as I have clearly stated in the first post. You will need to contact customer support for the discount.
Yes, you read that right. The marketplace no longer sells piecemeal options. All individual options that were purchased before you still get to keep though.
What I am not sure about is if purchasing piecemeal options before will discount the book anymore, but from what I read from other users so far, seems like you do not get the discount. Contact customer support to get the à la carte discount. Keep in mind customer support might take a while, and do not submit multiple tickets or else you get pushed to the back of the line. I am not sure how they will implement the à la carte discount, so do contact customer support first before you buy anything just to be safe.
This seriously sucks big time. We got like zero announcements, zero heads up. The lack of communication is totally not cool.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1709-d-d-beyond-marketplace-redesign-see-whats-new-here Can I still purchase subclasses, feats, and other game listings à la carte? À la carte purchases are no longer supported. However, any individual items you've previously purchased will continue to be available for use on D&D Beyond. If you've purchased à la carte items and would like to buy the digital book, your discounts are available to you at any time by contacting customer service.
school of trickle down economics: 10 send the money to the top; 20 GOTO 10; 30 profit
i came back to d&d after a long hiatus and thought "5e must be the right answer" and "oh, it's digital now?" so now i own a bunch of digital stuff. it's gotten some use, but i really should have looked around to see how those old editions i liked are still doing. some aren't as kaput as i assumed. wizards is camping on the popular answer and bagging easy rabbits as we hop by. and that wouldn't be so bad if only they didn't insist on boiling us alive, daring us to jump out of the pot. "look how many other people are here. where else could you possibly rather be right now??"
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
I have hard copies of the PHB and the DMG; nine times out of ten, you can find literally anything else you need online in ten seconds. I use dndbeyond almost exclusively to build NPCs, and I specifically didn't buy digital versions of full books precisely because I already own them. I already gave WOTC my money for those--if I wanted to spend two dollars here or there to build an NPC, that felt really reasonable. Now I'm being asked to repurchase things I own (the PHB) or things I have really limited and specific use for (Tasha's). It's why I'm frustrated with this decision, frankly.
Thanks to both of you for the hb advice! I'm going to do that in the future--annoying, but ultimately costs nothing, I guess!
I'm with you there. Luckily I snagged a fair chunk of things before this nonsense went down. So if my players need something, I am going to be homebrewing it from now on.
I bought a handful of things a la carte for different characters - and from a completionist point of view, I was looking forward to gradually acquiring the books piecemeal once it got to a point that I might as well. I'm not really interested in the rejigged 2024 rulebooks, but I would have continued to purchase things for 5e characters.
Currently homebrewing the Mistveil Rogue, an elusive infiltrator that can vanish into thin air.
I can't believe the stupidity of this change. It's so funny how they believe this'll increase their revenue when all it'll do is drive away the already annoyed fans. Not to mention the money they'll loose by poeple being less likely to buy an entire book for a single feature. A rollback is needed this is ridiculous
I just saw the Grim Hollow: Player Pack. I wonder if this is the new version of "get everything you want for your character creator".
Given that it's a third party product... it's safe to say no.
Wotc has been using this marketing strategy since purchasing DDB. It is not new, just the way things are now.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
As someone who just recently found this out, I’m so disappointed in you WOTC. I used to buy a lot of the a la carte items. Going forward, you will no longer get a penny from me until you return this feature…..to add, I just cancelled my Sub. Again, you will not see penny from me!
so cringe. really wondering if/when they're going to revert this.
the only book you have to have access to to make a character is the players handbook, all RPGs are like that.
To WotC's credit, you don't even "need" the PHB. You can play with the free Basic Rules. I know that is pretty tone-def of me to say on this thread, but I have to call 'em as I see 'em.
That doesn't chaneg the fact that dumping a la carte was a dick move, though.
it sounds like you've been here before, but just in case, here is a link to the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules (what you get for free) and here is where you can build a character using what is in the basic rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/builder. It's possible that your DM (or perhaps someone you know) has an account set up to share content with players, so that you can have access to more character building content, without buying a whole bunch of books. .
It just doesn't feel as comfortable and friendly, now that the a la carte option is gone.
You will own nothing and be happy to over pay for what you want, LOL WotC could at least give their reasons for what they do.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
you know, in boardgaming there's a concept of "shopping from your own shelf." instead of browsing sales and online shops and top 10 lists, you could instead turn around and see what's on your own shelf that you haven't played in a while. you continue to own it, so why not better your fun per dollar ratio? i feel like this is a similar situation. Wizards doesn't want to give reasons, and that's fine. But, wow, check out all these modules i own that have encounters i haven't used yet! gosh, i might not need to purchase another book for years!
so, yeah. opportunity in disguise. be happy!
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Fair, I own in both formats and at least a decade of playable content without spending another penny; that said piecemeal was the only incentive for the new core rules. Now that is gone much like the potential for me to buy any new rule books, adventures are also a "soft no" as I have so much 1st party content to play, but those are the only books I may buy moving forward and that is coming from a "completionist" mentality. It just so happens WotC has drawn a wonderful line in the sand for me.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
To be honest the fact that there is no discount afforded to those that have previously purchased part of the content opens them up to a potential lawsuit in my opinion. Especially because no forewarning or ability to comment on the change was afforded to the public.
And it also just doesn't make ANY sense. It was the perfect system and the biggest reason that I came to DND Beyond as opposed to any other VTT. Its a money grab and its a joke. Just another reason why modern companies are failing so dramatically and losing out on customers. Do better WOTC!
Discounts for previous a la carte purchases can still be applied, you just need to contact customer service to get an appropriate discount code when upgrading to the full book.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
That is not true, as I have clearly stated in the first post. You will need to contact customer support for the discount.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >