Wizards of the Coast (WotC) recently removed the option to purchase individual digital products, such as character sheets, adventures, and other content, on their online store D&D Beyond. This decision has been met with controversy among customers for many reasons, and here are some of them:
1. Limited flexibility: With the removal of a la carte purchases, customers can only purchase the entire bundle or subscription package. This restricts their ability to choose only the specific content they need or want, which can be frustrating for those who prefer to buy à la carte.
2. Higher upfront costs: Since customers are now required to purchase the entire bundle or subscription, they may need to spend more money upfront to get the content they want. This can be a significant barrier for those who are on a budget or prefer to purchase individual products as they become available.
3. Loss of access to older content: D&D Beyond has removed many older products from the store, making it difficult for customers to access and purchase these products individually. This can be a problem for players who want to use specific older content or have already invested in older products.
4. Increased subscription costs: With the removal of à la carte purchases, customers may need to opt for a subscription package to access the content they want. This can increase their monthly costs, potentially leading to sticker shock or even cancellation of their subscription.
5. Less value for money: By removing à la carte purchases, WotC may be perceived as prioritizing profits over customer value. Some customers may feel that they're not getting the best value for their money, as they're forced to purchase more content than they need.
6. Impact on organized play and community: The removal of à la carte purchases can make it more challenging for organized play groups or communities to access specific content. This can disrupt the flow of games and limit the ability of players to collaborate on campaigns or share resources.
7. Reduced competition: With D&D Beyond being the primary digital platform for D&D content, the removal of à la carte purchases reduces competition among digital stores. This can lead to less innovation and higher prices for customers.
8. Limited options for new players: The removal of à la carte purchases can make it more difficult for new players to enter the game, as they may not be aware of the specific content they need or want. This can create a barrier to entry for new players and potentially slow down the growth of the game.
Overall, WotC's decision to remove à la carte purchases from D&D Beyond has been met with frustration and disappointment from many customers for good reason. The removal of this feature has limited flexibility, increased costs, and reduced customer value, which can negatively impact the overall gaming experience.
Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has been criticized for censoring discussions about the removal of à la carte purchases on their official forums and social media channels. This censorship is shameful for several reasons:
1. Lack of transparency: By silencing discussions and removing posts, WotC appears to be hiding behind a veil of secrecy, rather than engaging with customers and addressing their concerns. This lack of transparency can breed mistrust and erode the relationship between the company and its fans.
2. Disrespect for customers' opinions: By censoring discussions, WotC is essentially dismissing the opinions and concerns of its customers. This can be seen as a slap in the face to those who are invested in the game and its community.
3. Undermining the sense of community: The D&D community is built on shared passion, creativity, and camaraderie. By censoring discussions, WotC is undermining the sense of community and inclusiveness that is at the heart of the game.
4. Perception of arrogance: By silencing critics, WotC may be perceived as arrogant or dismissive of customer feedback. This can lead to a perception that the company is more interested in protecting its own interests than in listening to its customers.
5. Missed opportunity for feedback: By not engaging with customers and addressing their concerns, WotC is missing an opportunity to gather valuable feedback and improve its products and services.
6. Perception of bias: When a company censors discussions, it can create a perception that they are biased towards certain opinions or viewpoints. This can lead to a loss of trust and credibility.
7. Lack of accountability: By silencing discussions, WotC is not held accountable for its actions or decisions. This lack of accountability can lead to a lack of trust in the company's leadership.
WotC's decision to censor discussions about the removal of à la carte purchases is shameful because it lacks transparency, disrespects customers' opinions, undermines the sense of community, and creates a perception of arrogance and bias.
it's not that they are censoring discussions of it, there's just a lot of threads talking about it already. The mods are trying to get people to use the threads that already exist so that feedback from other stuff doesn't get lost in the clutter.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
they/her Always open to chat. Just send me a PM
Whatever it takes Yeah, take me to the top I'm ready for whatever it takes 'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins I do what it takes
This is well said. To me, the value prop for using Dndbeyond was being able to affordably buy individual components and have them accessible on one app. Without that, they are just like everyone else. So why not use someone else? And I believe the best way for this to get their attention is to flood the forums with complaint posts. Otherwise there are only a couple of posts about it, which will quietly fade into the background.
but the issue is with so many complaints, actual feedback about things wrong with the site gets pushed into the background as the mods try to regulate all of the complaints.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
they/her Always open to chat. Just send me a PM
Whatever it takes Yeah, take me to the top I'm ready for whatever it takes 'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins I do what it takes
it's not that they are censoring discussions of it, there's just a lot of threads talking about it already. The mods are trying to get people to use the threads that already exist so that feedback from other stuff doesn't get lost in the clutter.
You haven't been paying any attention my friend if you truly believe the statement you just made.
Form me, this is indicative of what Wizard's wants to do with D&DBeyond, and the future looks bleak. Ever since their purchase of the site, it's been one mistep over the other. All done for pure greed. Now I do understand that they're in their right to do so. I also know that I'm in my write to cancel my subscription and take my players with me. As they say, twice bitten twice shy. I plan to ride out my sub till the end and move over elsewhere, probably Pathfinder, but before I do I will make my discontentment known.
Sounds like WotC no longer cares about it's fan base and just wants to be greedy. So WotC time for you to fix the À la carte purchases back the way it was before or time for us all to move on to other options like critical role Daggerheart or Pathfinder or many other systems that care about the player base that Wotc no longer care about. So your move now to fix this now or for us all to move on to better companies who care about us players!!!
it's not that they are censoring discussions of it, there's just a lot of threads talking about it already. The mods are trying to get people to use the threads that already exist so that feedback from other stuff doesn't get lost in the clutter.
You haven't been paying any attention my friend if you truly believe the statement you just made.
If I am wrong, can you give me an example of said censorship?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
they/her Always open to chat. Just send me a PM
Whatever it takes Yeah, take me to the top I'm ready for whatever it takes 'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins I do what it takes
It is hard to find if you just scroll the threads, just look for missing post numbers in the main threads about the new store. I am not going through 700 posts to find examples but there are a few in this thread.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
I loved to buy tiny things that i needed while i saw the numbers of the books and the big bundles decreases, one of my dreams was to buy te biggest bundle one day. Today i went to buy one subclass with joy, i even grabbed my wallet even before going to the store, then i experienced dissapointment, general sadness and a i felt that i was betrayed. Not gonna buy anything until they reverse this.
but the issue is with so many complaints, actual feedback about things wrong with the site gets pushed into the background as the mods try to regulate all of the complaints.
I mean, they'd be able to stop ALL the complaints if they just brought a la carte back. So how about until they do, we keep complaining and refusing to buy anything?
but the issue is with so many complaints, actual feedback about things wrong with the site gets pushed into the background as the mods try to regulate all of the complaints.
I mean, they'd be able to stop ALL the complaints if they just brought a la carte back. So how about until they do, we keep complaining and refusing to buy anything?
If wotc's sales tank enough, I imagine they will bring it back. But that also depends on how many people use digital content instead of the physical books
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
they/her Always open to chat. Just send me a PM
Whatever it takes Yeah, take me to the top I'm ready for whatever it takes 'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins I do what it takes
7. Reduced competition: With D&D Beyond being the primary digital platform for D&D content, the removal of à la carte purchases reduces competition among digital stores. This can lead to less innovation and higher prices for customers.
Just a little nitpick.
Beyond is not the only official toolset. Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and Foundry are the other three official digital tools. I highly encourage GMs and players to check out ALL digital (and physical) options before spending money on any of them. That being said, as a new hobbyist, it can be a little difficult to know about all the different options, since you do not really know what is out there until you have already spent some time in the hobby. D&D can be played for free, so in my opinion, the best way to go about it for new D&D GMs and players is to simply not spend any money at all for at least the first campaign or two (ideally more), so they have enough time to familiarize themselves with the hobby and make a more informed decision later on which products will give them the most bang for their buck.
While the removal of à la carte purchases makes Beyond less competitive compared to its peers, I do not think the removal reduces overall competition. Reducing competition is more than just removing choices of products at one single company; reducing competition is more along the lines of making it more difficult for competitors to do business, or to remove competitors from the market entirely.
7. Reduced competition: With D&D Beyond being the primary digital platform for D&D content, the removal of à la carte purchases reduces competition among digital stores. This can lead to less innovation and higher prices for customers.
Just a little nitpick.
Beyond is not the only official toolset. Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and Foundry are the other three official digital tools. I highly encourage GMs and players to check out ALL digital (and physical) options before spending money on any of them. That being said, as a new hobbyist, it can be a little difficult to know about all the different options, since you do not really know what is out there until you have already spent some time in the hobby. D&D can be played for free, so in my opinion, the best way to go about it for new D&D GMs and players is to simply not spend any money at all for at least the first campaign or two (ideally more), so they have enough time to familiarize themselves with the hobby and make a more informed decision later on which products will give them the most bang for their buck.
While the removal of à la carte purchases makes Beyond less competitive compared to its peers, I do not think the removal reduces overall competition. Reducing competition is more than just removing choices of products at one single company; reducing competition is more along the lines of making it more difficult for competitors to do business, or to remove competitors from the market entirely.
Agreed, with one caveat, that being no other DDB competitor has done more to chase off it's customer base realized or potential, than wizbro has since it acquired DDB. Choose wisely new commers, I have well over a $1000 in this site and they will have to do a lot of things different than they have the last few years before I spend another bent copper on anything D&D that wizbro or it's investors will profit from in the relevant future. I am done with wizbro and their investors for now regardless of my sunk costs. While I do not consider myself a "whale" I am a "collector and a completionist" but they have drawn a clear line for any collecting/completing I will do if this is how they choose to do business I do not want much of anything post Tasha's and removing "piece meal" just pushed me BACKto any and everything pre DDB, be it spread sheet or just pencil and paper. It is so sad that it has come to this but to quote many "it is what it is and it is the owners choice". I doubt their current target demographic has the spending power to keep the D&D profitable enough to satiate it's shareholders long term, and they are the true owners of the IP. Wizbro is just a poor substitute for a steward of D&D much like the last steward of Gondor, or TSR. I love DDB, but I am also very glad I was able to build both the physical and a digital collection I have been able to as I feel warts and all 5e is the best edition D&D to date, it is such a shame that a massive corporation owns and chooses to run it into the ground simply to chase short/midterm term dividends. SMH!
Let's destroy a steady income stream for short to midterm payouts, really who teaches this kind of business? They are most assuredly tenured!
As much as I feel yes, that the subscribers SHOULD make their voices heard and let WOTC know of the discontent, I very much doubt that this backlash was unexpected. If this negative customer response is catching the corporate overlords unawares, there are other deep and significant problems at play. Since presumably they expected the backlash and the pressure it would put on the managers, that means this was a cost they were willing to pay in order to make the transition, in other words, if THIS is the case the complaints mean largely nothing, sadly. Honestly between "they were so uninformed they didn't see it coming" and "they knew and were willing to put up with it" I'm not sure which is more disheartening.
As much as I feel yes, that the subscribers SHOULD make their voices heard and let WOTC know of the discontent, I very much doubt that this backlash was unexpected. If this negative customer response is catching the corporate overlords unawares, there are other deep and significant problems at play. Since presumably they expected the backlash and the pressure it would put on the managers, that means this was a cost they were willing to pay in order to make the transition, in other words, if THIS is the case the complaints mean largely nothing, sadly. Honestly between "they were so uninformed they didn't see it coming" and "they knew and were willing to put up with it" I'm not sure which is more disheartening.
I do agree it was calculated, but the gamble is in the dividends paid to shareholders, they are only willing to lose so much to get to a pay off, sunk costs are still sunk costs how long in the current economy do you think investors are willing to ride this particular pony into the ground before they sell it to someone that doesn't see how close this horse is to being ridden to death?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
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Wizards of the Coast (WotC) recently removed the option to purchase individual digital products, such as character sheets, adventures, and other content, on their online store D&D Beyond. This decision has been met with controversy among customers for many reasons, and here are some of them:
1. Limited flexibility: With the removal of a la carte purchases, customers can only purchase the entire bundle or subscription package. This restricts their ability to choose only the specific content they need or want, which can be frustrating for those who prefer to buy à la carte.
2. Higher upfront costs: Since customers are now required to purchase the entire bundle or subscription, they may need to spend more money upfront to get the content they want. This can be a significant barrier for those who are on a budget or prefer to purchase individual products as they become available.
3. Loss of access to older content: D&D Beyond has removed many older products from the store, making it difficult for customers to access and purchase these products individually. This can be a problem for players who want to use specific older content or have already invested in older products.
4. Increased subscription costs: With the removal of à la carte purchases, customers may need to opt for a subscription package to access the content they want. This can increase their monthly costs, potentially leading to sticker shock or even cancellation of their subscription.
5. Less value for money: By removing à la carte purchases, WotC may be perceived as prioritizing profits over customer value. Some customers may feel that they're not getting the best value for their money, as they're forced to purchase more content than they need.
6. Impact on organized play and community: The removal of à la carte purchases can make it more challenging for organized play groups or communities to access specific content. This can disrupt the flow of games and limit the ability of players to collaborate on campaigns or share resources.
7. Reduced competition: With D&D Beyond being the primary digital platform for D&D content, the removal of à la carte purchases reduces competition among digital stores. This can lead to less innovation and higher prices for customers.
8. Limited options for new players: The removal of à la carte purchases can make it more difficult for new players to enter the game, as they may not be aware of the specific content they need or want. This can create a barrier to entry for new players and potentially slow down the growth of the game.
Overall, WotC's decision to remove à la carte purchases from D&D Beyond has been met with frustration and disappointment from many customers for good reason. The removal of this feature has limited flexibility, increased costs, and reduced customer value, which can negatively impact the overall gaming experience.
Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has been criticized for censoring discussions about the removal of à la carte purchases on their official forums and social media channels. This censorship is shameful for several reasons:
1. Lack of transparency: By silencing discussions and removing posts, WotC appears to be hiding behind a veil of secrecy, rather than engaging with customers and addressing their concerns. This lack of transparency can breed mistrust and erode the relationship between the company and its fans.
2. Disrespect for customers' opinions: By censoring discussions, WotC is essentially dismissing the opinions and concerns of its customers. This can be seen as a slap in the face to those who are invested in the game and its community.
3. Undermining the sense of community: The D&D community is built on shared passion, creativity, and camaraderie. By censoring discussions, WotC is undermining the sense of community and inclusiveness that is at the heart of the game.
4. Perception of arrogance: By silencing critics, WotC may be perceived as arrogant or dismissive of customer feedback. This can lead to a perception that the company is more interested in protecting its own interests than in listening to its customers.
5. Missed opportunity for feedback: By not engaging with customers and addressing their concerns, WotC is missing an opportunity to gather valuable feedback and improve its products and services.
6. Perception of bias: When a company censors discussions, it can create a perception that they are biased towards certain opinions or viewpoints. This can lead to a loss of trust and credibility.
7. Lack of accountability: By silencing discussions, WotC is not held accountable for its actions or decisions. This lack of accountability can lead to a lack of trust in the company's leadership.
WotC's decision to censor discussions about the removal of à la carte purchases is shameful because it lacks transparency, disrespects customers' opinions, undermines the sense of community, and creates a perception of arrogance and bias.
Terrible move, and terrible way to go about doing it. Losing trust in WotC.
it's not that they are censoring discussions of it, there's just a lot of threads talking about it already. The mods are trying to get people to use the threads that already exist so that feedback from other stuff doesn't get lost in the clutter.
they/her Always open to chat. Just send me a PM
Whatever it takes
Yeah, take me to the top
I'm ready for whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes
This is well said. To me, the value prop for using Dndbeyond was being able to affordably buy individual components and have them accessible on one app. Without that, they are just like everyone else. So why not use someone else? And I believe the best way for this to get their attention is to flood the forums with complaint posts. Otherwise there are only a couple of posts about it, which will quietly fade into the background.
but the issue is with so many complaints, actual feedback about things wrong with the site gets pushed into the background as the mods try to regulate all of the complaints.
they/her Always open to chat. Just send me a PM
Whatever it takes
Yeah, take me to the top
I'm ready for whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes
You haven't been paying any attention my friend if you truly believe the statement you just made.
Free Content: [Basic Rules],
[Phandelver],[Frozen Sick],[Acquisitions Inc.],[Vecna Dossier],[Radiant Citadel], [Spelljammer],[Dragonlance], [Prisoner 13],[Minecraft],[Star Forge], [Baldur’s Gate], [Lightning Keep], [Stormwreck Isle], [Pinebrook], [Caverns of Tsojcanth], [The Lost Horn], [Elemental Evil].Free Dice: [Frostmaiden],
[Flourishing], [Sanguine],[Themberchaud], [Baldur's Gate 3], [Lego].Form me, this is indicative of what Wizard's wants to do with D&DBeyond, and the future looks bleak. Ever since their purchase of the site, it's been one mistep over the other. All done for pure greed. Now I do understand that they're in their right to do so. I also know that I'm in my write to cancel my subscription and take my players with me. As they say, twice bitten twice shy. I plan to ride out my sub till the end and move over elsewhere, probably Pathfinder, but before I do I will make my discontentment known.
Sounds like WotC no longer cares about it's fan base and just wants to be greedy. So WotC time for you to fix the À la carte purchases back the way it was before or time for us all to move on to other options like critical role Daggerheart or Pathfinder or many other systems that care about the player base that Wotc no longer care about. So your move now to fix this now or for us all to move on to better companies who care about us players!!!
If I am wrong, can you give me an example of said censorship?
they/her Always open to chat. Just send me a PM
Whatever it takes
Yeah, take me to the top
I'm ready for whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes
It is hard to find if you just scroll the threads, just look for missing post numbers in the main threads about the new store. I am not going through 700 posts to find examples but there are a few in this thread.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
I loved to buy tiny things that i needed while i saw the numbers of the books and the big bundles decreases, one of my dreams was to buy te biggest bundle one day.
Today i went to buy one subclass with joy, i even grabbed my wallet even before going to the store, then i experienced dissapointment, general sadness and a i felt that i was betrayed.
Not gonna buy anything until they reverse this.
I mean, they'd be able to stop ALL the complaints if they just brought a la carte back. So how about until they do, we keep complaining and refusing to buy anything?
If wotc's sales tank enough, I imagine they will bring it back. But that also depends on how many people use digital content instead of the physical books
they/her Always open to chat. Just send me a PM
Whatever it takes
Yeah, take me to the top
I'm ready for whatever it takes
'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do what it takes
Just a little nitpick.
Beyond is not the only official toolset. Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and Foundry are the other three official digital tools. I highly encourage GMs and players to check out ALL digital (and physical) options before spending money on any of them. That being said, as a new hobbyist, it can be a little difficult to know about all the different options, since you do not really know what is out there until you have already spent some time in the hobby. D&D can be played for free, so in my opinion, the best way to go about it for new D&D GMs and players is to simply not spend any money at all for at least the first campaign or two (ideally more), so they have enough time to familiarize themselves with the hobby and make a more informed decision later on which products will give them the most bang for their buck.
While the removal of à la carte purchases makes Beyond less competitive compared to its peers, I do not think the removal reduces overall competition. Reducing competition is more than just removing choices of products at one single company; reducing competition is more along the lines of making it more difficult for competitors to do business, or to remove competitors from the market entirely.
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 >
Agreed, with one caveat, that being no other DDB competitor has done more to chase off it's customer base realized or potential, than wizbro has since it acquired DDB. Choose wisely new commers, I have well over a $1000 in this site and they will have to do a lot of things different than they have the last few years before I spend another bent copper on anything D&D that wizbro or it's investors will profit from in the relevant future. I am done with wizbro and their investors for now regardless of my sunk costs. While I do not consider myself a "whale" I am a "collector and a completionist" but they have drawn a clear line for any collecting/completing I will do if this is how they choose to do business I do not want much of anything post Tasha's and removing "piece meal" just pushed me BACK to any and everything pre DDB, be it spread sheet or just pencil and paper. It is so sad that it has come to this but to quote many "it is what it is and it is the owners choice". I doubt their current target demographic has the spending power to keep the D&D profitable enough to satiate it's shareholders long term, and they are the true owners of the IP. Wizbro is just a poor substitute for a steward of D&D much like the last steward of Gondor, or TSR. I love DDB, but I am also very glad I was able to build both the physical and a digital collection I have been able to as I feel warts and all 5e is the best edition D&D to date, it is such a shame that a massive corporation owns and chooses to run it into the ground simply to chase short/midterm term dividends. SMH!
Let's destroy a steady income stream for short to midterm payouts, really who teaches this kind of business? They are most assuredly tenured!
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
As much as I feel yes, that the subscribers SHOULD make their voices heard and let WOTC know of the discontent, I very much doubt that this backlash was unexpected. If this negative customer response is catching the corporate overlords unawares, there are other deep and significant problems at play. Since presumably they expected the backlash and the pressure it would put on the managers, that means this was a cost they were willing to pay in order to make the transition, in other words, if THIS is the case the complaints mean largely nothing, sadly. Honestly between "they were so uninformed they didn't see it coming" and "they knew and were willing to put up with it" I'm not sure which is more disheartening.
I do agree it was calculated, but the gamble is in the dividends paid to shareholders, they are only willing to lose so much to get to a pay off, sunk costs are still sunk costs how long in the current economy do you think investors are willing to ride this particular pony into the ground before they sell it to someone that doesn't see how close this horse is to being ridden to death?
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.