I have a few small issues with the 2024 rules that could easily just be house ruled to resolve for the games I run.
But the biggest issue I have is the power creep in the new versions of classes. Most are just mechanically ”improved”, which makes old versions “bad choices.” If this hadn’t been the case I’dve happily ran games with both 2014/2024 versions.
I’d also would have been more likely to just adopt an entirely new edition, as I have many times since AD&D.
But for whatever reason rollout is a mess and this feels bad. Engineering 101 should’ve been to preserve the products functionality and with the 2024 rollout this was just not done. A last minute change to the rollout prevented it being even worse, and that the plan of having to add back 5e as “homebrew” destroyed any confidence I have in whatever they plan to do with 2024.
The fact that it was ever on the chopping block is too far, and “fixed/prevented” or not I’m genuinely not over that fact.
The lack of response is only ever more upsetting, so my subscription is still cancelled.
But I loved how the site used to run and be, and if that functionality is restored I’d sign back up. I paid for convenience. Every week I’m only more disappointed that a separate 5th edition resource isn’t available. It used to exist. Just make a “5e 2014 only” tier and version, and call it a day. Monk wouldn’t still be broken, item descriptions wouldn’t reference things from that aren’t relevant. Duplicate spells wouldn’t be an issue. And rules would reference the actual rules used and not be shoved at the bottom like an afterthought.
But until then, the moment I find a replacement resource to organize 5e games with my players, I’m gone.
I completely agree with all you've said. And the lack of response I feel is very telling. It just shows they really don't care about their customers. I'll still use it, at least for now, because it's very helpful for our crazy neurodivergent group. I'm still looking for good alternatives, but I've not found any as of yet. And there's always just using our physical books and paper. D&D Beyond, as useful and convenient as it was before they broke it, was always a convenience. It's not needed to run a game and we've played for years before it was even a thing.
It looks like beyond deleted my post on this subject - apparently my direct and coarse comments hurt someone's feelings. But, hey, at least I know someone other than fellow players viewed my comments.
I just want everyone to know I share your frustration, and Beyond should just fix these problems or tell us to shut up and take it.
You paid for books and you still have complete access to the source books.
While the access is theoretically there, they have been broken (or at least severely reduced in functionality) because all the cross-links now go to the 2024 versions instead of the appropriate versions for the content I own, and a lot of the selling points for why we bought the content here (such as the character builder) have been ****** or in some cases outright broken.
This a severe degradation in functionality compared to what I originally paid for, and like so many others, I'm both pissed and in shock that they could mess it all up this badly. This is something we should be taking up with consumer protection agencies in each of our jurisdictions.
Cancelled my sub. When you go to cancel they try to gaslight you even more by saying all the 2014 content is still there and unchanged, which is clearly a lie, and TBH just made me angry and want to cancel even more! What an absolute joke. Wish I could refund all the content I own here.
You paid for books and you still have complete access to the source books.
While the access is theoretically there, they have been broken (or at least severely reduced in functionality) because all the cross-links now go to the 2024 versions instead of the appropriate versions for the content I own, and a lot of the selling points for why we bought the content here (such as the character builder) have been ****** or in some cases outright broken.
This a severe degradation in functionality compared to what I originally paid for, and like so many others, I'm both pissed and in shock that they could mess it all up this badly. This is something we should be taking up with consumer protection agencies in each of our jurisdictions.
As mentioned above, 'functionality' is not what you paid for. The book is unchanged, in that it still contains the complete text you paid for. If you don't like the *functionality* of the site, you can stop subscribing and use it purely as a digitial copy of a paper book.
It just shows they don't care about us customers. They clearly don't know what customer service is. It's just about forcing their new stuff upon us. But they will never do this. There are several year old content from books they said they would add, but never did. Considering the changes they made to backgrounds, I highly doubt they even play the game. And if they do, it's the most basic characters. The quick build character you see in the books
Take a breath. None of your purchased content has been removed and no one is forcing you to do anything.
You just need to use the right version of the class. Make sure you have "2014 Rules" and "Expanded Rules" checked on the Home tab of the character builder, and change your class to the 2014 version.
This isn't helpful. Please stop trying to gaslight people into thinking a site-breaking issue for non-2024 players is anything otherwise.
While D&D Beyond has certainly made a horrible mess of this rollout from start to finish, I would not call this specific thing a "site-breaking issue" since, as I said, no one's purchased content has actually been removed and no one is being forced to do anything. Telling people that is not "gaslighting", and neither is helping them to learn how to use the tool properly.
If you want to cancel your subscription and not purchase the new products, go ahead. That's your choice. Please don't assume everyone who doesn't make the same choice you did is acting maliciously.
I had a character that when I level up, didn't get the selected spell. Then when I tried to pick again, it completely bugged out and I couldn't enter the character in the app
You paid for books and you still have complete access to the source books.
While the access is theoretically there, they have been broken (or at least severely reduced in functionality) because all the cross-links now go to the 2024 versions instead of the appropriate versions for the content I own, and a lot of the selling points for why we bought the content here (such as the character builder) have been ****** or in some cases outright broken.
This a severe degradation in functionality compared to what I originally paid for, and like so many others, I'm both pissed and in shock that they could mess it all up this badly. This is something we should be taking up with consumer protection agencies in each of our jurisdictions.
As mentioned above, 'functionality' is not what you paid for. The book is unchanged, in that it still contains the complete text you paid for. If you don't like the *functionality* of the site, you can stop subscribing and use it purely as a digitial copy of a paper book.
Absolutely untrue. When I bought these on D&DBeyond it was specifically with the understanding that they would be functional in this way. The pages where they are purchased even mention their searchability and the helpful online functionality. So yes, functionality IS part of what I paid for.
Perringaiden - I absolutely paid for "functionality." How can you presume to know what I paid for? I assume you love the new rules and the fact that they bleed into the legacy framework. Well good for you. But try to use your imagination. Imagine that you hated the new rules, but you felt comfortable because you were told they would not interfere with your chosen play style and preferred rules, but then you found out it was a lie? Since you don't agree with the vast majority of us in our concerns, why don't you join some other thread? You aren't convincing anyone...maybe you do represent management/ownership? That's the only reason i can conceive of that causes you to continue to "chime in." Anyway, may you live a thousand years.
The only way I see there is a chance for them to add this, is if it reaches the same level of backlash as they di with the OGL chances they tried to make
There's not a secret "Buy this book and guarantee functionality". That's how I know.
You pay for the functionality of the website through a subscription. If you don't like the functionality, you stop paying. That's how the contract works. You bought the text of the book, in a digital format, which allows you unlimited access to the text of the book. They give you 'free' access to the searchable lists and you pay subscriptions to get additional functionality. According to the agreement you signed by purchasing the book, you aren't guaranteed anything more than a digital copy of the text and included images.
I only represent me, but I also read things like access rights, and terms and conditions.
1.4Digital Content License: In the realm of D&D Beyond, the term "Digital Content" refers to the array of downloadable, playable, or accessible materials such as virtual items, artwork, digital sourcebooks, and adventures offered within the platform. This collective designation includes all forms of virtual goods, enhancements, and digital services available for acquisition or access through D&D Beyond.
Please be advised that the acquisition of Digital Content does not give you ownership rights. Instead, you are granted a limited, non-exclusive, and non-transferable license to use the Digital Content for personal, non-commercial entertainment purposes only. It is expressly stated that Digital Content cannot be redeemed for monetary value or equivalent, and all transactions related to Digital Content are final, with refunds issued solely at our discretion. Furthermore, we reserve the right to revoke this license at any time, without prior notice or liability, particularly in instances of account termination.
Please be advised that the acquisition of Digital Content does not give you ownership rights. Instead, you are granted a limited, non-exclusive, and non-transferable license to use the Digital Content for personal, non-commercial entertainment purposes only.
3.11 Subscription Termination by Us: As D&D Beyond continues to evolve, there might be changes to our Subscription plans, or even the continuation of certain offerings. We reserve the right to discontinue or modify any part of our Service or Subscription options at any time, in our discretion.
Did you agree to the same terms as everyone else? If so, you did not buy the functionality.
I've had absolutely no problem with it. With legacy choices on, it follows all the legacy systems through with very little thought. I've created 2014 and 2024 characters, and mix and match with the only 'glitch' being stat bonus priority mixing 2014 species with 2024 backgrounds. I'm sure there are others, but haven't encountered any function breaking that can be fixed on pencil and paper correction. So not sure what the huge issue is that people are throwing quit tantrums for.
BUT, I'm not against a disable function. It absolutely makes sense to include.
If you check the marketplace page for each book it very clearly states that you are buying content for the character builder/maps/encounters etc, along with the digital book (I.e. compendium) content. The ToS just means you can't sue them for changing/removing content (and even then ToS's don't always hold up in court, particularly in the EU, although I have no knowledge or interest in how enforceable this one would be). It in no way makes it right, expected, or good customer service to make these sorts of changes.
The worst part is the lack of communication though. We don't actually know if any of the issues with the rollout are intentional, or which are actually planned to be fixed. The last official messaging we've had (after they changed their mind on overwriting spells) was that both rulesets will be supported. The problem is that since then there's been no official posts, the community managers seem to have disappeared, and customer service seems to have a 4-6 week turnaround. The only contact we have is the discord mods, but all they can do is pass comments on to DDB, theyre not able to get answers from them either. If the 2014 ruleset is still supported as promised, then it's entirely reasonable to ask that filters to be added to support 2014-only games.
So we don't know if they're deliberately trying to force people to switch, and are just ignoring customers until we switch or leave, or whether they're just too incompetent (or too cheap to properly resource the dev team) to implement the 2 rulesets properly, and are ignoring us until they catch up or people leave.
They need to come clean and tell us "we are fixing x, plan to fix y, but will not be fixing z as we deem it outdated/too difficult/too expensive".
Judging from recent half-baked releases however it seems their strategy is to just churn out semi-complete content the rush on to the next rather than fix any bugs. From what I've seen all the recent releases (PHB, DMG, LOTR and Illrigger) have multiple features either not working properly or just not implemented at all, and no communication on if/when they'll be fixed.
If you check the marketplace page for each book it very clearly states that you are buying content for the character builder/maps/encounters etc
Actually, the marketplace specifically says: "Purchasing a digital copy of this book unlocks it for use in the D&D BEYOND compendium and toolset."
While you might "feel" like you're buying that for that reason, what you're buying is the digital book. Owning the book unlocks that book's elements in the creator, but you're not buying the content "for the creator". It's just unlocking the elements in the book to allow you to use them in the creator. Which you still can, they haven't taken that away.
The thread is specifically complaining that the creator doesn't do something that they want it to do, and they paid for it. Which they never did. The Character Creator is free, and completely controlled by D&D Beyond. You buy the book. Owning the book allows you to use that content in the creator. It does not give you any control over the functionality of the creator.
To be clear, I would like them to better differentiate 2014 vs 2024. But the argument "But I paid for it" is going to be completely ignored because it's fundamentally wrong to their laywers.
If you check the marketplace page for each book it very clearly states that you are buying content for the character builder/maps/encounters etc
Actually, the marketplace specifically says: "Purchasing a digital copy of this book unlocks it for use in the D&D BEYOND compendium and toolset."
While you might "feel" like you're buying that for that reason, what you're buying is the digital book. Owning the book unlocks that book's elements in the creator, but you're not buying the content "for the creator". It's just unlocking the elements in the book to allow you to use them in the creator. Which you still can, they haven't taken that away.
The thread is specifically complaining that the creator doesn't do something that they want it to do, and they paid for it. Which they never did. The Character Creator is free, and completely controlled by D&D Beyond. You buy the book. Owning the book allows you to use that content in the creator. It does not give you any control over the functionality of the creator.
To be clear, I would like them to better differentiate 2014 vs 2024. But the argument "But I paid for it" is going to be completely ignored because it's fundamentally wrong to their laywers.
“For use in the toolset” is the primary reason most people purchased the content in the first place.
If just buying the content was for reference only, then a lot of people wouldn’t have joined the platform.
I can web surf and find a majority of the “compendium” material for free, and if needed do the job of the developer and use the homebrew tools to enter the material.( which is what has happened, because for whatever reason, the people that was entering the content that could be used in the toolset are no longer doing so. )
The material and content that was previously available is still there, but it’s getting replaced by the newer version, and a good portion of the userbase has repeatedly asked since the beginning of the changes for a toggle that can separate 2024 from 2014.
What we are getting is the ability to only turn off 2014 material, and not the ability to have 2024 content completely separate from 2014-23/24 material.
Some just want 2024 only, some just want 2014 only, and some want to see a editionX only toggle set that brings the toolset up to par with other competitors. When I had bought the materials from this site in the past, it was for the character building and homebrew toolset, not to just have a digital version of a book that I would have to personally enter into the system, if possible, or to have to be able to be readily access through a digital device. ( PDF’s and free software that can display them have long existed, and are just as easily accessible and attainable. )
I’m on here for the tools, the material and content are just prebuilt templates for expansion. If the new norm is that the user is now expected to do the job of the developer in entering the content from the material they( the company) have created, when previously the company had developers that where paid to do that task and that was a price users were willing to pay for the ease of.
If they, the company and the site devs, had simply decided to have a 2024 rules toggle or a separate system just for 2024, leaving the 2014+ materials as is for a time, then the whole mess of the switchover would not have happened, and people wouldn’t be almost demanding a way to separate the two.
TL;DBR I purchase material for use in the builder and tools, not for it to look pretty and not serve any useful function in those toolsets.
Make a toggle that turns off 2024 rules and materials, and allows for a 2014+ only system.
I don't disagree with the premise of a toggle. I've said as much many times.
My point is that repeating "But i paid for it" undermines the argument the rest of us are making. What you made you choose to buy the digital books doesn't matter to what you bought. The argument people should be making is "If you don't fix this, I will take my future purchases elsewhere". Your existing ones entitled you to the books. Hasbro only cares about future purchases though, so they're unlikely to want to encourage people to stay with 2014. Which is why it is far better to either threaten to go elsewhere, or actually go elsewhere.
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I completely agree with all you've said. And the lack of response I feel is very telling. It just shows they really don't care about their customers. I'll still use it, at least for now, because it's very helpful for our crazy neurodivergent group. I'm still looking for good alternatives, but I've not found any as of yet. And there's always just using our physical books and paper. D&D Beyond, as useful and convenient as it was before they broke it, was always a convenience. It's not needed to run a game and we've played for years before it was even a thing.
We don't need WotC; they need us.
It looks like beyond deleted my post on this subject - apparently my direct and coarse comments hurt someone's feelings. But, hey, at least I know someone other than fellow players viewed my comments.
I just want everyone to know I share your frustration, and Beyond should just fix these problems or tell us to shut up and take it.
While the access is theoretically there, they have been broken (or at least severely reduced in functionality) because all the cross-links now go to the 2024 versions instead of the appropriate versions for the content I own, and a lot of the selling points for why we bought the content here (such as the character builder) have been ****** or in some cases outright broken.
This a severe degradation in functionality compared to what I originally paid for, and like so many others, I'm both pissed and in shock that they could mess it all up this badly. This is something we should be taking up with consumer protection agencies in each of our jurisdictions.
Cancelled my sub. When you go to cancel they try to gaslight you even more by saying all the 2014 content is still there and unchanged, which is clearly a lie, and TBH just made me angry and want to cancel even more! What an absolute joke. Wish I could refund all the content I own here.
Yup
HUZZAH !!!!!
It would be one thing if they said, "yeah, yeah, we know, we know - very sorry - we're working on it as fast as we can. Please be patient."
But instead, they're saying: "these aren't the droid's you're looking for."
The emperor is buck naked - he's not wearing clothes at all, no matter what they say.
This is their program - they know precisely what is wrong with it!
Be ashamed, Beyond.
As mentioned above, 'functionality' is not what you paid for. The book is unchanged, in that it still contains the complete text you paid for. If you don't like the *functionality* of the site, you can stop subscribing and use it purely as a digitial copy of a paper book.
It just shows they don't care about us customers. They clearly don't know what customer service is. It's just about forcing their new stuff upon us. But they will never do this. There are several year old content from books they said they would add, but never did. Considering the changes they made to backgrounds, I highly doubt they even play the game. And if they do, it's the most basic characters. The quick build character you see in the books
I had a character that when I level up, didn't get the selected spell. Then when I tried to pick again, it completely bugged out and I couldn't enter the character in the app
Absolutely untrue. When I bought these on D&DBeyond it was specifically with the understanding that they would be functional in this way. The pages where they are purchased even mention their searchability and the helpful online functionality. So yes, functionality IS part of what I paid for.
Perringaiden - I absolutely paid for "functionality." How can you presume to know what I paid for? I assume you love the new rules and the fact that they bleed into the legacy framework. Well good for you. But try to use your imagination. Imagine that you hated the new rules, but you felt comfortable because you were told they would not interfere with your chosen play style and preferred rules, but then you found out it was a lie? Since you don't agree with the vast majority of us in our concerns, why don't you join some other thread? You aren't convincing anyone...maybe you do represent management/ownership? That's the only reason i can conceive of that causes you to continue to "chime in." Anyway, may you live a thousand years.
The only way I see there is a chance for them to add this, is if it reaches the same level of backlash as they di with the OGL chances they tried to make
There's not a secret "Buy this book and guarantee functionality". That's how I know.
You pay for the functionality of the website through a subscription. If you don't like the functionality, you stop paying. That's how the contract works. You bought the text of the book, in a digital format, which allows you unlimited access to the text of the book. They give you 'free' access to the searchable lists and you pay subscriptions to get additional functionality. According to the agreement you signed by purchasing the book, you aren't guaranteed anything more than a digital copy of the text and included images.
I only represent me, but I also read things like access rights, and terms and conditions.
Did you agree to the same terms as everyone else? If so, you did not buy the functionality.
I've had absolutely no problem with it. With legacy choices on, it follows all the legacy systems through with very little thought. I've created 2014 and 2024 characters, and mix and match with the only 'glitch' being stat bonus priority mixing 2014 species with 2024 backgrounds. I'm sure there are others, but haven't encountered any function breaking that can be fixed on pencil and paper correction. So not sure what the huge issue is that people are throwing quit tantrums for.
BUT, I'm not against a disable function. It absolutely makes sense to include.
Still hoping for that toggle. Would be even more useful since they keep altering the linked rules and I don't use the 5.5e rules.
It is Christmas season. But I highly doubt they will change it
If you check the marketplace page for each book it very clearly states that you are buying content for the character builder/maps/encounters etc, along with the digital book (I.e. compendium) content. The ToS just means you can't sue them for changing/removing content (and even then ToS's don't always hold up in court, particularly in the EU, although I have no knowledge or interest in how enforceable this one would be). It in no way makes it right, expected, or good customer service to make these sorts of changes.
The worst part is the lack of communication though. We don't actually know if any of the issues with the rollout are intentional, or which are actually planned to be fixed. The last official messaging we've had (after they changed their mind on overwriting spells) was that both rulesets will be supported. The problem is that since then there's been no official posts, the community managers seem to have disappeared, and customer service seems to have a 4-6 week turnaround. The only contact we have is the discord mods, but all they can do is pass comments on to DDB, theyre not able to get answers from them either. If the 2014 ruleset is still supported as promised, then it's entirely reasonable to ask that filters to be added to support 2014-only games.
So we don't know if they're deliberately trying to force people to switch, and are just ignoring customers until we switch or leave, or whether they're just too incompetent (or too cheap to properly resource the dev team) to implement the 2 rulesets properly, and are ignoring us until they catch up or people leave.
They need to come clean and tell us "we are fixing x, plan to fix y, but will not be fixing z as we deem it outdated/too difficult/too expensive".
Judging from recent half-baked releases however it seems their strategy is to just churn out semi-complete content the rush on to the next rather than fix any bugs. From what I've seen all the recent releases (PHB, DMG, LOTR and Illrigger) have multiple features either not working properly or just not implemented at all, and no communication on if/when they'll be fixed.
Actually, the marketplace specifically says: "Purchasing a digital copy of this book unlocks it for use in the D&D BEYOND compendium and toolset."
While you might "feel" like you're buying that for that reason, what you're buying is the digital book. Owning the book unlocks that book's elements in the creator, but you're not buying the content "for the creator". It's just unlocking the elements in the book to allow you to use them in the creator. Which you still can, they haven't taken that away.
The thread is specifically complaining that the creator doesn't do something that they want it to do, and they paid for it. Which they never did. The Character Creator is free, and completely controlled by D&D Beyond. You buy the book. Owning the book allows you to use that content in the creator. It does not give you any control over the functionality of the creator.
To be clear, I would like them to better differentiate 2014 vs 2024. But the argument "But I paid for it" is going to be completely ignored because it's fundamentally wrong to their laywers.
I don't disagree with the premise of a toggle. I've said as much many times.
My point is that repeating "But i paid for it" undermines the argument the rest of us are making. What you made you choose to buy the digital books doesn't matter to what you bought. The argument people should be making is "If you don't fix this, I will take my future purchases elsewhere". Your existing ones entitled you to the books. Hasbro only cares about future purchases though, so they're unlikely to want to encourage people to stay with 2014. Which is why it is far better to either threaten to go elsewhere, or actually go elsewhere.