The Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron is playtest content, not published official content. This is described in the "Introduction" of the book, which you can't see on D&D Beyond until you have purchased the content. Please add to the Marketplace description of the item that it is Playtest content, or add a preview so that people can view the introduction prior to purchase, so that we know what we're getting into if we purchase it.
All of the material here is presented for playtesting and to spark your imagination. The game mechanics are in draft form, usable in your campaign but not refined by final game design and editing. They aren’t officially part of the game and aren’t permitted in D&D Adventurers League events. If Wizards of the Coast decides to make this material official, it will be refined based on your feedback and then appear in a D&D book.
EDIT: The adjustment to the product page has been made. Thank you to the D&D Beyond Team!
Those of you in the same boat as me with little use for playtest content can contact D&D Beyond Support to discuss the opportunity for a refund. Kudos to the DDB team for sorting this out so quickly, and candidly.
I just want to be clear here, did I just pay almost 20 dollars for playtest content? Will I have to pay more money when this content ever gets finalized?
I just want to be clear here, did I just pay almost 20 dollars for playtest content? Will I have to pay more money when this content ever gets finalized?
I have currently sent in a complaint to DDB Support, asking for clarification on this. Essentially I asked if this purchase will give us the content when it is officially published, or if we are just purchasing this playtest content.
If it is the latter, I hope that DDB will honour refunds to those who were tricked by the unimpressive way this was handled. We should be able to know something is playtest before making a purchase. :(
There is also the chance that this is just what it is. The book was written by the original creator of Eberron, not by Crawford, Mearls and the like (I believe they’re credited as “additional designers”). The book gives no indication that this material will ever be made official in the sense that you are stating, only offering it as a possibility. So if it never sees an official release, this material is the best we’ll get for Eberron in 5e. In which case, money well spent because Eberron is awesome.
Still, would have been nice to know it wasn’t official and Adventure League legal before buying...
There is also,the chance that this is just what it is. The book was written by the original creator of Eberron, not by Crawford, Mearls and the like (I believe they’re credited as “additional designers”). The book gives no indication that this material will ever be made official in the sense that you are stating, only offering it as a possibility. So if it never sees an official release, this material is the best we’ll get for Eberron in 5e. In which case, money well spent because Eberron is awesome.
Still, would have been nice to know it wasn’t official and Adventure League legal before buying...
Depends who you ask. I run my own setting so while interesting I don't give many hoots about the setting itself. I was interested in getting all of the player options for my players -- but I don't *allow* playtest content in my games, outside of one shots. So I have no use of this content as it stands, and I couldn't learn that until after purchasing it that it is playtest only. If they were upfront about that, I could have saved this hassle, and not purchased it at all.
Fair point. Especially since you could have purchased the races by themselves, then had them released for free when the UA article hits DDB. If you were only in it for the character options, I can see why you’d be disappointed.
Depends who you ask. I run my own setting so while interesting I don't give many hoots about the setting itself. I was interested in getting all of the player options for my players -- but I don't *allow* playtest content in my games, outside of one shots. So I have no use of this content as it stands, and I couldn't learn that until after purchasing it that it is playtest only. If they were upfront about that, I could have saved this hassle, and not purchased it at all.
I'm in pretty much the same position, except in my opinion it's worse than just spending money on content I'm not that interested in (given the context). The character options are now mixed in with everything else. At least UA content has that clear insignia. This only has the light gray source book text. That's super annoying. I didn't do much research before purchasing because of the trust that I have for WotC. I'm sad to say I think they've burned a bit of that trust in this case. I wish I hadn't purchased it. I'm really hoping I can refund the purchase.
Edit: I think the worst offenders are the background options. They are completely identical, as far as I can tell. All of them, except for their names. That's absurd. Am I missing something?
Depends who you ask. I run my own setting so while interesting I don't give many hoots about the setting itself. I was interested in getting all of the player options for my players -- but I don't *allow* playtest content in my games, outside of one shots. So I have no use of this content as it stands, and I couldn't learn that until after purchasing it that it is playtest only. If they were upfront about that, I could have saved this hassle, and not purchased it at all.
I'm in pretty much the same position, except in my opinion it's worse than just spending money on content I'm not that interested in (given the context). The character options are now mixed in with everything else. At least UA content has that clear insignia. This only has the light gray source book text. That's super annoying. I didn't do much research before purchasing because of the trust that I have for WotC. I'm sad to say I think they've burned a bit of that trust in this case. I wish I hadn't purchased it. I'm really hoping I can refund the purchase.
Also a great point. I really don't want my players seeing the content when they have UA Playtest turned off on their sheets.
And I’m assuming since we weren’t told that it was playtest material BEFORE we bought it, that it won’t EVER be available in the app or content I can share with my players?!?!?! This was some shady way to trick us into buying unofficial content, and I’m not happy at all! Screw future purchases, you just lost 5 customers DnD Beyond!
And I’m assuming since we weren’t told that it was playtest material BEFORE we bought it, that it won’t EVER be available in the app or content I can share with my players?!?!?! This was some shady way to trick us into buying unofficial content, and I’m not happy at all! Screw future purchases, you just lost 5 customers DnD Beyond!
My players can see it. Don’t know about the app...
Agreed. I purchased without looking too closely because it seemed very much like an official wotc release, especially with how they were promoting it. Had I known this was unofficial playtest content, I wouldn’t have bought it. I blame both DDB and WotC for this one.
Agreed. I purchased without looking too closely because it seemed very much like an official wotc release, especially with how they were promoting it. Had I known this was unofficial playtest content, I wouldn’t have bought it. I blame both DDB and WotC for this one.
Yeah, unfortunately on DDB even looking closely wouldn't have helped you. It does not say on the Marketplace that it's playtest, only in the introduction which you access after purchase. This is so shady. :(
Wait a second... The races were released free and will likely be free on DDB next week when the UA article gets published there. The rest of the book is a handful of magic items and lore. How do I playtest lore? What did I pay for?
It would be great if a developer could clarify whether this material will be updated and if we would have to pay again if it's ever made official (in which case I'll be requesting a refund).
Without knowing anything about Eberron the text is very confusing. "The Mark of Finding sharpens the senses, guiding the hunter to prey. Alone among the dragonmarks, the Mark of Finding is carried by two races: humans and half-orcs. It first appeared in the Shadow Marches, where clan hunters used it to find their prey. The mark helped unite humans and orcs in the Marches and brought House Tharashk to the Five Nations." What is a mark? What is a dragonmark? Are those different things? Who are the Five nations. Now every character my players create will include these options, and they need to have read Eberron lore in order to understand them? I run a lot of new players through character creation and this makes it WAY less accessible. No other character options require you to read lore to derive any meaning out of them.
Sure, it's playtest content, but you SOLD it to me. The quality and implementation here are really really bad.
Edit: This devalues the entire platform for me. I have the legendary bundle. I love this site. Please, please offer a way to undo this purchase.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
The Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron is playtest content, not published official content. This is described in the "Introduction" of the book, which you can't see on D&D Beyond until you have purchased the content. Please add to the Marketplace description of the item that it is Playtest content, or add a preview so that people can view the introduction prior to purchase, so that we know what we're getting into if we purchase it.
All of the material here is presented for playtesting and to spark your imagination. The game mechanics are in draft form, usable in your campaign but not refined by final game design and editing. They aren’t officially part of the game and aren’t permitted in D&D Adventurers League events. If Wizards of the Coast decides to make this material official, it will be refined based on your feedback and then appear in a D&D book.
EDIT: The adjustment to the product page has been made. Thank you to the D&D Beyond Team!
Those of you in the same boat as me with little use for playtest content can contact D&D Beyond Support to discuss the opportunity for a refund. Kudos to the DDB team for sorting this out so quickly, and candidly.
I just want to be clear here, did I just pay almost 20 dollars for playtest content? Will I have to pay more money when this content ever gets finalized?
I have currently sent in a complaint to DDB Support, asking for clarification on this. Essentially I asked if this purchase will give us the content when it is officially published, or if we are just purchasing this playtest content.
If it is the latter, I hope that DDB will honour refunds to those who were tricked by the unimpressive way this was handled. We should be able to know something is playtest before making a purchase. :(
This is upsetting. I was sure it was something like Elemental Evil, but to find out it's playtest content after I purchased it?
Let's keep this post visible. I'd like to find out what happens and if I should refund it or not.
There is also the chance that this is just what it is. The book was written by the original creator of Eberron, not by Crawford, Mearls and the like (I believe they’re credited as “additional designers”). The book gives no indication that this material will ever be made official in the sense that you are stating, only offering it as a possibility. So if it never sees an official release, this material is the best we’ll get for Eberron in 5e. In which case, money well spent because Eberron is awesome.
Still, would have been nice to know it wasn’t official and Adventure League legal before buying...
Depends who you ask. I run my own setting so while interesting I don't give many hoots about the setting itself. I was interested in getting all of the player options for my players -- but I don't *allow* playtest content in my games, outside of one shots. So I have no use of this content as it stands, and I couldn't learn that until after purchasing it that it is playtest only. If they were upfront about that, I could have saved this hassle, and not purchased it at all.
Fair point. Especially since you could have purchased the races by themselves, then had them released for free when the UA article hits DDB. If you were only in it for the character options, I can see why you’d be disappointed.
I'm in pretty much the same position, except in my opinion it's worse than just spending money on content I'm not that interested in (given the context). The character options are now mixed in with everything else. At least UA content has that clear insignia. This only has the light gray source book text. That's super annoying. I didn't do much research before purchasing because of the trust that I have for WotC. I'm sad to say I think they've burned a bit of that trust in this case. I wish I hadn't purchased it. I'm really hoping I can refund the purchase.
Edit: I think the worst offenders are the background options. They are completely identical, as far as I can tell. All of them, except for their names. That's absurd. Am I missing something?
Also a great point. I really don't want my players seeing the content when they have UA Playtest turned off on their sheets.
And I’m assuming since we weren’t told that it was playtest material BEFORE we bought it, that it won’t EVER be available in the app or content I can share with my players?!?!?! This was some shady way to trick us into buying unofficial content, and I’m not happy at all! Screw future purchases, you just lost 5 customers DnD Beyond!
My players can see it. Don’t know about the app...
Agreed. I purchased without looking too closely because it seemed very much like an official wotc release, especially with how they were promoting it. Had I known this was unofficial playtest content, I wouldn’t have bought it. I blame both DDB and WotC for this one.
Yeah, unfortunately on DDB even looking closely wouldn't have helped you. It does not say on the Marketplace that it's playtest, only in the introduction which you access after purchase. This is so shady. :(
Wait a second... The races were released free and will likely be free on DDB next week when the UA article gets published there. The rest of the book is a handful of magic items and lore. How do I playtest lore? What did I pay for?
It would be great if a developer could clarify whether this material will be updated and if we would have to pay again if it's ever made official (in which case I'll be requesting a refund).
Looking through the content more it seems super inconsistent and perhaps even outright broken.
Here are some examples:
"The Mark of Finding sharpens the senses, guiding the hunter to prey. Alone among the dragonmarks, the Mark of Finding is carried by two races: humans and half-orcs. It first appeared in the Shadow Marches, where clan hunters used it to find their prey. The mark helped unite humans and orcs in the Marches and brought House Tharashk to the Five Nations."
What is a mark? What is a dragonmark? Are those different things? Who are the Five nations. Now every character my players create will include these options, and they need to have read Eberron lore in order to understand them? I run a lot of new players through character creation and this makes it WAY less accessible. No other character options require you to read lore to derive any meaning out of them.
Sure, it's playtest content, but you SOLD it to me. The quality and implementation here are really really bad.
Edit: This devalues the entire platform for me. I have the legendary bundle. I love this site. Please, please offer a way to undo this purchase.
Same issue here, the content within the Eberron book (at least the races and feats) are all stil UA they should not be listed as official.
I support the initial proposal from the OP. :)
I'm considering asking for my money back.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
I'm waiting for an official statement and depending on how that goes, I'll be doing that.