Monster and Spell searches: If there was a way to save search preferences for which sources my account actually has, then fine. But there's no way I'm going in every single time I want to search and checking off the 8 I have vs. the 25, 26 w/e they're up to now. And the situation gets worse as products are released.
"Search results, you are just going to have to deal with."
A "purchased and shared content" filter would be a good addition, though. (And I am saying this as someone who would gain no benefit from such a filter, as I buy everything.)
I mostly try to avoid using the search. It doesn't really sort by relevance like every other search engine. It also can't do joined or excluded terms like every other search engine. It also doesn't remove duplicated results like every other search engine.
I too would love to see a filter toggle for "filter by available content" (available meaning available to that user), which then remembered its state for all searches. It's a bit more complicated than a basic filter, but doesn't seem like a major undertaking to implement, while being a major quality of life enhancement for users.
I don't like the "this is what you could have if you bought more" feel of the way searches are now, even if that is not the intended feel. It's particularly likely to be off-putting to newer users.
Bumping this to add an extra voice requesting it. There is content out there that I not only haven't purchased, but don't intend to purchase. I rarely use the global search and am in the spells/items/feats pages all the time looking at options. A lot of unwanted chaff shows up, but it's almost never worth trying to remember what eight out of fifteen sources I actually want in order to set up the sources filter. An option to exclude content I don't own, or to have it automatically greyed out, or something, would be a big quality of life improvement.
(Failing that, some kind of way of grouping the content sources when filtering -- for example, sourcebooks vs adventures, or core sourcebooks only, or any category that would let me say "no Eberron, no Ravnica, no Acquisitions Incorporated", as those are the main offenders in my case. For that matter, I'd possibly even be happy with just an exclusion filter instead of an inclusion one, although the ability to then keep its state in later browsing sessions would certainly be appreciated still.)
Can only third (fourth?) this one. This is especially annoying in the middle of a game session where you need to hit the right page quickly, but then get 5 results and not the ones you're looking for. It feels like a sales-pitch mid session which is just frustrating. A bit like watching commercials in the middle of a die roll ;-)
Definition of a BUG : any software feature that is not useful to the user.
How is having the thing I don't own pop up in my search useful without a way to mitigate this?
The truth is that they will never add this filter. Somebody in marketing likely thought this was a great way to harass/tease more purchases. I own half the content roughly and sadly I've found the encounter builder to be a real headache because half the monsters is brings up don't belong to me, but I don't know that until after the page refresh/repost.
I see this as yet another example of big business forcing, and not enticing, continued purchases.
Shame, one little check box would increase the tool's usefulness significantly.
I'd also love to have a default filter to only show results I can access for all searchable or sort-able results on the site. This would make looking up "that thing I swear I read in that one book" take less time and I don't have to worry about searching something like "travel time" and getting all the modules results at the top when I'm looking for something in the PHB or DMG. Try it, I got Out of the Abyss and Rick and Morty as the first two results for "travel time" and sort by compendium. PHB was 3rd, the DMG's special travel section was the 9th result over all the adventure modules. I don't own any of the adventure modules.
Agreed. I've purchased all of the books that contain, what I feel, are significant additions to the system, classes, equipment or races. This also includes campaign settings. I don't buy modules and I suspect I never will. After all, when I sit in the DM's seat I do it to tell my story, not somebody else's. I also find modules to be superfluous with more sandbox style campaigns. Somehow, when searching, a large share of my results come from these modules that I didn't buy.
With the search as it is now, I would say that DND Beyond is almost useful, but not enough to ease the buyers remorse I have for having purchased half their content. Fixing the search would do a lot to remedy this.
@IamSposta: Good suggestion, like the control panel kind of can do already. That's perhaps the smaller change request in this context.
But so far, we have spotted reverse incentive for DNDBeyond to do any of this, so we're probably stuck at lack of incentive - no matter how easy it would be add functionality-wise. :(
I get that it is built in advertising, but it SUCKS. I am already a payed user, forcing me to consume ads while I use the product devalues the brand.
Maybe the filter could be done in the negative. Where you start with no books and only click the ones you want? Also could we get the source books listed before modules? Love source books and buy them, not really interested in modules.
This needs to happen. I've spent hundreds of dollars on sourcebooks, and been subscribed on the most expensive sub for years. I have pretty much everything except the adventures and merchandise-type stuff (Rick and Morty-etc.). So I think I'm a good customer.
But when I try to search for monsters, a huge proportion of them (including ones that sound very vanilla) are from adventure modules, and sorting them out from the other monsters is extremely painful. This is even worse because the search doesn't remember your filters well, and they take a while to put back in.
Beyond clearly knows if I don't own something or not. Why can we not check a box to hide stuff we don't own? Honestly this is making me dislike Beyond quite a bit because I feel like there are only two possible reasons this hasn't happened:
1) It's not seen as having any importance at all. Like it's a dead bottom of a list somewhere. It's been a problem since day 1. People have been complaining about it since day 1, and I have yet to see an acknowledgement of it from the Beyond team (unlike far more minor issues). So that's not a great reason, because it's basically "We don't care about customers who don't just buy literally everything". But even if they really don't, it's still rubbish, because stuff like the rules presentation from Rick and Morty coming up ahead of the correct source (as it did in once recent search) is ridiculous.
or
2) This is by design, and they want us to have to deal with it, in order to encourage us to buy absolutely everything. If this is the case, well that's really trashy. I really hope it isn't. I really hope it's just been low priority and maybe that can change, but honestly, the longer it goes on, given it was complained about from the start, the less I believe that, and the more I think it is "working as intended". But again, at this point, even if it is "working as intended", we need to be able to exclude material because it's not the right stuff.
And no we shouldn't have to "just deal with it" for searches. That's a ludicrous approach for a paid service.
Completely agree, this is still my biggest issue with recommending DND Beyond to anyone. It feels like you paid for commercial free TV, but they keep putting them into the feed.
I've bought a lot of content. I know that other content exists. I know that I will not buy other modules until I am ready to run them, if ever.
Having unpurchased content show up in the general search, and especially the monster search drastically lowers the utility of this site overall.
I'm constantly having to deal with results that I cannot access.
What good is a search function when half the results are not usable?
You can filter the monster and spell pages by source. Search results, you are just going to have to deal with.
I am aware.
Monster and Spell searches: If there was a way to save search preferences for which sources my account actually has, then fine. But there's no way I'm going in every single time I want to search and checking off the 8 I have vs. the 25, 26 w/e they're up to now. And the situation gets worse as products are released.
"Search results, you are just going to have to deal with."
You have to deal with it too.
A "purchased and shared content" filter would be a good addition, though. (And I am saying this as someone who would gain no benefit from such a filter, as I buy everything.)
I mostly try to avoid using the search. It doesn't really sort by relevance like every other search engine. It also can't do joined or excluded terms like every other search engine. It also doesn't remove duplicated results like every other search engine.
I too would love to see a filter toggle for "filter by available content" (available meaning available to that user), which then remembered its state for all searches. It's a bit more complicated than a basic filter, but doesn't seem like a major undertaking to implement, while being a major quality of life enhancement for users.
I don't like the "this is what you could have if you bought more" feel of the way searches are now, even if that is not the intended feel. It's particularly likely to be off-putting to newer users.
Bumping this to add an extra voice requesting it. There is content out there that I not only haven't purchased, but don't intend to purchase. I rarely use the global search and am in the spells/items/feats pages all the time looking at options. A lot of unwanted chaff shows up, but it's almost never worth trying to remember what eight out of fifteen sources I actually want in order to set up the sources filter. An option to exclude content I don't own, or to have it automatically greyed out, or something, would be a big quality of life improvement.
(Failing that, some kind of way of grouping the content sources when filtering -- for example, sourcebooks vs adventures, or core sourcebooks only, or any category that would let me say "no Eberron, no Ravnica, no Acquisitions Incorporated", as those are the main offenders in my case. For that matter, I'd possibly even be happy with just an exclusion filter instead of an inclusion one, although the ability to then keep its state in later browsing sessions would certainly be appreciated still.)
Can only third (fourth?) this one. This is especially annoying in the middle of a game session where you need to hit the right page quickly, but then get 5 results and not the ones you're looking for. It feels like a sales-pitch mid session which is just frustrating. A bit like watching commercials in the middle of a die roll ;-)
Definition of a BUG : any software feature that is not useful to the user.
How is having the thing I don't own pop up in my search useful without a way to mitigate this?
The truth is that they will never add this filter. Somebody in marketing likely thought this was a great way to harass/tease more purchases. I own half the content roughly and sadly I've found the encounter builder to be a real headache because half the monsters is brings up don't belong to me, but I don't know that until after the page refresh/repost.
I see this as yet another example of big business forcing, and not enticing, continued purchases.
Shame, one little check box would increase the tool's usefulness significantly.
I'd also love to have a default filter to only show results I can access for all searchable or sort-able results on the site. This would make looking up "that thing I swear I read in that one book" take less time and I don't have to worry about searching something like "travel time" and getting all the modules results at the top when I'm looking for something in the PHB or DMG. Try it, I got Out of the Abyss and Rick and Morty as the first two results for "travel time" and sort by compendium. PHB was 3rd, the DMG's special travel section was the 9th result over all the adventure modules. I don't own any of the adventure modules.
Agreed. I've purchased all of the books that contain, what I feel, are significant additions to the system, classes, equipment or races. This also includes campaign settings. I don't buy modules and I suspect I never will. After all, when I sit in the DM's seat I do it to tell my story, not somebody else's. I also find modules to be superfluous with more sandbox style campaigns. Somehow, when searching, a large share of my results come from these modules that I didn't buy.
With the search as it is now, I would say that DND Beyond is almost useful, but not enough to ease the buyers remorse I have for having purchased half their content. Fixing the search would do a lot to remedy this.
Would also like a feature like this in searches,
It seems to have gotten worse with the Rick and Morty book. Searches for Conditions or other basic rules pulls up that one. It really is annoying now.
Even having all the sources, not being able to filter them is annoying.
Even just being able to toggle on/off “sourcebooks” and “modules” would be nice.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
@IamSposta: Good suggestion, like the control panel kind of can do already. That's perhaps the smaller change request in this context.
But so far, we have spotted reverse incentive for DNDBeyond to do any of this, so we're probably stuck at lack of incentive - no matter how easy it would be add functionality-wise. :(
Bump.
I get that it is built in advertising, but it SUCKS. I am already a payed user, forcing me to consume ads while I use the product devalues the brand.
Maybe the filter could be done in the negative. Where you start with no books and only click the ones you want? Also could we get the source books listed before modules? Love source books and buy them, not really interested in modules.
Thanks!
This needs to happen. I've spent hundreds of dollars on sourcebooks, and been subscribed on the most expensive sub for years. I have pretty much everything except the adventures and merchandise-type stuff (Rick and Morty-etc.). So I think I'm a good customer.
But when I try to search for monsters, a huge proportion of them (including ones that sound very vanilla) are from adventure modules, and sorting them out from the other monsters is extremely painful. This is even worse because the search doesn't remember your filters well, and they take a while to put back in.
Beyond clearly knows if I don't own something or not. Why can we not check a box to hide stuff we don't own? Honestly this is making me dislike Beyond quite a bit because I feel like there are only two possible reasons this hasn't happened:
1) It's not seen as having any importance at all. Like it's a dead bottom of a list somewhere. It's been a problem since day 1. People have been complaining about it since day 1, and I have yet to see an acknowledgement of it from the Beyond team (unlike far more minor issues). So that's not a great reason, because it's basically "We don't care about customers who don't just buy literally everything". But even if they really don't, it's still rubbish, because stuff like the rules presentation from Rick and Morty coming up ahead of the correct source (as it did in once recent search) is ridiculous.
or
2) This is by design, and they want us to have to deal with it, in order to encourage us to buy absolutely everything. If this is the case, well that's really trashy. I really hope it isn't. I really hope it's just been low priority and maybe that can change, but honestly, the longer it goes on, given it was complained about from the start, the less I believe that, and the more I think it is "working as intended". But again, at this point, even if it is "working as intended", we need to be able to exclude material because it's not the right stuff.
And no we shouldn't have to "just deal with it" for searches. That's a ludicrous approach for a paid service.
Completely agree, this is still my biggest issue with recommending DND Beyond to anyone. It feels like you paid for commercial free TV, but they keep putting them into the feed.
One workaround for searching monsters is to do it in the Encounter Builder because it does save your search preferences including sources.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I would like to not see the R&M content in the compendium searches. Is that possible?