Really it's not even so much that you "buy the book" on D&D Beyond. Getting an electronic copy of the book would basically mean a PDF. What you are purchasing from D&D Beyond is the ease of accessibility, the work that went into all the hyperlinks and ease of use. You're not buying a thing so much as a service... If you do not want that service, that is fair. But expecting that service for free just because you bought the book is like expecting your grocery store to stop by each morning and make your Pop Tarts for you.
good point, though if the grocery store made my poptarts for me, then i would shop there every time, and so would many other people, so it would make some sense if you try to think from the DND beyond pov, which is trying to get the most users
And the grocery store would have ALL the customers (for Pop Tarts at least) if they gave them away for free. Having the most customers isn't profitable if you're losing money on your product.
but, they arent giving it away for free, just cooking it for free, which is payed in effort and time, not money, so its harder to gauge, as you buy the book-buy the potart, then get the digital-get it cooked
Ok, so maybe not the greatest analogy... But even so, someone would have to do that effort to go cook the pop tarts (or to code the books into D&DBeyond, keep the website working, etc etc) - If they aren't being paid then why would they do this?
So, I subscribed for one reason. Wanted to get help with nice auto filled out characters by choosing the races etc of my party. Oh, won't that save time! NOPE. You don't want one of the basic races... too bad. [REDACTED] But I can't put my party member's kobold in here as a kobold and then add another Kalashtar without buying two more 30$ books? I can LOOK it up as a subscriber, but I can't CHOOSE said character. Yeah, probably have to cancel that subscription. Only reason I subscribed.
So, I subscribed for one reason. Wanted to get help with nice auto filled out characters by choosing the races etc of my party. Oh, won't that save time! NOPE. You don't want one of the basic races... too bad. I get I can't necessarily access the books online unless I just sort of "google it and find a pdf". But I can't put my party member's kobold in here as a kobold and then add another Kalashtar without buying two more 30$ books? I can LOOK it up as a subscriber, but I can't CHOOSE said character. Yeah, probably have to cancel that subscription. Only reason I subscribed.
Subscriptions do not unlock content, never have, and there have never been any claims that they do.
You can buy any race all buy itself to $2:00, so you can purchase both races for $4.00 total.
So, I subscribed for one reason. Wanted to get help with nice auto filled out characters by choosing the races etc of my party. Oh, won't that save time! NOPE. You don't want one of the basic races... too bad. I get I can't necessarily access the books online unless I just sort of "google it and find a pdf". But I can't put my party member's kobold in here as a kobold and then add another Kalashtar without buying two more 30$ books? I can LOOK it up as a subscriber, but I can't CHOOSE said character. Yeah, probably have to cancel that subscription. Only reason I subscribed.
To be fair, it seems you didn't pay attention to the subscription page. A subscription doesn't provide the character sheet auto-filling etc. It just lets you have unlimited character slots, add other people's publicly shared homebrew, early access to a few things and cosmetic perks. The Master Sub includes all that plus also let's you share paid content.
The character sheet with the searches and auto-filling and cross-linking and all that time-saving stuff, are all free, no sub needed. You can also share homebrew you have made with everyone in the same campaign for free, no sub needed.
If you want non-free stuff, then buy it. Either the person who wants to use it needs to buy or you can buy and either you or somebody else in the campaign gets a Master sub and enabled sharing. You need to buy the whole books, As Sposta explains you can buy only what is needed piecemeal.
As for googling and getting PDFs of the books - that's illegal. Let's not encourage illegal things on here.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Honestly, I would be willing to buy a physical copy and pay a little extra for the digital copy/code. This may be a good way for them to partner up. And maybe put it in the LE copies only.
Honestly, I would be willing to buy a physical copy and pay a little extra for the digital copy/code. This may be a good way for them to partner up. And maybe put it in the LE copies only.
They've started selling bundles of new books on WotC's website (DDB advertises it for preorders).
I think that is the way they will be doing it rather than inside the books.
Except it is owned by WoTC now... and they are still double charging their customer base...
I'm certain that if WotC could go back to every person who purchased the 5e PHB, DMG, MM, etc. and said "Hey for $XYZ more you can get the digital copy!" they would.
They can't. There's no tracking or validation system, other than scouts honor. That's not going to cut it in the business world.
It's not double charging, as others have articulated quite well. I'm thrilled that we now get physical+digital options. I'll always buy that way going forward because I see the benefits as worth the price.
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Really it's not even so much that you "buy the book" on D&D Beyond. Getting an electronic copy of the book would basically mean a PDF. What you are purchasing from D&D Beyond is the ease of accessibility, the work that went into all the hyperlinks and ease of use. You're not buying a thing so much as a service... If you do not want that service, that is fair. But expecting that service for free just because you bought the book is like expecting your grocery store to stop by each morning and make your Pop Tarts for you.
good point, though if the grocery store made my poptarts for me, then i would shop there every time, and so would many other people, so it would make some sense if you try to think from the DND beyond pov, which is trying to get the most users
And the grocery store would have ALL the customers (for Pop Tarts at least) if they gave them away for free. Having the most customers isn't profitable if you're losing money on your product.
but, they arent giving it away for free, just cooking it for free, which is payed in effort and time, not money, so its harder to gauge, as you buy the book-buy the potart, then get the digital-get it cooked
Ok, so maybe not the greatest analogy... But even so, someone would have to do that effort to go cook the pop tarts (or to code the books into D&DBeyond, keep the website working, etc etc) - If they aren't being paid then why would they do this?
So, I subscribed for one reason. Wanted to get help with nice auto filled out characters by choosing the races etc of my party. Oh, won't that save time! NOPE. You don't want one of the basic races... too bad. [REDACTED] But I can't put my party member's kobold in here as a kobold and then add another Kalashtar without buying two more 30$ books? I can LOOK it up as a subscriber, but I can't CHOOSE said character. Yeah, probably have to cancel that subscription. Only reason I subscribed.
Not every service is for everyone.
Subscriptions do not unlock content, never have, and there have never been any claims that they do.
You can buy any race all buy itself to $2:00, so you can purchase both races for $4.00 total.
I hope that helps.
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DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
To be fair, it seems you didn't pay attention to the subscription page. A subscription doesn't provide the character sheet auto-filling etc. It just lets you have unlimited character slots, add other people's publicly shared homebrew, early access to a few things and cosmetic perks. The Master Sub includes all that plus also let's you share paid content.
The character sheet with the searches and auto-filling and cross-linking and all that time-saving stuff, are all free, no sub needed. You can also share homebrew you have made with everyone in the same campaign for free, no sub needed.
If you want non-free stuff, then buy it. Either the person who wants to use it needs to buy or you can buy and either you or somebody else in the campaign gets a Master sub and enabled sharing. You need to buy the whole books, As Sposta explains you can buy only what is needed piecemeal.
As for googling and getting PDFs of the books - that's illegal. Let's not encourage illegal things on here.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Honestly, I would be willing to buy a physical copy and pay a little extra for the digital copy/code. This may be a good way for them to partner up. And maybe put it in the LE copies only.
They've started selling bundles of new books on WotC's website (DDB advertises it for preorders).
I think that is the way they will be doing it rather than inside the books.
Except it is owned by WoTC now... and they are still double charging their customer base...
The physical+digital bundles offered at the WotC store isn't double charging.
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I'm certain that if WotC could go back to every person who purchased the 5e PHB, DMG, MM, etc. and said "Hey for $XYZ more you can get the digital copy!" they would.
They can't. There's no tracking or validation system, other than scouts honor. That's not going to cut it in the business world.
It's not double charging, as others have articulated quite well. I'm thrilled that we now get physical+digital options. I'll always buy that way going forward because I see the benefits as worth the price.