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IMO, there should be an option to unlock the books if we have physical copies of them instead of having to also buy a digital copy. That to me is greed from their end. They've made a great thing with D&DBeyond but i can't justify using it, if i have to re-buy everything digitally.
If you could, please share your thoughts with how you propose to validate your physical book purchase. I'm sure many here would enjoy a solution.
By serial number and taking a picture of it with your phone. You could also make it through showing a receipt. of course that only works if someone kept it, or bought it on amazon which I've done. so i have order invoices of all my book. Just proof of purchase should be enough. People who's already got the physcial book don't need the digital copy for the rules, they would need it to unlock the features of D&Dbeyond. I'd accept that at a 50% discount... or make it a feature in one of the subscription that if you have the physical book you can use the features with the subscriptions. I don't know. Like I want to use this but i can't afford to buy everything back again. If i would have known of this before i would have invested in the books on here but now it's too late.
A serial number and a picture just proves that I have the book in front of me, not that I purchased it. I could be at Barnes and Noble and snap a picture of the book in that case.
There is no serial number system on the current 5e books. It's true that it could be a feature going forward, but it doesn't help anyone who has already purchased the physical books.
And the Amazon system may work, but what about the users who didn't purchase their books from Amazon? Or the ones who didn't keep their information because they didn't think they would need it?
When you bought your physical books, that was a complete purchase. There was nothing saying that purchase of the physical book entitled you to additional content later.
However, there is the option of entering that content into Homebrew. You are allowed to enter anything from the books as Private Homebrew as long as you don't try to publish it to the public listings. The only option missing for now is Homebrew Subclasses, but on the last Q&A, it was confirmed that this feature was on the short-term roadmap, and should be released in the near future. Once that gets implemented, you will be able to create a complete character using all resources from the physical books, provided you enter that data into your Private Homebrew manually.
But is that a 50% discount from the MSRP (so roughly $25 for a book like Xanathar's Guide that is roughly $50 normally), which is a relatively small difference from the current pricing (which is pretty much 40% off MSRP), or a 50% discount from D&D Beyond's current pricing (so roughly $15 for a book like Xanathar's Guide)?
Because one of those is a lot more reasonable of a thing to be asking for than the other.
A serial number and a picture just proves that I have the book in front of me, not that I purchased it. I could be at Barnes and Noble and snap a picture of the book in that case.
Obviously this doesn't work for people that've already bought the books, but you could just put the code in the receipt instead of in the book itself.
A serial number and a picture just proves that I have the book in front of me, not that I purchased it. I could be at Barnes and Noble and snap a picture of the book in that case.
Obviously this doesn't work for people that've already bought the books, but you could just put the code in the receipt instead of in the book itself.
Which means deploying software to the cash registers/receipt printers of every book store or gaming store which sells D&D books. Expensive, difficult, and, quite frankly, not going to happen.
A serial number and a picture just proves that I have the book in front of me, not that I purchased it. I could be at Barnes and Noble and snap a picture of the book in that case.
Obviously this doesn't work for people that've already bought the books, but you could just put the code in the receipt instead of in the book itself.
Which means deploying software to the cash registers/receipt printers of every book store or gaming store which sells D&D books. Expensive, difficult, and, quite frankly, not going to happen.
There's already a service that does this for different games, called Bits & Mortar. Clearly it's possible, and considering Wizards is the biggest player in the industry, they obviously have the resources to. The real reason they wouldn't do it, let's be honest, is because then they couldn't get people to double dip on physical books and whatever digital content they want to provide.
A serial number and a picture just proves that I have the book in front of me, not that I purchased it. I could be at Barnes and Noble and snap a picture of the book in that case.
Obviously this doesn't work for people that've already bought the books, but you could just put the code in the receipt instead of in the book itself.
Which means deploying software to the cash registers/receipt printers of every book store or gaming store which sells D&D books. Expensive, difficult, and, quite frankly, not going to happen.
There's already a service that does this for different games, called Bits & Mortar. Clearly it's possible, and considering Wizards is the biggest player in the industry, they obviously have the resources to. The real reason they wouldn't do it, let's be honest, is because then they couldn't get people to double dip on physical books and whatever digital content they want to provide.
Bits & Mortar is a voluntary arrangement. Only some brick and mortar stores participate..in fact there are only two who do so in my state. So this would only work if you bought the book from a participating store, assuming WOTC was willing to consider this. There is no indication they are.
A serial number and a picture just proves that I have the book in front of me, not that I purchased it. I could be at Barnes and Noble and snap a picture of the book in that case.
Obviously this doesn't work for people that've already bought the books, but you could just put the code in the receipt instead of in the book itself.
Which means deploying software to the cash registers/receipt printers of every book store or gaming store which sells D&D books. Expensive, difficult, and, quite frankly, not going to happen.
There's already a service that does this for different games, called Bits & Mortar. Clearly it's possible, and considering Wizards is the biggest player in the industry, they obviously have the resources to. The real reason they wouldn't do it, let's be honest, is because then they couldn't get people to double dip on physical books and whatever digital content they want to provide.
Bits & Mortar is a voluntary arrangement. Only some brick and mortar stores participate..in fact there are only two who do so in my state. So this would only work if you bought the book from a participating store, assuming WOTC was willing to consider this. There is no indication they are.
Lets go with that and say that WOTC does this. Does Bits and Mortar do it for free? Who gets charged for the usage? Will every Brick and Mortar use it services? that means Barnes and Nobles and every FLGS would have to sign up to make use of it. Amazon and Walmart are out as they are online sales (haven't seen a D&D book in a physical walmart store yet). So there goes your low prices of Amazon advantage and you are paying MSRP my friend....which is just about equal to what we have here if you bought from Amazon and DDB. Now the best part. Bits and Mortar ONLY use PDF's. yep, that's right my friend. Step right up and ask WOTC to share that PDF they don't like to have around.
From Bits and Mortar website:
We’ll want you to buy into our philosophy and our approach — trusting brick and mortar retail stores to give out your PDFs, and giving out those PDFs free of charge with the purchase of the corresponding physical book.
I can totally see WOTC going for that.
Now then with that out of the way. Could WOTC do something similar? sure, with the costs to build it and manage it. I doubt they are going to trust anyone else to be watchful over their IP, thus why the licensing is so closely monitored and restricted. Or you know, they can just license it out and not have that extra costs and just make money off it.
Which btw, it almost sounds like you are against a business making money. That is the point of a business after all. Sure, they can provide the fun and materials for what we call a hobby, but they still need to make money. If you really are that worried about WOTC making a few bucks, let me introduce to the oil industry and how they get rich off us buying gas. that will really get you started.
Bits & Mortar is a voluntary arrangement. Only some brick and mortar stores participate..in fact there are only two who do so in my state. So this would only work if you bought the book from a participating store, assuming WOTC was willing to consider this. There is no indication they are.
Closest store for me is 223 miles away. I am not driving that far just to get a pdf version.
Bits & Mortar is a voluntary arrangement. Only some brick and mortar stores participate..in fact there are only two who do so in my state. So this would only work if you bought the book from a participating store, assuming WOTC was willing to consider this. There is no indication they are.
Closest store for me is 223 miles away. I am not driving that far just to get a pdf version.
Yep, closest one for me is a 3+ hour drive, not as far as your situation, but still way too far.
Bits & Mortar is a voluntary arrangement. Only some brick and mortar stores participate..in fact there are only two who do so in my state. So this would only work if you bought the book from a participating store, assuming WOTC was willing to consider this. There is no indication they are.
Closest store for me is 223 miles away. I am not driving that far just to get a pdf version.
Yep, closest one for me is a 3+ hour drive, not as far as your situation, but still way too far.
I just decided to check if any of the (surprisingly numerous) nearby stores participate... and nope, just one store in this state, and it's 220 miles away in a smaller city.
ok, i think that settles the Bits and Mortar theory, what idea is up next that will allow you to get an digital version when you buy the physical without pissing off your customer base that has already purchased physicals and digital on one platform or another. Or should we just settle it and say that no matter what, WOTC, DDB, FG, and Roll 20 are ok with the current arraignment and it seems a hell of a lot of players that have physical books are too since a lot of them had already bought into Roll20 and FG before DDB was around.
Or, i guess because I am only on DDB that I have seen it, maybe it is a thing on FG and Roll20 as well. Was there complaints on those platforms of wanting to use it on the other and wanting it for free/reduced as well?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I just want to tell everyone "happy gaming" and actually mean it. Whatever your game is, just have fun with it, it is after all, just a game.
....maybe it is a thing on FG and Roll20 as well. Was there complaints on those platforms of wanting to use it on the other and wanting it for free/reduced as well?
There are still somewhat regular complaints on both FG & Roll20 from people who have physical books and want the content unlocked on those sites.
Bits & Mortar is a voluntary arrangement. Only some brick and mortar stores participate..in fact there are only two who do so in my state. So this would only work if you bought the book from a participating store, assuming WOTC was willing to consider this. There is no indication they are.
Closest store for me is 223 miles away. I am not driving that far just to get a pdf version.
I wouldn't blame you. That's a really far drive.
Still, it's besides the point, which is that clearly this is a possible thing for a company to do. Wizards could make it happen if they wanted to. They have a lot of influence and resources.
Also, on places like DriveThruRPG you have the opposite- you can buy a PDF/physical combo and get the physical book delivered to you.
....maybe it is a thing on FG and Roll20 as well. Was there complaints on those platforms of wanting to use it on the other and wanting it for free/reduced as well?
There are still somewhat regular complaints on both FG & Roll20 from people who have physical books and want the content unlocked on those sites.
Good to know it's not just here
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I just want to tell everyone "happy gaming" and actually mean it. Whatever your game is, just have fun with it, it is after all, just a game.
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I just want to tell everyone "happy gaming" and actually mean it. Whatever your game is, just have fun with it, it is after all, just a game.
Wow! ok thanks for that!
Want to see Virtual Table Top like no other before it built within DnDBeyond.com? Upvote the feature request. It's 2nd highest voted so far:
https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115008597088-Virtual-Tabletop-Gameboard
NOTE: You will need to setup a zendesk account (which is not your DnDBeyond.com account, the team uses this 3rd party software). It's easy to do and your votes are needed!
A serial number and a picture just proves that I have the book in front of me, not that I purchased it. I could be at Barnes and Noble and snap a picture of the book in that case.
There is no serial number system on the current 5e books. It's true that it could be a feature going forward, but it doesn't help anyone who has already purchased the physical books.
And the Amazon system may work, but what about the users who didn't purchase their books from Amazon? Or the ones who didn't keep their information because they didn't think they would need it?
When you bought your physical books, that was a complete purchase. There was nothing saying that purchase of the physical book entitled you to additional content later.
However, there is the option of entering that content into Homebrew. You are allowed to enter anything from the books as Private Homebrew as long as you don't try to publish it to the public listings. The only option missing for now is Homebrew Subclasses, but on the last Q&A, it was confirmed that this feature was on the short-term roadmap, and should be released in the near future. Once that gets implemented, you will be able to create a complete character using all resources from the physical books, provided you enter that data into your Private Homebrew manually.
But is that a 50% discount from the MSRP (so roughly $25 for a book like Xanathar's Guide that is roughly $50 normally), which is a relatively small difference from the current pricing (which is pretty much 40% off MSRP), or a 50% discount from D&D Beyond's current pricing (so roughly $15 for a book like Xanathar's Guide)?
Because one of those is a lot more reasonable of a thing to be asking for than the other.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
Check your entitlements here. | Support Ticket LInk
Is it possible for someone to "gift" books to someone else? I tried going through the process, but never noticed such an option.
i don't think so yet. I too wish they had a giftcard option
I just want to tell everyone "happy gaming" and actually mean it. Whatever your game is, just have fun with it, it is after all, just a game.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
Check your entitlements here. | Support Ticket LInk
I just want to tell everyone "happy gaming" and actually mean it. Whatever your game is, just have fun with it, it is after all, just a game.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
Check your entitlements here. | Support Ticket LInk
ok, i think that settles the Bits and Mortar theory, what idea is up next that will allow you to get an digital version when you buy the physical without pissing off your customer base that has already purchased physicals and digital on one platform or another. Or should we just settle it and say that no matter what, WOTC, DDB, FG, and Roll 20 are ok with the current arraignment and it seems a hell of a lot of players that have physical books are too since a lot of them had already bought into Roll20 and FG before DDB was around.
Or, i guess because I am only on DDB that I have seen it, maybe it is a thing on FG and Roll20 as well. Was there complaints on those platforms of wanting to use it on the other and wanting it for free/reduced as well?
I just want to tell everyone "happy gaming" and actually mean it. Whatever your game is, just have fun with it, it is after all, just a game.
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I just want to tell everyone "happy gaming" and actually mean it. Whatever your game is, just have fun with it, it is after all, just a game.