Moreover, If we have bought the books and the characters options in DnDbeyond, We have the right to use them wherever we want If there is no economic revenue in that. Imagine buying a book an Wizards telling you that you cannot bring the book to several stores, only official ones.
I have spent hundres and hundres of money in DndB, and I want to spend thousands more! But the reason is that I can import everything to Foundry!
The thing is, we don't actually buy the books on here. We buy a nontransferable license to use the book on this site. Been that way since day 1. It's all in the ToS. It's one of the reasons they don't officially support things like the extension that lets you use dndbeyond on Roll20. To buy the book, you need a dead tree copy. That you own outright, no question about it.
And I think the uncertainty around Wizards right now is making people gun shy moving forward. I for one would like them to provide PDF versions of the books as well when you purchase on here. I used to be okay with the terms that they have set out and assumed the platform will be stable in the future, but I have concerns now. Can someone from DND Beyond offer their thoughts on our material moving forward?
It's easy to spread copies of a PDF, though, digital or printed. Much harder to run off copies of a physical book without tearing it up, which few people would do.
I've bought the books so many times it's kind of ridiculous. First in hardback. Then for Fantasy Grounds. FG was more than I was willing to put in to learn. So I went to Roll20 and bought them again. Players wanted to keep their characters in DnDB so they were bought again. I pulled them into foundry when we switched yet again.
And that feeds into what made me angriest about the OGL fiasco. I've bought the same WotC stuff multiple times. I run my game over VTT because my group has scattered to multiple states and Mexico. The OGL was worded to be a direct threat to that. For WotC to essentially say, yeah you're going to need to pay us again, but this time monthly because we aren't getting enough...no. Not just no, but F--- no!
Add in all the other stuff I found offensive and their Survey that came up with "You've already taken this survey" before I even finished and they blew every bit of goodwill I had towards them.
I'm still going to play 5e, I just won't play any WotC content I haven't bought already. If they do decide to shut down Foundry once they get their VTT off the ground, I'll play one of the other 10+ games I have over zoom before they see a dime from me.
I'm not boycotting. That implies I want change. They already know what they are going to do. I'm just done with them in the same way I was done with General Motors after the joy that was my 84 Celebrity.
Foundry has a hell of a lot of games you can play on it besides 5e (or presumably 6e), and more are being added as time goes on. Here's the current list: https://foundryvtt.com/packages/systems
“With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." - Starfleet Admiral Aaron Satie
It's easy to spread copies of a PDF, though, digital or printed. Much harder to run off copies of a physical book without tearing it up, which few people would do.
Foundry has a hell of a lot of games you can play on it besides 5e (or presumably 6e), and more are being added as time goes on. Here's the current list:
https://foundryvtt.com/packages/systems
“With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." - Starfleet Admiral Aaron SatieTakes an unofficial extension, but yeah. Beyond20 has been pretty solid for me as a player.
That's because Foundry & Beyond20 & good Friends is the best RPG experience I've ever had in 20 years doing this crazy stuff