In recent years I've started DMing and playing D&D, when it comes to character creation I'd often use sites like rpgbot.net that would teach me to make effective characters to play and RP. With individual purchase options now gone I feel WoTC is leaving more money on the table from players of the game. As a DM this change doesn't particularly feel too bad, but as a player I hate to see the marketplace feel so gutted.
Personally with no announcement or heads up I feel this was a scummy move. As a DM and or a player, what are your opinions on the new marketplace model?
Forgot to also mention that people who've individually purchased content from a book must now buy the entire book to get the content at a non-discounted price.
I am not surprised, and I will not buy anything until they honor the agreement we had when I made piece meal purchases and those purchases were deducted from the cost of the book. This is in bad faith and will do nothing but add to WotC's poor reputation since acquiring DDB. I will keep my Master Tier Sub until they take the character builder away from Legacy content.
If there was a way to sell my digital content I would and go back to all physical, alas they made that against the TOS/License Agreement. I do not see much value in DDB if this is how they are going to run this site.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
I just imagine this scenario for a new player, they want to play a Leonin Hexblade warlock with the Wildspacer feat, instead of them costing them $6 now WoTC expects them to own 3 separate source books for $90 to even have a chance to play it digitally. An intentionally scummy move. I know I shouldn't be surprised but a decision like this does not make a lot of sense to me if you're already company that is notoriously bad with it's consumer base.
I'm very disappointed. This was always such a great way for players to enter the game... Just buy when you need! Individual purchase items lowered a barrier to entry.
I'm a bit late to the party as I had taken a hiatus. Came back recently to run a hombrew campaign. My players wanted to play some new subclasses and I spent a good 15 min trying to figure out why I couldn't buy them separately. I have canceled my subscription and will be taking my group with me, tired of the scummy moves, for me this was the second chance after what happened with the attemt to make revisions to the license. I'll be going over to Pathfinder.
I've said it in several topics (mostly in the feedback section) now, but if you want a one-stop demonstration of exactly how scummy and desperate this move is: look at how teh "new and improved" storefront treats things you've already bought or partially bought: - It has no ability to filter out thigns you've already purchased. - BUT: it CLEARLY already knows the information... because your prior purchases are technically labelled... in the smallest font on the page and only if you click on individual items. - You are no longer given the automatic discount for pre-purchased content. - BUT: that discount is technically still available... you just have to contact customer service directly... via another account on another website entirely..., IE: jump through as many hoops as is possible to reasonably erect, despite that information, again, still clearly being available.
Leaving aside that this is an objective lowering of quality rather than an increase; even with the most charitable interpretation: this design is clearly designed to get just a little extra money out of people already invested in the DnDBeyond "ecosystem" so to speak. And that's usually a bad sign: it's usually a bad sign for everyone when a company starts scrabbling for the loose change in the couch as opposed to its primary business model; because it means that the main revenue stream is starting to fall short of expectations... and more money-grubbing is likely to come.
I am not surprised, and I will not buy anything until they honor the agreement we had when I made piece meal purchases and those purchases were deducted from the cost of the book. This is in bad faith and will do nothing but add to WotC's poor reputation since acquiring DDB. I will keep my Master Tier Sub until they take the character builder away from Legacy content.
If there was a way to sell my digital content I would and go back to all physical, alas they made that against the TOS/License Agreement. I do not see much value in DDB if this is how they are going to run this site.
From the FAQ: "À la carte purchases are no longer supported. However, any individual items you've previously purchased will continue to be available for use on D&D Beyond. If you've purchased à la carte items and would like to buy the digital book, please contact customer service to claim your discount prior to purchase."
I am not surprised, and I will not buy anything until they honor the agreement we had when I made piece meal purchases and those purchases were deducted from the cost of the book. This is in bad faith and will do nothing but add to WotC's poor reputation since acquiring DDB. I will keep my Master Tier Sub until they take the character builder away from Legacy content.
If there was a way to sell my digital content I would and go back to all physical, alas they made that against the TOS/License Agreement. I do not see much value in DDB if this is how they are going to run this site.
From the FAQ: "À la carte purchases are no longer supported. However, any individual items you've previously purchased will continue to be available for use on D&D Beyond. If you've purchased à la carte items and would like to buy the digital book, please contact customer service to claim your discount prior to purchase."
The comment was made on April 30th, the FAQ was updated May 1st.
I am not surprised, and I will not buy anything until they honor the agreement we had when I made piece meal purchases and those purchases were deducted from the cost of the book. This is in bad faith and will do nothing but add to WotC's poor reputation since acquiring DDB. I will keep my Master Tier Sub until they take the character builder away from Legacy content.
If there was a way to sell my digital content I would and go back to all physical, alas they made that against the TOS/License Agreement. I do not see much value in DDB if this is how they are going to run this site.
From the FAQ: "À la carte purchases are no longer supported. However, any individual items you've previously purchased will continue to be available for use on D&D Beyond. If you've purchased à la carte items and would like to buy the digital book, please contact customer service to claim your discount prior to purchase."
Poor "solution" to a fabricated problem, plenty others feel the same.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
Hmm. Makes me feel better about my decision to hold off buying any of it, since returning to the game a couple years ago.
Back in the 1e days, I bought every D&D book and module that I could get my hands on. I even subscribed to Dragon Magazine for years, whoever may have owned it. Back then I spent of hundreds of dollars on the game. All of this stuff is now long-gone.
As these ebooks and online gaming platforms seem prone to constant change, I balk at the never-ending expense of simply keeping up with the basics (of) this new 5E+ gaming system, let alone expanding my purchases.
I still play D&D, with others who grant me access to their stuff. As far as running adventures as GM, I've chosen to buy into a different gaming system, and I run only live table games. This choice limits play for me, but it's no worse than when online gaming did not exist.
You know, I'm sure they did their homework and have solid data that indicates that overall, they'll make more money this way. In other words I don't think they're incompetent - rather, they're ghastly corporate ghouls that even their mother's are hardpressed to like. But not necessarily incompetent.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
You know, I'm sure they did their homework and have solid data that indicates that overall, they'll make more money this way. In other words I don't think they're incompetent - rather, they're ghastly corporate ghouls that even their mother's are hardpressed to like. But not necessarily incompetent.
Or they're just practical individuals who look at this as a business enterprise. As satisfying as it may be, it's also rather self-indulgent to so basely vilify people for making a decision with no real moral or other substantial implications just because you disagree with it.
Or they're just practical individuals who look at this as a business enterprise.
That's what I said.
Are you seriously arguing that the overall corporate mindset isn't as cold, alien and terrifying as Cthulhu himself? Frankly, I have nothing against the poor, mindless drones who slave away at corporate offices. Hell, I know a few. They have an endearing way to ironically distance themselves from moral decrepitude of their overlords, and the sheer 40k-esque grey, sludgy drugdery of it all. It's both kinda cool and kinda funny. But it's still awful and sad.
I'm sure you're aware that corporations still your personal data, and everything that's ever been published either in text or video (as long as it's on the internet somewhere). I'm sure you know that corporations do absolutely anything they can to push cost down and prices up. There is a very real disconnect between production cost and purchase price, they charge as much as they conceivably can, in part because of a lack of competition, moreso because of pricing cartels. In essence, prices are made to drain you of your hard earned cash, siphoning every penny you earn back into the corporate machine.
You wanna defend that? Sure. Ok. They're just, what did you say, 'practical people doing business'.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Or they're just practical individuals who look at this as a business enterprise.
That's what I said.
Are you seriously arguing that the overall corporate mindset isn't as cold, alien and terrifying as Cthulhu himself?
Put that way, yes I am. The corporate mindset is not something alien and incomprehensible; it's literally the exact mindset on display from everyone making a fuss about this: "okay, sure, but how does this situation benefit me?" It benefits them to have the arrangement that gives them the best profit margins, while the people who made use of ALC benefited from low cost options. Frankly this alleged moral high ground is getting rather tiresome; this is not a matter of right and wrong, this is a matter of a fairly unique offering in the TTRPG market being discontinued, probably due to the fact that it's rare because it cuts into the profit margins. And yes, I frankly don't care about the fine details of business practices for a disposable income product like this as long as we're not getting into actual predatory models like loot boxes connected to core gameplay aspects. And, on this note, do y'all get this worked up every time a gacha dangles their latest shiny "spend $50 for a 1-in-10 shot of pulling" boondoggle in front of their players, or is that not bad business because it's either not something that impacts you or something that's simply become a normalized part of the experience?
Every ... copyrighted ... work ... in existance ... has been stolen to train AI.
All data ... by everyone ... one the planet ... has been stolen to manipulate you.
Corporations are not like you or I. Nothing on planet Earth is as alien as the corporate mindset.
But ... we don't have to agree =)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
https://dndbeyond-support.wizards.com/hc/en-us/articles/7747224960788-FAQ-D-D-Beyond-Sales
In recent years I've started DMing and playing D&D, when it comes to character creation I'd often use sites like rpgbot.net that would teach me to make effective characters to play and RP. With individual purchase options now gone I feel WoTC is leaving more money on the table from players of the game. As a DM this change doesn't particularly feel too bad, but as a player I hate to see the marketplace feel so gutted.
Personally with no announcement or heads up I feel this was a scummy move. As a DM and or a player, what are your opinions on the new marketplace model?
Forgot to also mention that people who've individually purchased content from a book must now buy the entire book to get the content at a non-discounted price.
I am not surprised, and I will not buy anything until they honor the agreement we had when I made piece meal purchases and those purchases were deducted from the cost of the book. This is in bad faith and will do nothing but add to WotC's poor reputation since acquiring DDB. I will keep my Master Tier Sub until they take the character builder away from Legacy content.
If there was a way to sell my digital content I would and go back to all physical, alas they made that against the TOS/License Agreement. I do not see much value in DDB if this is how they are going to run this site.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
Bad decision made by incompetent leaders.
Free Content: [Basic Rules],
[Phandelver],[Frozen Sick],[Acquisitions Inc.],[Vecna Dossier],[Radiant Citadel], [Spelljammer],[Dragonlance], [Prisoner 13],[Minecraft],[Star Forge], [Baldur’s Gate], [Lightning Keep], [Stormwreck Isle], [Pinebrook], [Caverns of Tsojcanth], [The Lost Horn], [Elemental Evil].Free Dice: [Frostmaiden],
[Flourishing], [Sanguine],[Themberchaud], [Baldur's Gate 3], [Lego].I just imagine this scenario for a new player, they want to play a Leonin Hexblade warlock with the Wildspacer feat, instead of them costing them $6 now WoTC expects them to own 3 separate source books for $90 to even have a chance to play it digitally. An intentionally scummy move. I know I shouldn't be surprised but a decision like this does not make a lot of sense to me if you're already company that is notoriously bad with it's consumer base.
I already own the physical books. Having to purchase them again digitally is not attractive.
Buy a sample from a book to see if you like it, oh you like it? guess what now you get to pay for that sample again!!
scumbag move.
I'm very disappointed. This was always such a great way for players to enter the game... Just buy when you need! Individual purchase items lowered a barrier to entry.
Wizards of the Coast make a good decision challenge (Impossible Mode)
They obviously don’t give a shit about the players or they wouldn’t have done it.
I'm a bit late to the party as I had taken a hiatus. Came back recently to run a hombrew campaign. My players wanted to play some new subclasses and I spent a good 15 min trying to figure out why I couldn't buy them separately. I have canceled my subscription and will be taking my group with me, tired of the scummy moves, for me this was the second chance after what happened with the attemt to make revisions to the license. I'll be going over to Pathfinder.
I've said it in several topics (mostly in the feedback section) now, but if you want a one-stop demonstration of exactly how scummy and desperate this move is: look at how teh "new and improved" storefront treats things you've already bought or partially bought:
- It has no ability to filter out thigns you've already purchased.
- BUT: it CLEARLY already knows the information... because your prior purchases are technically labelled... in the smallest font on the page and only if you click on individual items.
- You are no longer given the automatic discount for pre-purchased content.
- BUT: that discount is technically still available... you just have to contact customer service directly... via another account on another website entirely..., IE: jump through as many hoops as is possible to reasonably erect, despite that information, again, still clearly being available.
Leaving aside that this is an objective lowering of quality rather than an increase; even with the most charitable interpretation: this design is clearly designed to get just a little extra money out of people already invested in the DnDBeyond "ecosystem" so to speak. And that's usually a bad sign: it's usually a bad sign for everyone when a company starts scrabbling for the loose change in the couch as opposed to its primary business model; because it means that the main revenue stream is starting to fall short of expectations... and more money-grubbing is likely to come.
From the FAQ: "À la carte purchases are no longer supported. However, any individual items you've previously purchased will continue to be available for use on D&D Beyond. If you've purchased à la carte items and would like to buy the digital book, please contact customer service to claim your discount prior to purchase."
The comment was made on April 30th, the FAQ was updated May 1st.
Free Content: [Basic Rules],
[Phandelver],[Frozen Sick],[Acquisitions Inc.],[Vecna Dossier],[Radiant Citadel], [Spelljammer],[Dragonlance], [Prisoner 13],[Minecraft],[Star Forge], [Baldur’s Gate], [Lightning Keep], [Stormwreck Isle], [Pinebrook], [Caverns of Tsojcanth], [The Lost Horn], [Elemental Evil].Free Dice: [Frostmaiden],
[Flourishing], [Sanguine],[Themberchaud], [Baldur's Gate 3], [Lego].Poor "solution" to a fabricated problem, plenty others feel the same.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
Hmm. Makes me feel better about my decision to hold off buying any of it, since returning to the game a couple years ago.
Back in the 1e days, I bought every D&D book and module that I could get my hands on. I even subscribed to Dragon Magazine for years, whoever may have owned it. Back then I spent of hundreds of dollars on the game. All of this stuff is now long-gone.
As these ebooks and online gaming platforms seem prone to constant change, I balk at the never-ending expense of simply keeping up with the basics (of) this new 5E+ gaming system, let alone expanding my purchases.
I still play D&D, with others who grant me access to their stuff. As far as running adventures as GM, I've chosen to buy into a different gaming system, and I run only live table games. This choice limits play for me, but it's no worse than when online gaming did not exist.
Grumblings of an old fart.
You know, I'm sure they did their homework and have solid data that indicates that overall, they'll make more money this way. In other words I don't think they're incompetent - rather, they're ghastly corporate ghouls that even their mother's are hardpressed to like. But not necessarily incompetent.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Or they're just practical individuals who look at this as a business enterprise. As satisfying as it may be, it's also rather self-indulgent to so basely vilify people for making a decision with no real moral or other substantial implications just because you disagree with it.
That's what I said.
Are you seriously arguing that the overall corporate mindset isn't as cold, alien and terrifying as Cthulhu himself? Frankly, I have nothing against the poor, mindless drones who slave away at corporate offices. Hell, I know a few. They have an endearing way to ironically distance themselves from moral decrepitude of their overlords, and the sheer 40k-esque grey, sludgy drugdery of it all. It's both kinda cool and kinda funny. But it's still awful and sad.
I'm sure you're aware that corporations still your personal data, and everything that's ever been published either in text or video (as long as it's on the internet somewhere). I'm sure you know that corporations do absolutely anything they can to push cost down and prices up. There is a very real disconnect between production cost and purchase price, they charge as much as they conceivably can, in part because of a lack of competition, moreso because of pricing cartels. In essence, prices are made to drain you of your hard earned cash, siphoning every penny you earn back into the corporate machine.
You wanna defend that? Sure. Ok. They're just, what did you say, 'practical people doing business'.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Put that way, yes I am. The corporate mindset is not something alien and incomprehensible; it's literally the exact mindset on display from everyone making a fuss about this: "okay, sure, but how does this situation benefit me?" It benefits them to have the arrangement that gives them the best profit margins, while the people who made use of ALC benefited from low cost options. Frankly this alleged moral high ground is getting rather tiresome; this is not a matter of right and wrong, this is a matter of a fairly unique offering in the TTRPG market being discontinued, probably due to the fact that it's rare because it cuts into the profit margins. And yes, I frankly don't care about the fine details of business practices for a disposable income product like this as long as we're not getting into actual predatory models like loot boxes connected to core gameplay aspects. And, on this note, do y'all get this worked up every time a gacha dangles their latest shiny "spend $50 for a 1-in-10 shot of pulling" boondoggle in front of their players, or is that not bad business because it's either not something that impacts you or something that's simply become a normalized part of the experience?
Every ... copyrighted ... work ... in existance ... has been stolen to train AI.
All data ... by everyone ... one the planet ... has been stolen to manipulate you.
Corporations are not like you or I. Nothing on planet Earth is as alien as the corporate mindset.
But ... we don't have to agree =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.