For the first question, let's assume that, based on the FAQ, the subscription will include no additional official content other than what's officially available for free now. In other words, let's assume it will only offer:
more character save slots
access to homebrew content
gathering some of the available information in custom lists (such as a custom list of monsters or spells)
access to free official content, including unearthed arcana content
Assume that you could pay separately (at a price that has not been determined) a one-time fee for content that you wanted to purchase. Past WotC behavior indicates that this will probably be the full print cover for those publications, but they might also make some cheaper options for a single class (but without magic items that might relate to that class). What's the most you would you pay, per month, for that?
For the second question, assume the above, but assume that ALL official content was also included in the subscription. What's the most you would you pay if the subscription included all official content?
The problem with all subscription models is that eventually you end up paying more than you would have paid to just buy the books.
A lot of the Functionality of this seems to be stuff that can quickly be duplicated better with Word/Excel rather easily.
Potentially needing an internet connection to access the information could be an issue to make it useful. Another issue is how much information can you share between players especially when players tend to not own every book. How do you handle a PC that doesn't want to buy a subscription or book for his Character that he only needs one page from and already owns the physical book?
Most importantly five years down the road when WotC makes 6th edition, what will happen to dndbeyond? Will it be basically tossed away as much as the old 4th edition tools?
Biggest issue for me is cost, and whether or not buying the physical books would be more efficient. Especially from a players perspective where you may only need a page in a book and then only for character creation, and everyone in the party but you already owns that book.
The problem with all subscription models is that eventually you end up paying more than you would have paid to just buy the books.
A lot of the Functionality of this seems to be stuff that can quickly be duplicated better with Word/Excel rather easily.
Potentially needing an internet connection to access the information could be an issue to make it useful. Another issue is how much information can you share between players especially when players tend to not own every book. How do you handle a PC that doesn't want to buy a subscription or book for his Character that he only needs one page from and already owns the physical book?
Most importantly five years down the road when WotC makes 6th edition, what will happen to dndbeyond? Will it be basically tossed away as much as the old 4th edition tools?
Biggest issue for me is cost, and whether or not buying the physical books would be more efficient. Especially from a players perspective where you may only need a page in a book and then only for character creation, and everyone in the party but you already owns that book.
The developers already said that DDB will be offline as well.
I'd probably go as high as $75/year for all official content in an offline app that I could install on my iPad if it includes all of the core rulebooks (PHB, DMG, MM, and any other hardback books), the features that they're still developing for D&D Beyond, and a promise that when WotC releases 6E, those book will be included in the app too. I'd end up paying slightly more over the life of 5E than I'd pay for the books separately, but I'd get extra functionality for that extra money. I'd definitely pay $50/year for that!
I would really like to play around with how effective the app is before I would know how much I would be willing to pay. So far though everything looks amazing
My players and I feel the same. The thing that's is tricky to me is do the digital resources I buy or subscription plan determin my character options. As the dm I expect to pay more (either from buying more books or paying for digital tools to run my games). If my players are limited I'll stick with books I can share over trying to get them to keep up with the jones. I have a few players that play with other groups or on skype and they enjoy the game enough they seem happy to pay a few dollars a month to managed a bunch of character sheets especially if it can deal with home brew on a per character level, but nobody wants to buy books after what happened with 3.5. Back in the day (2e)we would have at least 3 phb at the table a dmg a mm and a few splat books. Once you could get them cheap on eBay my serious players had a bunch of books each and even new players seemed to pretty quickly buy at least a phb or like complete fighter (used on eBay). I understand used book sales don't really help wotc but I feel like the priceing was a good indicator that people will buy if they are having fun and the price is reasonable. We used to chip in to buy whatever the newest book was when wotc was publishing that star wars game but that kind of club mentality doesn't seem to fit in with the models laid out.
Frankly I wouldn't pay a monthly sub. I'm impoverished and can't afford to be nickle and dime'd, even if it's just $4 a month or whatever.
On the other hand I totally can save up over time to afford a one-time fee that covers everything. Even if it's a large one, I'd be more than willing to pay that large one-time fee just the one time and have all future content auto-unlocked. Other than that option, I'm just going to be using it for free.
If they don't provide a one-time fee option, I'm not paying a monthly sub at any "tier". If they do, they'll get that large one-time fee from me as soon as I can save up for it! That's just the economic formula I have to follow, there's not any room to compromise with a monthly sub fee for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I would have to say, $5 dollars a month, or $50 a year!
Otherwise, it would be just too much. Taking into account the cost of books and such. It would have to turn into a "do I want the books, or go online?" And as you can't always get online, guess what is likely.
I'd be willing to pay up to double what I do on physical D&D books in a year for all the digital bells and whistles that D&D Beyond seems set to give on top of the content itself.
But I understand that I am a rarity in that I think the (typically loads more useful) digital version of a gaming product is worth a higher price than the (only advantages are that it smells nice, can can be used to help flatten a poster map) physical product.
The problem with all subscription models is that eventually you end up paying more than you would have paid to just buy the books.
Sure, but you're not paying for a static book. You're paying for access to a web app that requires updating and maintaining. Subscription models are often portrayed as a "cash grab", but persistent costs require persistent income to cover. So long as the app is properly updated and maintained, there's an ongoing benefit to it that a hardcopy book cannot provide.
Take Adobe's PhotoShop licensing structure for example. Instead of paying $600-$700+ for PhotoShop, you can pay $10 a month. Sure, after awhile you will have paid more than you would have paid to license the software outright, but you'll also be using a version of the software that's 2-3+ versions newer than what you originally had because the subscription model allows you to stay up-to-the-minute on content.
If it's done right, IMO, subscription model benefits everyone.
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PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
I have purchased 2 copies of every official 5e product (one to 'collect' and one to 'use/tear up'), as well as a copy of all the Fantasy Grounds products. So I estimate ~$1,800 already spent on multiple copies of the same content. I sure wish there was a way to send in a unique code from the print products (or FG product) for a free digital version on DDB. Maybe at least a discount? Just sayin'... *hint*
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Be careful what you Wish for... your DM may just give it to you!
I am willing to pay up to $15 a month (what I consider the "standard" monthly subscription amount for most things) for 100% full access to everything. I am assuming that covers what is in question one about additional character slots and homebrew. I'd go for the monthly sub to get it all.
If, however, I was a person not wanting to pay a monthly sub for all content I would be willing to pay like $5 a month for unlimited characters or like $1 per character slot (provided we can delete old characters to make room for new), and then maybe a one time payment of $5 for each class. If I didn't want everything I'd just buy the classes as I need them. For example, one of my players ONLY plays Barbarians and Fighters (he's really boring) and I know he would probably be okay with a $5 cost for the barb class and whatever number of character slots a free account might get him.
But again, I'd want to pay a single monthly subscription and get 100% full access to all current and future content, unlimited character slots, and homebrew stuff. I'd be willing to pay $15 a month for that access. I'd also be maybe okay with there being a limit to characters, since most MMOs for example only give you like 8 character slots or something and you have to pay for more. However, at the same time, D&D characters are just text data and probably don't take up as much space...
I dunno, it's hard to say what I'd be okay with. But $15 a month for all in access seems fair to me at least. It's pretty standard.
I personally believe they should be very afraid of doing a subscription. DnD may be big now, but its still tabletop rpg. You dont have the mass to justify doing that. MMOs with far more people involved, tank constantly because they ask for money monthly. What i suggest....make the webapp a downloadable app. Even for desktop for example. Let people pay for it, buy it once. Update it once in a while with errata or stuff. You dont have to maintain costly servers, and people dont feel nickle and dimed. Offline access saves money for both sides.
What i suggest....make the webapp a downloadable app. Even for desktop for example. Let people pay for it, buy it once. Update it once in a while with errata or stuff. You dont have to maintain costly servers, and people dont feel nickle and dimed. Offline access saves money for both sides.
Not to get into the pricing model debate, but I wanted to touch on the above:
Whether placing all data on a downloadable app that receives updates for a one-time fee, or a subscription model that allows access to said data whenever, the result on the servers is the same - Complete content downloads vs page view downloads. The devs have already stated that the mobile app will allow for offline data content. The pricing is for the service itself, of having access to the digital tool set, whether up front or subscription.
How many other products/services currently run on subscriptions (yearly) successfully? Antivirus software, Office 365, etc.
For the first question, let's assume that, based on the FAQ, the subscription will include no additional official content other than what's officially available for free now. In other words, let's assume it will only offer:
Assume that you could pay separately (at a price that has not been determined) a one-time fee for content that you wanted to purchase. Past WotC behavior indicates that this will probably be the full print cover for those publications, but they might also make some cheaper options for a single class (but without magic items that might relate to that class). What's the most you would you pay, per month, for that?
For the second question, assume the above, but assume that ALL official content was also included in the subscription. What's the most you would you pay if the subscription included all official content?
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
I believe there will be one payment for the app ("digital books" + character and adventures management). We will see if is monthly or one-time.
I'd rather pay for a one-time thing than monthly payments.
But I'd say max is $5 month.
I'll just put this here as some comments suggest people aren't aware - a quote from the DBB's Project Lead:
Edit: Taken from this thread - http://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/news-announcements/1942-beta-report-the-week-after
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
The problem with all subscription models is that eventually you end up paying more than you would have paid to just buy the books.
A lot of the Functionality of this seems to be stuff that can quickly be duplicated better with Word/Excel rather easily.
Potentially needing an internet connection to access the information could be an issue to make it useful. Another issue is how much information can you share between players especially when players tend to not own every book. How do you handle a PC that doesn't want to buy a subscription or book for his Character that he only needs one page from and already owns the physical book?
Most importantly five years down the road when WotC makes 6th edition, what will happen to dndbeyond? Will it be basically tossed away as much as the old 4th edition tools?
Biggest issue for me is cost, and whether or not buying the physical books would be more efficient. Especially from a players perspective where you may only need a page in a book and then only for character creation, and everyone in the party but you already owns that book.
I'd probably go as high as $75/year for all official content in an offline app that I could install on my iPad if it includes all of the core rulebooks (PHB, DMG, MM, and any other hardback books), the features that they're still developing for D&D Beyond, and a promise that when WotC releases 6E, those book will be included in the app too. I'd end up paying slightly more over the life of 5E than I'd pay for the books separately, but I'd get extra functionality for that extra money. I'd definitely pay $50/year for that!
Professional computer geek
I would really like to play around with how effective the app is before I would know how much I would be willing to pay. So far though everything looks amazing
$10/month. For a little while at least. But I'm really hoping that we will have some sort of 3rd party API integration points for custom tools.
My players and I feel the same. The thing that's is tricky to me is do the digital resources I buy or subscription plan determin my character options. As the dm I expect to pay more (either from buying more books or paying for digital tools to run my games). If my players are limited I'll stick with books I can share over trying to get them to keep up with the jones. I have a few players that play with other groups or on skype and they enjoy the game enough they seem happy to pay a few dollars a month to managed a bunch of character sheets especially if it can deal with home brew on a per character level, but nobody wants to buy books after what happened with 3.5. Back in the day (2e)we would have at least 3 phb at the table a dmg a mm and a few splat books. Once you could get them cheap on eBay my serious players had a bunch of books each and even new players seemed to pretty quickly buy at least a phb or like complete fighter (used on eBay). I understand used book sales don't really help wotc but I feel like the priceing was a good indicator that people will buy if they are having fun and the price is reasonable. We used to chip in to buy whatever the newest book was when wotc was publishing that star wars game but that kind of club mentality doesn't seem to fit in with the models laid out.
Frankly I wouldn't pay a monthly sub. I'm impoverished and can't afford to be nickle and dime'd, even if it's just $4 a month or whatever.
On the other hand I totally can save up over time to afford a one-time fee that covers everything. Even if it's a large one, I'd be more than willing to pay that large one-time fee just the one time and have all future content auto-unlocked. Other than that option, I'm just going to be using it for free.
If they don't provide a one-time fee option, I'm not paying a monthly sub at any "tier". If they do, they'll get that large one-time fee from me as soon as I can save up for it! That's just the economic formula I have to follow, there's not any room to compromise with a monthly sub fee for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I would have to say, $5 dollars a month, or $50 a year!
Otherwise, it would be just too much. Taking into account the cost of books and such. It would have to turn into a "do I want the books, or go online?" And as you can't always get online, guess what is likely.
I'd be willing to pay up to double what I do on physical D&D books in a year for all the digital bells and whistles that D&D Beyond seems set to give on top of the content itself.
But I understand that I am a rarity in that I think the (typically loads more useful) digital version of a gaming product is worth a higher price than the (only advantages are that it smells nice, can can be used to help flatten a poster map) physical product.
Take Adobe's PhotoShop licensing structure for example. Instead of paying $600-$700+ for PhotoShop, you can pay $10 a month. Sure, after awhile you will have paid more than you would have paid to license the software outright, but you'll also be using a version of the software that's 2-3+ versions newer than what you originally had because the subscription model allows you to stay up-to-the-minute on content.
I would prefer a once a year fee, like pay $25 for a year of all released content.
I have purchased 2 copies of every official 5e product (one to 'collect' and one to 'use/tear up'), as well as a copy of all the Fantasy Grounds products. So I estimate ~$1,800 already spent on multiple copies of the same content. I sure wish there was a way to send in a unique code from the print products (or FG product) for a free digital version on DDB. Maybe at least a discount? Just sayin'... *hint*
Be careful what you Wish for... your DM may just give it to you!
A one time "Ultimate" license would be nice to consider.
Be careful what you Wish for... your DM may just give it to you!
I am willing to pay up to $15 a month (what I consider the "standard" monthly subscription amount for most things) for 100% full access to everything. I am assuming that covers what is in question one about additional character slots and homebrew. I'd go for the monthly sub to get it all.
If, however, I was a person not wanting to pay a monthly sub for all content I would be willing to pay like $5 a month for unlimited characters or like $1 per character slot (provided we can delete old characters to make room for new), and then maybe a one time payment of $5 for each class. If I didn't want everything I'd just buy the classes as I need them. For example, one of my players ONLY plays Barbarians and Fighters (he's really boring) and I know he would probably be okay with a $5 cost for the barb class and whatever number of character slots a free account might get him.
But again, I'd want to pay a single monthly subscription and get 100% full access to all current and future content, unlimited character slots, and homebrew stuff. I'd be willing to pay $15 a month for that access. I'd also be maybe okay with there being a limit to characters, since most MMOs for example only give you like 8 character slots or something and you have to pay for more. However, at the same time, D&D characters are just text data and probably don't take up as much space...
I dunno, it's hard to say what I'd be okay with. But $15 a month for all in access seems fair to me at least. It's pretty standard.
I personally believe they should be very afraid of doing a subscription. DnD may be big now, but its still tabletop rpg. You dont have the mass to justify doing that. MMOs with far more people involved, tank constantly because they ask for money monthly. What i suggest....make the webapp a downloadable app. Even for desktop for example. Let people pay for it, buy it once. Update it once in a while with errata or stuff. You dont have to maintain costly servers, and people dont feel nickle and dimed. Offline access saves money for both sides.
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