Too bad I couldn't just pay for a subscription that gives me access to all content to share with my players in my campaign. Guess I'll just go back to rifts, it's easier to explain than 5e... heck 4e is easier
Absolutely, the subscription would be something worthwhile if it gave you access to all the source material while subscribed, but this just seems like a cash grab to me, which is unfortunate as I really like the utility of the program. Not gonna spend that much money to repurchase books I already own though.
Absolutely, the subscription would be something worthwhile if it gave you access to all the source material while subscribed, but this just seems like a cash grab to me, which is unfortunate as I really like the utility of the program. Not gonna spend that much money to repurchase books I already own though.
I do not think subscriptions at its current pricing should allow unlimited access to all content. People can just subscribe for one month, copy everything via homebrew, and then not subscribe anymore. That not only hurts the business, it also hurts paying customers like me who are willing to pay more for a quality product, since Wizards and Beyond will not be able to do their job properly if they are not being paid fairly.
Absolutely, the subscription would be something worthwhile if it gave you access to all the source material while subscribed, but this just seems like a cash grab to me, which is unfortunate as I really like the utility of the program. Not gonna spend that much money to repurchase books I already own though.
The money wouldn’t be spent to “repurchase books I already own” because DDB doesn’t sell books. They sell licenses to access the digital compendiums for $20 which is 60% off of MSRP, and in fact even cheaper than the the 40% off MSRP that Amazon charges for a physical object that contains the same content. DDB also sells an enhanced version including the digital tools to interact with the free DDB character sheet for only $10 more, the same $30 (40% off of MSRP) that Amazon charges for the dead trees version without any convenient, electronically automated features. And the digital compendiums automatically get updated to reflect all current errata from WotC. (You would need to repurchase the entire physical book of the newer printings to have fully updated print versions.)
In addition, the digital edition doesn’t contribute to deforestation, and the energy needed to run the servers pollutes the planet far less than the ink and chemically saturated glossy paper needed to make the print versions.
The price of a Master Tier subscription (about the same as an XBox Gold membership) lets a subscriber enable Content Sharing which means that all of the digital compendiums purchased by anyone in the same DDB campaign get shared with the whole campaign. I have spent a grand total of $208.11 on digital compendiums of the major Sourcebooks, and have paid another $116.58 for an annual Master Tier Sub and a resub for a second year. That content sharing has enabled me to access the entire contents of the Legendary Bundle valued at $785.90 on DDB, or around $1,310 for the print editions. And remember, those print editions would have to be replaced to reflect any errata. That means in order to have always had the most up to date information, the Core 3 would each have needed to be repurchased three times each, and Xanathar’s at least twice!) Basically, DDB has not only saved me over $1,000, but is also saving my friends between $1,100-$1,300 each. My $55+Tax/year has saved my circle of people somewhere in excess of $7,500 off of print editions at MSRP (or over $4,500 at Amazon’s prices.)
If the Subscription granted full access to the entire contents of the Legendary Bundle as you suggest, even with the limit on how many campaigns you could share it with at a time like DDB has now, it would have to cost at least $200-$250 (probably more like $300ish) per year. Why in goodness’ name would you want to spend $200-$300 per year to rent D&D?!? Arrre ye daft lad/lass?!?
So... yeah... that’s gonna be a hard “nope” on my end. I am not spending that much money to rent content for 1 year when I will only use about half of the Sourcebooks and none of the Adventures. The two years subscriptions I got would have cost me $100-$300 more than I actually spent here. GTFO! Instead I paid roughly the same amount of money to get permanent access to those key sourcebooks, and my Subscriptions so I basically also ended up with free access to ev-ver-ry-thing. Coincidentally, the amount I spent for those digital compendiums is the exact same amount I would have spent to get those sourcebooks from Amazon. Except the versions I got include interactivity with the free character sheet tool, and they get automatically updated for free. Plus, all of my friends can download them onto their phones and tablets for free too. (And I could download all the things if I wanted to. 🤑)
Not to mention, but WotC sets the prices for their content, but they neither own nor operate this website. That is why the other vendors of digital compendium licenses (like Foundry, etc.) charge the same amount as DDB even though WotC doesn’t own any of them either. So if you want to complain about the pricing, those comments are better directed towards the folks over at WotC. By the way WotC is a soulless, money grubbing company which is owned by an even larger, even more soulless, and even more money grubbing mega conglomeration known as Hasbro. So, basically... good luck with that.
No I agree, the current pricing model wouldn't warrant an all access approach, but for the current model of purchase and subscription isn't really that attractive. It could be with some work though.
I did not realize you could just port material to homebrew like that, if that is an option and you can do that with shared material, I could see this being economical if a group went in together, pooled the material and I could then just move it all to homebrew.
No I agree, the current pricing model wouldn't warrant an all access approach, but for the current model of purchase and subscription isn't really that attractive. It could be with some work though.
I did not realize you could just port material to homebrew like that, if that is an option and you can do that with shared material, I could see this being economical if a group went in together, pooled the material and I could then just move it all to homebrew.
You are welcome to homebrew elements from the published books, you just aren't allowed to publish that homebrew here, you have to keep it here as private homebrew. But all homebrew in the collection of anyone in a campaign is shared. So, yes, you could divy up responsiblity for homebrewing things to different members of the campaign, and it could be shared. you can also purchase things piecemeal, getting only the options you want. More information about the possiblities can be found in the buyer's guide that is linked in my signature.
I bought a subscription today, and it says I should be able to create unlimited characters, and yet, I am still limited to 6. How long does it take to apply ?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Danitha SteelStrider - Human mercenary Cleric of Shaundakul
I bought a subscription today, and it says I should be able to create unlimited characters, and yet, I am still limited to 6. How long does it take to apply ?
Check if your entitlements are in sync via https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/marketplace. It'll tell you if they are at the top of the page, and if they aren't there'll be a button to fix that. Good luck!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
So there is no subscription for tge books cuz I don't really wanna pay £480 in one for access to all creatures and character options, was hopin for like a £6 a month option
So there is no subscription for tge books cuz I don't really wanna pay £480 in one for access to all creatures and character options, was hopin for like a £6 a month option
Subscriptions do not unlock content, only purchases do.
Too bad I couldn't just pay for a subscription that gives me access to all content to share with my players in my campaign. Guess I'll just go back to rifts, it's easier to explain than 5e... heck 4e is easier
Absolutely, the subscription would be something worthwhile if it gave you access to all the source material while subscribed, but this just seems like a cash grab to me, which is unfortunate as I really like the utility of the program. Not gonna spend that much money to repurchase books I already own though.
I do not think subscriptions at its current pricing should allow unlimited access to all content. People can just subscribe for one month, copy everything via homebrew, and then not subscribe anymore. That not only hurts the business, it also hurts paying customers like me who are willing to pay more for a quality product, since Wizards and Beyond will not be able to do their job properly if they are not being paid fairly.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
The money wouldn’t be spent to “repurchase books I already own” because DDB doesn’t sell books. They sell licenses to access the digital compendiums for $20 which is 60% off of MSRP, and in fact even cheaper than the the 40% off MSRP that Amazon charges for a physical object that contains the same content. DDB also sells an enhanced version including the digital tools to interact with the free DDB character sheet for only $10 more, the same $30 (40% off of MSRP) that Amazon charges for the dead trees version without any convenient, electronically automated features. And the digital compendiums automatically get updated to reflect all current errata from WotC. (You would need to repurchase the entire physical book of the newer printings to have fully updated print versions.)
In addition, the digital edition doesn’t contribute to deforestation, and the energy needed to run the servers pollutes the planet far less than the ink and chemically saturated glossy paper needed to make the print versions.
The price of a Master Tier subscription (about the same as an XBox Gold membership) lets a subscriber enable Content Sharing which means that all of the digital compendiums purchased by anyone in the same DDB campaign get shared with the whole campaign. I have spent a grand total of $208.11 on digital compendiums of the major Sourcebooks, and have paid another $116.58 for an annual Master Tier Sub and a resub for a second year. That content sharing has enabled me to access the entire contents of the Legendary Bundle valued at $785.90 on DDB, or around $1,310 for the print editions. And remember, those print editions would have to be replaced to reflect any errata. That means in order to have always had the most up to date information, the Core 3 would each have needed to be repurchased three times each, and Xanathar’s at least twice!) Basically, DDB has not only saved me over $1,000, but is also saving my friends between $1,100-$1,300 each. My $55+Tax/year has saved my circle of people somewhere in excess of $7,500 off of print editions at MSRP (or over $4,500 at Amazon’s prices.)
If the Subscription granted full access to the entire contents of the Legendary Bundle as you suggest, even with the limit on how many campaigns you could share it with at a time like DDB has now, it would have to cost at least $200-$250 (probably more like $300ish) per year. Why in goodness’ name would you want to spend $200-$300 per year to rent D&D?!? Arrre ye daft lad/lass?!?
So... yeah... that’s gonna be a hard “nope” on my end. I am not spending that much money to rent content for 1 year when I will only use about half of the Sourcebooks and none of the Adventures. The two years subscriptions I got would have cost me $100-$300 more than I actually spent here. GTFO! Instead I paid roughly the same amount of money to get permanent access to those key sourcebooks, and my Subscriptions so I basically also ended up with free access to ev-ver-ry-thing. Coincidentally, the amount I spent for those digital compendiums is the exact same amount I would have spent to get those sourcebooks from Amazon. Except the versions I got include interactivity with the free character sheet tool, and they get automatically updated for free. Plus, all of my friends can download them onto their phones and tablets for free too. (And I could download all the things if I wanted to. 🤑)
Not to mention, but WotC sets the prices for their content, but they neither own nor operate this website. That is why the other vendors of digital compendium licenses (like Foundry, etc.) charge the same amount as DDB even though WotC doesn’t own any of them either. So if you want to complain about the pricing, those comments are better directed towards the folks over at WotC. By the way WotC is a soulless, money grubbing company which is owned by an even larger, even more soulless, and even more money grubbing mega conglomeration known as Hasbro. So, basically... good luck with that.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
No I agree, the current pricing model wouldn't warrant an all access approach, but for the current model of purchase and subscription isn't really that attractive. It could be with some work though.
I did not realize you could just port material to homebrew like that, if that is an option and you can do that with shared material, I could see this being economical if a group went in together, pooled the material and I could then just move it all to homebrew.
You are welcome to homebrew elements from the published books, you just aren't allowed to publish that homebrew here, you have to keep it here as private homebrew. But all homebrew in the collection of anyone in a campaign is shared. So, yes, you could divy up responsiblity for homebrewing things to different members of the campaign, and it could be shared. you can also purchase things piecemeal, getting only the options you want. More information about the possiblities can be found in the buyer's guide that is linked in my signature.
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 bought a subscription today, and it says I should be able to create unlimited characters, and yet, I am still limited to 6. How long does it take to apply ?
Danitha SteelStrider - Human mercenary Cleric of Shaundakul
Aislynn Moontouched - Aasimar, Cleric of Selûne
Check if your entitlements are in sync via https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/marketplace. It'll tell you if they are at the top of the page, and if they aren't there'll be a button to fix that. Good luck!
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
So there is no subscription for tge books cuz I don't really wanna pay £480 in one for access to all creatures and character options, was hopin for like a £6 a month option
Subscriptions do not unlock content, only purchases do.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting