Does the timing actually matter? I think it does not.
It is a fact that MPMB's character sheet was doing a thing which it should not have been doing (providing non-SRD content without license to do so), and a fact that as a result some action against it was taken. There is no change to either of those facts due to the timing, is there?
Being suspicious of the timing makes no sense at all, as there were cease and desist orders issued by WotC to other projects similar to MPMB's sheet prior to the announcement of any officially licensed digital tools, so there is no reason to believe that WotC were aware of violations of their copyright or infringements upon their trademarks and chose to turn a blind eye... but only until they had officially licensed alternatives.
Content on DM's Guild is not limited to the SRD. Do a little research and think before you post so as not to look so ignorant! Furthermore, there was no C&D issued to DM's Guild or MPMB. DM's Guild simply pulled the sheet, likely under instruction from WotC. MPMB was never given any reason why.
Actually, the timing "could" matter, but it is insignificant. As part of the agreement, maybe Curse got it where they had to shutdown everyone else that was not official. However, it really doesn't matter since they were illegal anyways. WOTC could do it at any time as their right to do so. So we should all just get over it because it is done and there is nothing that can be done about it. Go cry over in the corner if you want, but won't change a thing.
Please, please, please tell me how you know 100% that DM's Guild or MPMB did not get a C&D order? Are you MPMB or someone of high importance at DMs Guild and you know this as fact? or maybe it was that since WOTC runs/manages DM's Guild and told them as a policy to pull everything that violates their IP and they had to comply, thus not needing the C&D at DM's Guild or to provide one to their content creator whom did so illegally? Maybe they only had to send them out to people/places that not under their control (other websites, forums, etc). Otherwise I would have thought this magical MPMB would have shown up elsewhere.
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.
Content on DM's Guild is not limited to the SRD. Do a little research and think before you post so as not to look so ignorant!
It's also not given free reign to include all copyright or trademark material held by WotC - so practice what you preach, and don't go calling people ignorant without actual cause to do so (and even then, maybe don't, since it's usually poor etiquette).
Exemples of working character sheets that works because of some reasons, and yes they are much much better then MPMB to begin wtih.
Fifth Edition Character Sheet (android device) Aside from a name change which was required by WOTC, yes after 3 years they were asked to change their name to this. why is it still accepted by WOTC as a thing, because in their content they don't the wording and often just literally refer to the rules book. many of the warlock invocations have literally other names, the abilities for different classesare literally truncated to describe in more precise words what they do. all that said, it's still not legal by any means because it's still using the classes of the book and the races of the books that are not SRD.
MPMB Literally you have the right to create such things, as an engine even to reproduce a thing like a character sheet is legal, thus MPMB is legal in ihis way of making the sheet itself, what is illegal is the automation of characters by adding the content of the book and saying to people, now you don't ned book to begin with. which is literally what MPMB did. also its a matter of opinion to say the better sheet is MPMB, because i used it and i completely threw it away after like 5 tries. because i really don't like the look of it, its unprofessionnal and very confusing. there are tons of buttons at the top and a lot of hoops to go through to get something done on that sheet. i also talked to the author giving him literally reasons to add certain effect to the sheet and all the answer i got was, stop making stuff up, even when i literally told him on which page it was in the book. so the lack of support from the author and the lack of professionnalism on the part of the UI made me stop using it. that's my opinion, i don't enforce it on anyone, i just don't like MPMB. he did phenominal work ont he sheet, but that doesn't render his sheet more legal, and years of it existing surely do not render it more legal either.
Lion's Den (IOS) All of these are illegal, i even have the database myself on my computer, saying its legal because years of practice doesn't make them legal by any means. it only means WOTC has soemthing else then enforce their IP or losing money to enforce their IP. issuing a few IP notices might be enough effort for them, unlke marvel in 2001 after the movie spider-man which they literally started a campaign to stop it all. a campaign that costed them to engage 3 more people, and search the web for any violation. something that costed them millions just because people broke the rules and got money out of it all. WotC is by no means as big as marvel was in 2001, so its normal to think WOTC do not have the means to enforce their IP the way they should be. it's normal assume that WOTC issue certain IP warnings by years just becaue they preffer to keep the money elsewhere. again that doesn't mean lion's den will be right to make their software. which is again, legal from a software point of view because they designed their own and not pick it somewhere, but the content they use is illegal still.
those are just a few exemples of what's right and what's not in software programming. an engine is legal as long as you developped it yourself and did not simply copy another that exists, your work is legal, but the content of your work might simply not be. MUGEN the 2d engine is the very exemple of that. the engine is entirely legal, but the content (characters and stages) the people uses on it are not. exemple of MvC Ultimate that was done for it. the engine is legal, the characers images and sprites are not.
now if you can't even understand that or do not want that to be a thing, is entirely your opinion on it. that doesn't make it a fact. and million so people believing it doesn't really make it a fact either, 500 years ago millions of people believed in certain things that today have completely disappeared.
overall, the work people put on things is legal, the content they use for that work might not be. thats the difference between it all.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of two gaming groups. Likes to create stuff. Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games --> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
I have the PHB as a physical copy but without it on this site I can't add any feats other than grappler to my character, is there any way to add the physical copy to this? Via barcode or something?
I have the PHB as a physical copy but without it on this site I can't add any feats other than grappler to my character, is there any way to add the physical copy to this? Via barcode or something?
I have merged your thread into this one, because all the answers you are seeking are here. In short, no, you cannot use your physical copy of the book to "claim" a digital copy.
I have the PHB as a physical copy but without it on this site I can't add any feats other than grappler to my character, is there any way to add the physical copy to this? Via barcode or something?
While, as firehawk2324 has said your physical copy of the PHB doesn't grant you access to all the PHB material here, you do have a number of options at this point that will let you use other feats:
-you can homebrew the feat you want using the homebrew feat tools here
-you can purchase your desired feat for 1.99
-you can purchase a feats bundle (Xanathar's feat bundle is 3.99, for example)
-you can purchase the entire PHB and have access to all the PHB class options
So let's just break it up our product in to 2 separate pieces: content & distribution. WotC provides the content. Let's define distribution as everything else aka publishing, shipping, store rent, software development, server space, etc. I'm just going to make up some numbers here to get the point across for the Player's Handbook.
Amazon: $30 = $15(wotc) + $15(distribution)
LGS: $50 = $20(wotc) + $30(distribution)
DDB: $30 = $15(wotc) + $15(curse)
What doesn't make sense to me is that wotc is getting paid multiple times for providing the same content. It makes sense that when a user buys the Player's Handbook via DDB that WotC agrees to refund their cut of the purchase to the user if the user can provide proof of purchase of the same content via some other distribution.
I get that there might be complications to make that happen. For example it might be difficult to put a price tag on the barcode because the content has a different value per deal made with each distributor. But from the user's perspective it isn't complicated. Even if Curse did 2 pricing options $50 or $30+barcode users would feel better about it (even if under the hood WotC is getting paid again for the same content). But I think WotC & Curse can do better than $50 or $30+barcode. I think there's lots of people out there willing to pay for content, but resort to piracy because of these kinds of issues. Rather than fighting piracy with high priced content I think it should be fought with more reasonable/user friendly business models.
Thing is, the user can't. There is literally no current way to actually prove purchase.
Further, the implementation of any way to prove a purchase that wouldn't be available only selectively (i.e. Amazon purchase history lining up with D&D Beyond purchase history between linked accounts if that hypothetical option were available, but no FLGS purchases being treated the same way) would carry with it a great than negligible cost - which means either reducing profits intentionally which has huge risks, or raising the price given to the customers to compensate for the more expensive process which has its own huge risks.
So instead of being unreasonable and taking huge risks that could result in the expedient demise of the D&D game as a whole (gotta make enough to keep looking like a success on quarterly reports, or the "higher ups" would shut the department down), an entirely reasonable approach of actually having people pay for the game they claim they want to play has been taken - and from all sources that would actually know, is being reported as a success.
Does the same theory apply if one buys a second physical copy of the book? I'm not trying to be snarky when I ask that. But it's one of the questions I have every time I read a comment arguing we shouldn't have to pay for content again. In many ways, content on DDB functions like a second copy of the books for me.* I wouldn't expect to be able to get a second physical copy free (or at a reduced price) from an FLGS just because I bought one from Amazon, nor even a second copy for free (or reduced) from Amazon, who could easily prove I purchased it once. So I don't expect to get a "copy" here for free (or at a reduced price), either.
*DDB is far more than just another set of books for me, what with the character builder, the ability to filter spell, monster, and magic item lists, etc.; I'm aware all that functionality takes time and labor to build, maintain, and enter; another reason I don't object to purchasing content here "again."
And what about those folks who don't want digital tools? Adding some sort of discount system into the physical books would no doubt mean that WOTC would increase their price, meaning that some folks would be (partially) paying for a digital system they will never use.
All that said, anyone has the right to decide that what DDB provides isn't worth the cost for them.
Thing is, the user can't. There is literally no current way to actually prove purchase.
I wasn't able to follow the rest of your post.
Oh there is totally a way to prove purchase. Every hard copy of the player's handbook must have some type of unique identifier. Every DDB content purchase also has a unique ID. You just use that like an activation key. It's a non-complex database that isn't big at all. The cost of overhead would be minimal. Whatever it is, just take it out of the reduced price you get for providing the proof of purchase.
If you buy a second hard copy of the player's handbook and use the first copy's unique ID to reduce the price you just have to flag the newer book's unique ID as used. I'm sure the book distributor would like to get paid 2 times for 2 different distributions. You pay for 2x the materials, shipping weight, etc. That makes sense. But it doesn't make sense for WotC to get paid twice just like it doesn't make sense to pay DDB for the player's handbook twice on the same account (they wouldn't even be using 2x the server space).
If I have 2 player's handbooks bought at full price I could use one of them to get a reduced price of the same content on DDB on 2 different accounts (maybe gift one to a friend's account).
The point is to match value to product. I see people crossing lines of content & distribution over and over again. If you like what DDB has done WITH the content then pay for those features separately from the content. What are THOSE features worth by themselves? Liking DDB's tools ON TOP OF the content shouldn't justify paying for the same content twice, it should justify paying for the thing you like that you don't already have (tools on top of the content).
I'm glad I found this site. I'm actually visually impaired, so finding this resource through a friend of mine was wonderful. Now I just need to get my group to transition from pen and paper to this so that we can be on the same playing field. (I'm currently the only one at the table who uses a laptop to keep track of things, it's the digital age, c'mon. Get with the times.) Price wise, though, the price is right for everything here; that's not to say that I didn't buy a print book without being aware of this, but it worked out, since my friend needed a copy.
Thing is, the user can't. There is literally no current way to actually prove purchase.
I wasn't able to follow the rest of your post.
Oh there is totally a way to prove purchase. Every hard copy of the player's handbook must have some type of unique identifier.
You are making a lot of assumptions, and I genuinely have no idea where you take them from.
Kindly could you point me to any unique code in any physical fiction book? Not even DVDs or Blu-ray discs that come with the digital version of the movie give by default a unique code tied to that one copy (be it on the disc or as part of the cover), they need a separate leaflet/sticker with the code on it to validate the purchase and activation of the digital online version of the movie. Books most certainly, being a per-se less digital medium, do not have a unique code, short again of an additional leaflet/sticker.
I do not want to be hostile, but I don't see where your claims come from, and I'd be curious to find out.
Thing is, the user can't. There is literally no current way to actually prove purchase.
I wasn't able to follow the rest of your post.
Oh there is totally a way to prove purchase. Every hard copy of the player's handbook must have some type of unique identifier.
You are making a lot of assumptions, and I genuinely have no idea where you take them from.
Kindly could you point me to any unique code in any physical fiction book?
I do not want to be hostile, but I don't see where your claims come from, and I'd be curious to find out.
Yeah I talked about this with some friends IRL and I was wrong about the unique IDs on physical copies of books which baffles me that this isn't done. But to my point before, all these complications are very solvable. Even if the solutions do not fix the past they can for the future.
I have no doubt that its possible in theory to try and integrate physical purchases to translate over to a digital format, but the logistics of actually rolling that out on both ends (both for books that have already been manufactured and are still sitting on the shelves and how the website would accept codes for redeeming that purchase) are far beyond me.
As is, I think it really depends on what I want. Things like the Monster Manual, PHB, and the DM's guide are things I feel I need to have a physical copy of. Right now, I'm more then willing to buy physical adventures if I'm really into them or something like Xanathar's Guide, but everything I'm willing to have digitally.
No one is denying it would be extremely nice to have this in the future (heck, I'd be the first one to crack open a bottle and toast to that). What is unrealistic is pretending this can be done right now for past purchase (not pointing the finger to anyone here).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
Yeah past is past, can't change it. Can try to salvage it, but without those unique IDs on physical copies I can't think of a way. But let's not nay say, assume it cannot and will never be done, only present problems and justifications, and automatically come to WotC/Curse's defense when they can explain themselves. Let's present solutions and strive for the ideal.
Ok so basically.. If i understand right... If i buy a tshirt somewhere... I should automatically get 15 000 more for free upon showing my proof of purchase.
Am i the only one thinking thats insane ?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of two gaming groups. Likes to create stuff. Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games --> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
Why are we still talking about this? Guess what, you are NEVER going to get a free copy on DDB, or a discounted copy, for having bought the physical books. It's NEVER going to happen, no matter how much you complain that it should.
1. WotC and Curse are different companies. Curse has done a LOT of work to take the content from WotC and put it in to a new format. This is not just a PDF from the InDesign files, we are talking about a searchable database that plugs into the character builder. That took REAL WORK and has real value.
2. Curse has to pay a licencing fee to WotC for the D&D content because they are different companies. If WotC owned Curse, you might have an argument that there should be no cost for the content, but WotC doesn't own Curse. By your reasoning, WotC should provide that content for free to all the other digital providers as well, like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds, and Hero Labs. Why should they do that?!?! If you created something, would you give it away for free to everyone?
3. Capitalism 101: The cost will reflect what the market will bear. Clearly the model they have works, or DDB would have gone down in flames. They have been successful because more consumers are willingto pay that cost than not. It's like the price of gas. As long as consumers are willing to pay more for gas, the gas companies will keep jacking up the price until people stop buying gas. So, regardless of how "easy" you think it is for WotC to provide "codes" to allow FREE/Discounted copies of their content on multiple web sites... that will never happen as long as enough consumers are willing to pay for it.
Frankly it comes down to entitlement. You are NOT owed a free/discounted digital copy because you bought the physical copy. Plain and simple. No matter how you might try to spin it, WotC and Curse (or Roll20 or FG or etc) DO NOT OWE YOU A FREE/DISCOUNTED DIGITAL COPY!
It doesn't matter if other companies can and do offer free or discounted digital versions of their products, that's their choice. The creator of the content gets to decide what to do with it, and if they think the market will bear selling it again in another format, they have that right!
If you don't like the offer, don't buy it. You aren't going to convince them otherwise by whining about it here. Why post in these forums about how you feel entitled to a free or discounted item? You're not going to get it, you're wasting your time.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing) You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
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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.
Please remember to stay on topic. Trolling, flaming, name calling will not be tolerated and will result in warnings and those posts being deleted.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Exemples of working character sheets that works because of some reasons, and yes they are much much better then MPMB to begin wtih.
Fifth Edition Character Sheet (android device)
Aside from a name change which was required by WOTC, yes after 3 years they were asked to change their name to this. why is it still accepted by WOTC as a thing, because in their content they don't the wording and often just literally refer to the rules book. many of the warlock invocations have literally other names, the abilities for different classesare literally truncated to describe in more precise words what they do. all that said, it's still not legal by any means because it's still using the classes of the book and the races of the books that are not SRD.
MPMB
Literally you have the right to create such things, as an engine even to reproduce a thing like a character sheet is legal, thus MPMB is legal in ihis way of making the sheet itself, what is illegal is the automation of characters by adding the content of the book and saying to people, now you don't ned book to begin with. which is literally what MPMB did. also its a matter of opinion to say the better sheet is MPMB, because i used it and i completely threw it away after like 5 tries. because i really don't like the look of it, its unprofessionnal and very confusing. there are tons of buttons at the top and a lot of hoops to go through to get something done on that sheet. i also talked to the author giving him literally reasons to add certain effect to the sheet and all the answer i got was, stop making stuff up, even when i literally told him on which page it was in the book. so the lack of support from the author and the lack of professionnalism on the part of the UI made me stop using it. that's my opinion, i don't enforce it on anyone, i just don't like MPMB. he did phenominal work ont he sheet, but that doesn't render his sheet more legal, and years of it existing surely do not render it more legal either.
Lion's Den (IOS)
All of these are illegal, i even have the database myself on my computer, saying its legal because years of practice doesn't make them legal by any means. it only means WOTC has soemthing else then enforce their IP or losing money to enforce their IP. issuing a few IP notices might be enough effort for them, unlke marvel in 2001 after the movie spider-man which they literally started a campaign to stop it all. a campaign that costed them to engage 3 more people, and search the web for any violation. something that costed them millions just because people broke the rules and got money out of it all. WotC is by no means as big as marvel was in 2001, so its normal to think WOTC do not have the means to enforce their IP the way they should be. it's normal assume that WOTC issue certain IP warnings by years just becaue they preffer to keep the money elsewhere. again that doesn't mean lion's den will be right to make their software. which is again, legal from a software point of view because they designed their own and not pick it somewhere, but the content they use is illegal still.
those are just a few exemples of what's right and what's not in software programming.
an engine is legal as long as you developped it yourself and did not simply copy another that exists, your work is legal, but the content of your work might simply not be. MUGEN the 2d engine is the very exemple of that. the engine is entirely legal, but the content (characters and stages) the people uses on it are not. exemple of MvC Ultimate that was done for it. the engine is legal, the characers images and sprites are not.
now if you can't even understand that or do not want that to be a thing, is entirely your opinion on it. that doesn't make it a fact. and million so people believing it doesn't really make it a fact either, 500 years ago millions of people believed in certain things that today have completely disappeared.
overall, the work people put on things is legal, the content they use for that work might not be. thats the difference between it all.
DM of two gaming groups.
Likes to create stuff.
Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses
If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games
--> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
Being a dad & full time worker trying to play D&D with the Fam...I dont think I could create a character (Properly) without a site like this.
I have the PHB as a physical copy but without it on this site I can't add any feats other than grappler to my character, is there any way to add the physical copy to this? Via barcode or something?
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
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
So let's just break it up our product in to 2 separate pieces: content & distribution. WotC provides the content. Let's define distribution as everything else aka publishing, shipping, store rent, software development, server space, etc. I'm just going to make up some numbers here to get the point across for the Player's Handbook.
Amazon: $30 = $15(wotc) + $15(distribution)
LGS: $50 = $20(wotc) + $30(distribution)
DDB: $30 = $15(wotc) + $15(curse)
What doesn't make sense to me is that wotc is getting paid multiple times for providing the same content. It makes sense that when a user buys the Player's Handbook via DDB that WotC agrees to refund their cut of the purchase to the user if the user can provide proof of purchase of the same content via some other distribution.
I get that there might be complications to make that happen. For example it might be difficult to put a price tag on the barcode because the content has a different value per deal made with each distributor. But from the user's perspective it isn't complicated. Even if Curse did 2 pricing options $50 or $30+barcode users would feel better about it (even if under the hood WotC is getting paid again for the same content). But I think WotC & Curse can do better than $50 or $30+barcode. I think there's lots of people out there willing to pay for content, but resort to piracy because of these kinds of issues. Rather than fighting piracy with high priced content I think it should be fought with more reasonable/user friendly business models.
Does the same theory apply if one buys a second physical copy of the book? I'm not trying to be snarky when I ask that. But it's one of the questions I have every time I read a comment arguing we shouldn't have to pay for content again. In many ways, content on DDB functions like a second copy of the books for me.* I wouldn't expect to be able to get a second physical copy free (or at a reduced price) from an FLGS just because I bought one from Amazon, nor even a second copy for free (or reduced) from Amazon, who could easily prove I purchased it once. So I don't expect to get a "copy" here for free (or at a reduced price), either.
*DDB is far more than just another set of books for me, what with the character builder, the ability to filter spell, monster, and magic item lists, etc.; I'm aware all that functionality takes time and labor to build, maintain, and enter; another reason I don't object to purchasing content here "again."
And what about those folks who don't want digital tools? Adding some sort of discount system into the physical books would no doubt mean that WOTC would increase their price, meaning that some folks would be (partially) paying for a digital system they will never use.
All that said, anyone has the right to decide that what DDB provides isn't worth the cost for them.
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'm glad I found this site. I'm actually visually impaired, so finding this resource through a friend of mine was wonderful. Now I just need to get my group to transition from pen and paper to this so that we can be on the same playing field. (I'm currently the only one at the table who uses a laptop to keep track of things, it's the digital age, c'mon. Get with the times.) Price wise, though, the price is right for everything here; that's not to say that I didn't buy a print book without being aware of this, but it worked out, since my friend needed a copy.
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I have no doubt that its possible in theory to try and integrate physical purchases to translate over to a digital format, but the logistics of actually rolling that out on both ends (both for books that have already been manufactured and are still sitting on the shelves and how the website would accept codes for redeeming that purchase) are far beyond me.
As is, I think it really depends on what I want. Things like the Monster Manual, PHB, and the DM's guide are things I feel I need to have a physical copy of. Right now, I'm more then willing to buy physical adventures if I'm really into them or something like Xanathar's Guide, but everything I'm willing to have digitally.
No one is denying it would be extremely nice to have this in the future (heck, I'd be the first one to crack open a bottle and toast to that).
What is unrealistic is pretending this can be done right now for past purchase (not pointing the finger to anyone here).
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
Yeah past is past, can't change it. Can try to salvage it, but without those unique IDs on physical copies I can't think of a way. But let's not nay say, assume it cannot and will never be done, only present problems and justifications, and automatically come to WotC/Curse's defense when they can explain themselves. Let's present solutions and strive for the ideal.
Ok so basically.. If i understand right... If i buy a tshirt somewhere... I should automatically get 15 000 more for free upon showing my proof of purchase.
Am i the only one thinking thats insane ?
DM of two gaming groups.
Likes to create stuff.
Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses
If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games
--> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
Why are we still talking about this? Guess what, you are NEVER going to get a free copy on DDB, or a discounted copy, for having bought the physical books. It's NEVER going to happen, no matter how much you complain that it should.
1. WotC and Curse are different companies. Curse has done a LOT of work to take the content from WotC and put it in to a new format. This is not just a PDF from the InDesign files, we are talking about a searchable database that plugs into the character builder. That took REAL WORK and has real value.
2. Curse has to pay a licencing fee to WotC for the D&D content because they are different companies. If WotC owned Curse, you might have an argument that there should be no cost for the content, but WotC doesn't own Curse. By your reasoning, WotC should provide that content for free to all the other digital providers as well, like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds, and Hero Labs. Why should they do that?!?! If you created something, would you give it away for free to everyone?
3. Capitalism 101: The cost will reflect what the market will bear. Clearly the model they have works, or DDB would have gone down in flames. They have been successful because more consumers are willing to pay that cost than not. It's like the price of gas. As long as consumers are willing to pay more for gas, the gas companies will keep jacking up the price until people stop buying gas. So, regardless of how "easy" you think it is for WotC to provide "codes" to allow FREE/Discounted copies of their content on multiple web sites... that will never happen as long as enough consumers are willing to pay for it.
Frankly it comes down to entitlement. You are NOT owed a free/discounted digital copy because you bought the physical copy. Plain and simple. No matter how you might try to spin it, WotC and Curse (or Roll20 or FG or etc) DO NOT OWE YOU A FREE/DISCOUNTED DIGITAL COPY!
It doesn't matter if other companies can and do offer free or discounted digital versions of their products, that's their choice. The creator of the content gets to decide what to do with it, and if they think the market will bear selling it again in another format, they have that right!
If you don't like the offer, don't buy it. You aren't going to convince them otherwise by whining about it here. Why post in these forums about how you feel entitled to a free or discounted item? You're not going to get it, you're wasting your time.
"Orcs are savage raiders and pillagers with stooped postures, low foreheads, and piggish faces with prominent lower canines that resemble tusks." MM p245 (original printing)
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?