As much as I like books I think 6E should be completely digital.
Physical books (sadly) are slowly losing favor to their digital counterparts becuase of space and convience. It is much easier to look up something on a digital pdf then it is to flip through a book. Even though I own all the books I still use google for looking up things.
The second reason why I think it would be better to have a completely digital library is that it is easier to errata and update things. Physical books cannot be updated but a dedicated compendium can be and we can all be notified when things are changed. But best of all I think the best idea would be a link for something like Sage Advice that would help clarify rules.
Given that the medium can lead to more digital convenience, what do you think of my idea and how it could be improved?
I very much doubt future editions will be completely digital, at least not for a long while, due to the fact that a lot of people like to play TTRPGs without any electronics whatsoever. If there wasn't such a massive demand for analogue play, places like the DMs Guild wouldn't off print on demand, and kickstarters for TTRPG supplements wouldn't be offering physical copies as a reward tier.
On the point of reading and look up, I agree digital is easier to search, but I personally find physical easier to just read through. With the exception of my kindle paperwhite, I cannot read large amounts of text on a screen without getting eye fatigue. I'll reference DDB all the time, but if I want to do a cover to cover read, I'll go to my physical books.
As for errata, that's a double edge sword as a lot of people don't like their books being updated without their consent. I agree it's nice always having the latest version, but I think the errata system worked fine before DDB and digital tolls were in play. The odd PDF here, add some post-its to your PHB there.
Ultimately, while I think future TTRPGs will integrate better with digital platforms, I doubt digital only is the way forward, at least for now.
Having the game be completely digital runs the huge risk that once the next version come out, the previous version would no longer be maintained or allowed to be played, which would really suck for those that invested their time and money into the system.
People after all still play by the original rules, 3/3.5E remains hugely popular, and a smaller but passionate group still plays 4E.
It would be nicer if your physical purchases also granted you a copy (or even just a massive discount) on digital resources, as a convenience factor (or WoTC starts following Pazio's model). But full digital only would be a very bad move.
So much that I have bought each book I own twice. And I am not fussed about it. I mean yes, I'd like to get the electronic and hardback version for some sort of discount (maybe not one price but 1.5x or something) but I like having physical copies enough that I will pay extra for one.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Some people still use hard copy, because they recognize them as superior.
Pre Covid, I ran my own table, played at 2 others. With hardly an exception, those that had their char sheets (and source books) stored on their phone bogged the game down, because, among other things, they simply could not access a sheet of information quickly. And I don't mean calling it up from the ether. I am talking about being able to actually read the material.
As a DM, and as a fellow player, I have found the people with hard copies were superior mechanics (a term I use to describe the managing the actual mechanics of the game) , as they knew where to look, and inherently understood the character sheets and source material better.
So no, just no. A player only needs a few pages of the PHB and XGTE for an individual char (don't get me started on playing a char out of Volo's). They can access that immediately, or have it on a couple sheets right in front of them. A good DM will prepare for a session and will have at his fingertips all the material he potentially needs for a session. ( I don't to hear a single word of that nonsense of "I am a great DM and never prepare anything.")
And lastly, it is incredibly rude to be at a table and staring at your phone. The DM has no idea what you are doing on that damn thing, and if you are paying attention. You want to play in-person with other people, then leave all the electronics behind.
The idea makes an assumption that a digital version will be accessible. One cannot guarantee that. 5e's goal seems to me to focus on being more inclusive. Digital-only has exclusivity built in.
Sure. There are lots of services that are online only because that's the only way to access the features. With one exception, all remaining of D&D features have nothing to do with being accessed only online. That one exception is errata, but many do not care about errata - out of sight, out of mind.
D&D will continue to be available to the offline community for traditionalists and for being inclusive.
It is important to keep in mind that not everyone lives the same lifestyle, and the offline community is quite a huge market.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
I suspect 6E will still be mainly pen and paper, and no more digital than 5E is. Personally I think being digital is far better and provides lots of advantages.
Which is a shame, as the printed media is what stops them fixing and balancing things post release. Anything digital can just be changed, but the print copies will then be outdated and incorrect, and those people who bought them will be cross.
It leads to silly things like the undead and the undying warlock. They can never tweak or fix the undying warlock as it's been printed, so they have to release the undead warlock as a 'new class', when in reality it's just a fix. Classes which don't hold up are also stuck like that rather than able to be fixed in short order, and have to wait 6 years for some 'class variants book' to appear, rather than just getting a quick tweak 6 months post release.
I suspect 6E will still be mainly pen and paper, and no more digital than 5E is. Personally I think being digital is far better and provides lots of advantages.
Which is a shame, as the printed media is what stops them fixing and balancing things post release. Anything digital can just be changed, but the print copies will then be outdated and incorrect, and those people who bought them will be cross.
It leads to silly things like the undead and the undying warlock. They can never tweak or fix the undying warlock as it's been printed, so they have to release the undead warlock as a 'new class', when in reality it's just a fix. Classes which don't hold up are also stuck like that rather than able to be fixed in short order, and have to wait 6 years for some 'class variants book' to appear, rather than just getting a quick tweak 6 months post release.
And yet we made do with printed books for 30 years. Reason is that D&D is not a video game so the DM can tweak absolutely anything they want at any time. And thats what we did.
Even the cast of Critical Role, who is sponsored by a digital D&D resource, will reach for a physical book first to look up information.
This resource in fact!
I can usually find what I’m looking for on DDB in under a minute, but it would take longer than that for me to look it up in a dead trees version. 🤷♂️ To each their own.
Even the cast of Critical Role, who is sponsored by a digital D&D resource, will reach for a physical book first to look up information.
This resource in fact!
I can usually find what I’m looking for on DDB in under a minute, but it would take longer than that for me to look it up in a dead trees version. 🤷♂️ To each their own.
I use DnDBeyond for most of my DMing prep work. Having all the monster stats and treasure available in one spot is super handy. At the table it is all physical. Part of that is due to general dislike (as a group) of having people staring at their devices when they should be engaging with the people at the table. Another part is my poor eye sight. I can't see anything on my phone or a tablet most of the time. I print everything I need with a much larger font or use page magnifier for the books. And lastly, I can navigate a book faster than a website most of the time, but that is because I am old and these newfangled contraptions are hard to use lol.
Having the game be completely digital runs the huge risk that once the next version come out, the previous version would no longer be maintained or allowed to be played, which would really suck for those that invested their time and money into the system.
People after all still play by the original rules, 3/3.5E remains hugely popular, and a smaller but passionate group still plays 4E.
This happened to an extent with 4e. WotC had an online character builder that slowly became obsolete as they stopped updating it and the technology behind it fell behind (it was built in Silverlight which meant you had to use Internet Explorer to access). We had all the physical material, but once the builder officially died it was just too inconvenient to sift through all the options by hand. If the builder was still active we might still be playing it (or at least our heavily houseruled version of it), as we have had a couple players pretty resistant to some of the aspects of 5e.
From a business perspective, it's probably ideal for them to have physical sourcebooks along with online support/convenience apps. When a new edition comes out they can phase out all the online conveniences to push people to the new edition (and new purchases), while not looking like the bad guy who is forcing you to do it.
Even the cast of Critical Role, who is sponsored by a digital D&D resource, will reach for a physical book first to look up information.
This resource in fact!
I can usually find what I’m looking for on DDB in under a minute, but it would take longer than that for me to look it up in a dead trees version. 🤷♂️ To each their own.
I use DnDBeyond for most of my DMing prep work. Having all the monster stats and treasure available in one spot is super handy. At the table it is all physical. Part of that is due to general dislike (as a group) of having people staring at their devices when they should be engaging with the people at the table. Another part is my poor eye sight. I can't see anything on my phone or a tablet most of the time. I print everything I need with a much larger font or use page magnifier for the books. And lastly, I can navigate a book faster than a website most of the time, but that is because I am old and these newfangled contraptions are hard to use lol.
That’s exactly why both print and digital should be supported, at least until all of “you old fogies” have left the hobby. (I am also an old fogey, but I got used to computers and it was my ears that went, not my eyes.) But if they are still supporting print 30 years from now I will be surprised.
As much as I like books I think 6E should be completely digital.
Physical books (sadly) are slowly losing favor to their digital counterparts becuase of space and convience. It is much easier to look up something on a digital pdf then it is to flip through a book. Even though I own all the books I still use google for looking up things.
The second reason why I think it would be better to have a completely digital library is that it is easier to errata and update things. Physical books cannot be updated but a dedicated compendium can be and we can all be notified when things are changed. But best of all I think the best idea would be a link for something like Sage Advice that would help clarify rules.
Given that the medium can lead to more digital convenience, what do you think of my idea and how it could be improved?
I very much doubt future editions will be completely digital, at least not for a long while, due to the fact that a lot of people like to play TTRPGs without any electronics whatsoever. If there wasn't such a massive demand for analogue play, places like the DMs Guild wouldn't off print on demand, and kickstarters for TTRPG supplements wouldn't be offering physical copies as a reward tier.
On the point of reading and look up, I agree digital is easier to search, but I personally find physical easier to just read through. With the exception of my kindle paperwhite, I cannot read large amounts of text on a screen without getting eye fatigue. I'll reference DDB all the time, but if I want to do a cover to cover read, I'll go to my physical books.
As for errata, that's a double edge sword as a lot of people don't like their books being updated without their consent. I agree it's nice always having the latest version, but I think the errata system worked fine before DDB and digital tolls were in play. The odd PDF here, add some post-its to your PHB there.
Ultimately, while I think future TTRPGs will integrate better with digital platforms, I doubt digital only is the way forward, at least for now.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
No.
Having the game be completely digital runs the huge risk that once the next version come out, the previous version would no longer be maintained or allowed to be played, which would really suck for those that invested their time and money into the system.
People after all still play by the original rules, 3/3.5E remains hugely popular, and a smaller but passionate group still plays 4E.
It would be nicer if your physical purchases also granted you a copy (or even just a massive discount) on digital resources, as a convenience factor (or WoTC starts following Pazio's model). But full digital only would be a very bad move.
Not on this website :-)
I like hardcovers.
So much that I have bought each book I own twice. And I am not fussed about it. I mean yes, I'd like to get the electronic and hardback version for some sort of discount (maybe not one price but 1.5x or something) but I like having physical copies enough that I will pay extra for one.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Some people still use hard copy, because they recognize them as superior.
Pre Covid, I ran my own table, played at 2 others. With hardly an exception, those that had their char sheets (and source books) stored on their phone bogged the game down, because, among other things, they simply could not access a sheet of information quickly. And I don't mean calling it up from the ether. I am talking about being able to actually read the material.
As a DM, and as a fellow player, I have found the people with hard copies were superior mechanics (a term I use to describe the managing the actual mechanics of the game) , as they knew where to look, and inherently understood the character sheets and source material better.
So no, just no. A player only needs a few pages of the PHB and XGTE for an individual char (don't get me started on playing a char out of Volo's). They can access that immediately, or have it on a couple sheets right in front of them. A good DM will prepare for a session and will have at his fingertips all the material he potentially needs for a session. ( I don't to hear a single word of that nonsense of "I am a great DM and never prepare anything.")
And lastly, it is incredibly rude to be at a table and staring at your phone. The DM has no idea what you are doing on that damn thing, and if you are paying attention. You want to play in-person with other people, then leave all the electronics behind.
The idea makes an assumption that a digital version will be accessible. One cannot guarantee that. 5e's goal seems to me to focus on being more inclusive. Digital-only has exclusivity built in.
Sure. There are lots of services that are online only because that's the only way to access the features. With one exception, all remaining of D&D features have nothing to do with being accessed only online. That one exception is errata, but many do not care about errata - out of sight, out of mind.
D&D will continue to be available to the offline community for traditionalists and for being inclusive.
It is important to keep in mind that not everyone lives the same lifestyle, and the offline community is quite a huge market.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
The day DnD becomes online only, is the day I quit. Mainly because my internet sucks, and our group plays outside.
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
My group plays off of our tablets/laptops every week in person, only one player still uses paper. It saves us so much time looking stuff up.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
This is why improving digital/physical integration, rather than favouring one over the other, seems like the best way to go. Best of both worlds
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
^
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
Agreed.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I suspect 6E will still be mainly pen and paper, and no more digital than 5E is. Personally I think being digital is far better and provides lots of advantages.
Which is a shame, as the printed media is what stops them fixing and balancing things post release. Anything digital can just be changed, but the print copies will then be outdated and incorrect, and those people who bought them will be cross.
It leads to silly things like the undead and the undying warlock. They can never tweak or fix the undying warlock as it's been printed, so they have to release the undead warlock as a 'new class', when in reality it's just a fix. Classes which don't hold up are also stuck like that rather than able to be fixed in short order, and have to wait 6 years for some 'class variants book' to appear, rather than just getting a quick tweak 6 months post release.
And yet we made do with printed books for 30 years. Reason is that D&D is not a video game so the DM can tweak absolutely anything they want at any time. And thats what we did.
Even the cast of Critical Role, who is sponsored by a digital D&D resource, will reach for a physical book first to look up information.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
This resource in fact!
I can usually find what I’m looking for on DDB in under a minute, but it would take longer than that for me to look it up in a dead trees version. 🤷♂️ To each their own.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I use DnDBeyond for most of my DMing prep work. Having all the monster stats and treasure available in one spot is super handy. At the table it is all physical. Part of that is due to general dislike (as a group) of having people staring at their devices when they should be engaging with the people at the table. Another part is my poor eye sight. I can't see anything on my phone or a tablet most of the time. I print everything I need with a much larger font or use page magnifier for the books. And lastly, I can navigate a book faster than a website most of the time, but that is because I am old and these newfangled contraptions are hard to use lol.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
This happened to an extent with 4e. WotC had an online character builder that slowly became obsolete as they stopped updating it and the technology behind it fell behind (it was built in Silverlight which meant you had to use Internet Explorer to access). We had all the physical material, but once the builder officially died it was just too inconvenient to sift through all the options by hand. If the builder was still active we might still be playing it (or at least our heavily houseruled version of it), as we have had a couple players pretty resistant to some of the aspects of 5e.
From a business perspective, it's probably ideal for them to have physical sourcebooks along with online support/convenience apps. When a new edition comes out they can phase out all the online conveniences to push people to the new edition (and new purchases), while not looking like the bad guy who is forcing you to do it.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
That’s exactly why both print and digital should be supported, at least until all of “you old fogies” have left the hobby. (I am also an old fogey, but I got used to computers and it was my ears that went, not my eyes.) But if they are still supporting print 30 years from now I will be surprised.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting