I think it is quite clear from the statements that the majority of people have already made that they are not going to pay anywhere near full for access to digital books they already own. This isn't an entitlement thing, they just don't see why the drop-down table functionality is worth the same as access to the original IP. Although this would be my preferred method of payment (pay £20 and have access to all the core books + SCAG and Volos) I am not sure it is that viable.
Sadly there is no way to verify if the user has a current copy of the books so short of a grace period to allow free or heavily discounted sign up for the faithful, with the assumption that the faithful by nature of being the core fans have already purchased the books. Even using amazon to confirm purchases isn't really viable as it isn't fair to those who bought them from high street shops and also doesn't help people who were gifted them.
Subscription
Let's look at other subscription models from across various different companies and products:
Netflix: £6 - £7.50 / month
Amazon: £79 / year
WoW: £10 / month
PS Plus: £40 / year or £6 / month
Microsoft Office: £80 / year or £8 / month
So first thing of note, the majority offer something new / of value regularly. Netflix brings in new shows for you to watch, amazon has added tons of features but most notably you get one day shipping, PS plus offers you free games each month. I have never played WoW, so I am not sure if you get anything with them and office offers you nothing. The nature of D&D is such that there are not many new products they could offer for 'free' regularly. Unearthed arcana does not count as it is playtest material. The only thing they could offer of value would be the new books they produce (CoS, Volos etc. etc.).
Are these books produced with enough frequency to justify the cost? Perhaps. Do enough people use all of them that they would see the value in this? Perhaps not. People in the beta test are going to by and large be hardcore fans, therefor it isn't surprising they own all the books (sometimes multiple times) and will pay a reasonably large subscription fee. However, I suspect most people who play D&D have only every played one maybe two of these books and so getting a new one every few months isn't something that will entice them.
Realistically, the hardcore people will probably buy the books separately anyway, as its nice to have something 'real' and something that is always available and collates all the information relevant to the campaign in one location.
Another point of note is the amount of time spent playing. People look at subscriptions as value for money. Netflix is seen as worthwhile because of the amount of varied content that is continually updating and for a few pounds a month you can easily watch nearly 100 hours of content a month. Amazon is seen as worthwhile because it is a quick and easy way to get the benefits of online shopping with most of the benefits of high street shopping (immediacy of access to product) - plus on top of that it has music and video and a seemingly endless amount of new content. D&D can't have endless amounts of new content and even expanding the product to allow functionality to support other games such as magic the gathering may not be very enticing if there is not a very strong overlap between those play one game and those who play another.
Furthermore, there are free resources available online that currently offer most of what is promised from DNDBeyond. I agree with their statement that they are not all in one location and some could look nicer than they are. But how much will people pay for the connivence of having one rather than five tabs open on their screens? This is especially true when you consider that the type of product they are suggesting DnDBeyond is going to be is not nearly as universally useful in our lives as Microsoft office or amazon and not as resource intensive or expensive to produce and maintain as WoW or Netflix.
As someone who plays on average once, maybe twice, a month I will not pay very much for a service I use quite infrequently. I use microsoft office and netflix every day and I use amazon and playstation plus every week.
DM vs Player
The trouble subscription runs into is the amount of material the DM would need vs the player. There are two obvious solutions to this - you have a two tier system with the DM stuff costing more but giving access to a lot more features. Alternatively, you offer all the features to everyone and charge the same amount for all. The first idea is troubling because the DMs already do a lot of work running the game, so asking them to then also pay more to do so seems unfair. The other idea means charging more to everyone, which may mean it only costs 5% more to get access to everything vs just the player stuff as suggested above, However, as the vast majority of people are players not DMs this will cause people to be unhappy and imagine that if it currently costs £5 a month, they could get it for £2 if it only had the players stuff (even if this isn't true).
Conclusion
It seems clear that they are keen on the idea of a subscription model in some form, and in reality I think that might be the most consumer friendly option available as the alternative would be to purchase . However, the only way the subscription model is viable is if it is cheap (less than £40 a year) and gives access to everything - otherwise what are we paying a subscription for?
Ultimately, DNDBeyond is an administrative service that makes playing the game easier but it does not offer anything in and of itself. You still need a DM and a party to play D&D and so Beyond cannot stand alone because it offers nothing on which to stand. I think it will also require offline access and an app for character sheets (although I believe both these ideas have been confirmed).
£3 / month for access to all the features or £5 to buy all the features of one class seems like a fair pricing model. Anything more and I think it prices itself Beyond its value to the consumers.
Currently one time is dominating all others, and for something like this, it would make sense over subscription. There's just not enough content to warrant a subscription at all. I think an easy $5 for the initial app and vanilla D&D, then maybe $1-2 for additional content like monster manuals, DM manuals, campaigns, and even, what I would really like, a map pack for tablets. I'd LOVE to either use my tablet, laptop, or maybe even a TV to display maps and monster/players. Heck, maybe even add ads if money is what they need. There are far too many resources available online, even in app form, currently, so expecting people to pay any form of a subscription fee is silly.
I may be a new player in the D&D world, but if they expect players to pay a monthly subscription fee I'd drop this app in a heartbeat and go back to the websites and other apps I already use that work just as well and don't cost anything.
The Big "A" and the Big "N" sound like sound plans to base your subscription fees off of as a start. But honestly I hope that is where you set the celling and then begin to ask yourself how far back an we peel it from these two. After all the big "A" costs me less than ten bucks a month but will provide me with WAY more value than this service will even though I run games three times a week. Amazon gives me free shipping access to millions of books that if I buy them as well as TV & Movies. I hope would love to see something like what Amazon has been doing with Twich Prime. If you have Amazon Prime you get D&D Beyond. Its part of the Amazon Prime family. Adding value to my Amazon prime as well as encouraging Non Amazon Prime members to either Sub up or join the Big "A" family for all of the extra benefits it comes with.
My reference to other companies' subscription models was focused on the idea that they introduced a price and continue to add more and more value on top of that price over time.
I remember thinking one day "Wait, I get how much music that I can listen to anytime I want...for no additional cost?" That's the concept I'm talking about - definitely not comparing apples to apples in any other way.
We appreciate the feedback in this thread and look forward to sharing pricing details soon.
Actually, if D&D Beyond would be tied to my Amazon subscription, that would be great as well. I already have that and use it daily, and I know it's tied to twitch and curse as well.
I'd be comfortable paying a subscription fee of 15$ a month with a reasonably priced options to buy PDFs some where between 25$ to 30$
If possible future paper books come with a digital copy code.
That would be way too high, for me. I don't think there's anything they could offer to get me to spend $15/month, flat. Never say never, though. If that included all official content, an Obsidian Portal type of campaign wiki, a character generator/manager, ability to add homebrew and/or DMs Guild content, a combat/encounter manager, and it was available off-line and cross-platform, that might do it, but only just.
I'm kinda hoping (even expecting) that the online SRD compendium will remain free, long term. That's a nice way to sell the interface and drive traffic without giving away the farm. I could even see them allowing the character creator open for use with the SRD material and print, but no ability to save -- that's kinda random conjecture, though.
As far as pricing that I'd find palatable goes, I'd be comfortable with a $5-10 monthly subscription that activated at least the PHB content, if not all the "core three" books, made offline tools work, and so forth. Additional "books" would cost less than half of full price for the equivalent print resource. That assumes that the Compendium and Character Builder are the primary tools available and that downloaded content disappears when the subscription ends.
If there's a mechanism in place that would let me download a local tool, with any purchased content, even after I end my subscription (say, bought all current material, campaign dies, I end subscription, and get a new computer next, want to install the tools for reference), then I would have no problem paying for license to even the core books as a separate transaction. I see Amazon book price being about right for the amount of content. The $5/month becomes purely about the servers, syncing homebrew stuff, being able to see my players' characters, etc. Again, that assumes Compendium and Character Builder as the primary tools; maybe with some random tables and the like.
If they add on a bunch of new toys (Combat Tracker, Campaign Wiki), then things change. Really, these would be tremendously value-added to me, as a DM, but not something every player is going to want to "own". A tiered subscription model might work best:
Free -- Access to online SRD Compendium and ****** Character Creator (print, no save).
Player -- A $5/month subscription with access to SRD Compendium, disconnected tools/apps, fully functioning Character Creator (for owned content), and one-time purchase for other content to show in Compendium and Character Creator.
DM -- A $10/ month subscription that includes everything in the Player tier, but adds more sharing. You can designate certain other users as players in your campaign(s) (not sure what the right limit on numbers would be). These players can share their characters with you, even if you don't own the content, and you can sync them to your local apps. You can create homebrew content and share with your players. Maybe even add in basic messaging.
DM Pro -- A $15/month subscription that also allows access to the extra toys. Only relevant if it includes a Campaign Wiki and integrated Combat Tracker, usable off-line. Looks like I talked myself into that $15/month price point, after all.
I suspect that Curse would want anyone marked as a "player" in a campaign to have at least a Player level account. Personally, I'd rather not have my use of the highest-value features be derailed because one guy in the group is too cheap to fork over $5.
I'd be comfortable paying a subscription fee of 15$ a month with a reasonably priced options to buy PDFs some where between 25$ to 30$
If possible future paper books come with a digital copy code.
That would be way too high, for me. I don't think there's anything they could offer to get me to spend $15/month, flat. Never say never, though. If that included all official content, an Obsidian Portal type of campaign wiki, a character generator/manager, ability to add homebrew and/or DMs Guild content, a combat/encounter manager, and it was available off-line and cross-platform, that might do it, but only just.
I'm kinda hoping (even expecting) that the online SRD compendium will remain free, long term. That's a nice way to sell the interface and drive traffic without giving away the farm. I could even see them allowing the character creator open for use with the SRD material and print, but no ability to save -- that's kinda random conjecture, though.
As far as pricing that I'd find palatable goes, I'd be comfortable with a $5-10 monthly subscription that activated at least the PHB content, if not all the "core three" books, made offline tools work, and so forth. Additional "books" would cost less than half of full price for the equivalent print resource. That assumes that the Compendium and Character Builder are the primary tools available and that downloaded content disappears when the subscription ends.
If there's a mechanism in place that would let me download a local tool, with any purchased content, even after I end my subscription (say, bought all current material, campaign dies, I end subscription, and get a new computer next, want to install the tools for reference), then I would have no problem paying for license to even the core books as a separate transaction. I see Amazon book price being about right for the amount of content. The $5/month becomes purely about the servers, syncing homebrew stuff, being able to see my players' characters, etc. Again, that assumes Compendium and Character Builder as the primary tools; maybe with some random tables and the like.
If they add on a bunch of new toys (Combat Tracker, Campaign Wiki), then things change. Really, these would be tremendously value-added to me, as a DM, but not something every player is going to want to "own". A tiered subscription model might work best:
Free -- Access to online SRD Compendium and ****** Character Creator (print, no save).
Player -- A $5/month subscription with access to SRD Compendium, disconnected tools/apps, fully functioning Character Creator (for owned content), and one-time purchase for other content to show in Compendium and Character Creator.
DM -- A $10/ month subscription that includes everything in the Player tier, but adds more sharing. You can designate certain other users as players in your campaign(s) (not sure what the right limit on numbers would be). These players can share their characters with you, even if you don't own the content, and you can sync them to your local apps. You can create homebrew content and share with your players. Maybe even add in basic messaging.
DM Pro -- A $15/month subscription that also allows access to the extra toys. Only relevant if it includes a Campaign Wiki and integrated Combat Tracker, usable off-line. Looks like I talked myself into that $15/month price point, after all.
I suspect that Curse would want anyone marked as a "player" in a campaign to have at least a Player level account. Personally, I'd rather not have my use of the highest-value features be derailed because one guy in the group is too cheap to fork over $5.
Even then, that type of content doesn't sound like something that requires a monthly payment. There are already character builder apps, magic apps, equipment apps, etc already out there that work rather nicely. Most of it is free, some cost as much as $2. Expecting people to pay anything monthly for this would just shun them away from D&D Beyond and move to the free alternatives.
I just joined this forum in the hopes that this would a viable offering of 5e rulebooks in a digital format that would be usable offline on a tablet.
I get that there are recurring costs with having a hosted solution like this. And this may fill some type of void that others have. So, a subscription service may work for some, but not for me.
What I really want is an eBook, or an app. I don't want a PDF (though I will happily take it, if that's all you offer). I want something that allows me increase and decrease the font size and reflow the text, with just enough graphics to help explain the rules and no fluff, a good search, a table of contents and the ability to bookmark stuff. I want to pay a one time fee for it, and I want to be able to use it on any device I own without having to rebuy it again.
If I am going to track characters digitally, then make an Android and iPhone app that syncs via Dropbox and sell it to me.
I have no issues tracking characters on pen and paper. What I want is one tablet I take to the table that has all my rule books on it. Make that happen and you have my money.
one time fee for lifetime membership, full access. None of this micropayment bullshits or monthly fees. The books are already expensive enough.
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Even then, that type of content doesn't sound like something that requires a monthly payment. There are already character builder apps, magic apps, equipment apps, etc already out there that work rather nicely. Most of it is free, some cost as much as $2. Expecting people to pay anything monthly for this would just shun them away from D&D Beyond and move to the free alternatives.
Having at least tried many of those, they often suffer from the fact that they aren't officially licensed and/or show that they're small shops or labors of love. Many of them require you to enter tons of data, yourself, so WotC doesn't issue a C&D. I'll happily pay a reasonable price for some data entry.
Others do one thing well enough, but aren't integrated with another solution. For example, I have a combat tracker that I like well enough, but I have to re-enter my PCs' stats. I have a character sheet I like, but it isn't one that's hosted by Obsidian Portal. That's three copies of the sheets that I need to manage, to do what I would like to do. Seems like a premium perk, to me.
There are very few cross-platform tools of which I'm aware. Those that I've found tend to be OK at one and kinda suck at the others. Again, something for which I'll pay for a single solution.
Also, while free/cheap tools can use Dropbox for storage because you have to enter your own IP, that just shifts the cost elsewhere. Official IP means dedicated server costs. $5 a month is probably enough to pay for the server and a reasonable amount of maintenance, with slow improvements to the overall platform. $10/month is probably fair for server, maintenance, and reasonably paced feature refinement and improvement (not lightning, but not glacial). None of that accounts for the actual IP, though, just the development and support. That's why I'm willing to pay a one-off fee for the content.
How much am I willing to pay? I dunno. It actually depends on how well it replaces my books. If it's really just a character creator and Compendium that is ****** when I'm not connected, then pretty much nothing for content, but I might do the $5/month if it's super useful at the table. If it lets me take my Surface or iPad instead of my books and not miss them, then I'm game for re-buying the content and, while there's some that I might buy digital-only, but I'd still like physical copies of a lot, which would come from the same budget.
But, yeah, the third-party products are a factor. I'm making an assumption that DnD Beyond is going to be a fairly high-end product that integrates different features and does it well. If not, then there's no point in using it. Also, even if it adds value for me, that doesn't mean it does for you. In that case, I think the market will take care of itself. For example, I'm intentionally ignoring VTTs because they're focused around something that I do not want or need. Some of them can be used offline, but they aren't worth the money, to me.
Still not sure why a monthly payment is necessary here. You mention for server rentals, but simple ad revenue would be more than enough for that. It's how a majority of apps (Even high traffic ones) pay for their stuff. I don't mind ads. Asking someone to pay $5 a month, 12 months a year, that's 60 a year. It's basically saying I have to reguy a new D&D book every year. It doesn't make sense. Again, the ones online may not be as nice as you want and you have to enter a lot of data, but in all honesty you don't know how this app is going to be any different. For the costs that people are talking about monthly, I'd rather just use an online character builder for 5e (And I use a really nice one where I don't have to enter anything except my dice numbers and which equipment I want) an app that I can ready my spells on in a pinch, and in all honesty that's all I need. I have a PDF scans of my books I have on my computer that has the text scanned out so I can quickly find what I need at any time just by ctrl+f.
With what's being shown now, there is just no reason for a monthly subscription cost. A one time purchase of the app, ad revenue, and DLC for extra books and campaigns would be more than enough to cover any server costs and pay programmers to maintain it for many years to come.
simple ad revenue would be more than enough for that.
This, right here, is why I would pay a subscription fee. I'm mostly okay with ads on news sites and the like. I'm not particularly put out by occasional interruptions in my puzzle game apps.
Ads on DnD Beyond would be a deal-killer. And, so help me, I will stab someone if my game is interrupted by a stupid pop-up for Candy Crush because I'm using my iPad.
What I really want is an eBook, or an app. I don't want a PDF (though I will happily take it, if that's all you offer). I want something that allows me increase and decrease the font size and reflow the text, with just enough graphics to help explain the rules and no fluff, a good search, a table of contents and the ability to bookmark stuff. I want to pay a one time fee for it, and I want to be able to use it on any device I own without having to rebuy it again.
This is one of the big questions I have about content, and it would certainly impact the amount I'm willing to pay for it. If I buy, say, the Core Three, SCAG, and CoS, then cancel my subscription, I see one of three things happening to my local app:
At some point, it dials home and discovers I don't have a subscription so it removes everything (except the SRD?). After a set amount of time without being able to connect, it may even decide that I'm trying to game the system and wipes itself, anyway. No bueno. In this case, I'd better not have to pay anything for content. This turns the whole thing into an equation of what the app platform itself brings to the table (Character Creator, Campaign Wiki, Combat Tracker, etc.). Content doesn't really factor into the value proposition.
Everything I have installed continues to work. Assuming a desktop app, if I uninstall and reinstall or just get a new computer, I'm outta luck, but good until then. This is my baseline assumption and I can live with having to pay one month of subscription if I get a new computer. Not ideal, but I'm factoring a certain amount of disappointment in.
Everything continues to work. If I get a new device, I can just download the app again and I get anything I've previously purchased, even if I'm not currently subscribed. Yippee. At this point, I start to evaluate whether the app could replace my physical books in earnest.
I really have no idea how they intend to do content purchasing for mobile devices. It could be like Kindle, where they will show you content exists, but you have to go to the web site to purchase because of the way app stores work. Again, kinda sucks, but Apple is as much to blame as Curse (probably way, way more so). That's probably the cleanest way to do it, but maybe not. Ick.
With what's being shown now, there is just no reason for a monthly subscription cost. A one time purchase of the app, ad revenue, and DLC for extra books and campaigns would be more than enough to cover any server costs and pay programmers to maintain it for many years to come.
True. I'm willing to pay a one time fee (if it's reasonable and not like the full version of Fantasy Grounds, for example), but not a subcription. At some point the sub will cost me much more than a only one pay.
The server maintenance it's their problem, not our. And we must look for our interest as customers which is have the best service possible at the lower price possible. If we are yield today, tomorrow we will have abusive prices.
No one (including me) has said that adding homebrew will require a subscription. I can confirm players will be able to create their own content at no cost.
Now, the full picture (that I can't confirm quite yet) is probably needed before anyone freaks out one way or the other, but what I said above stands.
I am extremely happy to hear that, and it restores a lot of faith in the project to me.
There was an account on reddit (u/dndbeyond) claiming to be product lead, and one of the comments by that account includes the sentence:
A small monthly subscription will be needed [...] to enable more advanced features, like homebrew content integration.
which is why I had been worried. I suppose that it could still be partially true, in terms of the full picture you're unable to give yet - perhaps despite homebrew being free to add, using it in conjunction with certain campaign-management features will require a subscription? Or perhaps the comment was true at the time, but you've since reevaluated the pricing plans?
Either way, I'm very glad you responded to me, thank you. And thank you also for what looks like it'll be a great app, I look forward to seeing this progress!
With what's being shown now, there is just no reason for a monthly subscription cost. A one time purchase of the app, ad revenue, and DLC for extra books and campaigns would be more than enough to cover any server costs and pay programmers to maintain it for many years to come.
A number of people--myself included--have expressed that we are not interested in the DLC model for buying the non-SRD content; for some people this would mean purchasing this content for a third or even fourth time (if they have the physical copies, and play on Roll20 and/or Fantasy Grounds). A Netflix-like subscription may ease the pain of this some. I am willing to pay for the convenience of "streaming" the books--including not just books I already own, but all the others and any upcoming--along with the other content and applications that are included under the DND Beyond umbrella. If I have to spend $150 just to get caught up with the core books, and then $30-$50 for every book thereafter, this whole thing is a nonstarter.
No one (including me) has said that adding homebrew will require a subscription. I can confirm players will be able to create their own content at no cost.
Now, the full picture (that I can't confirm quite yet) is probably needed before anyone freaks out one way or the other, but what I said above stands.
I am extremely happy to hear that, and it restores a lot of faith in the project to me.
There was an account on reddit (u/dndbeyond) claiming to be product lead, and one of the comments by that account includes the sentence:
A small monthly subscription will be needed [...] to enable more advanced features, like homebrew content integration.
which is why I had been worried. I suppose that it could still be partially true, in terms of the full picture you're unable to give yet - perhaps despite homebrew being free to add, using it in conjunction with certain campaign-management features will require a subscription? Or perhaps the comment was true at the time, but you've since reevaluated the pricing plans?
Either way, I'm very glad you responded to me, thank you. And thank you also for what looks like it'll be a great app, I look forward to seeing this progress!
Yeah, I actually am the product lead (same person). The key is that word "integration" and not creation. This is part of the reason we don't want to make comments in partial - because they can get taken out of context.
Even now, I imagine some folks will start to worry that my statement here means "we can create homebrew but can't use it?!" but that's not what I mean either. When the full picture is out everything will make much more sense.
I've flicked through all these pages and I think, in general, I'd be fine with paying a subscription fee. I'm obviously assuming it will give me good value for money, but I feel like that's a given -- that's a minimum you expect. Any service that hosts as much content as DnDBeyond intends to can't do all of it for free, and searches and image hosting drive up server costs. You're paying for a service, in a way, as much as the content after all. Ad revenue can only get you so far and is tricky, and anything officially supported by WotC will (you'd hope) get all the new things quicker than free rivals, and probably fun exclusive stuff. I'd expect free accounts to exist, sure, maybe that access things which are already free -- basic rules, and maybe character creation. Things that help you get into DnD and are fun, to encourage you to consider paying for more.
I'm also semi-expecting, and think it would be worthwhile to have, a DM style subscription where you can adopt a number of people into your campaign (probably tiered or something for how many people, I'm being realistic, they can't have it be infinite because people would cheat) and allow them to access your resources. The same way a Roll20 DM can share their resources with players in a game.
On the back of that, since -- as has previously been mentioned -- DM's often shoulder the costs in these things, it would be nice to be able to donate to your DM's sub/pay for it as a gift. I know I'd like to do that.
Just wanna say I really appreciate how engaged the D&D Beyond folks have been surrounding this issue (and just in general)! Some good dialogue going back and forth here, appreciate the transparency and openness here!
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Has anyone seen this article ... http://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2017/03/dnd-digital-license-to-kill.html
Not sure how to take it .
I suspect that Curse would want anyone marked as a "player" in a campaign to have at least a Player level account. Personally, I'd rather not have my use of the highest-value features be derailed because one guy in the group is too cheap to fork over $5.
I just joined this forum in the hopes that this would a viable offering of 5e rulebooks in a digital format that would be usable offline on a tablet.
I get that there are recurring costs with having a hosted solution like this. And this may fill some type of void that others have. So, a subscription service may work for some, but not for me.
What I really want is an eBook, or an app. I don't want a PDF (though I will happily take it, if that's all you offer). I want something that allows me increase and decrease the font size and reflow the text, with just enough graphics to help explain the rules and no fluff, a good search, a table of contents and the ability to bookmark stuff. I want to pay a one time fee for it, and I want to be able to use it on any device I own without having to rebuy it again.
If I am going to track characters digitally, then make an Android and iPhone app that syncs via Dropbox and sell it to me.
I have no issues tracking characters on pen and paper. What I want is one tablet I take to the table that has all my rule books on it. Make that happen and you have my money.
one time fee for lifetime membership, full access. None of this micropayment bullshits or monthly fees. The books are already expensive enough.
Host of the Pocket Mimic Podcast, a D&D 5e Show! Join us and listen in as we build a new world step by step! (http://Pocketmimic.com)
DMs vs PCs! All DMs are evil | ENnie Award Winner | OSR style in a 5e world |1000+ character souls taken | 25+ yrs exp
Remember to hit the thanks button, if you feel my info was useful, it helps me know I've provided helpful information and know I'm on the right track.
Agreed
Still not sure why a monthly payment is necessary here. You mention for server rentals, but simple ad revenue would be more than enough for that. It's how a majority of apps (Even high traffic ones) pay for their stuff. I don't mind ads. Asking someone to pay $5 a month, 12 months a year, that's 60 a year. It's basically saying I have to reguy a new D&D book every year. It doesn't make sense. Again, the ones online may not be as nice as you want and you have to enter a lot of data, but in all honesty you don't know how this app is going to be any different. For the costs that people are talking about monthly, I'd rather just use an online character builder for 5e (And I use a really nice one where I don't have to enter anything except my dice numbers and which equipment I want) an app that I can ready my spells on in a pinch, and in all honesty that's all I need. I have a PDF scans of my books I have on my computer that has the text scanned out so I can quickly find what I need at any time just by ctrl+f.
With what's being shown now, there is just no reason for a monthly subscription cost. A one time purchase of the app, ad revenue, and DLC for extra books and campaigns would be more than enough to cover any server costs and pay programmers to maintain it for many years to come.
This, right here, is why I would pay a subscription fee. I'm mostly okay with ads on news sites and the like. I'm not particularly put out by occasional interruptions in my puzzle game apps.
Ads on DnD Beyond would be a deal-killer. And, so help me, I will stab someone if my game is interrupted by a stupid pop-up for Candy Crush because I'm using my iPad.
I really have no idea how they intend to do content purchasing for mobile devices. It could be like Kindle, where they will show you content exists, but you have to go to the web site to purchase because of the way app stores work. Again, kinda sucks, but Apple is as much to blame as Curse (probably way, way more so). That's probably the cleanest way to do it, but maybe not. Ick.
D&D Beyond Mobile Alpha Tester
DM: The Cult of the Crystal Spider (Currently playing Storm King's Thunder)
Player: The Knuckles of Arth - Lemire (Tiefling Rogue 5/Fighter 1)
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D&D Beyond FoundersI've flicked through all these pages and I think, in general, I'd be fine with paying a subscription fee. I'm obviously assuming it will give me good value for money, but I feel like that's a given -- that's a minimum you expect. Any service that hosts as much content as DnDBeyond intends to can't do all of it for free, and searches and image hosting drive up server costs. You're paying for a service, in a way, as much as the content after all. Ad revenue can only get you so far and is tricky, and anything officially supported by WotC will (you'd hope) get all the new things quicker than free rivals, and probably fun exclusive stuff. I'd expect free accounts to exist, sure, maybe that access things which are already free -- basic rules, and maybe character creation. Things that help you get into DnD and are fun, to encourage you to consider paying for more.
I'm also semi-expecting, and think it would be worthwhile to have, a DM style subscription where you can adopt a number of people into your campaign (probably tiered or something for how many people, I'm being realistic, they can't have it be infinite because people would cheat) and allow them to access your resources. The same way a Roll20 DM can share their resources with players in a game.
On the back of that, since -- as has previously been mentioned -- DM's often shoulder the costs in these things, it would be nice to be able to donate to your DM's sub/pay for it as a gift. I know I'd like to do that.
Just wanna say I really appreciate how engaged the D&D Beyond folks have been surrounding this issue (and just in general)! Some good dialogue going back and forth here, appreciate the transparency and openness here!