While I like the UA, if ditching it means you can get out your features faster, it's FAR better to ditch it. If my players really want to have UA, they can ask me to make the homebrew. Thank you for making the hard choice.
What does this mean for Unearthed Arcana still available on DDB? Active Unearthed Arcana content (noted with the (UA) distinction in the title) will become archived one week from today, on August 12th, 2021. If your character currently has UA content on their sheet, they will not be impacted. The naming tag will simply change from (UA) to (Archived). That content will no longer be available to add to characters that don't already have the content, and if you remove the content from your character, you won't be able to add it back to them.
Huge shame, all my players really appreciated the UA content and having to make all that stuff via homebrew is going to eat up a lot of my time.
Homebrewing stuff can be very fulfilling. instead of doing UA stuff (which, btw, someone else will likely do it first), I prefer to come up with custom items to put in my campaigns.
It sucks, but overall this is for the best. Y'all have done a fantastic job producing UA content for people to play, but it has to be a major drain on resources. I know I'd much rather see new features like containers, improvements to the combat tracker, and other cool, permanent modifications added to the system. UA is fun, but it ultimately doesn't drive my enjoyment with D&D Beyond.
What if you had a volunteer group who would do the work for you, for the love of the game. would you support it then.
A lot of UA stuff can’t/couldn’t be done without creating new mechanics. That’s probably the whole reason for this decision in the first place, with the cross-class subclasses being the final nail in the coffin. Half the time this UA stuff was just a bunch of work that only mattered for the purpose of UA (and players having easy access to it), not for the official content, and that meant all those new mechanics were a lot of work for relatively little gain. A lovely courtesy for players and DMs who enjoyed this, certainly, but there’s only so much a company can do as a courtesy. Anyway, creating new mechanics is not something you’d just want to allow a volunteer group to do. That’s a slippery slope with regards to IP and proprietary material.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
This is really disappointing. As a master tier member this is really heart breaking. The thing about adding UA it allows you to create the upgrades earlier. Now I fear you wont get official content out on time.
I understand not supporting new UA stuff if that's how they want to go. I don't understand why they would stop allowing you to add the UA stuff that's already been implemented, though. Why is that?
And if WotC try other ideas they can have one person figuring it out in the background, just in case it becomes published. Rather than a team trying to fix something that does during UA.
As such, we can get all the other functionality focussed on. Sounds like they've got lots of plans for lots of cool "core" stuff.
It's a good decision, and one I fully support...as people can self-make it in homebrew, so people don't miss out. There merely have to do the work themselves. Not really a big deal, all in all.
I’m guessing resources went into those strixhaven subclasses that are shared across classes…
then when those subclasses got canned, it caused them to re-evaluate their priorities.
Resources did not go into the strixhaven UA--at least not many. They announced pretty quickly after that UA release that they weren't going to do those here.
But, the fact they WOTC floated mechanics that were vastly different than prior rules (and would have required a massive development load to implement in the current system) and then dumped them probably confirmed for DDB that they had made the right decision, and may have played a part in their deciding not to support UA going forward.
I think this is the right idea. However, I would like to see resources devoted to creating a framework for homebrew classes (not subclasses) from the ground up if possible.
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While I like the UA, if ditching it means you can get out your features faster, it's FAR better to ditch it. If my players really want to have UA, they can ask me to make the homebrew. Thank you for making the hard choice.
Cool take away one of the best features. But have a 40 minute videos of blah
TL;DR-ed pretty hard, huh?
Understandable, hope developmebt resources freed are sufficient to ease workloads elsewhere in a notable way, even if only notable on development end.
All me Hombews:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WUnYn1tRvbkKOPpAkWOVlpe2S3JVLpV_LDOVzKG2DgQ/edit?usp=drivesdk
Your question is directly answered in the article.
well this is unfortunite :(
Wellp, time to make four characters, one with each of the new Draconic races....
I think we need a "UA campaign" so that people can join and submit their UA-built homebrews.
Just how many players can you get in a Campaign anyway?
Also: What if you had a volunteer group who would do the work for you, for the love of the game.
would you support it then.
Homebrewing stuff can be very fulfilling. instead of doing UA stuff (which, btw, someone else will likely do it first), I prefer to come up with custom items to put in my campaigns.
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It sucks, but overall this is for the best. Y'all have done a fantastic job producing UA content for people to play, but it has to be a major drain on resources. I know I'd much rather see new features like containers, improvements to the combat tracker, and other cool, permanent modifications added to the system. UA is fun, but it ultimately doesn't drive my enjoyment with D&D Beyond.
Thank you for everything y'all do!
A lot of UA stuff can’t/couldn’t be done without creating new mechanics. That’s probably the whole reason for this decision in the first place, with the cross-class subclasses being the final nail in the coffin. Half the time this UA stuff was just a bunch of work that only mattered for the purpose of UA (and players having easy access to it), not for the official content, and that meant all those new mechanics were a lot of work for relatively little gain. A lovely courtesy for players and DMs who enjoyed this, certainly, but there’s only so much a company can do as a courtesy. Anyway, creating new mechanics is not something you’d just want to allow a volunteer group to do. That’s a slippery slope with regards to IP and proprietary material.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
This is really disappointing. As a master tier member this is really heart breaking. The thing about adding UA it allows you to create the upgrades earlier. Now I fear you wont get official content out on time.
I understand not supporting new UA stuff if that's how they want to go. I don't understand why they would stop allowing you to add the UA stuff that's already been implemented, though. Why is that?
How dare you!
I want all the content I purchased refunded!
The completes this over-reaction. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
Info, Inflow, Overload. Knowledge Black Hole Imminent!
I’m guessing resources went into those strixhaven subclasses that are shared across classes…
then when those subclasses got canned, it caused them to re-evaluate their priorities.
that runs into violating labor laws.
if you do work for a for-profit company that directly contributes to their business, you gotta get paid.
That's where my mind first went, too!
And if WotC try other ideas they can have one person figuring it out in the background, just in case it becomes published. Rather than a team trying to fix something that does during UA.
As such, we can get all the other functionality focussed on. Sounds like they've got lots of plans for lots of cool "core" stuff.
It's a good decision, and one I fully support...as people can self-make it in homebrew, so people don't miss out. There merely have to do the work themselves. Not really a big deal, all in all.
Keep going, devs! Go make awesome nerdy things!
Understandable, have a great day
Resources did not go into the strixhaven UA--at least not many. They announced pretty quickly after that UA release that they weren't going to do those here.
But, the fact they WOTC floated mechanics that were vastly different than prior rules (and would have required a massive development load to implement in the current system) and then dumped them probably confirmed for DDB that they had made the right decision, and may have played a part in their deciding not to support UA going forward.
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;
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I think this is the right idea. However, I would like to see resources devoted to creating a framework for homebrew classes (not subclasses) from the ground up if possible.