Great! I'm happy never to look back, since I'm a DM who has to schlep out to weekly sessions via public transit. The ability to carry just a laptop or tablet instead of four hardcover books is worth a lot to me. :D

Quote from BadEye >>

Quote from DrGerm >>

As an extreme example, and let me say first that I'm really complaining to Hasbro/WoTC, not really with Curse:

So, are you saying that if all I ever wanted to do was to create an Aasimar Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance subclass, with the Purple Dragon Knight Background, equipped with a Dawnbringer and a Blod Stone in his inventory, that I would have to purchase:

1. Player's Handbook for $29.99
2. Dungeon Master's Guide for $29.99
3. Volo's Guide to Monsters for $29.99
4. Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide for $29.99
5. Storm King's Thunder for $24.99
6. Out of the Abyss for $24.99
7. In addition, say I subscribed at just the $3/mo for the next 12 months to see if this actually develops into a proper service and add a homebrew magic shield that the DM created to this character

For a grand total of $205.94 ?

And, mind you, that I've already purchased each of these books (and every other 5e book) twice already, as well as purchasing each for use within Fantasy Grounds in addition to all kinds of stuff off DMs Guild. And even more, having to pay for a separate "real" campaign management package since it looks like you guys are misinterpreting what that term means.

And then nothing at all to show for the 12 months of paying into a subscription model vs just let me pay once for the satisfaction that I've paid my dues and I'm done for the lifetime of 5e.

And, still, none of this includes a legal PDF copy of any of these books?

I just want to be sure I'm fully understanding the extent of how much WoTC is expecting to rip us off.

I mean, I'm a sucker, and I'm lucky to have very good income for hobbies [I've certainly wasted a lot more money on other things *cough* KS1-5 of Dwarven Forge...] I may very well do it if there is something... anything... that you will offer that I really want to use that I can't get elsewhere. But, I guess I'm saying I just want to understand the full extent of how much I'm being taken advantage of before I willingly to go along with it...

No, if that's specifically what you want to play, you could alternatively make for a minimum purchase: Aasimar Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance subclass, with the Purple Dragon Knight Background, equipped with a Dawnbringer and a Blod Stone in his inventory

• Aasimar Race - $2.99
• Paladin Class (with all PHB options) - $3.99
• (Purple Dragon Knight is actually a fighter subclass, but let's assume that you mean some kind of background from SCAG): Shhh, don't tell anyone, but you will be able to customize a background entirely, so if you don't mind a little bit of typing, then the cost is $0. If you really wanted to buy one, then it's $1.99.
• The two magic items for $1.99 each

For a total of $12.95.

There will also be other "bundles" that will give you those things and other things like them for a good bit less than your original assessment.

The model has flexibility. Again, this is framed using your words of "if all I ever wanted to do."

Thanks!

Quote from adas >>

Quote from Druuk_the_Powerful >>

That being said, you are not incorrect in what you have said, I think most people are now just realizing that table top games are not nearly as affordable when you add digital tools. And (just like Fantasy Grounds and Roll20) the cost is  unpalatable to most. I think that most people thought that Curse was finally going to bring an affordable digital toolset to D&D as the cost of things such as Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds is too much for many. What we are seeing is the lashing out of a thousand disappointed voices. 

It's completely fair to point out that the price is too much for you and others. But I think saying 'unpalatable to most' oversteps the data we have available. Message board responses are not a representative sample

Ultimately, Curse (within the bounds presumably set by WotC) need to decide a price point that is still reasonably profitable for them. Meaning that they have to get enough people to buy in at a high enough price to make this whole venture worth it for them.

You mention roll20 and FG. While there's no way to know their finances, they sure seem like they are doing fine. Which might be indicative of whether DDB can be successful at the price points they have announced. I suspect they can.

But we'll see!

AD 

 

Quote from BadEye >>

The three core rulebooks are $19.99 each for the first week (which is the lowest I've ever seen them priced). This includes not only the book content in digital form, but all the options available in those books for complete use within the toolset (both for currently-available character management tools and any future tools, such as an encounter builder).

Quote from BadEye >>

At launch, you can purchase bundles of like content per source. You can unlock all the magic items in the DMG or all the races in Volo's, for instance.

If you wanted every player race across all sources, you would purchase the Races bundles in the PHB and Volo's.

If all you want is the digital content in the compendium, you can buy only that for each source as well.

The three core rulebooks are $19.99 each for the first week (which is the lowest I've ever seen them priced). This includes not only the book content in digital form, but all the options available in those books for complete use within the toolset (both for currently-available character management tools and any future tools, such as an encounter builder).

Quote from BadEye >>

Quote from dropbear8mybaby >>

Quote from BadEye >>

The three core rulebooks are $19.99 each for the first week (which is the lowest I've ever seen them priced). This includes not only the book content in digital form, but all the options available in those books for complete use within the toolset (both for currently-available character management tools and any future tools, such as an encounter builder).

 I'm already saving. Will be very difficult to get in on that one week deal in time, me being a pov and all, but I need to give up a few luxuries anyway. Regardless, will there be other sales occasionally? Maybe pre-purchase of content for a discount?

I can't confirm specifics, but sales will certainly happen periodically.

Quote from BadEye >>

• Aasimar Race - $2.99
• Paladin Class (with all PHB options) - $3.99
• (Purple Dragon Knight is actually a fighter subclass, but let's assume that you mean some kind of background from SCAG): Shhh, don't tell anyone, but you will be able to customize a background entirely, so if you don't mind a little bit of typing, then the cost is $0. If you really wanted to buy one, then it's $1.99.
• The two magic items for $1.99 each

For a total of $12.95.

Quote from Darklight >>

Quote from BadEye >>

• Aasimar Race - $2.99
• Paladin Class (with all PHB options) - $3.99
• (Purple Dragon Knight is actually a fighter subclass, but let's assume that you mean some kind of background from SCAG): Shhh, don't tell anyone, but you will be able to customize a background entirely, so if you don't mind a little bit of typing, then the cost is $0. If you really wanted to buy one, then it's $1.99.
• The two magic items for $1.99 each

For a total of $12.95.

 

Wait, wait, wait... We have to pay $2 for EACH magic item?!?

 So we're now chopping up the PHB and DMG into microtransactions and you wonder why that isn't exactly well received?

Quote from Darklight >>

Quote from BadEye >>

• Aasimar Race - $2.99
• Paladin Class (with all PHB options) - $3.99
• (Purple Dragon Knight is actually a fighter subclass, but let's assume that you mean some kind of background from SCAG): Shhh, don't tell anyone, but you will be able to customize a background entirely, so if you don't mind a little bit of typing, then the cost is $0. If you really wanted to buy one, then it's $1.99.
• The two magic items for $1.99 each

For a total of $12.95.

 

Wait, wait, wait... We have to pay $2 for EACH magic item?!?

 So we're now chopping up the PHB and DMG into microtransactions and you wonder why that isn't exactly well received?

Quote from MrSlender >>

Quote from BadEye >>

At launch, you can purchase bundles of like content per source. You can unlock all the magic items in the DMG or all the races in Volo's, for instance.

If you wanted every player race across all sources, you would purchase the Races bundles in the PHB and Volo's.

If all you want is the digital content in the compendium, you can buy only that for each source as well.

The three core rulebooks are $19.99 each for the first week (which is the lowest I've ever seen them priced). This includes not only the book content in digital form, but all the options available in those books for complete use within the toolset (both for currently-available character management tools and any future tools, such as an encounter builder).

 Thanks for the quick reply! And thank you for the straight forward answer. So bundles are per source, not the entirety of DnD, and there won't be any book bundle (As I gathered from your answer).

What I didn't quite get, is the Compendium. So the digital content, as I gathered, would be raw stats, rules and abilities per source, no lore & fluff, at a cheaper price than the whole entry would be. 

But is it exclusively in the Compendium, or does it transfer over to character creation & management? In case it is the latter, my ideal solution would be to buy raw digital content + hardcover books + Master subscription so that my friends and I get to use DnDB amazing tools and have the hardcovers at a reasonable prize.

The reason this an issue for me is that I love physical books, and DnD is no exception, but it is also in this weird spot were the comfort and usability of digital tools is unparalleled.

What's to stop people from releasing Core Books under the Homebrew section, as to get around paying for the digital copy?

Quote from Jugodrow >>

What's to stop people from releasing Core Books under the Homebrew section, as to get around paying for the digital copy?

Quote from Jugodrow >>

What's to stop people from releasing Core Books under the Homebrew section, as to get around paying for the digital copy?

BadEye: I apologize for my tone back there... dealing with enough things in the real world that I shouldn't have been posting here.

As someone who knows how things work when it comes to WotC-related content and putting a price on this kind of licensing, I understand where you're at. Although you've made an awesome product, this might be a little cost prohibitive to go "all in" for me at this time and many others here, but I figure we'll at least keep using your product in whatever capacity we can (free with ads, I assume) until it becomes affordable or other arrangements can be made.

Best of luck. Hope this works out better for you than it has for other digital ventures. ;)

I'm going to change gears a bit here and not complain about the price, but rather ask a question about campaign functionality.

So if I'm a DM, I understand that I can set up a campaign and invite players to join. Once those players join, they have access to all of my purchased content. Is that the only function of joining a campaign?

Or would I have a dashboard of sorts where I can see each character's stats and HP? If a character takes damage, can I as the DM apply that damage and have it update live to their device? If a character is poisoned, can I set that as a status effect that I'll be able to see as a reminder?

I will say that the compendium is great and speeds up my game immensely, and having access to everything as convenient as the SRD content already is will be fantastic. Every time a spell needs to be looked up, I race with the player who has the book, and I'm already reading the description before they find the page.

And seeing BadEye's recent examples of a la carte pricing actually quelled any doubts I had. I was a little bummed that I'd have to buy Volo's for my one Kenku player, but now that I know I can purchase it by itself, no biggie.

So we've got the 3 core books at $20 each (if bought at launch), $3 for the one extra race I need in Volo's, maybe $2 or $3 for the spells some of my characters use from SCAG, and the Master sub... $70ish bucks? My group has 6 players, so next session, everyone bring $10. The cost of 1 kinda nice lunch. Boom, now we're playing with power. I'm the DM and I can afford the subscription fee, and we're done. If any player wants a new spell we don't have, bring a couple bucks next session and we'll get it. It's really not a big deal at all.

Especially if the answers to my above questions are correct, then it's a fantastic value. Yes, I'm paying for content I already own, but really I'm actually paying for the next level platform for that content.