Quote from Lemuel_Ravenhill >>

I guess this (pricing) wouldn't be so bad for people starting out. As it is, for those of us that have been playing for some time, myself included, have already spent a boat load of cash on books. Now we are expected to pay another boat load PLUS a monthly sub for digital content? Don't get me wrong I respect the fact that people put a lot of time and effort into this project. Still, these prices seem pretty silly to me. I can essentially get all of these features by using the FightClub5/GameMaster5 and Roll20 programs, which are a whopping zero dollars and w/no monthly sub cost. This company is flashing 'officially licensed content' around like its somehow different from a compendium put together by the community of Roll20 or orthers. The look might be different (sometimes) but the details and numbers are essentially the same. The function is the same. I'm seeing a lot of other disappointed players on other discussion boards regarding this pricing situation. This program may be official content, but it isn't anything completely new. I'm not trying to put down the program itself. Don't get me wrong, I like what I've seen! It's pretty! But when it comes to weighing out the cost with the function and bringing into consideration there are free programs that supplement this program, I'm just not feeling it.  Much love to you guys all the same! 

Quote from PainTrainXpress >>

I was wondering how many player accounts the Master Tier would be able link to? I DM for 3 different groups of up to 6 people at the studio I work at. I'm not looking to exploit the system but at the same time I don't want to have to pay for 3 different accounts and have to purchase the sourcebooks multiple time just for the convenience. 

Quote from JRedmond >>

Quote from PainTrainXpress >>

I was wondering how many player accounts the Master Tier would be able link to? I DM for 3 different groups of up to 6 people at the studio I work at. I'm not looking to exploit the system but at the same time I don't want to have to pay for 3 different accounts and have to purchase the sourcebooks multiple time just for the convenience. 

 You will be able to link twelve people with the Master Tier.  Maybe in the future they'll have an option to add people past the twelve for an additional price but this has not been announced as of yet.

Honestly? I like it. I see a lot of price concerns but, frankly, D&D has always been as expensive as you want it to be. Sharing a Master subscription with four or five friends is just a buck a month. Buy books/content as you like. Homebrew to fill the gaps. I think it's mostly reasonable - though I won't pretend getting, say, a "50% off the digital version" coupon in future books wouldn't be nice.

My only real concern is the sharing of homebrew stuff in the Master tier. One DM, four free players, can they use the Homebrew stuff the DM chooses? Can they use the DM's private homebrew content? That's pretty much the reason I'd pay for a sub - immediately sharing my unique content with my players.

Quote from DustinAshe >>

Quote from JRedmond >>

Quote from PainTrainXpress >>

I was wondering how many player accounts the Master Tier would be able link to? I DM for 3 different groups of up to 6 people at the studio I work at. I'm not looking to exploit the system but at the same time I don't want to have to pay for 3 different accounts and have to purchase the sourcebooks multiple time just for the convenience. 

 You will be able to link twelve people with the Master Tier.  Maybe in the future they'll have an option to add people past the twelve for an additional price but this has not been announced as of yet.

 And anyone with a subscription of their own doesn't count against that 12 person limit.

Quote from BadEye >>

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!

I may have missed it somewhere, but I'm still not clear on the subscription tiers.  If I, as a DM, pay for the Master tier, I can add up to 12 people to my campaign.  Does that give them an experience equivalent to Hero tier or does it mean (assuming they don't have a subscription) they'll have access to my unlocked content the same way it would look to me if I had no subscription?

I think the benefit of the Master tier is relatively clear.  I think what's confusing a lot of people is what the difference will be between no subscription and Hero tier.  Say I spend the ~$270 at launch to unlock everything and never subscribe to anything.  What does that look like?

Quote from Mahewa >>

I may have missed it somewhere, but I'm still not clear on the subscription tiers.  If I, as a DM, pay for the Master tier, I can add up to 12 people to my campaign.  Does that give them an experience equivalent to Hero tier or does it mean (assuming they don't have a subscription) they'll have access to my unlocked content the same way it would look to me if I had no subscription?

I think the benefit of the Master tier is relatively clear.  I think what's confusing a lot of people is what the difference will be between no subscription and Hero tier.  Say I spend the ~$270 at launch to unlock everything and never subscribe to anything.  What does that look like?

Quote from Sedge >>

I bought Overwatch on PC and would love to play with my PS4 friends, but Blizzard isn't reimbursing my copy, nor providing access to the same game on the console.

I'm not seeing why this is expected to be different with D&D Beyond, as it's a proven business practice across multiple products/genres.

And I would totally be willing to pay for additional slots, that is very reasonable to me.

Quote from Thain >>

You can price the content however you like, you are the developers. But the same players who have been beat over the head repeatedly for money for variations of the same product are tired of it. That's not your fault, but its still a reality of the world. 

 

I keep reading this complaint, and I'm like: Then *stop buying things*. 5th Edition is a variation of 4th Edition is a variation of... you get the idea.

Do you feel like all the restaurants you pass after eating dinner are beating you over the head to buy variations of what you just ate?

The on-ramp price is what you decide it is - are you using every single piece of every single resource you've purchased? Buy what you're using most of the time, and wait for a bundle deal for the rest.

No one is saying, "Give us $140 or you will die."

Just wanted to chime in amongst the chaos and let the team know that I'm totally behind you guys, 110%. I think the options are wonderful.

Maybe it's just because I didn't hop on the Fantasy Grounds or Roll20 content trains specifically because I was waiting for a tool like this to come along. I wasn't forced to buy the content 2 other times in addition to my books. I chose to save my money and wait until an all-inclusive tool that wasn't a VTT and more conductive to playing at my table.

That being said, I do hope to see some integration of this tool with Roll20, though even then, I've been holding off for TaleSpire to replace all my VTT wants.

Quote from Aramalian >>

Quote from Thain >>

You can price the content however you like, you are the developers. But the same players who have been beat over the head repeatedly for money for variations of the same product are tired of it. That's not your fault, but its still a reality of the world. 

 

I keep reading this complaint, and I'm like: Then *stop buying things*. 5th Edition is a variation of 4th Edition is a variation of... you get the idea.

Do you feel like all the restaurants you pass after eating dinner are beating you over the head to buy variations of what you just ate?

The on-ramp price is what you decide it is - are you using every single piece of every single resource you've purchased? Buy what you're using most of the time, and wait for a bundle deal for the rest.

No one is saying, "Give us $140 or you will die."

Kinda sad I have to re-buy all the books online, after I bought them in physical copy :(

Quote from Ray57913 >>

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!

 Yeah Its 12.95 for one character. but what about when you start a new game and are playing a tibaxi rogue criminal who ends up getting different magical items.  That's another 12.95.  What about when they play a 3rd character and 4th?  I have 15 characters saved right now in Hero Lab,  and I only had to pay one price.  I can also use that to run encounters as well.  With Realm Works I can also track an entire campaign and what the party knows.  Yes for pre-generated content I will have to pay for the book again but then its mine, no micro transactions to nickle and dime me.

Quote from Mehetmet >>

Quote from Locnar >>

Quote from Gwalxavad >>

Quote from Sedge >>

One is not 'gaining electronic access' to their previously-owned physical copies.  One is purchasing a new license for intellectual property offered in a different medium.

One does not receive a free DVD because they purchased the VHS years prior.  We all choose which medium to purchase our entertainment, knowing it can be outdated as technology advances.  :D

 That argument doesn't really fly - this site certainly doesn't make the physical books "outdated" (that would be more like an Amazon Kindle or RPGDriveThru pdf release) so much as supplement them - and many other companies wisely offer access to digital content with the purchase of a physical copy, such as when I buy a blu-ray disk with a code to the digital file or a comic book with a code to comixology. This is bad business strategy on Wizards' part.

That said, I can certainly understand WotC being reluctant to offering free access to those of us who have already purchased the books, as there really isn't a way to verify those purchases. Going forward they should  incorporate a one-time code into future releases of the books so that buyers can have access to content here.

Also, the pricing on the books is blindingly stupid in light of the competition. With almost every other RPG company a digital copy of the book is available with the purchase of a physical copy and if I choose to forgo the physical copy a digital copy can be had for about $10. That is a copy I can take anywhere with me on as many devices as I want in a universally recognized digital format with no need for an internet connection. I *really* hope when this ends up shooting Wizards in the foot, they adjust their pricing accordingly instead of viewing DnDBeyond as a failure and scrapping it. Say $10-15 for the books, with the content being included for free in the subscription. There's a lot of good stuff here - I like the subscription pricing, and will probably take advantage of the reduced price for the books during the first week launch - but I can certainly understand people having a problem with the book pricing, as it shows complete ignorance of the current market.

 

 

Spot on Gwalxavad!  Shows Sedge has zero clue how things in the real world work and is trying to sound like a lawyer.  I paid for the intellectual property contained in the Players Hand Book, not the form in which it came.

When I buy a CD at the store, go home and insert it into my MAC, it instantly creates digital formats of the songs on the CD.  New format does NOT require a new license.  Same for movies purchased at the store, 99% have a digital download.   This is greed in its basic form and will come back to bite them.

I like the subscription rates and seem quite reasonable to me, however after spending $50 a book (i know they are cheaper on Amazon but i try to support my local gaming/comic store) and i purchased 3 PHB's, 1 DM and 1 MM.  The idea that I have to buy them again just to have online digital access to intellectual property i already paid for??  Yea that quite frankly stinks. had you said $10, I would not be offended as all this great programming that had to be done to make D&DBeyond work costs money and it needs to come from somewhere.  But i also expect that $250 i shelled out over a year ago helped to pay for this program as well......unless they simply banked all that revenue as profit without putting any into expanding.

 

 Try inserting your book into the computer and let me know how it works...A CD is in digital format already, a book isn't. 

First, I want to say that I agree wholeheartedly with the pricing model.  Paying a one-time fee for lifetime access to individual content is definitely the way to go and better than some higher subscription for ongoing access to all content.

However, I feel like the set price for that content is too high.  $30 per splat book and $25 per adventure is much too high compared to the cost of the physical books.  While the MSRP on a PHB may be $50, you can get it for $30 off Amazon right now.  That means the digital price is exactly the same as the physical price.  Even at the MSRP of $50, a $30 digital purchase is 60% of the physical cost.  I want to see both DnDBeyond (Curse) and D&D (WotC) succeed, and to do that people need to be incentivized to purchase both (or at least not disincentivized to purchase only one or the other).

A lot (not all, of course) of veterans with all the physical books will likely not want to drop several hundred dollars to buy digital copies of all of them again, and it is next to useless just buy one of them digitally if you own the rest physical.  On the flip side, newcomers that have never purchased any physical books (or only have the PHB) have little reason to buy physical in the future since they can get the digital for cheaper and the digital price is already nearly the same as a physical book.

So, from a market standpoint, the best solution would be for WotC to offer some sort of coupon or discount on the digital when you purchase the physical.  However, as has been stated here repeatedly, that is unfeasible to apply retroactively; it could only work going forward on new purchases (and even then it would require new infrastructure.  So the best alternative would be to price the digital products low enough that purchasers won't be disincentivized from also purchasing a physical copy (or disincentivized from re-buying their existing library in digital form).

All of that said, I'd suggest a $20 base price on splat books and $15 adventures in digital format.

Quote from PanoramicPanda >>

Maybe it's just because I didn't hop on the Fantasy Grounds or Roll20 content trains specifically because I was waiting for a tool like this to come along. I wasn't forced to buy the content 2 other times in addition to my books. I chose to save my money and wait until an all-inclusive tool that wasn't a VTT and more conductive to playing at my table.

Quote from gksmithlcw >>

Quote from Mehetmet >>

Quote from gksmithlcw >>

Quote from Sedge >>

I bought Overwatch on PC and would love to play with my PS4 friends, but Blizzard isn't reimbursing my copy, nor providing access to the same game on the console.

I'm not seeing why this is expected to be different with D&D Beyond, as it's a proven business practice across multiple products/genres.

 That's fair until you look at Pathfinder. (I know.... Dirty word.....)

 Pathfinder uses the OGL for 3.5, there is an OGL for 5e and a "Pathfinder" equivalent can be created.  However the Pathfinder equivalent of 5e wouldn't include Volo's guide to monsters or Curse of Strahd, just like Pathfinder doesn't include Ebberron or Dragonlance.  the free version of the DND Beyond application/website (The OGL, what Pathfinder was created from in 3.5), is freely available currently and will be after launch.  

You missed the point.... You buy a hardcopy book for Pathfinder, you get a digital PDF. Boom. Or, you buy a less expensive PDF and forego the hardcopy.

Now, this isn't just a PDF so I'm all for having to pay the piper but to act like no other company offers digital content without additional licensing is incorrect. At least they're not charging full price here @ D&DB. That's been my grief with Fantasy Grounds and Roll20....

Quote from RealityStorm >>   it is next to useless just buy one of them digitally if you don't buy all of them.