More details about how the Master Tier works will be shared by the team soon.

Quote from AaronOfBarbaria >>

Quote from durindanus >>

 The perspective that this is fleecing comes from the fact that DnDBeyond, Fantasy Grounds, Roll 20, etc. don't actually need a book to be sold, they need the information in the book which you already own.

Right, but either A) some inputs all the information found in the book into the appropriate form of database for the digital tools to work with and you pay to benefit from their time and effort, or B) you input all the information found in your book yourself.

You don't just magically rub your book up against a computer and suddenly the data is all organized in every sort of database used by the various digital aids on the market - and there is no click-to-run way to turn WotC's digital layout documents (such as an InDesign file) into those databases either.

And when you bought the multiple copies of the PHB and DMG, did you complain to the seller about the price because you already owned one? You didn't need to buy another book - you could have just photocopied the one you already had, so how is there any actual - not imagined - difference when it comes to buying D&D Beyond?

Quote from Ploige >>

Here is the real issue... WotC as an organization doesn't have a digital strategy for D&D. They have licensing agreements with different companies but no real consumer based approach for D&D outside of hard copy books and materials. 

I'm not saying this to be difficult, I'm saying this with intimate knowledge of how the company works as an ex employee. What I have seen from DDB provides me hope that potentially curse can assist WotC in creating a consumer based digital strategy moving forward.

Will this partnership solve the issues with multiple digital licensing agreements in the past or the fact that WotC should have thought about digital use of their product during release...it won't.  Can anything be done to make DDB solvent against all the work they have done and will do into the future if they offer non SRD content for "free"...no.

We have to just accept WotC, like most companies, isn't perfect and they fraked up.  They created a damn good edition with no digital strategy on anything other than what they had done before.

I for one plan to embrace the partnership between curse and WotC as something that will make my life easier as a DM, player and enthusiast.  

It sucks. It isn't fair.  But it is damn exciting.

Quote from Ikerus >>

what is the benefit for a DM to pay the heavy burden cost of this platform. I keep hearing character sheet this, character sheet that... but let's face it... without DMs, what good are the character sheets? 

Since there are so many more players than DMs, it does not surprise me that Curse has focused on getting the player tools done first, since what good is a damn good DM without any players?

That being said, I think you'll be waiting a little while, for that very reason. The longer the system stays in Beta, the more people will give up on it. It can't stay in Beta until everything they want to create is completed, so I think it is unrealistic to expect a fully-featured suite of DM tools at launch. But I don't see anything wrong with waiting until the system has what you want before buying in, either. That's why I never bought into Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds. They didn't have what I want.

As I have told others I cannot tell you why you should subscribe but I can tell you what excites me about this product.

The mobile capabilities are the killer app for me. I have been wanting electronic versions of the 5e books since launch. I could have got that from Fantasy Grounds or Roll 20, but it is my understanding that with those programs I am limited to accessing them through a computer. I rarely spend time on a computer out side of work. A few minutes here and there but nothing substantial. I pretty much always have my iPhone or iPad with me. I want to be able to access my 5e content through those devices. I would have been happy with PDfs. I am MUCH happier with DDB. Any bells and whistles beyond this is nice but not is what is getting me in the door. 

To your portability question, if you stop subscribing can can still access your purchased material through the site/app but you cannot port it to another application. If BBD goes belly up then we are probably just out of luck but I feel that is a pretty small risk in the short and medium term. Long term I am not concerned about it. 

Quote from Drakimor >>

Yes, of course it costs money to input into a database. It costs money to build the interface and produce the product in general. That's why Curse is asking $3/$6 a month. I haven't seen anyone argue or debate that cost. It's very reasonable and understandable. The issue is not with charging to input the data, but charging multiple times for access to the same data set to begin with, i.e. the book cost, not the monthly. What everyone is asking for is to license the data set, and then pay a more reasonable fee for the data entry in your analogy.

I buy games all the time on Steam and can play them on my Mac, PC or in many cases Linux machine with no additional charge.

I buy movies that I can watch on any device I want.

These are very common things these days and becoming industry standard. No reason to think expecting this digital content to follow this trend is unreasonable.

Xbox and PS4 are known closed systems, bad example of customer friendly behavior.

Quote from Aramalian >>

Quote from Drakimor >>

Yes, of course it costs money to input into a database. It costs money to build the interface and produce the product in general. That's why Curse is asking $3/$6 a month. I haven't seen anyone argue or debate that cost. It's very reasonable and understandable. The issue is not with charging to input the data, but charging multiple times for access to the same data set to begin with, i.e. the book cost, not the monthly. What everyone is asking for is to license the data set, and then pay a more reasonable fee for the data entry in your analogy.

 How many copies of the PHB does Wizards owe you for MSRP?

Quote from Drakimor >>

 1. But you are still thinking like digital access to something is the same as physical copies. Flawed thinking. The two have nothing to do with each other.

Quote from Fjw70 >>

The mobile capabilities are the killer app for me. I have been wanting electronic versions of the 5e books since launch. I could have got that from Fantasy Grounds or Roll 20, but it is my understanding that with those programs I am limited to accessing them through a computer. I rarely spend time on a computer out side of work. A few minutes here and there but nothing substantial. I pretty much always have my iPhone or iPad with me. I want to be able to access my 5e content through those devices. I would have been happy with PDfs. I am MUCH happier with DDB. Any bells and whistles beyond this is nice but not is what is getting me in the door. 

Quote from Aramalian >>

 I've read every word in my Player's Handbook. Nowhere in it was I promised access to every other format into which that data was published.

I bought one book. When I buy a paperback on Amazon, I do not get a Kindle copy for free. When I buy a Kindle copy, I don't get a paperback in the mail.

Quote from Drakimor >>

 1. But you are still thinking like digital access to something is the same as physical copies. Flawed thinking.

The two have nothing to do with each other.

Ultimately an item is worth whatever people are willing to pay for it.  A digital copy doesn't have the associated costs of printing, shipping, handling, storage, etc.  So.  Should it be cheaper?  However, without those costs, the imperative to sell product is also less.  A company could sell fewer digital copies at the same (or nearly the same) price and still make as much money as selling many more physical copies, as the investment (risk) is less than with physical copies.  A book (esp. a digital book) is usually only sold once per customer, so the incentive is to sell at a much higher mark up.  The copies sold could be less, but the profit could be the same or more.

The idea isn't to move product so much as it is to make money.

Quote from Drakimor >>

But you DO get to read your kindle copy on any device without re-buying it. You have purchased the content.

Sword coast legends thought the same thing. To hell with DMs and map editors, let's focus on the players..it opened in October and tanked by Christmas.

i'm not arguing it's a bad product. I'm arguing that people are tired of buying half a car. That without the other half of the car, it'll sit on your front lawn as a decoration. I don't think it unreasonable to ask what the full product is. Do you plan your mutual funds that way? Do your banking? Buy a house? I'm not against this... I want to know up front in bold letters what I am buying. I don't purchase promises or magic beans. 

So yea, the next time you want to order a pizza... ask yourself if they can send you the cheese and pepperoni a few months later. Shipping half products is the way companies go... oh sh$&, I'm not sure how this will go...so let's charge them full price and give them half the product. If it flops... too bad.

Hi Koren,

Thanks for your reply.  Yes, it seems that the "game season" will be exciting with all costs/benefits and so on. I got, thanks to you and other friends in other forum sessions the idea for the full group within the Master subscription.

I only think it is going to be a little more expensive than I was expecting, I mean, the fees are pretty reasonable comparing to Roll20 and FG, in which I am a subscriber.  But at the end of the day, paying Fantasy Grounds, DnD Beyound and any other "system" that exists costs much more than having the old hard copy on our table.

That because I think, if you buy a content from DnD Beyond it is "usable" only here as well as content from FG is usable only there, although everything belongs to WotC.

That's is a little bit of frustration, because if, for instance I bought Horde of the Dragon Queen at FG I can not use the same content for DnD and vice-versa.

I am saying that without trying it, because I bought my subscription at FG 2 weeks ago.  Maybe the contents will be "cross usable" (that would be great), but for reasons of User interface, command/options, programming and etc, I guess the contents are not interchangeable.

If you like very much one campaign like Curse of Strahd and you play it at Fantasy Grounds, you have to play for that content there.  Just in case if you want to play the same adventure at DnD Beyond, probably you have to buy "again" the same content for that system.

That sounds to me like paying twice for the same content that belongs to the same company just because you can not use it in 2 game systems.  If we think that this happens inside the computer/software industry and we have to swallow that, maybe that softens a little the pain.  I mean, you buy MS Office for Windows and just in case if you also have a Mac you need to pay for the same MS Office for Mac; and the same happens to games, if you have Xbox and play assassins creed there, if you get a PS4 you have to buy the same game for PS4 platform.

Would be great if once have the WotC books, in digital media, we could use them in any platform/system because in the end of the day, those books are only a "bunch of data" in which the system extract the information to process in their "engines", nothing else than that.

It WotC doesn't need to do anything extra in their original digital books to be used for Roll20, Fantasy Grounds or DnD Beyond (that is what I think), so why should we pay for the same content in different systems? It is like a JPEG file that can be opened in Photoshop, Adobe Reader, Windows media, Finder (MAC) and etc.  Instead of bits with information of colours, the books have bits with information of "words" (poor comparison).

Well.... It is what it is.

So, thanks again for your reply.

Sincerely,

Drakortex.

A curiosity. I know that DM tools are still in the wings but when they do begin dropping will we see some sort of map/world design tools? 

*Edited for clarity. 

The DM Tools will be the determining factor in whether or not I maintain a subscription.  Having the books referenced online in a nice format is more-or-less worth the $20 a pop.  But I'll only get a subscription if I'll be able to replace Roll20 as my online gaming medium.  I'm not too demanding really.  Just maps, minis, and FOW are all we need.  A good voice chat would be a bonus, but not necessary.

Quote from Blucher >>

The DM Tools will be the determining factor in whether or not I maintain a subscription.  Having the books referenced online in a nice format is more-or-less worth the $20 a pop.  But I'll only get a subscription if I'll be able to replace Roll20 as my online gaming medium.  I'm not too demanding really.  Just maps, minis, and FOW are all we need.  A good voice chat would be a bonus, but not necessary.