Thanks for the info. Not going to join in on the content price discussion, as that horse has been beaten to death.

I would like to ask about the sub pricing though. Was there ever any consideration given to a subscription tier that included "everything"?  I've seen other people ask the same or similar but haven't seen an answer.  If yes and it was decided against, any chance you could share the reasoning? and if not, any chance you would consider it?  Of course by everything, I'm referring to the idea that this super tier subscription would include "all" of the content as well as the perks of the Master tier.

Lastly, will there be an option to include UA materials? or will we need to recreate them as homebrew content? Just curious.

Thanks

I would love to know this as well!

Quote from Aramalian >>

Quote from durindanus >>

God I hate the design of these forums.  I want to reply to one guy so I naturally am bumped down to a new page.  Either format them like a comments section or format them like a forum. not this in between stuff.

 Quote, not reply. Problem solved, with zero saltiness quotient :)

Quote from durindanus >>

Quote from Aramalian >>

Quote from durindanus >>

God I hate the design of these forums.  I want to reply to one guy so I naturally am bumped down to a new page.  Either format them like a comments section or format them like a forum. not this in between stuff.

 Quote, not reply. Problem solved, with zero saltiness quotient :)

 Touche sir. Touche.

I have one question and three suggestions/concerns.

Question:

Will HotDQ and RoT be separate $24.99 purchases?

Suggestions/Concerns:

1. Are there any plans for a mega bundle to catch people who have bought all the books (like me!) up?

2. I would really like it if there was some way for future books to be bundled with a voucher to reduce the price of the digital version. I know this isn't the case with any other form of media (with one exception, digital copies with DVD and Blu Ray) but here we're dealing with the nice people at WotC and Curse, not giant media megacorps...

3. I was hoping against hope for a third subscription tier, at say $19.99 a month, which would be equivalent to the Master Tier but also include access to all books, as long as the subscription is active. I'd sign up to that in an instant.

I am not quite sure you want to understand my (and others)dilemma here. If I want to use the product DnD Beyond as it is intended with the same level of access I can achieve from my books and the content I have on Fantasy Grounds then .. YES I am being forced to pay for that access. I have already paid for the intellectual property that is WotC's not Curse's. Why should I subsidise their license to produce the product so they can sell it to me again? I understand they are a third party here, that they have spent alot of time and effort and money on getting the product to where it is and will be however, volume of sales is what will make them more money. The initial access fee and the fees for book content could be alot less that advertise and achieve better results. The subscription prices aren't too bad and this is where they will really make there money. Get people in and hooked. First. The older players and those playing for a while are they ones who will get the most out of the ease of use of this product. In the long run as the end user of the product I don't care how many people they have had to pay to get the product to where it is. That isn't my problem. My problem is paying for the product I already own. AGAIN. But not just again but at pretty much the same price I have paid for previously. 

Quote from Tazykat >>

If I want to use the product DnD Beyond as it is intended with the same level of access I can achieve from my books and the content I have on Fantasy Grounds then .. YES I am being forced to pay for that access.

Nobody is forcing anybody to pay for anything he does not want. If you don´t like the pricing, you do not have to pay for it. Use another tool, stick to the tools, books you already have. If you cannot effort it, that´s unfortunate, but it is the way it is. May be there will be some holiday bundles with a more appealing price. Who knows? But nobody is forced to buy anything, if he does not want to.

DDB is nothing but a product. There are the books, there is FG or Roll20, all products of their own. And nobody here paid for the intellectual property when he bought the book from WotC. We paid for the product and the right to use it. That´s it.

I can understand that people who already bought some digital content on other platforms, feel like they are paying for the same thing over and over again. But it is not true. You are paying them for the work the put into digitalizing the content and presenting it in a way that helps you with your game.

And ultimately, there is the option to digitalize your content by yourself. You can enter whatever monster, spell and item you want and in the future there will be more.

Quote from Stormknight >>

Homebrew - yes, there are plans to expand homebrew past the current items/monsters/spells. It has confirmed that there will be backgrounds, subclasses, races and more. Cleric Domains may be part of that, but I don't know currently.

And once you did it by yourself, you can share this with up to 12 players for 6 $ a month… Can I? Can I share my private Homebrew with my D&D Group if I have a master tier sub?

I think I can and that´s a really good offer. Especially when you share the bill with your players.

That´s just awesome! 

I made a gigantic response to this on Facebook. Just my thoughts, and I speak for myself not 'the people'.

Now that I've read this, I'm a little less yay! and a bit more hmm...

Yet again DM's are bearing the brunt of the cost of this. Spare a thought for those of us who bought all the physical books, bought it all again on Fantasy Grounds or Roll20 (or both!). We are not made of money!

The idea that friends might throw is such a niche one because who wants to do so if it means they are tied not only to the DM to ever take advantage of any of it, but also relying upon the DM to maintain a subscription.

I had thought/hoped that the Master subscription would include the base books and was prepared to pay for it as part of the subscription cost. With the current structure, what happens to content I purchase if I allow my subscription lapse?

I understand that the subscriptions cost what they do so that there is a low barrier to entry, but the subscription structure announced doesn't actually have much in it... I thought it would have more (and cost more). Getting rid of ads? They didn't bother me, and most people use ad-blockers anyway. The subscription doesn't feel like it has much meat on it. The only truly valuable part of D&D Beyond is the character builder, we can make do without everything else. They're nice to have I guess, but I could easily survive without the reference material or campaign manager.

If we subscribe we are paying for what it is now, not promises or whimsical ideas of what it might be someday.

Really not sure what to think and REALLY not looking forward to the money I'm expected to outlay.

Lastly, I want everyone to remember that this is a digital service. For the money you spend on this service don't forget that once it's gone you'll be left with nothing.

Players could have a free account and the DM can share his content with them. If the players are nice they could all throw in $1 / month to pay for the DM's suscription. ie. $72 / year excluding additional content. 

Just remember that D&D Beyond are licence holders and do not receive any funds from  the sales of Hardcovers/fantasy grounds/roll20/hero lab etc. They do need to invest money and time to convert all the resources to their system. If this is to be an ongoing concern they need to be able to pay for it. Would you work for free?

I'm not asking for a free DVD copy of a VHS I bought years ago though. I'm asking how much I'm expected to pay to for the books here when I've already spent €200 on the source books in the last year? 

I'm in Ireland, and the only shop I can buy the books from charges €51.99 per book. I have the PHB, DMG, MM, and Volo's, all of which I've bought since last August. Not loving the idea of having to shell out a pile more bloody money for them.

From what I've seen from D&D Beyond, I personally won't be paying them for anything. The character creator's a mess, running a campaign with it looks like it's going to be a convoluted nightmare, and there's plenty of sites that do most of what this site is advertising both cheaper and better. 

It's a shame, I was actually really hyped for this when it was announced. 

@Tazykat I have already paid for the intellectual property that is WotC's not Curse's. 

You have paid for the book not the Intellectual Property. Only WOTC owns that. You have paid for one method of distribution of that IP and can share that with your friends. You don't have to use this particular method of accessing the IP, no one is forcing you to. 

These people are even offering a free version for those with less of a budget plus the ability to share content among a group. That is very admirable of them. They make nothing from offering these features. Look at the positives for the community as a whole. This has moved D&D into the 21st Century, at last.

Quote from INeedACupOfTea >>

I'm asking how much I'm expected to pay to for the books here when I've already spent €200 on the source books in the last year?

Quote from madcar_1 >>

Looking forward to the launch and am willing to reward the developer for converting the static content and tables from the books into a dynamic set of tools that should improve and expand over time as more content is created.  If you don't value this - don't buy it.

 

There is literally no way those can be considered the same thing. 

Not all products are the same, nor am I asking for the digital copies for free. I'm wondering if full price is appropriate when most of the people who would use this site religiously would have already bought the books. 

Here's an idea for everyone who does not want to pay again as they have hardcopies.

Load the information you want into your private homebrew. If you do not make it public it will not be moderated. Then you and your friends can share it. 

If that seems like too much work then think of all the work the developers spent creating this.

Quote from Gehrigan >>

Here's an idea for everyone who does not want to pay again as they have hardcopies.

Load the information you want into your private homebrew. If you do not make it public it will not be moderated. Then you and your friends can share it. 

If that seems like too much work then think of all the work the developers spent creating this.