D&D Beyond seems to be the genius loci for the interactive player experience. With its development into mobile devices, it brings to mind a question: Why do the digital versions of the books cost so much? The PHB is currently retailing on Amazon for $3.oo less than the digital version.
I think it would be a lot of quality of life adjustment for the player base if when buying a physical book, you get a code to redeem on DDB for a digital copy as well. Or at least a 50% discount.
I get it. They are a business and businesses like to make money. But WotC IS Hasbro, and Hasbro isn't hurting for cash. To me, all this does is divide the player base into two camps. Or it will kill the print version of the game. Maybe that's the long con?
Either way, my in-person options have diminished with a move to a more rural area. Thus I have turned to online sources of play groups. This has me looking at a huge pile of material that isn't compatible to my new experience. And I'm not going to rebuy supplements just to have it on digital.
Yes, players can share material thru DDB. But that still narrows my scope and denies me the economic freedom to purchase what I like for myself.
Offering a $1.00 discount on the PHB is just insulting.
I highly doubt I'm the first to pick up on these issues, but I've been gone for years and this is my first post on these forums. If I'm missing something, please educate me (nicely).
Having said this, I really like the DDB experience. Its the best player/DM tool online that's ever been done. It streamlines the experience and takes the time spent embracing the crunch out of the equation a great deal. I play online at my desktop, or I can bring an ipad/laptop to the game table reducing the hassle of dragging around a ruck sack full of books, dice, notebooks, and snacks.
I feel like DDB offers a lot. But the cost of the digital materials should be less than print ones. Maybe in the future a print on demand can be the option, and digital the default. Again, since the print books will be pricier under this model, digital purchase could give a discount code for a print on demand physical copy. I believe in the end, players would be happier and WotC would make more money in the long run.
Retailers have a bit more flexibility in their pricing than Beyond does--surprising as that might seem considering Beyond is owned by Wizards. With a new set of core books coming on the way next year, retailers are incentivized to sell their inventory of the 2014 core books--they do not want to be left with a bunch of hard-to-sell product once the new 2024 books are released. That means discounts in an effort to move inventory as swiftly as possible.
Beyond is somewhat limited in how they price their digital books--price them too low and folks will stop buying physical books. That then would drive down physical prices more in an effort to sell off this soon-to-be-devalued inventory, which creates a spiral hurting the local game stores which hold inventory of physical books. Ultimately, while retailers are free to cut their losses and try and divest themselves of product, Wizards is in the position where they have to be careful what they do so they do not risk harming game stores, which make up a significant portion of their customer base (more so even than Amazon or other big box stores).
As for why they do not offer discount bundles with their physical books? Here is a thread discussing that issue if you would like to give it a look.
Also, not sure where you got the "Hasbro isn't hurting for cash" line--but that is factually incorrect. Hasbro has been cash strapped for some time. The collapse of Toys R Us and other major retailers took out their biggest customers. This was then followed by a pandemic which hurt their importations from China and inflation causing customers to spend less on luxuries such as toys and games. Wizards is doing fairly well and has been cash positive, but Hasbro as a whole is being forced into some major restructuring and selling off significant assets in order to increase their cash.
I can't answer all your questions, but I want you to consider one thing about physical media versus digital media...
You can't really have a surplus of digital copies of a book, but you can have a surplus of physical copies. And that surplus costs money. Just storing those excess books in a warehouse or a back room is costing someone, somewhere money. The amount of space that a product occupies on a store shelf is a component to determine its cost. Every book on the shelf is space that can't be used for a different, potentially more profitable book that could occupy the same space. Another thing to keep in mind is that retailers buy the books from the manufacturer before selling them... they've already invested, and the retailer might be more willing to offer books at sale prices if only to clear up space or to get some return on their investment.
Keep in mind as well that, for some players, having all the digital tools associated with these products exceeds the value of the physical book. I know it's easier to see the value of physical media... it's an actual printed object with glossy art and a hardcover that you can access even if your internet is down or your power goes out. But digital media can do things like automatically roll dice for you, or organize spells by class, or track your proficiencies and skills that might get lost if you had to transcribe everything onto a character sheet. For digital purchases, you're trading the permanence of physical media for the convenience of a program.
Hasbro has this to say in their profit/loss statement:
"We are making significant headway in the execution of Blueprint 2.0 - including investing in higher return brands and projects, ending low return initiatives, modernizing our organization and lowering our cost base," said Deborah Thomas, Hasbro chief financial officer. "We forecasted a challenging 2022, and that came to fruition. We also invested to grow, including the $146 million acquisition of D&D Beyond, which was earnings accretive in Q4, and returned $510 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchase. Our current cash position adequately supports our business needs in the short-term, and operating cash flow is expected to nearly double in 2023."
I can't answer all your questions, but I want you to consider one thing about physical media versus digital media...
You can't really have a surplus of digital copies of a book, but you can have a surplus of physical copies. And that surplus costs money. Just storing those excess books in a warehouse or a back room is costing someone, somewhere money. The amount of space that a product occupies on a store shelf is a component to determine its cost. Every book on the shelf is space that can't be used for a different, potentially more profitable book that could occupy the same space. Another thing to keep in mind is that retailers buy the books from the manufacturer before selling them... they've already invested, and the retailer might be more willing to offer books at sale prices if only to clear up space or to get some return on their investment.
Keep in mind as well that, for some players, having all the digital tools associated with these products exceeds the value of the physical book. I know it's easier to see the value of physical media... it's an actual printed object with glossy art and a hardcover that you can access even if your internet is down or your power goes out. But digital media can do things like automatically roll dice for you, or organize spells by class, or track your proficiencies and skills that might get lost if you had to transcribe everything onto a character sheet. For digital purchases, you're trading the permanence of physical media for the convenience of a program.
Which I now direct to my previous comment of making future product Print On Demand.
I think it would be a bold step, but ultimately help costs in the form of direct to player product.
All brick and mortar stores are facing a crisis. Platforms like Roll20 and Discord will eventually make physical stores obsolete. Much like the automobile replaced the horse, or the light bulb diminishing the whale oil industry. Its already happening. The next generation of gamers will just grow this dynamic.
But I could be wrong. I probably am. The digital revolution is here. And in terms of profit and loss, I think WotC will sooner or later make a call on print material. I think print on demand would be a satisfying move for company and fans alike.
The biggest reason I see for print books is to bring people to the table. That's where third party merch like we've never seen before come in: Dice Towers, etc. There's a lot of performative products out there now for rpg's.
But I digress. I doubt brand is listening to this, and they've probably all been said before. Having said that, my days of having massive bookshelves of gaming books and other products are done. I'll probably never buy a print book again as long as there is DDB. The system likely isn't going to change and certainly not because of me.
Hasbro has this to say in their profit/loss statement:
"We are making significant headway in the execution of Blueprint 2.0 - including investing in higher return brands and projects, ending low return initiatives, modernizing our organization and lowering our cost base," said Deborah Thomas, Hasbro chief financial officer. "We forecasted a challenging 2022, and that came to fruition. We also invested to grow, including the $146 million acquisition of D&D Beyond, which was earnings accretive in Q4, and returned $510 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchase. Our current cash position adequately supports our business needs in the short-term, and operating cash flow is expected to nearly double in 2023."
Not sure if you were trying to cite this to show they did, in fact, have cash, but this actually proves the opposite. Companies do not want to use words like "adequate" or "short-term" when discussing their cash on hand--they want enough to be growing businesses. You will note, Thomas also specifically states they are cutting some of their brands to reallocate limited cash to successful ventures, like D&D, which are more likely to see a return on investment.
Here are some other numbers--in 2019, Hasbro's cash on hand was about $2.12 billion dollars. At the end of June of this year, their cash on hand is $0.217 billion dollars--about 10% of what it was just four years ago. Now, does $217 million sound like a lot of money for an individual? Sure. But it is not that much for a company that has total assets worth $8.61 billion and total debts worth $3.67 billion.
Because WotC believes that's what will return the most profits. If they sold it lower, at maybe $25 or $20, the increased number of sales wouldn't counter the lost.l profits from each and every sale.
Do I think they should offer discounted copies at DDB for those who buy physical (and perhaps vice versa)? I think there's definitely a market there, but WotC evidently thinks that, again, there is more profit to be made if they just keep them separate or do the current bundle deals with marginal discounts.
Whether we agree with their mentality in this is irrelevant. I think they can be a bit penny-wise and pound-foolish, but our opinions don't mean anything. They think it's more profitable the way they're doing things (with small tentative and experimental steps away from their traditions), so that's the way they're doing it.
All we can do is evaluate whether their current products are worth the money or not, then put our money where our mouth is.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
By the way, print on demand is insanely expensive. It's why when things go out of print, you can't persuade them to print them again (except to do entire runs). Even Harry Potter and other insanely popular franchises weren't printed constantly - they were (and are) printed in short batches then started up again for the next batch when stocks began to run low because it's cheaper to print millions over a few days or weeks and store them than it is to slowly churn them out as needed.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
The digital books cost so much because they were treated as equal to the print books before Wizards of the Coast owned D&D Beyond.
Now that the two are one, we are seeing the Physical + Digital pricing and I think it's fair. They can't go backward because there's zero tracking on who bought the original 5e PHB, but they can and will continue to do the Physical + Digital pricing going forward. Right into D&D One.
I might be wrong, but this seems like the simple path that makes sense.
The digital books cost so much because they were treated as equal to the print books before Wizards of the Coast owned D&D Beyond.
Now that the two are one, we are seeing the Physical + Digital pricing and I think it's fair. They can't go backward because there's zero tracking on who bought the original 5e PHB, but they can and will continue to do the Physical + Digital pricing going forward. Right into D&D One.
I might be wrong, but this seems like the simple path that makes sense.
WotC almost certainly set the pricing even when DDB was owned by other people. DDB probably had very little agency in what they could actually do.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Hasbro has this to say in their profit/loss statement:
"We are making significant headway in the execution of Blueprint 2.0 - including investing in higher return brands and projects, ending low return initiatives, modernizing our organization and lowering our cost base," said Deborah Thomas, Hasbro chief financial officer. "We forecasted a challenging 2022, and that came to fruition. We also invested to grow, including the $146 million acquisition of D&D Beyond, which was earnings accretive in Q4, and returned $510 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchase. Our current cash position adequately supports our business needs in the short-term, and operating cash flow is expected to nearly double in 2023."
Not sure if you were trying to cite this to show they did, in fact, have cash, but this actually proves the opposite.
I'm not trying to be right or wrong. Just trying to have a healthy discussion on a topic I'm trying to understand better.
I'm not trying to be right or wrong. Just trying to have a healthy discussion on a topic I'm trying to understand better.
~Paws
I am trying not to bore you with too much details, but to expand on what Caerwyn has said, profit, cash, and cash flow are different things.
Profit is how much money you EARNED. If you work 8 hours a day getting paid $30 bucks an hour, you earned $240 that day. However, just because you EARNED it, does not mean you have the literal cash on hand. Cash is the literal money in your wallet, bank account, under the mattress, and anywhere else you put money in. Cash flow is the movement of the literal money. If you work 5 days a week and get paid weekly on Friday, you will see an weekly cash inflow of $1,200. If your week's expenses adds up to an outflow of $500, that week's cash net inflow will be $700. If your week's expenses totals to $2,000 due to rent payment on the first week of every month or something, then that means that week's cash flow is negative $800. In a four week month, that means you have monthly cash flow of $1,300.
You can be a profitable company and have negative cash flow (you just invested in some expensive manufacturing equipment, your customer refused to pay, etc.). You can also be an unprofitable company and have a positive cash flow (usually, this is not sustainable, but can be achieved through selling assets, taking out a loan, etc.). For a large company like Hasbro, while cash flow is an important metric to keep track of, it does not tell you how well the business is doing. If you want to know how well the business is doing, you want to look at profit, and track it over a period of time; there are more numbers to pay attention to in financial statements, but profit is generally where people start when they analyze a business. Generally speaking, unless you are a serious investor or part of management, people do not pay attention to cash flow unless there is something seriously wrong with the business, such as when company sold a lot products to a customer and the customer refused to pay.
Hasbro is not doing great; they have been losing money in the last three quarters, but hopefully they can turn it around by year's end and earn a profit. If I were an investor, I would be a bit worried about their finances due to current economic conditions. I do not think they are going to go out of business anytime soon, but they do not have the cash reserves to weather a recession as well as some tech companies can. To put into perspective the difference in the sizes of companies, Apple has enough cash on hand to literally buy 6 Hasbros right now (HAS has a cap of $9.8 billion; AAPL has a cap of $2.82 trillion), or about 149 Boeing 747 (assuming each one costs $418.4 million) and start their own airline if they really want to. Hasbro has enough cash on hand to buy half a Boeing 747, so at best they can afford a couple small business jets for their CEOs.
DDB is a service, not a product. It not only gives you access to the content of a book, but it provides tools to use that content in several ways when playing the game.
For me, who has had a steady group of 5 other players with several more that drop in occasionally, the ability for all of us to access the content of a single copy of the book has resulted in significant personal savings, which when factored in with the subscription fees pretty much comes out to a wash.
I don't know how a digital copy "denies your economic freedom" when it's essentially just a new option. No one is stopping you from buying the books if that's what you prefer.
Ultimately like any product, if you don't think it's worth the cost then just don't buy it. Different people have different situations and the DDB model is not ideal for many, but it works for my group.
And for what it's worth, going digital does not prevent in-person play. We have enjoyed hybrid games where everyone is there in person with their laptop or iPad or whatever and had some encounters with minis on the table and some encounters in roll20. I appreciate the flexibility and accessibility.
As one of those thoughts-you-remember-after-the-fact, the equivalent to the physical copy is not the full book at $29.99, but compendium-content-only, which is $19.99. That's what you should be comparing your physical books to, pricewise.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
This is a question for the brand managers.
D&D Beyond seems to be the genius loci for the interactive player experience. With its development into mobile devices, it brings to mind a question: Why do the digital versions of the books cost so much? The PHB is currently retailing on Amazon for $3.oo less than the digital version.
I think it would be a lot of quality of life adjustment for the player base if when buying a physical book, you get a code to redeem on DDB for a digital copy as well. Or at least a 50% discount.
I get it. They are a business and businesses like to make money. But WotC IS Hasbro, and Hasbro isn't hurting for cash. To me, all this does is divide the player base into two camps. Or it will kill the print version of the game. Maybe that's the long con?
Either way, my in-person options have diminished with a move to a more rural area. Thus I have turned to online sources of play groups. This has me looking at a huge pile of material that isn't compatible to my new experience. And I'm not going to rebuy supplements just to have it on digital.
Yes, players can share material thru DDB. But that still narrows my scope and denies me the economic freedom to purchase what I like for myself.
Offering a $1.00 discount on the PHB is just insulting.
I highly doubt I'm the first to pick up on these issues, but I've been gone for years and this is my first post on these forums. If I'm missing something, please educate me (nicely).
~Paws
Paws
Druid of the Smokey Mountains
Having said this, I really like the DDB experience. Its the best player/DM tool online that's ever been done. It streamlines the experience and takes the time spent embracing the crunch out of the equation a great deal. I play online at my desktop, or I can bring an ipad/laptop to the game table reducing the hassle of dragging around a ruck sack full of books, dice, notebooks, and snacks.
I feel like DDB offers a lot. But the cost of the digital materials should be less than print ones. Maybe in the future a print on demand can be the option, and digital the default. Again, since the print books will be pricier under this model, digital purchase could give a discount code for a print on demand physical copy. I believe in the end, players would be happier and WotC would make more money in the long run.
~Paws
Paws
Druid of the Smokey Mountains
Retailers have a bit more flexibility in their pricing than Beyond does--surprising as that might seem considering Beyond is owned by Wizards. With a new set of core books coming on the way next year, retailers are incentivized to sell their inventory of the 2014 core books--they do not want to be left with a bunch of hard-to-sell product once the new 2024 books are released. That means discounts in an effort to move inventory as swiftly as possible.
Beyond is somewhat limited in how they price their digital books--price them too low and folks will stop buying physical books. That then would drive down physical prices more in an effort to sell off this soon-to-be-devalued inventory, which creates a spiral hurting the local game stores which hold inventory of physical books. Ultimately, while retailers are free to cut their losses and try and divest themselves of product, Wizards is in the position where they have to be careful what they do so they do not risk harming game stores, which make up a significant portion of their customer base (more so even than Amazon or other big box stores).
As for why they do not offer discount bundles with their physical books? Here is a thread discussing that issue if you would like to give it a look.
Also, not sure where you got the "Hasbro isn't hurting for cash" line--but that is factually incorrect. Hasbro has been cash strapped for some time. The collapse of Toys R Us and other major retailers took out their biggest customers. This was then followed by a pandemic which hurt their importations from China and inflation causing customers to spend less on luxuries such as toys and games. Wizards is doing fairly well and has been cash positive, but Hasbro as a whole is being forced into some major restructuring and selling off significant assets in order to increase their cash.
I can't answer all your questions, but I want you to consider one thing about physical media versus digital media...
You can't really have a surplus of digital copies of a book, but you can have a surplus of physical copies. And that surplus costs money. Just storing those excess books in a warehouse or a back room is costing someone, somewhere money. The amount of space that a product occupies on a store shelf is a component to determine its cost. Every book on the shelf is space that can't be used for a different, potentially more profitable book that could occupy the same space. Another thing to keep in mind is that retailers buy the books from the manufacturer before selling them... they've already invested, and the retailer might be more willing to offer books at sale prices if only to clear up space or to get some return on their investment.
Keep in mind as well that, for some players, having all the digital tools associated with these products exceeds the value of the physical book. I know it's easier to see the value of physical media... it's an actual printed object with glossy art and a hardcover that you can access even if your internet is down or your power goes out. But digital media can do things like automatically roll dice for you, or organize spells by class, or track your proficiencies and skills that might get lost if you had to transcribe everything onto a character sheet. For digital purchases, you're trading the permanence of physical media for the convenience of a program.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Thank you for the information.
Hasbro has this to say in their profit/loss statement:
"We are making significant headway in the execution of Blueprint 2.0 - including investing in higher return brands and projects, ending low return initiatives, modernizing our organization and lowering our cost base," said Deborah Thomas, Hasbro chief financial officer. "We forecasted a challenging 2022, and that came to fruition. We also invested to grow, including the $146 million acquisition of D&D Beyond, which was earnings accretive in Q4, and returned $510 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchase. Our current cash position adequately supports our business needs in the short-term, and operating cash flow is expected to nearly double in 2023."
Paws
Druid of the Smokey Mountains
Which I now direct to my previous comment of making future product Print On Demand.
I think it would be a bold step, but ultimately help costs in the form of direct to player product.
All brick and mortar stores are facing a crisis. Platforms like Roll20 and Discord will eventually make physical stores obsolete. Much like the automobile replaced the horse, or the light bulb diminishing the whale oil industry. Its already happening. The next generation of gamers will just grow this dynamic.
But I could be wrong. I probably am. The digital revolution is here. And in terms of profit and loss, I think WotC will sooner or later make a call on print material. I think print on demand would be a satisfying move for company and fans alike.
The biggest reason I see for print books is to bring people to the table. That's where third party merch like we've never seen before come in: Dice Towers, etc. There's a lot of performative products out there now for rpg's.
But I digress. I doubt brand is listening to this, and they've probably all been said before. Having said that, my days of having massive bookshelves of gaming books and other products are done. I'll probably never buy a print book again as long as there is DDB. The system likely isn't going to change and certainly not because of me.
Thank you all for your feedback.
~Paws
Paws
Druid of the Smokey Mountains
Not sure if you were trying to cite this to show they did, in fact, have cash, but this actually proves the opposite. Companies do not want to use words like "adequate" or "short-term" when discussing their cash on hand--they want enough to be growing businesses. You will note, Thomas also specifically states they are cutting some of their brands to reallocate limited cash to successful ventures, like D&D, which are more likely to see a return on investment.
Here are some other numbers--in 2019, Hasbro's cash on hand was about $2.12 billion dollars. At the end of June of this year, their cash on hand is $0.217 billion dollars--about 10% of what it was just four years ago. Now, does $217 million sound like a lot of money for an individual? Sure. But it is not that much for a company that has total assets worth $8.61 billion and total debts worth $3.67 billion.
Why is the pricing of DDB so high?
Because WotC believes that's what will return the most profits. If they sold it lower, at maybe $25 or $20, the increased number of sales wouldn't counter the lost.l profits from each and every sale.
Do I think they should offer discounted copies at DDB for those who buy physical (and perhaps vice versa)? I think there's definitely a market there, but WotC evidently thinks that, again, there is more profit to be made if they just keep them separate or do the current bundle deals with marginal discounts.
Whether we agree with their mentality in this is irrelevant. I think they can be a bit penny-wise and pound-foolish, but our opinions don't mean anything. They think it's more profitable the way they're doing things (with small tentative and experimental steps away from their traditions), so that's the way they're doing it.
All we can do is evaluate whether their current products are worth the money or not, then put our money where our mouth is.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
By the way, print on demand is insanely expensive. It's why when things go out of print, you can't persuade them to print them again (except to do entire runs). Even Harry Potter and other insanely popular franchises weren't printed constantly - they were (and are) printed in short batches then started up again for the next batch when stocks began to run low because it's cheaper to print millions over a few days or weeks and store them than it is to slowly churn them out as needed.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
The digital books cost so much because they were treated as equal to the print books before Wizards of the Coast owned D&D Beyond.
Now that the two are one, we are seeing the Physical + Digital pricing and I think it's fair. They can't go backward because there's zero tracking on who bought the original 5e PHB, but they can and will continue to do the Physical + Digital pricing going forward. Right into D&D One.
I might be wrong, but this seems like the simple path that makes sense.
WotC almost certainly set the pricing even when DDB was owned by other people. DDB probably had very little agency in what they could actually do.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I'm not trying to be right or wrong. Just trying to have a healthy discussion on a topic I'm trying to understand better.
~Paws
Paws
Druid of the Smokey Mountains
I am trying not to bore you with too much details, but to expand on what Caerwyn has said, profit, cash, and cash flow are different things.
Profit is how much money you EARNED. If you work 8 hours a day getting paid $30 bucks an hour, you earned $240 that day. However, just because you EARNED it, does not mean you have the literal cash on hand. Cash is the literal money in your wallet, bank account, under the mattress, and anywhere else you put money in. Cash flow is the movement of the literal money. If you work 5 days a week and get paid weekly on Friday, you will see an weekly cash inflow of $1,200. If your week's expenses adds up to an outflow of $500, that week's cash net inflow will be $700. If your week's expenses totals to $2,000 due to rent payment on the first week of every month or something, then that means that week's cash flow is negative $800. In a four week month, that means you have monthly cash flow of $1,300.
You can be a profitable company and have negative cash flow (you just invested in some expensive manufacturing equipment, your customer refused to pay, etc.). You can also be an unprofitable company and have a positive cash flow (usually, this is not sustainable, but can be achieved through selling assets, taking out a loan, etc.). For a large company like Hasbro, while cash flow is an important metric to keep track of, it does not tell you how well the business is doing. If you want to know how well the business is doing, you want to look at profit, and track it over a period of time; there are more numbers to pay attention to in financial statements, but profit is generally where people start when they analyze a business. Generally speaking, unless you are a serious investor or part of management, people do not pay attention to cash flow unless there is something seriously wrong with the business, such as when company sold a lot products to a customer and the customer refused to pay.
Hasbro is not doing great; they have been losing money in the last three quarters, but hopefully they can turn it around by year's end and earn a profit. If I were an investor, I would be a bit worried about their finances due to current economic conditions. I do not think they are going to go out of business anytime soon, but they do not have the cash reserves to weather a recession as well as some tech companies can. To put into perspective the difference in the sizes of companies, Apple has enough cash on hand to literally buy 6 Hasbros right now (HAS has a cap of $9.8 billion; AAPL has a cap of $2.82 trillion), or about 149 Boeing 747 (assuming each one costs $418.4 million) and start their own airline if they really want to. Hasbro has enough cash on hand to buy half a Boeing 747, so at best they can afford a couple small business jets for their CEOs.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
DDB is a service, not a product. It not only gives you access to the content of a book, but it provides tools to use that content in several ways when playing the game.
For me, who has had a steady group of 5 other players with several more that drop in occasionally, the ability for all of us to access the content of a single copy of the book has resulted in significant personal savings, which when factored in with the subscription fees pretty much comes out to a wash.
I don't know how a digital copy "denies your economic freedom" when it's essentially just a new option. No one is stopping you from buying the books if that's what you prefer.
Ultimately like any product, if you don't think it's worth the cost then just don't buy it. Different people have different situations and the DDB model is not ideal for many, but it works for my group.
And for what it's worth, going digital does not prevent in-person play. We have enjoyed hybrid games where everyone is there in person with their laptop or iPad or whatever and had some encounters with minis on the table and some encounters in roll20. I appreciate the flexibility and accessibility.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
As one of those thoughts-you-remember-after-the-fact, the equivalent to the physical copy is not the full book at $29.99, but compendium-content-only, which is $19.99. That's what you should be comparing your physical books to, pricewise.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Thanks everyone for your feedback and suggestions.
~Paws
Paws
Druid of the Smokey Mountains