I'm still not buying an entire book for one subclass or magic item. They would have had maybe $20 from me these last few months if a la carte was available. I know that's not a lot but when thousands are spending that and then buying books it adds up. How would you have spent during that time?
For me the silly thing is that most of my book purchases started with a la carte and then i slowly dig in to where I'm finally at 'meh, might as well buy the rest of it'...that step process no longer exists and can't see how their decision makes sense (certainly not for my buying style - there's al a carte options I'd buy tomorrow, but have zero plans on buying any books - even without the latest drama).
...but they must have some data to back up their decision though. You don't make decisions like that without pointing at something.
But that number increases with every character and the longer I play.
And that's $2-4 more than I currently paid for those options, which is $0. I just made that character with pen-and-paper and stopped using DnDBeyond for that campaign.
more then likely they looked at the amount of time it takes to program the ability to do ala carte and the amount of money it was brining in and decided it was making enough money to justify it. If it was the cash cow like everyone is making it out to be they wouldnt have slaughtered it.
That argument isn't going anywhere. The reality is, WotC knows how much people were spending, and they're going to believe those numbers over a forum thread.
more then likely they looked at the amount of time it takes to program the ability to do ala carte and the amount of money it was brining in and decided it was making enough money to justify it. If it was the cash cow like everyone is making it out to be they wouldnt have slaughtered it.
I believe the reason a la carte was suspended was because of the transition from the original 5e rule set to the new.
I don’t believe WotC/DDB expected a fair number of individuals to still be playing and unprepared for the change.
I was under the impression that the rules changes were going to begin with the release of the SRD, that way everyone would have had a longer time to prepare for the transition.
The SRD is a good baseline because they'd have to have all three new books out to properly start the new edition. Until at least MM comes out, there's going to be some wonkiness between old and new that ambitious DMs will have to sort out.
But widespread ruleset changes are best done at the start of a new campaign, so it would still be wise to have Legacy around as an option to incent Master-Tier subscribers to keep paying until they're good and ready to wrap up what they've had going on.
I don't spend much ala cart in TTRPGs. I know that micro transactions are getting bad press, but remain popular with many players. Is the headache worth the cheddar?
I'm still not buying an entire book for one subclass or magic item. They would have had maybe $20 from me these last few months if a la carte was available. I know that's not a lot but when thousands are spending that and then buying books it adds up. How would you have spent during that time?
You do you, I spent several thousands of dollars here over the years, I have purchased every book on DnDB from the time Curse Gaming opened them up. I have never purchased "ala cart" unless that was the only way to get it, ie kids charity etc.
I'm the DM, I'm required to have all the material available for my players, and I have to share it to them. As a player, you don't even need a paid sub.
Never spent a single cent on ala cart purchases. Always buy the whole book. I don't want a frankenstein collection of rules and options. Just the whole book. As there is also useful text in there that would be missing from simple options.
Based on previous habits? Since the removal of a la carte and the bundles) to now, I probably would have spent around £200. Out of that £200, I have spent a total of £0 in reality.
Instead I've spent around £400 on third party creators. So, I guess they are helping the competition now. I highly recommend Nord Games, Kobold Press, and Natwuns for more unique, original 5e content.
As a GM, I buy the whole books, so I do not use individual purchases.
However, having à la carte purchases helps offload some of the financial pressure from GMs onto the players. There would be less pressure on GMs to buy the whole book, as players can just get specific options for themselves for a few dollars. It also helps transition players to GMs too, as the individual purchases offset the price of the books.
It would be nice to bring it back, even if I do not use it personally.
Myself I have never made an Ala Carte purchase and I own everything here DDB except a couple of third party books and the new monster manual which will be purchased well before release date. I purchased here on digital as I live on disability and do not have the money for dead tree versions, plus the ability to have all the books on an app on my phone and my chromebook makes it easy for a gimp like myself to take them with me when I run a game away from home. I do think that they will eventually bring back Ala Carte but that will probably be after the new books are released in general stores
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I'm still not buying an entire book for one subclass or magic item. They would have had maybe $20 from me these last few months if a la carte was available. I know that's not a lot but when thousands are spending that and then buying books it adds up. How would you have spent during that time?
For me the silly thing is that most of my book purchases started with a la carte and then i slowly dig in to where I'm finally at 'meh, might as well buy the rest of it'...that step process no longer exists and can't see how their decision makes sense (certainly not for my buying style - there's al a carte options I'd buy tomorrow, but have zero plans on buying any books - even without the latest drama).
...but they must have some data to back up their decision though. You don't make decisions like that without pointing at something.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
Currently? Not much. $2-4
But that number increases with every character and the longer I play.
And that's $2-4 more than I currently paid for those options, which is $0. I just made that character with pen-and-paper and stopped using DnDBeyond for that campaign.
more then likely they looked at the amount of time it takes to program the ability to do ala carte and the amount of money it was brining in and decided it was making enough money to justify it. If it was the cash cow like everyone is making it out to be they wouldnt have slaughtered it.
That argument isn't going anywhere. The reality is, WotC knows how much people were spending, and they're going to believe those numbers over a forum thread.
The SRD is a good baseline because they'd have to have all three new books out to properly start the new edition. Until at least MM comes out, there's going to be some wonkiness between old and new that ambitious DMs will have to sort out.
But widespread ruleset changes are best done at the start of a new campaign, so it would still be wise to have Legacy around as an option to incent Master-Tier subscribers to keep paying until they're good and ready to wrap up what they've had going on.
I don't spend much ala cart in TTRPGs. I know that micro transactions are getting bad press, but remain popular with many players. Is the headache worth the cheddar?
You do you, I spent several thousands of dollars here over the years, I have purchased every book on DnDB from the time Curse Gaming opened them up. I have never purchased "ala cart" unless that was the only way to get it, ie kids charity etc.
I'm the DM, I'm required to have all the material available for my players, and I have to share it to them. As a player, you don't even need a paid sub.
Never spent a single cent on ala cart purchases. Always buy the whole book. I don't want a frankenstein collection of rules and options. Just the whole book. As there is also useful text in there that would be missing from simple options.
Based on previous habits? Since the removal of a la carte and the bundles) to now, I probably would have spent around £200. Out of that £200, I have spent a total of £0 in reality.
Instead I've spent around £400 on third party creators. So, I guess they are helping the competition now. I highly recommend Nord Games, Kobold Press, and Natwuns for more unique, original 5e content.
As a GM, I buy the whole books, so I do not use individual purchases.
However, having à la carte purchases helps offload some of the financial pressure from GMs onto the players. There would be less pressure on GMs to buy the whole book, as players can just get specific options for themselves for a few dollars. It also helps transition players to GMs too, as the individual purchases offset the price of the books.
It would be nice to bring it back, even if I do not use it personally.
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Myself I have never made an Ala Carte purchase and I own everything here DDB except a couple of third party books and the new monster manual which will be purchased well before release date. I purchased here on digital as I live on disability and do not have the money for dead tree versions, plus the ability to have all the books on an app on my phone and my chromebook makes it easy for a gimp like myself to take them with me when I run a game away from home. I do think that they will eventually bring back Ala Carte but that will probably be after the new books are released in general stores