A Few More Tidbits About D&D Beyond From The Developer

Adam Bradford, the senior product manager of upcoming D&D digital toolset D&D Beyond has answered a few questions about the product over at the Tribality website. You can read the full interview at the link below, but here are the highlights. Nothing major, but a few bits like filtering content, roadmap features like initiative trackers, color-coded tabs, etc.

• Alpha testing is finished.
• Beta testing emails go out "very soon".
• The software has table with colour codes (see images above and below) to make it easy to tell where you are.
• Adam has played D&D for 20 years.
• Additional features later will include "encounter builder, combat/ initiative tracker, dice rolling and automation, stream integration, and much more".
• There will be easy ways to filter content - for example "Want to see every spell that requires a Charisma saving throw in the game? Or every healing spell? Every spell that does force damage?"
• Their license does not restrict them on delivery mechanisms. They "are fully aware of the offline capability concerns and are working to mitigate those concerns". A few days ago, WotC's Greg Tito confirmed "D&D Beyond will work without an internet connection. That's a big deal for the devs!"
• You an read the full interview here.

 

[discosoc]

All this fancy software, and literally all I want is a searchable PDF of the rule books with tablets in mind. Nova Praxis, for example, has an awesome digital copy of their rules.

 

[epithet]

If your argument that this was the same content that you're paying for 3 times then there would be no need to get the Fantasy Grounds product or this new product. The book would be enough and the other 2 would just be repeated content.

The fact that there are people willing to buy all 3 products proves that they are not the same content. Either that or those people just hate money and want to buy things 3 times over.

Don't be obtuse. My point is that the only current option for obtaining the content in question in a new medium is to re-purchase the content at full cost, my opinion is that this is annoying, and my argument is that we should be able to buy content once and bundle our desired media for that content rather than buy the content over and over again.

Your assertion that people buying the same content on different media proves that it is somehow different content is utterly ridiculous. I can't tell whether you're trying to imply that WotC shouldn't bundle various media for the same base product and should in fact continue to charge full price for the content on every medium every time, or that you simply are suggesting that I should keep my opinion to myself. Either way, I'm sure you can guess which gesture perfectly expresses my response.

 

[CapnZapp]

Of course, from everything we are hearing it sounds like off line support will be include so you can probably raise your interest flag to a lest half mast

I'm talking about getting to keep what you buy. I'm talking about tools that keep working long after 5th edition is ended. Not just that they keep working while you're away from the internet.

As soon as we're not talking "always online" (where the actual code resides on a server, not the client), each and every measure taken will annoy legitimate customers only.

 

[dave2008]

I'm talking about getting to keep what you buy. I'm talking about tools that keep working long after 5th edition is ended. Not just that they keep working while you're away from the internet.

As soon as we're not talking "always online" (where the actual code resides on a server, not the client), each and every measure taken will annoy legitimate customers only.

Noted. Like I said earlier , those issues are not a concern to me. I would be fine with a subscription only version that died with the edition (like DDI). Of course, I'm not likely to purchase this product anyway, so maybe I'm full of ....marbles!

 

[dave2008]

Don't be obtuse. My point is that the only current option for obtaining the content in question in a new medium is to re-purchase the content at full cost, my opinion is that this is annoying, and my argument is that we should be able to buy content once and bundle our desired media for that content rather than buy the content over and over again.

Would you pay more for that bundle? The same amount as buying it 3 times or would it have to be a reduced bundle pricing? I certainly don't think for the price of the PHB I should get it in hard copy, pdf, VTT, and D&D Beyond. I would expect that to cost more.

 

[Patrick McGill]

Yeah I've got two copies of the PHB. Paid full cost for each one. Don't think I was ripped off buying the second one at full price because I already had the first one. If it's not a rip off in that instance, why would it be a rip off in an instance of buying it again with new utility and convenience in a new medium? You're getting new value, so it'd be less of a rip off in that instance, right?

 

[epithet]

Would you pay more for that bundle? The same amount as buying it 3 times or would it have to be a reduced bundle pricing? I certainly don't think for the price of the PHB I should get it in hard copy, pdf, VTT, and D&D Beyond. I would expect that to cost more.

I think buying it at the MSRP would be the right price point for the multi-format bundle. If all you want is the book, you can get it for quite a bit less at most retailers. I think charging MSRP for the digital version, without the per-unit printing costs of the physical book, is complete manure. WotC is, as far as I know, the only RPG publisher who seems to believe that a digitally delivered product should cost more than the physical product shipped to you.

To be clear, I've purchased all the core books and a couple of adventures from the Fantasy Grounds store, along with several third-party products from Frog God and Kobold. For the most part, the frogs and kobolds make an effort to set up a discount on Fantasy Grounds versions for people who buy their hardcovers, especially for those who back their Kickstarters. Even if they don't gracefully pull off a bundle price, I can see the effort and I don't feel like I'm getting screwed. When I buy a WotC product through the Fantasy Grounds store, I don't even have to wonder - I know I'm getting screwed because I know I'm paying more for it than I did buying the hardcover book. I can afford it, fortunately, and the convenience of the Fantasy Grounds integration means that I'll keep buying them, but it does certainly erode my goodwill towards WotC and the suits at Hasbro that hold their purse strings.

 

[epithet]

Yeah I've got two copies of the PHB. Paid full cost for each one. Don't think I was ripped off buying the second one at full price because I already had the first one. If it's not a rip off in that instance, why would it be a rip off in an instance of buying it again with new utility and convenience in a new medium? You're getting new value, so it'd be less of a rip off in that instance, right?

If you don't mind my asking, why did you buy a second hardcover? If it's for someone else in your household to read at the same time you're reading the first copy you bought, that's a somewhat different situation (in terms of purchase motivation) that the consumer buying multiple formats for the same set of eyes, and could lead to a different subjective assessment of value.

Secondly, when you say "at full price," do you mean the full $35 on Amazon or the very full $50 at a game store? I would feel much better about spending $70 for two identical hardcovers that I would about spending $100 for access to the same content from that hardcover from within two pieces of software. For one thing, I still have the hardcovers from AD&D that I bought (well, my mom bought for me) in the 1970s, but I think it likely that 30 years from now D&D Beyond will be in the same category of deprecated software as D&D Insider.

 

[dave2008]

I think buying it at the MSRP would be the right price point for the multi-format bundle. If all you want is the book, you can get it for quite a bit less at most retailers. I think charging MSRP for the digital version, without the per-unit printing costs of the physical book, is complete manure. WotC is, as far as I know, the only RPG publisher who seems to believe that a digitally delivered product should cost more than the physical product shipped to you.

To be clear, I've purchased all the core books and a couple of adventures from the Fantasy Grounds store, along with several third-party products from Frog God and Kobold. For the most part, the frogs and kobolds make an effort to set up a discount on Fantasy Grounds versions for people who buy their hardcovers, especially for those who back their Kickstarters. Even if they don't gracefully pull off a bundle price, I can see the effort and I don't feel like I'm getting screwed. When I buy a WotC product through the Fantasy Grounds store, I don't even have to wonder - I know I'm getting screwed because I know I'm paying more for it than I did buying the hardcover book. I can afford it, fortunately, and the convenience of the Fantasy Grounds integration means that I'll keep buying them, but it does certainly erode my goodwill towards WotC and the suits at Hasbro that hold their purse strings.

Thank you clarifying.

 

[Staffan]

rotfl. someone failed their UX roll. oh yeah, in 5e, you can't learn a new skill that you didn't start with...

There are multiple ways to do so. One is to get it as a class feature (e.g. Lore bard or Knowledge cleric). Another is to multi-class as a bard, ranger, or rogue. And a third is to take the Skilled feat, which gives you proficiency in three skills and/or tools.

Also, any half-way decent software for making D&D characters needs a way to override the rules, because that happens in real games all the time. For example I could easily see a DM saying "You guys kick back for a year before the next adventure. In that time, you get to add proficiency in a skill based on what you do during the year." I could also easily see a book along the lines of tome of clear thought, but instead of giving you a stat boost it gives you a skill proficiency.