With D&D Beyond has D&D Leap Frogged the Competition?

[fjw70]

It may have that at launch. (But notably not including stuff like Unearthed Arcana content, no?) I'm with the others; I have never known WotC to over-deliver for their digital offerings.

Mobile-access-wise, remember - smartphones and tablets were on the upswing back then, but nowhere near as ubiquitous. And... is there even a way to print your character sheet and spells??

Finally, as I edited in above, if you're 'buying' the books, you're captive to the platform with - near as I can tell - no way to get to 'your' books outside of the platform. Sounds like a crazy risk.

Fortunately this isn't an in-house development for WotC. Like I said most of the at launch functionality is already up and running. Mostly what's missing is the locked content.

The character sheet export to PDF isn't functional yet but is expected to be by launch.

I don't see a huge risk. i expct the platform to be around long enough to get a lot of use out of it. If it isn't around in 10 years then hopefully there will be something better.

 

[Blue]

Does any other game have an electronic aid that offers everything that DDB has? Access to all official content in a searchable database (including adventures), integrated character builder, and all elements easily accessible on a computer, tablet, or smart phone?

You've got a rather specific target. I used to see those a lot when purchases were to sent to a "fair" bid but they wanted to throw it to a specific vendor and product.

The adventures isn't something I've seen - often because many of the tools are fan-made, and the rules are released via SRD or whatever format so are fair game, but replicating someone's adventures is not.

Searchable content - sure, that's be out for decades. It's called a PDF. Tablets, computers, phones. Buy once, use in multiple places. Many also have searchable online SRDs, all nicely hyperlinked as well.

Character builders, well I've already mentioned Hero Labs. Heck, it's been around for D&D since 3.x with PCGen. Just that the fan-made attempts to bring 5e into the modern era by fans were met with C&D letters or is limited to the SRD rules.

But you're forgetting all the rest. Encounter builders, initiative trackers, virtual tabletops, interactive character sheets that can roll and auto-add in modifiers, what-have-you. There'[s lots of tools out there.

It's nice that it's in one app, but that's just packaging. This is bringing in some neat stuff we didn't have for 5e. I'm really happy for that. But with the possible exception of being able to buy the adventures as well none of this is new to the industry.

 

[Obryn]

Wait - am I reading this right? To even use the content from SCAG or the upcoming Xanathar's in the character builder, I need to buy the digital book for $30 in addition to the presumable $30+ I paid for the hardcover?

Pull the other one. I was thinking that was just to unlock the book, not that they'd put the added content behind a huge paywall!

No, this is not leapfrogging any competition. The price point is absurd, particularly if you already went in on something like Roll20.

 

[Obryn]

And let's not forget the hilarious detail that you need to pay a monthly fee to read the books you just 'bought', if you want to read them without ads.

I mean you can't even download a copy to read offline, unless I'm missing something.

 

[Jhaelen]

Now with DDB IMO WotC has jumped ahead of everyone else in RPG tech and has fully entered the digital age in a dramatic way.[...]
Personally I am very excited about this product and it fills a need I have had for a while even better than I expected that need to be filled.

Dramatic? I don't think so. I can tell you're 'very excited', but my reaction was a bit less enthusiastic. No, make that 'unenthusiastic'.

I don't think it will have any impact on the number of D&D players. Unless you've already been playing D&D for quite a while, you won't be able to really appreciate D&D Beyond.

 

[MNblockhead]

It is another tool and I'm glad to see it. It offers a convenient platform to search and view content and create characters. But it its capabilities for using in play, right now, seem rather limited.

I currently use Realm Works and Hero Lab and would rather have 5e content in those tools. I don't think that I will subscribe to DnD Beyond. Once they have combat tracking and more features to help DMs interact with their players, I might give it another look. But right now, the character builder, campaign features, and homebrew features just are not compelling to me and far behind what I can do in Hero Lab and Realm Works.

That said, I'll probably buy the core books' content on sale when DDB goes live in mid August. It does provide a very convenient and pleasant way to search through the content. Even if cheaper PDFs were available, I would still go with DnD Beyond. It is just a more useful and convenient format.

 

[fjw70]

Dramatic? I don't think so. I can tell you're 'very excited', but my reaction was a bit less enthusiastic. No, make that 'unenthusiastic'.

I don't think it will have any impact on the number of D&D players. Unless you've already been playing D&D for quite a while, you won't be able to really appreciate D&D Beyond.

Yes I am very excited. I won't deny that.

I have been waiting for a 5e toolset like this for a few years now, and 5e D&D is my favorite RPG of all time. So yes, and am excited.

I still haven't seen or heard of another tool that is as good as DDB for table top play. If I played on a VTT then I may feel differently, and many of the DDB tools have excited for a while. But to me the combination of the mobile capabilities, the official content, and integrating all the tools together in an very easy to use site (and eventually app) makes this a game changer for RPG tools IMO.

 

[Gorgon Zee]

I think this thread handily proves that people who love 5E will likely be excited by it, but others not so much.

Given that, it seems unlikely to be a game-changer, and more a value-add for existing 5E fans. Definitely a good thing, but unlikely to attract people to 5E who would not already be interested.

 

[fjw70]

I think this thread handily proves that people who love 5E will likely be excited by it, but others not so much.

Given that, it seems unlikely to be a game-changer, and more a value-add for existing 5E fans. Definitely a good thing, but unlikely to attract people to 5E who would not already be interested.

We will never know for sure but it is interesting that Hasbro's CEO has recently stated that D&D sales are up 50% over 2016. Could the news of DDB and the launch of it's beta be helping those sales? Who knows.

 

[fjw70]

And let's not forget the hilarious detail that you need to pay a monthly fee to read the books you just 'bought', if you want to read them without ads.

I mean you can't even download a copy to read offline, unless I'm missing something.

I missed this the other day. There is supposed to be an app in the works that would allow offline access to DDB. No projected date on its release yet. That one isn't a big deal for me since I am rarely without a cellular connection.