D&D (2024) D&D Pre-orders; this is sad

[TheAlkaizer]

The OP and others who are worried believe this road will inevitably lead to the Diablo Immortal-ification of D&D.

Thank you for explaining succinctly and much better than I can how I'm feeling right now. English is not my mother tongue and I'm rambling right now.

 

[Morrus]

I'm still confused about these "people outside of America" you're referring to. How long has this been a thing?

Certainly longer than America has been a thing!

 

[marimbaguy715]

They do not want you to buy a book, own it and be able to ignore them and their new content.

But you can literally still just buy physical books the same way as always. If they really didn't want anyone on any platform but D&D Beyond, they wouldn't be publishing physical books, and they wouldn't be releasing their content on Roll20/Foundry/Fantasy Grounds.

If they do start locking real content behind a D&D Beyond Subscription paywall or a digital preorder, I will be upset. But this is nothing.

Edit:

You can now. In a couple of years you won't be able to

In video game terms: Press [X] to doubt

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Certainly longer than America has been a thing!

Angrily throws some more tea in Boston Harbor

 

[Umbran]

I've expressed in many details of the further stages of this path as it is now in the video game industry. It is not good for the products, it is not good for the consumers in the end.

My issue with the image is not so much that the current state of things is terrible. But I saw the exact same thing appear a decade ago in video games and here we are. Many know where this is headed, and that is terrible.



As mentioned above, the current state is not so terrible. I certainly don't like it. There's no need for these tiers; the only reason they exist is so they can put candies in bigger bundles and get people to climb the stairway.

So, do you decry this when this practice is expected on every single crowdfunding effort? Pretty much every Kickstarter or Backerkit offering has tiers of buy in.

They're not moving into digital because it will make for a better product (albeit it could arguably make one). They do it because they want you to buy third party content on their platform, where they have control and can change the terms.

They are moving into digital because people have been crying for digital content since they failed to offer pdfs for 3e materials.

Or, have you failed to notice the huge market for online play revealed by the pandemic?

They do it because they'll monetize it.

Dude, Gygax was trying to monetize it too. He just wasn't very good at it, and had limited modes of publishing as options.

I don't know about you - maybe you live in a forest, or have a huge trust fund? But most of us have to find some sort of professional skillset that we monetize - we do jobs to get paid.

So, is your argument that WotC... shouldn't do things to get paid?

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

"Pre-order the 2034 books and we will give you your own private booth in our moonbase that we promise is coming soon."

 

[Professor Murder]

I'm going to be super curious to see if "early access" has any sales impact because the relationship that TTRPG gamers have with material and its release is very different than that for video games. Like, there is no competitive edge to have the game sooner. It is just the idea of getting it earlier for the sake of not waiting as long. In essence, pay less to wait longer.

 

[KYRON45]

Were all volunteers here. Add to that...5e is no longer just WOTC so....vote with your wallet.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

We dont even have the cool cyber. It's just all dystopia.

I was hoping for Neuromancer but all we got was Max Headroom.

 

[Scribe]

We dont even have the cool cyber. It's just all dystopia.

Yeah, where are my hard light constructs and cybernetics?!

I was lied to!