The topic has been cleared many times. I was not the best at explaining my point succinctly, but others did.
You want facts? In the last two years WotC proved to us that they're a hyper-corporate environment that puts their profit before their customer, the quality of their product, the ecosystem in which it evolves. They attempted to sneakily take over the OGL with some incredibly predatory clauses which might have hurt the ecosystem a ton. They went against their word regarding the usage of AI multiple times. And that's without talking about the Pinkertons, the sensitivity issues, etc.
The people that take decisions are not passionated creatives anymore. They said D&D is undermonetized, they said they wanted to move intro other quadrants, we've seen an enormous amount of garbage merch of all kind popup. Now, allow me to be clear, they're not worse than other hyper-corporate entities, they're just one of them now.
You want more facts? They bought D&D Beyond and they're developing their own VTT. Both are closed ecosystems where they get full control over what you own, what they put out and the terms of use. There are numerous cases in other industries (software, video games, hardware) where closed ecosystem prove to be problematic for users and their rights.
Now, the image I shared at the start. Is it world-ending? No. It's some book bundles. However, the details, which are the little insignificant things like the number of backdrops, the enticing to buying more with exclusive material, the early access. These are all elements I've seen in other industries. They're a first step, and in every case I've seen the second, third and subsequent steps taken.
I'm seeing this as a warning sign of what's to come. Will it necessarily come to pass? No. Is this thread motivated by fear? Yes it is.
You know what I think will happen? Here it is, clearly layed out, in a very rough chronological order.
1) They will continue to increase the monetization of products outside of the books. They will sell you models in the VTT, avatars, exclusive packs on D&D Beyond. They will entice you to go online with bonus content if you have a DDB account, etc.
2) At one point, the over-monetized will generate more revenue than the books. At this point, they will increase the pressure by increasing the value proposition in the digital part, in their closed ecosystem. 3RD parties will have to follow their rules, or they won't be allowed on their VTT or on DDB; and for anyone wanting to make some revenue that will mean failure (just like the app stores on phones).
3) Eventually, there will be so much incentive to push people completely in their closed ecosystem tied with movies, video games that they will decrease the value proposition of the books.
4) Finally, the erosion towards their closed digital platforms will be so far, that they will simply stop making the books. Or they won't stop, because it won't matter and the majority of the customers will be on the digital platforms. They target audience will have changed.
That someone would tell me that they don't think things will go down that path can be both fine and logical to me. Howerver, I can't fathom how anyone would look at me like a crazy man when this exact enshittification has happened in so many other spheres of our life. We have so many examples of how gross capitalism has affected some IPs, some companies, their products and how some, much bigger than D&D, have shifted audiences suddenly. It's hard for me to not look outside the window right now and see signs of this everywhere.
If you think WotC are a good-hearted company and that there's no reason to worry at all. Fine. You can feel that way. And I'm interested in hearing what makes you feel that way, you might have a different perspective and background than me. I'm actually interested in discussions. But the way you feel towards this is not more or less legitimate than how I feel.
and it will be ok
