D&D General Interview with D&D VP Jess Lanzillo on Comicbook.com

[Reynard]

And I'm just trying to understand why WotC doing digital stuff matters if they also print the books.

We already have a situation in which WotC produces stuff only available on Beyond (most of it free, as far as I know). That is unlikely to change and will probably increase as time goes on. We also are seeing bundles which are meant to draw people into the Beyond ecosystem, as well as FOMO-powered early access for subscribers.

The degree to which WotC shifts their efforts toward digital is a question of economics, but also of user preferences and technology. They can't sell you AI powered generation tools in print, for example.

There was a time when everyone assumed Netflix would always mail you DVDs.

 

[Mannahnin]

Combat has been the main thrust of the game mechanically since at least the start of the WotC era. You can always play otherwise, but the more current the rules the more rules you're ignoring when you do so.

The start of the WotC era saw D&D get a detailed skill system covering non-combat tasks for the first time and giving support in encounter design for their usage. NWPs existed in AD&D, sure, but were certainly less detailed and less integrated into non-combat encounters and mechanics.

"Combat is the main thrust of the game" is IMO generally false of D&D, and a narrative mostly pushed by people who misunderstand D&D and use word count or page count spent on combat rules as their support. But combat rules have always taken up a bunch of page count.

 

[Oofta]

We already have a situation in which WotC produces stuff only available on Beyond (most of it free, as far as I know). That is unlikely to change and will probably increase as time goes on. We also are seeing bundles which are meant to draw people into the Beyond ecosystem, as well as FOMO-powered early access for subscribers.

The degree to which WotC shifts their efforts toward digital is a question of economics, but also of user preferences and technology. They can't sell you AI powered generation tools in print, for example.

There was a time when everyone assumed Netflix would always mail you DVDs.

They put a handful of things online that are about the same level as online promotional things other companies do as well. Is there anything significant? Or are they not allowed to do the equivalent of a blog post?

As far as the rest, if you don't want to use a digital tool ... don't.

 

[Reynard]

They put a handful of things online that are about the same level as online promotional things other companies do as well. Is there anything significant? Or are they not allowed to do the equivalent of a blog post?

As far as the rest, if you don't want to use a digital tool ... don't.

You seem to be under the impression that I am concerned about this. I am not. But I do think it is an interesting evolution -- and likely a necessary one.

 

[TiQuinn]

The dreaded MICROTRANSACTIONS which are somehow different from all the paraphernalia like terrain, minis and dice I've collected over the years? I'm actually dissapointed they stopped selling just parts of books since I don't use modules but occasionally bought items and monsters.

This argument never made sense to me either. When I was using D&DBeyond, there were several times that I did not want an entire book - just the portions that were of interest to me. I would want that to continue or it would be less useful to me, not more useful.

I’m much more concerned about pricing as it pertains to the table as things continue. Will they continue to allow an individual to purchase a book and share the content to others, or will each player eventually all have to buy the material. Considering what other services are doing, my guess is the latter is more likely. That is much more of a problem for me than micro transactions.

 

[LordEntrails]

I'm okay with a shift to digital pay IF AND ONLY IF:

• Like physical books, I pay once only.
• They CAN NOT ever take it away from me.

Wizards has gone scorched earth on every previous edition when a new one has come out. I don't use that term lightly, they did things like delete years of forums, so much content that players had discussed. I paid for the 4e subscription, and they don't offer it anymore, so I have no access to my characters or any of the books.

So if digital is something like PDFs, sure, I'm fine with it. Do it with a lot of other RPG publishers.

But DnDBeyond currently does not meet my criteria for digital play.

So both Fantasy Grounds and Foundry meet your criteria. Agreed that DDB doesn't. You have 2 digital options that you can use and you say you should be happy with. Are you happy now?

And I'm just trying to understand why WotC doing digital stuff matters if they also print the books.

Because if people didn't get worked up about something, what would they spend their time doing to prove to the world how smart and valuable they are?

Making that realization for myself, it's why I'm trying to significantly reduce the time I spend here and on other such endeavors.

We also are seeing bundles which are meant to draw people into the Beyond ecosystem, as well as FOMO-powered early access for subscribers.

Except our most recent example of early release is the 2024 PHB which was ONLY available in print at GenCon. So, if this tells us anything, it is that WotC is prioritizing printed books over digital. Wotc Could have easily made the DDB version available prior to the GenCon version, but they didn't.

 

[Oofta]

You seem to be under the impression that I am concerned about this. I am not. But I do think it is an interesting evolution -- and likely a necessary one.

Well, the question to me is what are they "allowed" to publish online before it somehow crosses this imagined line? I know they do articles on DDB that are free but basically the equivalent of blogs. They may have posted a few encounters here and there from what I remember, again free. So what's so terrible?

If they started publishing book-equivalent products online I could maybe see an issue if and when that happens. It's not happening now, there's no indication they will and it doesn't seem like it would make sense from a profitability standpoint.

 

[Oofta]

This argument never made sense to me either. When I was using D&DBeyond, there were several times that I did not want an entire book - just the portions that were of interest to me. I would want that to continue or it would be less useful to me, not more useful.

My hope is that they were just doing it for legacy content, that we'll be able to buy bits and pieces of future products. Not holding my breath on that one though,

I’m much more concerned about pricing as it pertains to the table as things continue. Will they continue to allow an individual to purchase a book and share the content to others, or will each player eventually all have to buy the material. Considering what other services are doing, my guess is the latter is more likely. That is much more of a problem for me than micro transactions.

The current sharing model is a pretty good deal for a lot of people. If it gets too expensive I'll just go back to using books.

 

[Reynard]

Well, the question to me is what are they "allowed" to publish online before it somehow crosses this imagined line? I know they do articles on DDB that are free but basically the equivalent of blogs. They may have posted a few encounters here and there from what I remember, again free. So what's so terrible?

If they started publishing book-equivalent products online I could maybe see an issue if and when that happens. It's not happening now, there's no indication they will and it doesn't seem like it would make sense from a profitability standpoint.

They have done a few full adventures -- things designed specifically to get you into the ecosystem. They want to seel you physical books, sure, but they also want to sell you a sub and some extras.

"Big corporation relies on subscription model" is a recipe for enshittification.

 

[Oofta]

They have done a few full adventures -- things designed specifically to get you into the ecosystem. They want to seel you physical books, sure, but they also want to sell you a sub and some extras.

Which one? I don't pay a lot of attention to modules.

"Big corporation relies on subscription model" is a recipe for enshittification.

Why? It's not like all online tools are donkey poo, we're having a discussion on one right now.