D&D (2024) How D&D Beyond Will Handle Access To 2014 Rules

D&D Beyond has announced how the transition to the new 2024 edition will work on the platform, and how legacy access to the 2014 version of D&D will be implemented.

• You will still be able to access the 2014 Basic Rules and core rulebooks.
• You will still be able to make characters using the 2014 Player's Handbook.
• Existing home-brew content will not be impacted.
• These 2014 rules will be accessible and will be marked with a 'legacy' badge: classes, subclasses, species, backgrounds, feats, monsters.
• Tooltips will reflect the 2024 rules.
• Monster stat blocks will be updated to 2024.
• There will be terminology changes (Heroic Inspiration, Species, etc.)

D&D (2024) - Wizards of the Coast Backtracks on D&D Beyond and 2014 Content

Wizards of the Coast posted an overnight update stating that they are not going forward with previously released plans to require those wishing to use some 2014 content on D&D Beyond to use the Homebrew function to manually enter it. Instead, all the content including spells and magic items will...

www.enworld.org

 

[Juxtapozbliss]

Rascal has released an interesting take on the topic of this thread. Edition Wars have made a battleground of D&D Beyond

 

[pukunui]

This is interesting. In my anger, I sent WotC Customer Support a request to cancel my 2024 core rulebooks bundle preorder, explaining that it was because I was upset with how they were handling the implementation on D&D Beyond. After yesterday's update, I contacted them again to say I didn't want to cancel my preorder after all.

I just received the following response:

Thank you for contacting Wizards of the Coast Customer Service. We sincerely appreciate your feedback and want to thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns regarding the 2024 Rules Update for D&D Beyond to our attention. Our D&D Beyond team recently posted an update regarding 2014 content and our digital tools on Sunday 8/25. You can find the update here in our changelog.

It's important that your voice is heard, and we assure you that requests of this nature are particularly important to our company as we strive to build a better experience for you.

Thank you again for your willingness to get in touch and provide your insights and suggestions.

This message was sent in bulk and your individual ticket was not read by an agent.
If your issue is resolved, no need to reply, your ticket will solve out automatically.
If you still need assistance, reply back and let us know and we'll be happy to help!

[their emphasis]

I don't know about you, but receiving an automated response always makes me feel appreciated and heard!

 

[JEB]

Rascal has released an interesting take on the topic of this thread. Edition Wars have made a battleground of D&D Beyond

Hmm, there's a minor factual error - they said the blog post was posted on Friday the 23rd, but it was actually on Wednesday the 21st (as seen in the OP).

 

[Remathilis]

You have evidence they were planning to release updated monsters for free? Or you are just hypothesizing? They aren't releasing all updated 2024 classes for free on DDB from the PH so I'm not sure your guess here is accurate that they would have released all updated monsters for free. That said, the lesson here isn't that WotC shouldn't release updates for free...the lesson they can learn from this controversy is--tag old stuff as Legacy instead of deleting it, and then add what you want to give away as "2024" or "new" or whatever you want to call it. 5.5. So the DM can decide what to pull in.

They literally said in the first post that the plan was any monster that was in 2014 would be replaced by the 2024 version in the tooltip. You would not get the new monsters (like Sphinx of wonder) but if Curse of Strahd pointed to wraith in the MM, it would have pointed to 2025's wraith rather than 2014.

Moot now though.

 

[Remathilis]

This is interesting. In my anger, I sent WotC Customer Support a request to cancel my 2024 core rulebooks bundle preorder, explaining that it was because I was upset with how they were handling the implementation on D&D Beyond. After yesterday's update, I contacted them again to say I didn't want to cancel my preorder after all.

I just received the following response:


I don't know about you, but receiving an automated response always makes me feel appreciated and heard!

Man, wait until you have to contact Sony or Microsoft's customer service. You get an automated message automatically and you gotta reply to that to have a human read it.

The wonders of technology.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I am pretty sure that poster was mistaking the missing tools access to say the functionality was going away.

The compendium access was fairly worthless. I doubt anyone buys content on DDB for the compendium.

uh I do, having easy access to the books is nice.

 

[pukunui]

Man, wait until you have to contact Sony or Microsoft's customer service. You get an automated message automatically and you gotta reply to that to have a human read it.

The wonders of technology.

Yeah, tell me about it. I was just reading an article yesterday about the increasing number of companies using AI to screen job applicants. People complaining that it's impossible to talk to an actual person as part of the application process.

 

[Daztur]

Yes, I would argue the spells are "better." Better doesn't mean "more powerful." The Simulacrum spell now saying the simulacrum you create cannot also cast the spell Simulacrum and cannot gain the benefit of resting is a "better" version of the Simulacrum spell because it clarifies something in question (can it rest?) and closes an unintended loophole (endless simulacrums).

Again even if you are 100% right and there's no good reason for people to be angry at this that doesn't matter.

People are angry. You thinking that they shouldn't have been angry doesn't change the simple fact that they WERE.

Enough people are angry that WotC backtracked.

Therefore WotC must have underestimated how angry people were going to be.

Therefore WotC must not have a very clear idea of what sort of things would anger their customers since that there would be a big backlash over this was pretty damn obvious to most people in the community.

Therefore WotC is pretty damn out of touch. WotC being pretty damn out of touch will probably cause problems in the future.

 

[mamba]

One person says 1. Another says 2.

Can't be both.

yep, it was 2) given your description, as someone did pipe up in it, but you kept it sufficiently vague that there is some wiggle room for interpretations

 

[Juxtapozbliss]

They literally said in the first post that the plan was any monster that was in 2014 would be replaced by the 2024 version in the tooltip. You would not get the new monsters (like Sphinx of wonder) but if Curse of Strahd pointed to wraith in the MM, it would have pointed to 2025's wraith rather than 2014.

Moot now though.

Seems you did not read closely. I just checked it because what you said was the exact opposite of what I read.

"All the monsters found in the 2014 Monster Manual will also still be available for use in the toolset. These materials will be marked with a Legacy badge if there are newer versions of them in the 2024 Core Rulebooks."

https://www.dndbeyond.com/changelog#UpdatingtheDDBeyondToolsetforthe2024CoreRulebooks under What Isn’t Changing: Access to the 2014 Rules and Homebrew