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

 

[Minigiant]

So, we're just days away from WotC flipping the switch. I would love to have more concrete information about what the transition is going to look like. In my experience, these things never go as easily as the company would like them to.

They don't know

That's likely why this mess exists.

WOTC likely didn't think this level of full conversion was possible in time with a major technical disaster.

 

[Imaro]

Wouldn't have hurt, but it was not that difficult to figure out either

Sure if it mattered all that much to any partiular person (outside of you) to make the effort.

 

[Dire Bare]

I won't make the claim that WotC doesn't own D&D.
They didn't put D&D in the CC, quite carefully so.
They put a version of the D&D 5th Edition rules into the CC BY. It's not the full rules and has very limited shared IP.

Yes . . . .

I don't think we are in agreement, I think you are semantically parsing things in an odd way.

D&D 5E is 5E. WotC owns 5E. They have made it an open game, so that others can create products for it . . . and also products to compete with it. They still own the game.

 

[Imaro]

So, we're just days away from WotC flipping the switch. I would love to have more concrete information about what the transition is going to look like. In my experience, these things never go as easily as the company would like them to.

Yeah I think there are definitely going to be some hiccups especially since they've added the additional task of keeping 2014 fully searchable and fully functional at the same time as 2024, even though that couldn't possibly have been in scope originally... Stephen Glicker talked about it in his latest video and seemed to think it was more complex than most people were assuming... However there are some who believe it's not that complicated to do, so I'm hoping I am missing something here and they are right because if it doesn't go smoothly it'll be another thing to call for WotC's head about...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah I think there are definitely going to be some hiccups especially since they've added the additional task of keeping 2014 fully searchable and fully functional at the same time as 2024, even though that couldn't possibly have been in scope originally... Stephen Glicker talked about it in his latest video and seemed to think it was more complex than most people were assuming... However there are some who believe it's not that complicated to do, so I'm hoping I am missing something here and they are right because if it doesn't go smoothly it'll be another thing to call for WotC's head about...

I sure hope no one calls for the programmers' heads. If the project didn't originally include this as part of its scope, that's not on them -- that's something decided multiple steps higher up the food chain.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes . . . .

I don't think we are in agreement, I think you are semantically parsing things in an odd way.

D&D 5E is 5E. WotC owns 5E. They have made it an open game, so that others can create products for it . . . and also products to compete with it. They still own the game.

What part of 5e do they own? Just the IP?

 

[MockingBird]

Who owned 5e before WotC developed it?

 

[DinoInDisguise]

Yes . . . .

I don't think we are in agreement, I think you are semantically parsing things in an odd way.

D&D 5E is 5E. WotC owns 5E. They have made it an open game, so that others can create products for it . . . and also products to compete with it. They still own the game.

We can define "Game" as; "a form of play or sport, especially a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck."

We know from the OGL debacle, that game rules aren't copyrightable and never have been. And we can see the following from Copyright.gov;

"The idea for a game is not protected by copyright. The name or title given to the game and the methods for playing it are not protected by copyright.

Some parts of a game may be subject to copyright if they contain a sufficient amount of literary or pictorial expression. For example, you may be able to register the text describing the rules of the game or the graphic art appearing on the game board or container."

WotC owns less than you think they do here.

Source: Games

 

[mamba]

Who owned 5e before WotC developed it?

who can freely use 5e now that they have developed it?

 

[Dire Bare]

We can define "Game" as; "a form of play or sport, especially a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck."

We know from the OGL debacle, that game rules aren't copyrightable and never have been. And we can see the following from Copyright.gov;

"The idea for a game is not protected by copyright. The name or title given to the game and the methods for playing it are not protected by copyright.

Some parts of a game may be subject to copyright if they contain a sufficient amount of literary or pictorial expression. For example, you may be able to register the text describing the rules of the game or the graphic art appearing on the game board or container."

WotC owns less than you think they do here.

Source: Games

Yes . . . .

I don't think we are in agreement, I think you are semantically parsing things in an odd way.

D&D 5E is 5E. WotC owns 5E. They have made it an open game, so that others can create products for it . . . and also products to compete with it. They still own the game.