D&D General Is D&D Beyond Exclusivity Bad for D&D?

[Lanefan]

I don't agree. The 1% they only release online is not particularly important and when it's the option of online only or not at all, online only is better.

The concern - and IMO it's a highly valid one - is that the 1% you refer to merely represents the thin end of the wedge and-or a trial balloon to test acceptance; and that their end game is to eventually have more of the game (if not the whole thing) be a) digital only and b) behind a subscription paywall.

That;s a future I'd like to oppose.

 

[AlViking]

The concern - and IMO it's a highly valid one - is that the 1% you refer to merely represents the thin end of the wedge and-or a trial balloon to test acceptance; and that their end game is to eventually have more of the game (if not the whole thing) be a) digital only and b) behind a subscription paywall.

That;s a future I'd like to oppose.

I don't buy slippery slope arguments very often and definitely not in this case.

There's no indication they will ever stop selling physical books or put anything behind a paywall.

 

[mamba]

I don't buy slippery slope arguments very often and definitely not in this case.

There's no indication they will ever stop selling physical books or put anything behind a paywall.

they had three DLCs for the FR books, Ravenloft gets an adventure and a dozen encounters, that certainly is an increase, even if they continue selling the actual books in print

 

[AlViking]

they had three DLCs for the FR books, Ravenloft gets and adventure and a dozen encounters, that certainly is an increase, even if they continue selling the actual books in print

None of those had enough content to justify an entire book. It's either have these online or nothing. If you did purchase any of these they are not behind a paywall.

There's zero evidence to support the conspiracy theory.

 

[myrkulyte]

I don't buy slippery slope arguments very often and definitely not in this case.

There's no indication they will ever stop selling physical books or put anything behind a paywall.

It's not really a slippery slope, it's the predominant business strategy of the past few years. You said it yourself, you don't own your books or movies anymore, you rent them. What we don't know is if ddb will be the 'standard operating mode' for d&d the same way spotify is for music. But we can be sure that wotc would like it to be because of course they would, it's a killer arrangement for every business that's successfully pulled it off.

I don't think wotc would ever stop selling the core books but I don't think it's hard to imagine a future where a significant chunk of their publications are ddb only content. Yes it's speculation but it's a business strategy we've seen before and done the same way wotc is doing things now

 

[AlViking]

It's not really a slippery slope, it's the predominant business strategy of the past few years. You said it yourself, you don't own your books or movies anymore, you rent them. What we don't know is if ddb will be the 'standard operating mode' for d&d the same way spotify is for music. But we can be sure that wotc would like it to be because of course they would, it's a killer arrangement for every business that's successfully pulled it off.

I don't think wotc would ever stop selling the core books but I don't think it's hard to imagine a future where a significant chunk of their publications are ddb only content. Yes it's speculation but it's a business strategy we've seen before and done the same way wotc is doing things now

The only things that are online only are things too short to justify publication. It's a new feature to add little things here and there similar to the old Dungeon and Dragon magazines except you only pay for what you want and not a subscription. It's a nice feature that wasn't possible in the past.

There's no reason for them to put everything online behind a paywall, they have a business model that works where you can get a DDB subscription for extra benefits and purchase third party materials in their storefront.

I'm done.

 

[mamba]

None of those had enough content to justify an entire book.

they didn’t have enough content to justify their price either

There's zero evidence to support the conspiracy theory.

I do not support it, I am pointing out that they are releasing more digital content than a year or two two ago

 

[Marc17]

Actually, up till a couple of days ago, I've been reading the title as "exclusively" rather than "exclusivity".

I was like, "OK, that's a bit harsh, but I can see where you are coming from."

 

[AlViking]

they didn’t have enough content to justify their price either

I enjoyed the magazines. Of course that was TSR so who knows if they ever made a profit off of them.

I do not support it, I am pointing out that they are releasing more digital content than a year or two two ago

They're releasing more small tidbits that otherwise would never have been available. They're also releasing a lot more third party stuff, maybe they've simply decided that selling things other than their published books is a good opportunity or there's been some technical changes in the background to enable it.

 

[saviirkad]

they had three DLCs for the FR books, Ravenloft gets an adventure and a dozen encounters, that certainly is an increase, even if they continue selling the actual books in print

Unless I've grossly misread the announcements, those encounters don't count as digital only exclusives.