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Message: <blockquote data-quote="epithet" data-source="post: 7710914" data-attributes="member: 6796566">While it is true that "nothing announced so far" smacks of money gouging, that's perhaps because nothing has been announced.WotC stands apart from the standard practices of the tabletop game publishing industry both in their refusal to bundle digital and physical versions of the same product, and in their general unwillingness or inability to deal with digital media. Certainly they've gotten better on the latter point with their recent deals with SmiteWorks for Fantasy Grounds content and the later similar arrangement with Roll20, but the former remains an issue. Other publishers, including WotC content partners like Green Ronin, Sasquatch, and Frog God routinely include a digital version with the purchase of a physical book, and sell the digital versions at significantly less if that's all you want. WotC, on the other hand, actually charges more for the digital version: they have an MSRP set for the so-called "friendly local gaming store," while the products sell for much less through online and big-box retailers. The digital versions of 5e material are set at the full FLGS MSRP, meaning you'll pay $50 for a digital version of the hardcover book you bought for $35.Just to take a moment to address your analogy to motion pictures, maybe you haven't noticed but lately most movies come as a "combo" format, with a blu-ray disc and a code for the movie on iTunes or a similar digital service. Many also include a DVD for those who still kick it old school, and a 3D movie always comes with a 2D version in the same box. If Hollywood (known for its eagerness to turn us all upside down and shake the spare change out of our pockets) were to follow the Hasbro/WotC pricing model, that combo pack for one movie wouldn't exist, and you would have to buy each format separately. What you get at Target for $20 would run you $70 or more. If 20th Century Fox can bundle formats, so can WotC.If you are paying full price for the Player's Handbook in hardcover, Fantasy Grounds module, and D&D Beyond formats, you are absolutely buying the same content three times. You're buying the complete spell lists three times, the Battlemaster archetype three times, the feats three times, etc. Your snarky comment suggests that none of that content is what you're paying for at all, and that your money is just going to the delivery system - the printer or the coder that puts text in front of your eyeballs. That's just silly.The reality is that, after the printers and coders take their cut, Hasbro/WotC is charging you as many times as possible for the same product. Now, that's their prerogative and none of us can gainsay their choices on the matter. What Hollywood recognised, though, is that laws and copy-protection tech do very nearly nothing whatsoever to protect intellectual property. If you want to download a movie (or a game manual) for free, you are almost certainly going to be able to find it somewhere. What protects intellectual property and enables content providers to enjoy success in business is the goodwill of their customers, and our desire to compensate them for the value we receive. That's why the ad that pops up when you insert the disc changed from "piracy is a crime" to "a lot of people worked hard on this."What WotC really need to do is to start allowing retailers to bundle formats at a reasonable discount. I should be able to order a D&D product that comes with a printed version and one or more digitally delivered versions for one reasonable price. Their technophobia has to be costing them sales, even as successful as 5e is. I mean, it is not difficult at all to find a pdf of a D&D 5e book, but it is impossible to pay for one. That's a bad business decision.</blockquote>

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