Planescape Adventure Atlas: The Mortuary, on DnDBeyond and a WotC video.

[Reynard]

Disney put several series of TV shows in the MCU on their premium streaming service, some of which introduced whole plot points and new characters referenced in later movies. (Wandavision and Dr Strange, Ms Marvel and the Marvels). Essentially, it's DLC for the MCU.

This is no different. The Mortuary is literally the first place you wake up in the included module. They overdeveloped the area due to that and rather than let it go to waste, they put it on Beyond (as in extra, it's in the name) and opted to make a few bucks off it.

Frankly, this is a nothingburger. It's some extra material for anyone who wants some additional material. The problem people are having is that WotC didn't give it to them for free and they didn't get it in the format they wanted. Guess what? I didn't get to watch Wandavision free on ABC TV either.

I don't care that they are charging for it. I am anti-DNDB exclusivity. That's all.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Digital only future. Slowly but surely.

Eventually a subscription charge.

Tie in some Twitch drops etc....

 

[Remathilis]

I don't care that they are charging for it. I am anti-DNDB exclusivity. That's all.

I get it, but I see it much like the current streaming ecosystem. I don't want to have to get Disney+, Paramount+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Max, etc to watch all the shows I like (especially if its only for one show) but dedicated apps with exclusive content is the rage.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Digital only future. Slowly but surely.

Eventually a subscription charge.

Why is it that whenever D&D Beyond exclusive digital content is released everyone loses their minds, but no one batted an eye when the exact same thing happened on DMs Guild or before WotC bought the platform?

 

[Parmandur]

I don't care that they are charging for it. I am anti-DNDB exclusivity. That's all.

It seems basically inevitable: once a company has a platform, they will put outbexcluaive content for it.

 

[Scribe]

Why is it that whenever D&D Beyond exclusive digital content is released everyone loses their minds, but no one batted an eye when the exact same thing happened on DMs Guild or before WotC bought the platform?

I've complained about digital only before, and I find putting it only on their own platform just an escalation of that behavior and I dont support either.

Print it in the book. I'm not paying for files on a server, that can be updated at whim.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Why is it that whenever D&D Beyond exclusive digital content is released everyone loses their minds, but no one batted an eye when the exact same thing happened on DMs Guild or before WotC bought the platform?

Because I’ve been around long enough to know Corps aren’t your friends and will take the easiest path to money.

You have nothing to fear….. yet. But don’t doubt they will shed print media as soon as it cost effective.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Because I’ve been around long enough to know Corps aren’t your friends and will take the easiest path to money.

You have nothing to fear….. yet. But don’t doubt they will shed print media as soon as it cost effective.

I have too. I hate corporations as much as (if not more than) the next guy. And I have no doubt that if and when people decide that physical books are lame and move exclusively to digital/audio books, WotC will stop producing a product that is no longer making money.

But physical books still make a ton of money. WotC would have to be stupid to pivot away from selling physical books now. They have stated as much themselves. They have no reason to stop selling a profitable product. This is just tilting at windmills and ignoring that they've been selling digitally exclusive products for the majority of 5e's history.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Because I’ve been around long enough to know Corps aren’t your friends and will take the easiest path to money.

You have nothing to fear….. yet. But don’t doubt they will shed print media as soon as it cost effective.

You will probably die before then.

 

[JEB]

Why is it that whenever D&D Beyond exclusive digital content is released everyone loses their minds, but no one batted an eye when the exact same thing happened on DMs Guild or before WotC bought the platform?

Can't speak to DDB exclusives before Wizards bought them. All I recall is their very short-lived League of Legends tie-in (which was presumably not-Wizards-approved, since it quickly disappeared). Oh, and their (equally unofficial?) Expanded Racial Feats... which were additionally released as a PDF on DM Guild.

As for DDB vs. DM Guild, DDB material is only designed to be read through the DDB site or app. (There are workarounds, but they're going against the clearly intended use case.) DM Guild's PDFs, on the other hand, can be downloaded and read anywhere PDFs function. Plus a lot of the more popular products are print-on-demand.

@Remathilis' example of Disney+ is a better analogy to DDB than DM Guild. It's also an example of the model's downside: Disney+ has removed a number of its less popular exclusives in recent months, and now there's no (legal) way to watch them. But at least on Disney+, you get nearly all of the content "free" with the subscription...