D&D 5E Are You Planning on Subscribing to D&D Beyond

[DEFCON 1]

But I'm not one of those 'metric tons' of people. Hi, I'm me.

IMO, comparisons to other digital offerings are completely fair - both for other RPGs right now, and for the previous edition.


Uhhhhh.... Okay.....?

Seriously, does that have anything to do with what I've been saying?

No, not you. I just wasn't bothered to start a second post with my rant about the other people and just tacked it onto the first part that responded to you. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Obryn]

Is that $70 per year accounting for inflation?

Well, it's still $70/year. Go ahead and adjust for inflation if you feel the need!

The complete offerings:
* Character Builder, continually updated with content from books, Dragon, Dungeon, and any errata. Offline, then online.
* Monster Builder/Adventure Tools, continually updated with content from books, Dragon, Dungeon, and any errata. Offline, then online.
* Compendium, searchable by keyword or browse-able by category, with extremely flexible search criteria, also updated continually
* Dragon, in PDF form, which had some pretty amazing content
* Dungeon, ditto

Wouldn’t they then have to then pay Curse the cost of the electronic version themselves? After al, that’s how Curse gets paid in this setup. Which, if it’s the same as be cost of the physical book, means a net zero revenue from selling books.

I am certain Curse is licensing the content from WotC and is only keeping a portion of the 'book' revenue, here, and that this is rolled into the costs. I have absolutely no idea on the details, but 'digital content at some kind of discount when also buying a physical book' is not exactly outlandish or unreasonable.

 

[Morrus]

I am certain Curse is licensing the content from WotC and is only keeping a portion of the 'book' revenue, here, and that this is rolled into the costs. I have absolutely no idea on the details, but 'digital content at some kind of discount when also buying a physical book' is not exactly outlandish or unreasonable.

A discount wouldn't be unreasonable. I suspect that free isn't possible when a third party is licensing your content. *Somebody* has to pay Curse, whether it's the the licensor or the customer.

 

[Charles Rampant]

So... you're saying that the new offering is around about the same price as DDI, for around about the same content, and that is somehow unacceptable? What are we arguing about, again?

 

[Obryn]

So... you're saying that the new offering is around about the same price as DDI, for around about the same content, and that is somehow unacceptable? What are we arguing about, again?

One has a monthly cost that's all-inclusive for content, updated for free, that can be used by a group, and included magazine subscriptions with some pretty incredible content.
One has a monthly cost for a group, plus a steep startup cost, plus costs for any additional content that's released afterwards.

I agree that the 'group' level is the sweet spot for price, relatively speaking, but I'm still not seeing your math, here.

 

[Obryn]

A discount wouldn't be unreasonable. I suspect that free isn't possible when a third party is licensing your content. *Somebody* has to pay Curse, whether it's the the licensor or the customer.

Yeah, agreed.

I'm still curious about are the terms for cancellation of the license, and what happens if either WotC or Curse decides to terminate the contract. What would be the exit plan for consumers? Obviously this is not an immediate concern, but it's something to keep in mind before going 'all-in' IMO - especially if you don't have the option for local, permanent downloads of the content.

 

[seebs]

Pricing has been announced.
We finally have the long anticipated and oft demanded digital tools for D&D 5e.

Free if your DM has a more expensive subscription. One time payment for each book. Monthly subscription for more character slots and homebrew.

Are you planning on paying?

I... don't think so. I'd buy PDFs. I'm not inclined to subscription services for books.

 

[Mageman]

This just makes Fantasy Grounds the best option for me.

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[TDarien]

One has a monthly cost that's all-inclusive for content, updated for free, that can be used by a group, and included magazine subscriptions with some pretty incredible content.
One has a monthly cost for a group, plus a steep startup cost, plus costs for any additional content that's released afterwards.

I agree that the 'group' level is the sweet spot for price, relatively speaking, but I'm still not seeing your math, here.

IIRC, Sharing your DDI subscription with your group was against the EULA. People did it anyway, but it wasn't technically allowed, and could be grounds for termination of your account. So, each player in a group who wanted to use it was expected to have their own account. So you're $70/ year quickly turns into $350/yr for a whole group.

This is definitely not the case with DDB, where sharing content is explicitly allowed (Each user requires their own account, still). Not to mention the fact that you don't lose access to content you've purchased if you end your subscription.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I... don't think so. I'd buy PDFs. I'm not inclined to subscription services for books.

You don't need to sub, you can purchase the books and use them without the sub, that just unlocks other options and removes ads. Of coruse this is not buying PDF copies of the books in any event.