D&D Beyond admits that blocking Drops sharing "was not the right decision," will release yearly bundles of Drops content for sale for non-subscribers

D&D Beyond is addressing complaints about its new Drops programs. Today, D&D Beyond made a new post providing some updates about its D&D Beyond Drops program, which releases weekly content exclusive to subscribers. The updates were intended to address major complaints about the new program, namely that subscribers could not share the content with their campaigns and that non-subscribers had no way to purchase Drops content outside of a subscription. "It’s become clear from your feedback that there were two main things we got wrong with D&D Beyond Drops: content sharing and non-subscriber access," the post reads.

In the post, D&D Beyond admitted that not allowing Drops content to be shared via campaigns "was not the right decision." Although no immediate solution was announced, D&D Beyond stated that they expected to have more information about content sharing in the coming weeks. Additionally, D&D Beyond also announced that they would be releasing Drops content on their marketplace for sale via a yearly bundle, with the first bundle set to be released next May. This content will be available to all D&D Beyond users, regardless of their subscription status.

 

[Dire Bare]

Again, you are mistaking "they've included something new in the subscription price" with "free". If you want to say it's free, then tell us how to get it without paying anything.

Can anyone get it without paying for a subscription? No. If you cannot get it without paying, it's not free. Just because they shifted what is included in the description doesn't mean that anything in the subscription is free -- you are paying for it. That they sweetened the deal doesn't change that.

Dude. Folks use "free" all the time for stuff they get on top of something they are already paying for. It's not a weird or incorrect way to use the word. It's not limited to DDB.

Can we stop litigating the use of the word "free"?!?! Sheesh.

Does it matter if the drops content is "free"? You either think the way WotC has set it up is fine or you don't.

 

[Mort]

If we get a small handful of player options every month . . . over time, the drops library could potentially become decent sized.

With your hero tier sub, you get access to the entire drops library . . . which isn't much right now, but this time next year and moving forward . . .

I'm already a subscriber, so this is a small, nice value add for me . . . but yeah, if I wasn't already subscribing, this probably wouldn't push me over the fence. But later maybe, when there is more in the drops library.

I have the Master Tier, so it's also kind of a what if? for me.

The Hero tier is already pretty slim - basically you get unlimited characters and maybe a few player facing promotions. None of my players bother with it! I think WoTC will have to up their game to get that money!

 

[AlViking]

It's a long thread and I think, at least my, point about drops got lost among all of the attempts to classify what Drops is.

Drops seems to be a great add-on (value add) for Master tier subscribers - the maps alone are a REALLY good bonus. the monsters are nice (I actually really liked the angels and plan to use them) too. Point is at $5.99 a month it's a good deal and Drops make it better.

But the stated purpose of Drops was to add more Hero tier subscribers and, I just don't see it. Players get a few feats, some spells, some subclasses - that kind of thing. Pretty thin IMO. I just don't think it will come close do attracting someone to fork over even a few $ a month. Point is $2.99 just doesn't seem worth it, and the player facing Drops aren't enough to change that -at least IMO.

The heroic tier only really adds any value to the people that have more than 6 characters. But even then you can just create multiple accounts so I'm not surprised if only a few people subscribe to it. The master subscription is such an amazing value comparatively for only a little bit more.

 

[mamba]

But the stated purpose of Drops was to add more Hero tier subscribers and, I just don't see it. Players get a few feats, some spells, some subclasses - that kind of thing. Pretty thin IMO. I just don't think it will come close do attracting someone to fork over even a few $ a month. Point is $2.99 just doesn't seem worth it, and the player facing Drops aren't enough to change that -at least IMO.

true for now, but in 6 to 12 months maybe enough material has accumulated to make it worthwhile

 

[Imaro]

Again, you are mistaking "they've included something new in the subscription price" with "free". If you want to say it's free, then tell us how to get it without paying anything.

Can anyone get it without paying for a subscription? No. If you cannot get it without paying, it's not free. Just because they shifted what is included in the description doesn't mean that anything in the subscription is free -- you are paying for it. That they sweetened the deal doesn't change that.

Im not mistaking anything... if the cost of a steak at a restaurant is 25 dollars and they give you a baked potatoe at no upcharge... you are getting the potatoe for free... even though its included in the price of the steak... its pretty simple when you aren't trying to prove how bad WotC is...

 

[Umbran]

Mod Note:

Some of you are getting rather heated, and by my reading are starting to twist each other's words around in order to be right.

That's a problem.

Please, if you aren't going to keep it cool, walk away, before you must be removed from the discussion.

 

[Clint_L]

All I know is WotC suddenly started giving me a bunch of new stuff, and I was happy to get it. Especially the tons of maps. I don't understand how this became controversial.

 

[Blue]

Dude. Folks use "free" all the time for stuff they get on top of something they are already paying for. It's not a weird or incorrect way to use the word. It's not limited to DDB.

Can we stop litigating the use of the word "free"?!?! Sheesh.

Does it matter if the drops content is "free"? You either think the way WotC has set it up is fine or you don't.

Others are insisting on the word "free" because the Master tier allows sharing of purchased content and so they are insisting that Drops shouldn't be shared. Their entire argument revolves around their usage of the word free.

Mind you, even WotC has changed their mind on this, that's what this whole post is about, but some people it seems must defend their original stance.

 

[Mort]

Others are insisting on the word "free" because the Master tier allows sharing of purchased content and so they are insisting that Drops shouldn't be shared. Their entire argument revolves around their usage of the word free.

I don't think anyone at all is arguing that Drops SHOULDN'T be shared. But that WoTC is not REQUIRED to share the Drops based on their established policy.

Clearly, them not making the Drops shareable was unpopular enough that they had to address the policy.

 

[Whisper-Kitten]

Did the aliens win yet?