D&D Beyond Cancellations Changed WotCs Plans

Gizmodo has revealed that the partial OGL v1.1 walkback yesterday was in response to the fan campaign to cancel D&D Beyond subscriptions, with "five digits" worth of cancellations. However, the site also reveals that management at the company believed that fans were overreating and that it would all be forgotten in a few months.

In order to delete a D&D Beyond account entirely, users are funneled into a support system that asks them to submit tickets to be handled by customer service: Sources from inside Wizards of the Coast confirm that earlier this week there were “five digits” worth of complaining tickets in the system. Both moderation and internal management of the issues have been “a mess,” they said, partially due to the fact that WotC has recently downsized the D&D Beyond support team.

Yesterday's walkback removed the royalties from the license, but still 'de-authorized' the OGL v1.0a, something which may or may not be legally possible, depending on who you ask.

Cancelled D&D Beyond Subscriptions Forced Hasbro's Hand

Swift consumer action prompted Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast to to scrap licensing updates. The players aren't done yet.

gizmodo.com

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I think the plan is for this to be an evergreen edition, thus the servers wouldn't go down someday.

3e was supposed to be the end of it... then 3.5. 4e didn't SAY it was going to be the last one (that I remember) but boy did the 2014 5e say so... now 1D&D is the evergreen one.

I would not be surprised to learn that somewhere in 1989 TSR thought 2e was the last edition.

 

[Imaro]

3e was supposed to be the end of it... then 3.5. 4e didn't SAY it was going to be the last one (that I remember) but boy did the 2014 5e say so... now 1D&D is the evergreen one.

I would not be surprised to learn that somewhere in 1989 TSR thought 2e was the last edition.

1. 3e was never supposed to be evergreen... it even came out that 3.5 was planned while 3e was being developed.

2. 1D&D (until we see proof otherwise) is a continuation of 5e...

Again... how much monetization does it take is my point. We can paint WotC as the big bad corporation only concerned with money... but in order to get that true evergreen edition with those tools that stay up and running and that 3D VTT... yeah they're going to have to figure out how to pay for all of that on a continuous basis...

 

[GMforPowergamers]

1. 3e was never supposed to be evergreen... it even came out that 3.5 was planned while 3e was being developed.

the entire purpose of the OGL was that the 'd20 system' would stay in print for ever. Yes we learned later that 3.5 was planned form the start (by the people we are all holding up as being only for the game not the money) but at the time it was supposed to be it.

2. 1D&D (until we see proof otherwise) is a continuation of 5e...

unless the playtest is a lie we are already seeing changes similar to 1e/2e and 3e/3.5 so they can call it version or editions, the game is changing, the 2014 book will become obsolete and fall out of both print and popular use, and the 2024 book will replace it.

Again... how much monetization does it take is my point.

someone put up stats the 4e was bringing in about 1/4 of a mil a month in subs at one point... sooner or later we have to admit that money wont make it last forever.

We can paint WotC as the big bad corporation only concerned with money... but in order to get that true evergreen edition with those tools that stay up and running and that 3D VTT... yeah they're going to have to figure out how to pay for all of that on a continuous basis...

 

[Scribe]

someone put up stats the 4e was bringing in about 1/4 of a mil a month in subs at one point... sooner or later we have to admit that money wont make it last forever.

Wait, this is a short term cash grab....why I never!

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Content sharing, if it even exists moving forward, is definitely going to go up in price though. Can't monetize all those freeloading players if they don't have to buy their own stuff.

I'm not so sure about that. If you make it more expensive for a group to share a source book on D&D beyond, maybe they won't buy the book at all. And if they find it easier to buy new books in print form, perhaps the group will stop using D&D beyond alltogether.

 

[MockingBird]

I thought the OGLs purpose was so that D&D would never go out of print?

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm not so sure about that. If you make it more expensive for a group to share a source book on D&D beyond, maybe they won't buy the book at all. And if they find it easier to buy new books in print form, perhaps the group will stop using D&D beyond alltogether.

They'll raise the prices of print books too, in keeping with their lifestyle/brand focus.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I thought the OGLs purpose was so that D&D would never go out of print?

Not "D&D" but 3e D&D... notice that Thac0 wasn't put up for OGL, or descending ACs...

 

[Scribe]

Not "D&D" but 3e D&D... notice that Thac0 wasn't put up for OGL, or descending ACs...

The edition at the time of OGL creation, yes?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

The edition at the time of OGL creation, yes?

right making it 'evergreen'