D&D Beyond Launches on August 15th for $3-6/m

$3/ month isn't that bad. And you really only need it if you want to use homebrew.

 

[lkj]

Yea, you can read it in their clunky interface in the way and with adds unless you subscribe. Sounds like a great reading exp.

This is probably in that 'agree to disagree' area for me.

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[hbarsquared]

Probably not going to happen, but would be cool, useful, and satisfy nearly everyone.

When purchasing a book for DDB, with all it's integrated functionality, have it simply come with a downloadable pdf. Get both for the same cost of the book.

 

[Torquemada]

In my (very mindflayed) mind, the question is: Is WotC TOO attached to its "we sell books" paradigm?

I got the old AD&D CD-ROM Core Rules + expansion, with all the nifty (and sometimes buggy) software and it included about 20(?) books in (editable) rich text format. It was a product of its age. (I still have my US Robotics 56K modem, so THAT age .)

But DDB is a service and I think WotC would be served a lot better to offer its content in subscription tiers or, at least, have it as an option.

Are you a player? Well, Hero tier + $1 will give you access to the PHB. Add +$2 and you get full access to player facing rules in non-core books. And do something similar with the Master tier.

That way you ameliorate sticker shock, show faith in the service and (who knows?) WotC may get more money that way in the long run.

Also, purely subscription-based rule book access goes away with the need of keep track of who-bought-what and, in the event of DDB going under, the feeling of "losing my books" is diminished

Or not.

Well, my 0.02.

 

[Mistwell]

Also worth mentioning, I suppose, in light of the pdf 'discussion'. The books will be part of the searchable database with all the items there to find. But the full text will also be available to go through, chapter by chapter, linked, etc. With maps. So you get all the content in a readable form as well, with hyperlinks and the like in a format that looks a lot nicer than a straight pdf (to me).

As I've mentioned before, I find the pdf format to be clunky now and this appears to be much better (taking better advantage of the digital format). I understand that it does tie you to their app. Not a big deal to me but I understand why it might be for others. Certainly wouldn't work on an e-ink reader. Though I'd argue that it will be far more usable on a phone or any other small form factor than a pdf.

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Apparently you can also have smaller pop-out windows. So for example if a spell causes a condition, you can hover over the condition text and have the condition text pop-up right there.

 

[lkj]

Apparently you can also have smaller pop-out windows. So for example if a spell causes a condition, you can hover over the condition text and have the condition text pop-up right there.

Yes. That is one of the more useful features. And one that didn't even occur to me till I used it.

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[Dire Bare]

Probably not going to happen, but would be cool, useful, and satisfy nearly everyone.

When purchasing a book for DDB, with all it's integrated functionality, have it simply come with a downloadable pdf. Get both for the same cost of the book.

While I think this thread is full of unnecessary cranky, mostly from the "JUST GIVE ME PDFs DAMMIT" crowd, this is what I would do if Curse put me in charge of D&D Beyond.

I think the app they are building has a tremendous amount of promise, and I'm excited to see how things develop. But, Curse and WotC have to acknowledge a few things; 1) WotC (and their chosen partners) have a long history of digital fails, and the fanbase is wary, 2) NOT providing PDFs will not stop or reduce piracy, they won't kill FLGS sales (any more or less than current digital options would), they are easy to produce, they are the industry standard, and a lot of folks want them; 3) digital gamers are wary because they feel that they are being asked to pay for the books three times, physical copy, FG/Roll20 copy, and D&D Beyond copy, which is more perception than reality, but still a factor. I don't pretend to have the insider knowledge Curse and WotC does, but the smart play seems to offer both, the D&D Beyond experience and PDF format, either bundled or separate. It's frustrating that this won't likely happen.

At launch, I will likely purchase the 3 core books and wait on additional titles and a subscription, mostly to take advantage of the sale price on the core books. I will be slow to spend any more money on D&D Beyond until the Curse/WotC partnership addresses at least some of the 3 things I mention above.

What I would LOVE to see, but won't be holding my breath for . . . . bundled deals that would include multiple ebook formats (PDF, EPUB, web-based), D&D Beyond integration, and Fantasy Grounds/Roll20 integration. I would love to purchase Tales of the Yawning Portal online, get a PDF, and have the book unlocked on D&D Beyond and Fantasy Grounds. I'd pay full price for that! Having these deals available through the DM's Guild store would be pretty awesome too. Hell, if Curse could get D&D Beyond on STEAM, like Fantasy Grounds has, that would probably move a few sales their way!

 

[Dire Bare]

In my (very mindflayed) mind, the question is: Is WotC TOO attached to its "we sell books" paradigm?

Like most of us, I'm just armchair quarterbacking, but I think you are right. Many traditional publishers, of which WotC is one, are wary of changing their paradigms to better match digital formats. I think this is why they are holding back on PDF format ebooks. PDFs or not, I think they need to get over this fear, and be more proactive with moving D&D into the digital experience (which doesn't preclude the tabletop experience).

 

[lkj]

Like most of us, I'm just armchair quarterbacking, but I think you are right. Many traditional publishers, of which WotC is one, are wary of changing their paradigms to better match digital formats. I think this is why they are holding back on PDF format ebooks. PDFs or not, I think they need to get over this fear, and be more proactive with moving D&D into the digital experience (which doesn't preclude the tabletop experience).

One might argue they are just trying to skip pdf's as we move to better digital formats for their products.

Of course, maybe they are jumping the gun, since a lot of people seem to want pdf's (though i'd be interested in valid survey data on that).

Also, as noted in this thread, plenty of people probably disagree with me about pdf's being an outmoded format. As it's just a matter of opinion, I won't get argumentative about it.

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[MechaPilot]

You're not purchasing the books a third time. You're purchasing functionality.

The functionality is already there. At least, it should be. There should really be no difference in the function that lets you look up a monster, regardless of what book you're looking it up from. So no, you're not purchasing functionality; you're purchasing the addition of the book's content to the digital content accessible by the existing functionality, and that is fundamentally the same as buying another copy of the book (only without the benefits of getting a hardcover, or having the book survive if the company fails).

 

[MechaPilot]

It's almost... as if building content for digital distribution is time consuming and requires skilled people to put in time, so you have to pay for that.

And, running the servers, maintenance, and further development needs to be paid for somehow. You have to pay for that too.

Wow. Who'd have thought it.

No one expects to not have to pay the services of others (except for those d-bag business people who expect others to work for exposure, or to intern for free). But, let's face it, asking people to effectively purchase a life estate (for the life of the company making DDB) in the content that we already have in our books is a bad way to market the product.