D&D 5E D&D Beyond No Longer Supporting Unearthed Arcana

Announced on their livestream Dev Update, D&D Beyond will be refocusing development on new features and content, citing an inability to keep up with Unearned Arcana in a timely fashion.

We at D&D Beyond regret to inform you that we will no longer be supporting Unearthed Arcana content on our platform.

While we have loved giving users the opportunity to use new Unearthed Arcana playtest material offered by Wizards of the Coast on D&D Beyond, there are a multitude of factors that have made it difficult for us to do so in a way that presents the content the way it was intended, and in a timely way that does not divert our development resources.

[News] The Future of Unearthed Arcana & DDB - News & Announcements - D&D Beyond General - D&D Beyond Forums - D&D Beyond

We at D&D Beyond regret to inform you that we will no longer be supporting Unearthed Arcana content on our platform. While we have loved giving use...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I'm still waiting for D&DBeyond to send me the digital copies of my purchases.

Uh...what?

DnDBeyond doesn't do anything but digital services. Did you get a code in a book or box set or something? Because redeeming those should be very easy. If it hasn't been, I'd contact customer support.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

They...they can't keep up with a few pages of mechanics that comes out barely every 2-3 months...?

I'd hate to see how they keep up with anything if they can't manage that.

This betrays some ignorance of what they're doing, not to mention the fact that wizards has put out a bunch of content that works completely differently from past content in the last year. Your expectations are entirely unreasonable.

 

[Azzy]

Sad, but completely understandable.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Well that's unfortunate, some of my favorite subclasses never made it past the UA stage (Rip Brute).

Though I imagine it is a nightmare to manage discontinued and obsolete materials in a database like that.

With some work you can input a "homebrew" version manually, if that helps.

Hopefully not worrying about UA will help them have more time to rework their homebrew system. It's not as user friendly as it could be.

 

[Rabulias]

They...they can't keep up with a few pages of mechanics that comes out barely every 2-3 months...?

I'd hate to see how they keep up with anything if they can't manage that.

If it was just new feats and spells, I might agree with you, but as lkj points out above, Unearthed Arcana sometimes includes experimental mechanics that are very different from the 5e ruleset, like the new Strixhaven subclasses. It can take a lot of programming effort and time behind the scenes to support complex differences in game processes. And after all that, the new rules might end up being rejected or dramatically changed for publication. At that point, D&D Beyond has spent a lot of time and money creating functions that are not mainstream.

 

[kenmarable]

(Mods feel free to delete my reply here. On second thought, it was too snarky to really add anything to the conversation. Others pointed out how wrong the comment I was replying to is better than me. Thanks!)

 

[pukunui]

With some work you can input a "homebrew" version manually, if that helps.

Yeah, I've used the homebrew feature to recreate some old UA material in the past. I'm currently playing a Lore Mastery wizard, for instance.

If it was just new feats and spells, I might agree with you, but as lkj points out above, Unearthed Arcana sometimes includes experimental mechanics that are very different from the 5e ruleset, like the new Strixhaven subclasses. It can take a lot of programming effort and time behind the scenes to support complex differences in game processes. And after all that, the new rules might end up being rejected or dramatically changed for publication. At that point, D&D Beyond has spent a lot of time and money creating functions that are not mainstream.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Strixhaven subclasses thing was the straw that broke the camel's back here.

 

[Ancalagon]

With some work you can input a "homebrew" version manually, if that helps.

Hopefully not worrying about UA will help them have more time to rework their homebrew system. It's not as user friendly as it could be.

The brute would be very easy to emulate, it's a very simple class (it works great for a DM's NPC)

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The brute would be very easy to emulate, it's a very simple class (it works great for a DM's NPC)

Sure, insofar as anything in that system is very simple.

 

[Iry]

Uh...what?

DnDBeyond doesn't do anything but digital services. Did you get a code in a book or box set or something? Because redeeming those should be very easy. If it hasn't been, I'd contact customer support.

I was just making a joke at my own expense. You see, when I first started buying products at D&DBeyond, I was incredibly confused because I couldn't find the option to download the PDF of what I bought.