WotC D&D Digital Library

[Micah Sweet]

The Spelljammer pdf actually got me feeling better about WotC than I had in a while. Canceling the digital library's format without notice (even after they did it they haven't released a statement) feels very "Lucy with the football" to me. That many immediately rush to defend this decision doesn't make it better.

 

[bedir than]

Funny thing, they asked people to register to download that Monster Compendium, with the promise of more downloadable files. They gathered a lot of commercial information (names and emails), and then closed the service, redirecting to D&D Beyond. This is not a correct way of doing things, if you ask me. (Naturally no one has been forced to give those data, I know, but still...)

It's almost like a marketing plan was designed prior to the marketing team finding out their company made a nine figure purchase

 

[Micah Sweet]

It's almost like a marketing plan was designed prior to the marketing team finding out their company made a nine figure purchase

But did they back off that front transparently, explaining that, in the light this new deal, they are transitioning away from pdfs in this matter? No, they just dropped it like a hot potato and assumed everyone would either cover for them or get over it. And of course they will.

 

[Parmandur]

But did they back off that front transparently, explaining that, in the light this new deal, they are transitioning away from pdfs in this matter? No, they just dropped it like a hot potato and assumed everyone would either cover for them or get over it. And of course they will.

Well, sure.

It could also very well be the case that this was a test to see how many people were interested in the PDF version, and that there wasn't enough of a population for WotC to feel an announcement was warranted.

We know that there are 10 million Beyond users, thanks to the sale disclosures: I bet the free stuff was taken up by a very large percentage of that 10 million userbase. How many people use PDFs? What we know of DMsGuild sales suggests that there may be an order of magnitude difference at play.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, sure.

It could also very well be the case that this was a test to see how many people were interested in the PDF version, and that there wasn't enough of a population for WotC to feel an announcement was warranted.

We know that there are 10 million Beyond users, thanks to the sale disclosures: I bet the free stuff was taken up by a very large percentage of that 10 million userbase. How many people use PDFs? What we know of DMsGuild sales suggests that there may be an order of magnitude difference at play.

What about Drive-thru in general? All of those people use pdfs too.

 

[Nikosandros]

Well, sure.

It could also very well be the case that this was a test to see how many people were interested in the PDF version, and that there wasn't enough of a population for WotC to feel an announcement was warranted.

We know that there are 10 million Beyond users, thanks to the sale disclosures: I bet the free stuff was taken up by a very large percentage of that 10 million userbase. How many people use PDFs? What we know of DMsGuild sales suggests that there may be an order of magnitude difference at play.

OTOH, I bet that the number of downloads had basically nothing to do with this and that the decision was entirely driven by the acquisiton of DDB and WotC's desire to only use a proprietary channel and format.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Funny thing, they asked people to register to download that Monster Compendium, with the promise of more downloadable files. They gathered a lot of commercial information (names and emails), and then closed the service, redirecting to D&D Beyond. This is not a correct way of doing things, if you ask me. (Naturally no one has been forced to give those data, I know, but still...)

The account works for both Beyond and WotC, so nothing changed.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The account works for both Beyond and WotC, so nothing changed.

Nothing that matters to you changed, you mean.

 

[Parmandur]

What about Drive-thru in general? All of those people use pdfs too.

What we know from authors selling on DriveThru in general is that "best sellers" are often selling hundreds of copies, and mere thousands at the absolute top of the pile.

 

[Parmandur]

OTOH, I bet that the number of downloads had basically nothing to do with this and that the decision was entirely driven by the acquisiton of DDB and WotC's desire to only use a proprietary channel and format.

I wouldn't be quick to assume that it didn't play a big part.