D&D (2024) D&D Pre-orders; this is sad

[DarkCrisis]

Yeah, where are my hard light constructs and cybernetics?!

I was lied to!

All I wanted was my own Molly Millions and all I get was the massive corporate greed.


Speaking of Dystopia's everyone needs to read the TRANSMETROPOLITAN comic book.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

So, do you decry this when this practice is expected on every single crowdfunding effort? Pretty much every Kickstarter or Backerkit offering has tiers of buy in.

I do decry it in other settings too. It's ridiculous how prevalent stretch goals on crowdfunding campaigns have become. If it was just added stuff, it wouldn't matter too much. But many campaigns were delivered late, had logistical problems or just didn't release because of realist stretch goals.

If you're just talking about tiers of purchase, in most campaigns I've seen it's just a way to choose how much stuff you take. Do you want the PDF? Do you want the physical book?

They are moving into digital because people have been crying for digital content since they failed to offer pdfs for 3e materials.

Or, have you failed to notice the huge market for online play revealed by the pandemic?

And as I said, moving into digital is not necessarily a bad thing. But not all digital integration are equal. There are ways they could do it that would add a huge amount of value and be really convenient. But I'm convinced that Hasbro will move in a way that falsely project value, inconveniences customers and lock them in.

Dude, Gygax was trying to monetize it too. He just wasn't very good at it, and had limited modes of publishing as options.

I don't know about you - maybe you live in a forest, or have a huge trust fund? But most of us have to find some sort of professional skillset that we monetize - we do jobs to get paid.

So, is your argument that WotC... shouldn't do things to get paid?

I fail to see how any of what I said mean that I'm suggesting that WotC shouldn't get paid. They got paid in the last 25 years and I was fine with it. I'm all for a better and more convenient product. I'm willing to pay for more quality content. I'm not willing to have to put up more money for the same product.

Let me give you another example. Adobe is an absolute terrible company. They're getting sued right now by the US government. I could decry that they find every way possible to stop you from cancelling, or that the need to be always online has incredibly big impact on the performance of their software and makes your experience much worse, or that they can change their terms and service anytime (like they recently did with hints of using your content for AI) without you having a say. Would you just tell me that I don't want Adobe to be paid?

And once again, I'm not saying we are there as we speak. But Hasbro and WotC have shown us on numerous occasions in the last two years what type of company they are now. I do not trust this company to take the right path from now on, and the bad path is really bad.

 

[payn]

It will never not be sad to see so many praising a corp for their capitalism.

Explains a lot of the world actually.

 

[TiQuinn]

Let me give you another example. Adobe is an absolute terrible company. They're getting sued right now by the US government. I could decry that they find every way possible to stop you from cancelling, or that the need to be always online has incredibly big impact on the performance of their software and makes your experience much worse, or that they can change their terms and service anytime (like they recently did with hints of using your content for AI) without you having a say. Would you just tell me that I don't want Adobe to be paid?

Is this about WotC or about American capitalism in general?

 

[Parmandur]

I'm getting the standard covers from my FLGS, as I don't use Beyond nor am I interested in the goodies on offer, but let's be realistic:

By the standards of what has been normal in the print TTRPG industry for the past decade or so, this chart is pretty mild-mannered. Every indie Kickstarter with a complex chart of what each tier gets that is much more head-swimming than this...and none of that ia bad! Offering bundle deals with goodies is fine.

 

[CleverNickName]

I'm only interested in digital content on Roll20, because that's the digital platform that I use. It looks like the R5E bundle will be $90 for four books, which I think is a fair price:

We chatted about it at our last gaming session, and we all agreed that we aren't going to purchase the upgrade. Most folks in my group said that the price was the biggest reason for their decision; they didn't want to pay more money for something they will only use a little bit of (their characters are already established.)

Speaking only for myself, I didn't mind the price so much. Again, I think that $90 for 4 books is a pretty good value, especially when we're splitting it 5 ways. But for my part, I just didn't see a need for it. No Wizards of the Coast hate, no residual OGL saltiness...it's just that I have an extensive library of 5E books already, and I'm happy with it. I have everything I need.

 

[DarkCrisis]

 

[TheAlkaizer]

So, it is basically an expression of fear.
It is okay to be afraid. And to express fear.
It is less okay to treat your fear as some sort of foundation of truth.

It is an expression of fear. You're entirely right.

I will anxiously be looking at the general reception of all of this. I wasn't planning to, but I now know 100% that I will not buy any more Wizards of the Coast products. I cannot participate in telling them that this path is the best one for us, because it's not.

I will look even more anxiously to the rest of the ecosystem, the OSR, the indie games, the other systems like Call of Cthulu, Pathfinder, World of Darkness, etc. Will they follow suit? Will it affect it? How?

I can't be the only one shaken by this.

I think this shows it well.

But I'm not projecting any foundation of truth. I've been clear that I'm anxious about the future of D&D and the possible impacts it could have on the industry. I'm curious to see how others feel or see what I see.

I don't know and have not said that things will necessarily go that way and that anyone is stupid for thinking otherwise; just that I am convinced that it is the direction we're heading it, because of my own personal experiences and how I spent the last ten years wholly change my professional industry.

 

[DEFCON 1]

It will never not be sad to see so many praising a corp for their capitalism.

Explains a lot of the world actually.

Well... when you find that Socialist society that starts releasing roleplaying game products, go play them for a bit and come back to tell us how the game went.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well... when you find that Socialist society that starts releasing roleplaying game products, go play them for a bit and come back to tell us how the game went.

Have you never visited itch.io?