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

[mamba]

In the washup after the OGL debacle, and the cost increase of bboks, WoTC affirmed that they were still going to produce physical print books as long as it was financially viable.
These are only the beginning step in turning a supertanker, but the mimicry of the games industry observed by a OP does indeed set a direction of travel - one that will eventually likely end up with no books - or more likely, limited run, collector's edition books at double or tripple cost - with the rest being available with the WoTC season pass.
Speculative? Yes. Unlikely? No

boohoo, WotC stops printing books when people stop buying them, how dare they…

 

[Oofta]

Good. It sucks that they took away the ability to buy just the magic items from a book.

Taking away the "microtransactions" bugs me as well. It was a nice feature and will lead to me spending less money on DDB. My hope (however faint) is that it was just a necessary step required for the new system and however they're going to delineate between old and new rules. Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to buy bits and pieces of new books in the future. I can always hope.

 

[TiQuinn]

Maybe my tolerance for venting is at a low right now, but I haven’t heard one thing that people want others to do as a remedy for “WotC’s planning to someday make D&D totally digital, subscription based and behind a paywall garden”.

Should I write my congressman? /s

 

[Remathilis]

Maybe my tolerance for venting is at a low right now, but I haven’t heard one thing that people want others to do as a remedy for “WotC’s planning to someday make D&D totally digital, subscription based and behind a paywall garden”.

Should I write my congressman?

Because there is nothing to do. You're options are:

A. Buy the physical books whenever possible
B. Buy from 3pp actual physical, non-KS products whenever possible
C. Use the SRD to compile your own.

Those are the three answers that digital media has given us. We're lucky we even have the OGL/SRD to give us options, it's not like I can buy or sell 3pp Edge of the Empire supplements.

 

[TiQuinn]

Because there is nothing to do. You're options are:

A. Buy the physical books whenever possible
B. Buy from 3pp actual physical, non-KS products whenever possible
C. Use the SRD to compile your own.

Those are the three answers that digital media has given us. We're lucky we even have the OGL/SRD to give us options, it's not like I can buy or sell 3pp Edge of the Empire supplements.

D. Play a different edition.
E. Play a different game.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Because there is nothing to do. You're options are:

A. Buy the physical books whenever possible
B. Buy from 3pp actual physical, non-KS products whenever possible
C. Use the SRD to compile your own.

Those are the three answers that digital media has given us. We're lucky we even have the OGL/SRD to give us options, it's not like I can buy or sell 3pp Edge of the Empire supplements.

I go with option B, although I'm also fine with pdfs of same.

 

[Oofta]

Maybe my tolerance for venting is at a low right now, but I haven’t heard one thing that people want others to do as a remedy for “WotC’s planning to someday make D&D totally digital, subscription based and behind a paywall garden”.

Should I write my congressman?

Stop worrying about something that hasn't happened, that makes little to no sense from a business standpoint and isn't likely to happen? That even if it is, there is no built in self destruct in your books? That TTRPGs aren't video games and different rules apply? If you don't want to subscribe to DDB you don't have to?

The list could go on for a while and includes don't upgrade and play other games.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

E. Play a different game.

 

[Chaosmancer]

There hasn't been a digital component that WotC clearly are spending major money on like the VTT. The 3D VTT has likely been in development for years with a bunch of highly paid programmers and graphics artists and will need continued development when new books and modules release. WotC are going to expect major financial returns and squeeze people for as much money as they can with it.

Sure, but "get as much money as they can" cannot possibly turn into "and we will be forced into subscriptions to play the game of DnD at all" that people seem to think would happen.

Heck, "they released a buggy version of this thing for early access, and now I am forced to pay for it even though it is terrible" is also very unlikely to happen. Because if they go too hard into making it difficult to use the VTT... people will just go back to using the tools they are currently using.

WoTC is absolutely going to try and make money, but they can't use digital to release a version of the game of DnD that has rules that just refuse to function or that wipe your save file. The game is too different from how video games function.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Wake up people! They have been doing bleeding us dry for decades! They are locking spells and subclasses behind a paywall. We all want Silvery Barbs, and WotC knows this! So they only put it in one book that you have to buy separate!

/s

But for real, these preorder bonuses don’t have any effect on how the game is played.

I am going to go to my FLGS, preorder the alt covers and read them when I get them. Nothing had changed.

Don’t be dependent on digital platforms!

Yes. The game is not ruined.

Just don’t be a sucker.

Instead of buying little digital updates, buy 1000s of dollars in bendable plastic minis like I do.