D&D (2024) Digital Only Edition

[WarDriveWorley]

I voted no for a few specific reasons.

I enjoy online access and PDFs because they can make searches easier, but they also can bog down a game if there's slow wifi/internet or the site is experiencing issues. Paper books don't have that issue.

Also one of my players is mostly blind and has issues seeing electronic screens. If I went to purely digital I would alienate a friend and player that I enjoy gaming around.

Some of my players are technology adjacent. They know just enough about tech to get by with their daily lives, but can get frustrated with new tech. Not saying they couldn't adapt, but it presents an additional hurdle to them enjoying the game.

So while I do like and enjoy online access as an additional tool, I don't think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks of having it as the de facto rules source.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I feel like the extra money they'll drain out of you over a one-time book or ebook purchase compounded by the inevitable difficulty of cancelation plus the encouraging of moving things you actually do care about to a Pay Forever model will be something that matters to you.

Not really. I've paid a subscription to Blizzard for World of Warcraft for probably 75% of the game's existence. Hasn't bothered me. $15 a month is doable for my situation, but granted, I recognize the privilege I have to be able to say that. I know not everyone can, and I do not begrudge anyone for not wanting D&D to go in that direction. And as far as the difficulty of cancelling? I don't know what kinds of subscriptions other people are signed up for, but I can cancel my WoW subscription, Star Wars: The Old Republic subscription, my Patreon subscriptions, my Norton 360 subscription, my Poland Spring water subscription etc. all very easily. The days of joining a gym with a monthly subscription plan and then forgetting about it for months on end even though we don't go to the gym anymore are long since past.

Now truth be told, I don't want D&D to go the complete subscription either necessarily, because like I said, I prefer to play in person. But I shelled out the $6 a month for D&D Insider when I was playing 4E because the online Dungeon Magazine, Dragon Magazine, Character Builder, and Monster Builder were so worth it for the money in my opinion. And if a 6E that was my creme de la creme of game arrived via subscription... I would not dismiss the idea out of hand. I honestly do not know what I'd do, but it's not something that's keeping me up at night either.

 

[DEFCON 1]

As an example, the last version of D&D that I played, not counting Pathfinder (D&D 3.75) was 3.0/3.5 and that had about a seven-year life span. Fifth edition is already there and will surpass the longevity of 3.x. That's a long time to be forking out a monthly subscription fee, especially considering that if some life altering event happens (not uncommon for many people) and your income changes you lose access to your game. I still have the rules for 3.5 and tons of Pathfinder 1e material in physical format so as long as I have players I have all I need to run a game. A subscription model destroys that. Couple that with the fact that some people, like myself, stop buying adventures, rules and supplements after a while because it just becomes more than I will ever use. If you think it is a working model for you then that's fine but there are far more drawbacks, as near as I can tell, than upsides (unless you are the company selling the subscription).

I've paid for World of Warcraft for probably 14 of its 18 years of existence and it hasn't bothered me a bit. And if/when WoW stops being a thing and the game servers shut down... I will consider the $15 I spent each month to play it to be more than worth the cash, even if I now have nothing physical to "show" for it.

I certainly understand why some people don't want to consider a possible D&D as like the same thing as going to an arcade, a movie theater, a bowling alley, or a casino-- where you outlay a bit of money and have an enjoyable experience for a certain amount of time but don't come away with anything tactile when you're through-- but I myself don't have any problem with it. My game closet is full of physical product that I've never even opened up in like 10/15/20 years... so I might as well not even own it. So what's truly the difference between that and "losing" a book once a subscription ends and the server housing it gets shut down? None so far as I can see.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I don't know what kinds of subscriptions other people are signed up for, but I can cancel my WoW subscription, Star Wars: The Old Republic subscription, my Patreon subscriptions, my Norton 360 subscription, my Poland Spring water subscription etc. all very easily.

You know the cancellation problem is actually so bad people are pushing for legislation, right?

The ability to trap people into subscriptions is largely the point of most subscriptions.

 

[DEFCON 1]

You know the cancellation problem is actually so bad people are pushing for legislation, right?

The ability to trap people into subscriptions is largely the point of most subscriptions.

I am unconcerned with other people's issues with subscriptions. If people were unable to figure out how to work the Columbia Record and Tape Club back in the 80s to get first-run music at a greater discount than the local record store... that's on them.

If you don't do subscriptions because you're looking out for the little guy, that's lovely. But I'm not you.

 

[Vaalingrade]

"Everyone is dumb but me, therefore a massive economic threat doesn't exist."

Okay.

 

[DEFCON 1]

"Everyone is dumb but me, therefore a massive economic threat doesn't exist."

Okay.

Yep. And people choose to use paper straws because they believe plastic straws are the massive plastic threat to our environment.

Everyone has a cause. I don't begrudge you, even if I don't agree with your take.

 

[Thunder Brother]

A subscription model would be a hard "No" from me.

 

[Magister Ludorum]

Not a chance. I have pdf copies of books for reference when I'm away from home. I use hard copy exclusively when playing.

 

[Hex08]

My game closet is full of physical product that I've never even opened up in like 10/15/20 years... so I might as well not even own it. So what's truly the difference between that and "losing" a book once a subscription ends and the server housing it gets shut down? None so far as I can see.

The difference is that at any time in the future you could look in that closet and decide that you want to read and possibly play the game you bought (or sell it, donate it or burn it). Since you own it nothing is stopping you. Whereas, if I feel like I don't need any more content for an RPG (because many, especially the big ones, end up with a lot of bloat) and am happy with the amount of the product I currently have I still have to pay to play if the RPG is subscription based. Also, I will never have that game in my closet to dig through and find and finally give it a shot (which I have done) if a new edition comes out and support for the old stops or a server is shut down.