D&D (2024) Digital Only Edition

[DEFCON 1]

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 or donate 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. And I will never have that closet to dig through and find and old game I never tried 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.

If that ever actually happened to me, then maybe I'd go along with your point. But in fact... I've gotten rid of older games and books that I never played anymore (like all my AD&D and 2E books) and have not once ever regretted not owning them anymore. And I have a whole bunch of game books that I've purchased (either through Kickstarter or on a whim at a con) that the most interaction I've had with them was maybe spending an hour or two when I first got it flipping through it... but again have never touched it since. So what good has it been to have these physical copies in my closet? Heck... it's no different than me having bought Blu-Rays discs of movies I thought I wanted bunches of years ago, but then never actually once watched them a single time because I've been too busy watching other stuff on the subscription services like Netflix and Disney+ that I pay for every month.

So this idea that needing a physical copy of something to actually put on your shelf is I'm absolutely sure important to a lot of you... but I'm not that guy. If I'm not going to use it... I don't need it.

 

[Hex08]

If that ever actually happened to me, then maybe I'd go along with your point. But in fact... I've gotten rid of older games and books that I never played anymore (like all my AD&D and 2E books) and have not once ever regretted not owning them anymore. And I have a whole bunch of game books that I've purchased (either through Kickstarter or on a whim at a con) that the most interaction I've had with them was maybe spending an hour or two when I first got it flipping through it... but again have never touched it since. So what good has it been to have these physical copies in my closet? Heck... it's no different than me having bought Blu-Rays discs of movies I thought I wanted bunches of years ago, but then never actually once watched them a single time because I've been too busy watching other stuff on the subscription services like Netflix and Disney+ that I pay for every month.

So this idea that needing a physical copy of something to actually put on your shelf is I'm absolutely sure important to a lot of you... but I'm not that guy. If I'm not going to use it... I don't need it.

All I can say is that if subscription based is fine for you then cool. However, you did ask what the difference was so I gave examples. Whether or not they are relevant to you is your decision (and that's fine) but the differences still exist.

 

[Ystraeth]

They're going to be on their phones anyway, let's face it.

Not in our games. We have a "no-devices" rule, and it works wonders for game quality. Phones can be used for an emergency of course or people can step out to take a call, but 'being on your phones' is not something we do at our face to face table.

 

[the Jester]

Absolutely not. Books or nothing. If I can't play my game when I'm camping off the grid, it's not real D&D to me, no matter what else it offers.

 

[Ystraeth]

On the topic of a subscription model. Um, hell no?

I require actual books for one - I'd give up gaming entirely if online only was my sole option. I also have no need of battlemaps/VTTs, and refuse to rent RPG content anyway.

 

[Ath-kethin]

I'm another that's fine with digital, but a subscription is a hard no. I prefer to actually own things, and I DO regret getting rid of my 2e books.

PDFs are great when they're searchable, and they can help locate some information quickly. But that's on my desktop; a PDF on the phone or tablet just isn't a fast way to locate date. It certainly isn't as fast as flipping through a book, anyway.

I also don't play online and deeply disliked almost all aspects of doing so when I had to a couple of years ago (the fog of war function on the VTT was the only thing I liked about the experience). I'd frankly rather just not play than be forced to play online - and that's before we even get into the whole "D&D while camping" angle.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I don't have any physical books for 5E myself (my players/fellow DMs do though), everything is on Beyond. Which I fully expect to vanish one day, taking my books with it (I'm sure some kind soul will have uploaded them to the internets by then though).

I think a lot of people are knee-jerk rejecting the subscription, and whilst I get it, the main way I accessed 4E was by subscription to the DDI, and because the price was reasonable, I actually found it pretty great. People talk about outages and computers failing and so on, but we played with the DDI for rules for years at various people's houses and that was never once a problem. I don't think it was ever down for a significant period.

As for "D&D whilst camping", what, you're hauling a PHB, DMG and MM, at a dead minimum, with you in your backpack when you're camping? And dice, and character sheets to get damp and bent and maybe if things get really exciting, catch fire? God help us if you use minis or battlemaps!

Pull the other one mate, it's got bells on!

If you're glamping or car-camping you've likely got power and signal and thus could use digital. Though I admit in America is easier to get outside signal coverage entirely.

But realistically I simply wouldn't take D&D camping. I'd take an RPG that was appropriate for that, like, y'know, Dungeon World. All the fun of D&D, more accessible than even 5E, weighs maybe 1/10th as much, takes up about 1/10th as much space, and doesn't need anywhere near as much in the way of dice, and is pure TotM.

 

[Charlaquin]

Hypothetical: the perfect edition of D&D for you comes out, but is only available in a subscription based, digital only format (you can't print out PDFs and you even use a digital device for your character sheet). Assuming again that it is otherwise everything you want in an edition of D&D, and assuming the price isn't prohibitive for you, would you be in?

Oof. So apart from being digital only it’s perfectly tailored to my tastes? I want to say I would hand-copy it into paper form if I had to, but I think it’s clear that goes against the spirit of the question. I guess I would bite that bullet, but I’d be pretty grouchy about it.

 

[billd91]

I run a fair amount of stuff digitally when I can, but I don't want to be locked into it nor have to deal with an online subscription to get it (or lose it if the sub ends). I'll go with a subscription for value that subscription adds. Maybe that's convenience for some situations, maybe it's a character builder/tracker, whatever. But I have too many varied preferences for when and how I'm using the content under varying circumstances to want to be locked into one mode and that may include playing without a wifi internet connection or when my iPad's battery has pooped out.

 

[Tom Bagwell]

This is actually where I am currently. I've been running for two years, and I've only purchased books via D&D Beyond. I just find it incredibly convenient for a variety of reasons. If I just want to read it, I have the books I need on my tablet.