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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SlyFlourish" data-source="post: 9889138" data-attributes="member: 54840">This is one of the reasons I'm nervous about the growth of D&D Beyond. We're already starting to see D&D Beyond exclusive products from both Wizards of the Coast and other publishers (including the 5e Cthulhu book by one Mr. Mike Mearls!). Kobold Press recently announced two books using D&D 2024 rules instead of Tales of the Valiant (Northlands Sagas and the new Creature Codex revamp), very likely so they can also release these books on D&D Beyond.D&D Beyond is a honeypot for publishers – publish your material using D&D 2024 rules and you have a shot at publishing them on D&D Beyond. It's profitable enough that Kobold Press is publishing two of its books for their competitor's system instead of their own. Having talked to several publishers published on D&D Beyond, the money is simply too good to pass up.And the platform is clearly built for lock-in. Monthly subscriptions are required for unlimited character building and product sharing. The license allows for no actual product ownership. If you buy your material there and your friends share it, you're a lot less likely to want to switch to another system, move to another platform, or stop paying your monthly fee.I worry that lock-in makes it harder to switch to other systems. It could be a big investment for a group to get copies of Shadow of the Weird Wizard in everyone's hands if everyone already has access to everything they need to keep playing D&D 2024 on D&D Beyond.I don't see WOTC engaging in a nefarious strategy to choke out the competition going on right now. I see WOTC eager to get a cut of every RPG product they can (just as they hoped to do with the OGL 1.1) and building a platform to draw in customers and business partners and keep them there. I see publishers who simply can't pass up the money they get if they publish on D&D Beyond. It's not an exclusive contract, so it feels safe. It was also safe to sell on Amazon until suddenly there wasn't anywhere else left you could reasonably sell stuff.</blockquote>

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