D&D 5E DnD Beyond - Why is it still so bad?

[FrogReaver]

Quick question: if WotC had sold PDFs of their books, but at $30 per book and $25 per AP, would you still feel the same way about buying things twice?

Depends on the exact circumstances. If they released the books at regular price then a year later released the pdf's for 30/25 I would have really disliked that. I'd preferred the PDF's and would have felt the same way about buying the same content twice. If they released them at the same exact time (or nearly so) then as long as the PDF was a little cheaper I'd been happy.

I also would have been happy with a coupon inside the books for a big discount on the digital version. If the price is much much lower then it doesn't feel as much like buying the same content twice but instead about convenience of having the content more easily. I can get behind that notion.

I think half price would still be too much for the digital verison if you already own the physical version because it feels more like I'm buying the same content again instead of oh cool I have the option of paying a little more and getting a PDF version as well.

 

[FrogReaver]

If you wanted a digital product then why did you buy the printed version?
I wanted all my 5E stuff digital, so that's the only way I bought it. Never have bought a single printed copy, but have them all (legally) as digital products and have had them that way for years.

Besides, you're not paying for the same thing again. Though the content might be the same, the format and capabilities are vastly different. They are different products, different capabilities, different ways of delivering and using the same information. If you don't want to use the content in a different manner, if the price isn't worth it, then don't buy it.

But isn't everyone tired of people making this same complaint every time anything related even comes up?

PDF versions weren't for sale when the PHB first came out.

The reason I buy a book is for it's content. I don't buy it for it's pretty cover and art (though that helps). So a book and a pdf version of a book aren't different products for me, they are the same product with a few slight differences, because going back to the beginning, the content is what is important to me. So if you want to offer me an upgrade to have access to the same content in different ways for a small fee then I'm happy with that. If that convenience fee gets too high then it's becoming more and more like paying for the same content again and not just for a new way to enjoy the same content.

Everything you did was an attempt to highlight their differences to make them sound like something worth buying again, but for all those differences the most important similarity was glossed over, that pdf and that physical book have the same content. I mean come on?

BTW It's also tiring having to listen to the people defend an absurd pricing strategy every time a complaint gets made about it.

 

[dave2008]

BTW It's also tiring having to listen to the people defend an absurd pricing strategy every time a complaint gets made about it.

Why do you call it an absurd pricing strategy? It seems to me rather brilliant. They have gotten people to buy books, VTT content, and now DDB. I wish I could do the same!

To be honest, I don't have any issue with this approach. I just buy the books, I wouldn't necessarily want to pay for digital content, and definitely would not expect it to be free. To me that is absurd.

 

[FrogReaver]

Why do you call it an absurd pricing strategy? It seems to me rather brilliant. They have gotten people to buy books, VTT content, and now DDB. I wish I could do the same!

To be honest, I don't have any issue with this approach. I just buy the books, I wouldn't necessarily want to pay for digital content, and definitely would not expect it to be free. To me that is absurd.

If you read my posts you will see I didn't advocate that it should be free. There is a cost involved in porting the content into a digital friendly format. As long as the price for the additional pdf version feels more like I am paying for that work and some added convenience instead of for the same content again I'm good.

If I do not own a version of a book then I expect the digital version to be priced much higher in that circumstance because the content has it's own cost as well.

From a business perspective they may have the perfect strategy for maximizing profits. A strategy that maximizes profits can still be absurd. Banks are probably the poster child for such strategies. Paying twice for the same content is absurd. Paying for the content once and a reasonable fee to be able have access to another version of the same content is not absurd.

 

[Blue]

I haven't followed this product closely. But I do know one thing. I really dislike paying again for stuff I've already bought. In fact, I'd rather have had PDF versions of the books originally but they weren't being sold. So it's kinda like a double slap in the face.

Curse (the makes of D&D Beyond) received no cut when bought your D&D books. They are licensing the IP and coding it, which is not the same format. Both licensing and coding takes money, plus all of their other expenses (bandwidth, servers, etc.)

So their either need to charge you (or receive sufficient donations) or there is no product. You are buying something from them you didn't have - a digital character creator. Just because you have printed books and could do it longhand doesn't negate any of that or make it into zero effort needed to create.

If you're annoyed at WotC for not providing PDFs or subsidizing the cost of this for anyone who paid them for books, that ire should rightly be aimed at WotC.

 

[Blue]

Depends on the exact circumstances. If they released the books at regular price then a year later released the pdf's for 30/25 I would have really disliked that. I'd preferred the PDF's and would have felt the same way about buying the same content twice. If they released them at the same exact time (or nearly so) then as long as the PDF was a little cheaper I'd been happy.

I also would have been happy with a coupon inside the books for a big discount on the digital version. If the price is much much lower then it doesn't feel as much like buying the same content twice but instead about convenience of having the content more easily. I can get behind that notion.

I think half price would still be too much for the digital verison if you already own the physical version because it feels more like I'm buying the same content again instead of oh cool I have the option of paying a little more and getting a PDF version as well.

Odd that I'm replying to a second of yours, I should have multi-quoted.

This is why I like publishers like Pelgrane Press, who puts out 13th Age, Gumshoe and a bunch of RPGs. You can buy the PDF from them. You can buy the hardcover from them and it comes with the PDF for free. Game stores (but not Amazon!) can sign up for free for their Bits and Mortar, and if you buy the Hardcover for the games store, you can download the PDF for free. (I think the game store needs to join so they know it's a legit store and not someone faking a receipt to just get the PDF.) That's how a modern game company should do it.

Sorry, I'm more then a bit salty at WotC's lack of PDFs. I like PDFs as well as hardcovers and I think they are making it harder on us gamers not having them. Plus I'm sure all of the books have been scanned, I've seen people looking up things on devices at my FLGS, so piracy will happen regardless.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

I really dislike paying again for stuff I've already bought.

But you haven't bought it. You bought a book. You haven't bought the digital product. Why do you expect go get two products for the price of one?

 

[Jester David]

http://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d...sed-feedback-character-builder?page=127#c2593


In other words, you're using illegal PDF copies.

If you own the books, format shifting is legal. As was the case with putting a physical CD onto your computer or uploading it to your smartphone.
With free scanner apps and high Rez cameras, everyone is 30 minutes away from a full PDF.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

If you own the books, format shifting is legal. As was the case with putting a physical CD onto your computer or uploading it to your smartphone.
With free scanner apps and high Rez cameras, everyone is 30 minutes away from a full PDF.

So go do that then and stop complaining about not paying for something you don't want or need?

 

[CapnZapp]

If you own the books, format shifting is legal. As was the case with putting a physical CD onto your computer or uploading it to your smartphone.
With free scanner apps and high Rez cameras, everyone is 30 minutes away from a full PDF.

I'm not sure why you make that claim. Perhaps it's possible to do it in 30 minutes in theory, but not in practice.

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