Gamespy interview

[Zaran]

I don't like the fact that not only will we have to pay a subscription cost that they are also talking about having to buy virtual minatures. Especially since they would only last as long as we keep our subscriptions.

 

[BlackTiger]

My hope on paying for digital minis is that it'll be an unnecessary, premium aspect. After all, we are hoping to at least get basic minis and counters for all the core monsters, and we have a nearly limitless collection of PC miniatures in the character visualizer. That's already a hell of a lot more miniatures than most people have in their physical collection. Something from core can be found to stand in for most monsters just like you do when you only have a few minis at home, and every PC can have exactly the miniature they want, customized for them.

 

[Glyfair]

For those of you with a short memory, you might not recall that Hasbro sold the D&D electronic rights to Atari (Infogrammes) some time ago. Last year those rights were extended to 2017 with the press release saying (in part):

"the extension until 2017 of the exploitation of the intellectual property rights to the Dungeons & Dragons universe, under an exclusive license covering all interactive formats, including online and wireless."​

So they simply can't "pull the license back" as some of you suggest.

Indeed, they extended the license at the same time they bought back the rights to interactive version of their more popular games (Monopoly, etc). Hasbro was likely using the D&D rights as a bargaining chip to get back the interactive rights on the properties they are focused on.

 

[Truth Seeker]

I am also glad...it will not replace the tabletop action outright. Seeing someone's else reaction to a situation is more priceless, than a computed dice roll.