How will WOTC monetize One D&D?

[MonsterEnvy]

I’m game. Name another possibility that aligns with those statements.

What other ways can d&d one monetize the 80% other than micro transactions or paid subscription or some combination of the 2?

A subscription for the VTT is probably what will happen. I don’t really have any issues with that.

 

[Zardnaar]

I never paid for the paid ammo, I do not know if anyone does. (Expect by accident once or twice). You can buy it for silver.

I was playing the first time in years the other day on a free account. I know the tricks to make the most of it.

It's always neen pay to reduce grind but they have gone into pay to win and loot boxes. Used to pay monthly subscription.

Gotta be very careful on free account with gold shells and consumables.

The only thing that makes it tolerable is the Christmas special. The game is kinda fun then.

They also nerfed srtu which was s poor man's go to. The gold shells deal more damage and the power creep on the armor is insane combined with tunnel maps.

WoT is less a game vs pay to have fun.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I was playing the first time in years the other day on a free account. I know the tricks to make the most of it.

It's always neen pay to reduce grind but they have gone into pay to win and loot boxes. Used to pay monthly subscription.

Gotta be very careful on free account with gold shells and consumables.

The only thing that makes it tolerable is the Christmas special. The game is kinda fun then.

They also nerfed srtu which was s poor man's go to. The gold shells deal more damage and the power creep on the armor is insane combined with tunnel maps.

WoT is less a game vs pay to have fun.

I did fire up the game on console ( I was a console player and that game drifted from the PC version a lot) recently but did not play for long enough to figure out the changes.
Loot boxes were a thing before I stopped but I never considered them worth it. But is is "SRTU"?

 

[Velderan]

Good thing WotC expressly said that they don't want the VTT to become like a digital game. That's one of the first things they stated in the reveal, is that they need it to keep the focus on the live gameplay of D&D and not feel like a video game.

The VTT obviously is intended to make money by giving players something that they want. I don't see a problem with that. I like when companies make something that I want to buy. I have a ton of terrain from Dwarven Forge and miniatures from Wizkids, Reaper, and many others. Were they exploiting me? WotC wants to make a digital version of that stuff and if I am interested I will buy some of it (I might be; depends on cost, ease of use, and how much virtual play I see myself doing).

Maybe I am misreading it, but your post seems to suggest a sort of conspiratorial mind-set on the part of WotC. I haven't really encountered much from WotC over the years that has made me view them in that way. I equate them with great value for my entertainment dollar.

I think the comparison you could make for the new VTT to a video game is the large sums of money video game companies have made selling optional cosmetic stuff as microtransactions. They're 100% optional so I don't see them as problematic. They're easy to avoid if you don't like them.

As others have mentioned in this and other threads, I'm sure the new VTT will have a few subscription levels from a free tier that I'd guess would allow you access to the stuff contained in the free core rule set that's currently available to a player focused tier and a more expensive DM focused tier. The current pricing model for DDB seems about right if you want to keep it priced low enough to encourage usage ($3/month for a player, $6/month for a DM). Buying an adventure likely gives you the associated maps and monsters you'd need to play them. Making the subscriptions seem like a good value to encourage more players to pay and offering a lot of cosmetic items for players to make their 3D model look like they want are all good reasonable ways to monetize the new VTT and fit the recurring spending they're looking to achieve IMO.

The fearmongering about WotC selling advantage rolls and unlocking feats through microtransactions is pretty ridiculous from my perspective.

 

[Clint_L]

So, my worry about the VTT isn't that it will force deceptive micro-transactions like Fortnite or anything like that. And I think the "pay to win" alarm is ridiculous; D&D just doesn't work like that and if they implemented something like "pay $$$ so your fireball does extra damage" they would be destroying their own game. WotC are not idiots, nor have they ever been malevolent. So the fear them suddenly becoming malevolent idiots does not keep me awake at night.

My one concern, and it may not even be a concern, is that the VTT is likely to put more of the financial burden on DMs who, as WotC acknowledge, already provide the overwhelming majority of purchases for the game. Take, well, me for example. I spend a freaking fortune on terrain and miniatures. And I am not complaining - it's a hobby that I am passionate about, and I love painting the stuff, building sets, etc. But the VTT has the potential to create a lot more "me-s."

Imagine being able to purchase all the maps in digital form and populate them with digital characters and monsters, similar to what we saw in the preview. And imagine that it was easy to use, and you could then use those resources to make your own maps. Maybe you've always wanted to do that the old school way, like many of us did, but the cost was prohibitive. But for, say, $50, you can get all the digital terrain tiles and creatures to run Tomb of Annihilation, or anything else you want to build with those resources. And then adding all the Rime of the Frostmaiden stuff for another $50 starts to look pretty good...

And that is exactly what WotC is proposing, though they haven't come close to announcing any price schemes yet.

This actually sounds pretty great to me. But my concern is that this does not remotely address the issue that WotC raised: that the game primarily monetizes DMs. I think the VTT is another thing that DMs will mostly pay for - cosmetic upgrades to character avatars will be a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of digital terrain and miniatures collections.

 

[MockingBird]

I might have already said this but ima say it again. I'd happily pay a subscription for official D&D STL files for 3d printing. I'm already doing it with Loot Studios.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

To be honest I would make a paid subscription to D&DBeyond to get info from D&DBeyond into other VTTs. If they were doing that.

 

[Zardnaar]

I did fire up the game on console ( I was a console player and that game drifted from the PC version a lot) recently but did not play for long enough to figure out the changes.
Loot boxes were a thing before I stopped but I never considered them worth it. But is is "SRTU"?

That's my fat thumbs on phones. I meant arty. Arty was decent to play on a free account.

 

[MNblockhead]

Ummm… cannot play on the VTT together and account share. Everyone would need an account for that.

Why?

I can't remember a VTT I've used that required my players to pay for their own accounts. I'm sure that WotC's VTT with have a DM's tier that allows content sharing for at least a certain number of players for a certain number of campaigns.

 

[MNblockhead]

It is hard to get more money out of players. If they got rid of the generous content sharing they currently offer in DDB, I think it would harm their efforts to make DDB the hub for all things D&D.

Where they really seem to be leaving money on the table in terms of player spend is with for-pay games. If they build into their VTT to make it possible for DMs to advertise and charge for games, with WotC taking a small cut, that would be the best way to get money from players. I know that there would be howls of sacrilege from many in the community, but the existence of sites like startplaying.games and Roll20's Find a Game feature show that their is demand for this.

They could also create services for streamers. Not sure it makes sense to try to compete with Twitch, but perhaps they could offer a tier that would more seamlessly integrate their VTT with Twitch and would help market and boost streams on DnD Beyonds site, WotC's YouTube sites, etc.

There is a very limited amount of custom dice, character skins, character sheet backgrounds, and other eye candy that players are going to buy.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

My prediction is that one way or another they're going to try to make both a monthly subscription and microtransactions happen. What it will look like, how aggressively they push it, to what degree they will abandon existing business models, how far they will be willing to test customers' loyalty to official content to try to make them pay a monthly fee and microtransact in some capacity, and how committed the actual relevant design teams are to making it happen in an effective way are all very up in the air, but it's coming. There is a fundamental element in this whole OneD&D project of not just doing what they think is good for the game but of doing what will let the people in charge of the game make claims about its future that will look good in a Powerpoint presentation to Hasbro executives who don't really understand these book games of ours but at least think they understand videogames. And monthly subscriptions and microtransactions are the things that will put little executive smiles on those stony executive faces.

But I suspect some of the people actually implementing these things would be even happier if subscriptions and microtransactions mostly failed and banner sales of books meant that nobody really cared, so it may well be attempted in a rather limited and perfunctory manner.

 

[Mistwell]

Movies, AAA video games, toys, board games, branded household products, miniatures for the new VTT, subscription to the new VTT.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

my guess (and what I would do if I had to do it) is lobster boiling in a pot.

Start with "Oh the book is $50, but you can get it on our stream service electronically for $25" lead to "Oh you can get a subscription for ALL the books this year... there will be 3-5 at $40-$50 each but the subscription is $119.99 for the year or $13.99 per month" then go with "You can add the VTT with all these 2D minis and import monsters right from our books its $4.99 a month of $49.99 a year OR if you already have the $119.99 book sub you can add a year of this at half price and it's only $142.99 per year." then add "Oh we have these rare special monsters not in any book you can only buy online set 1 is $9.99, sets 2 and 3 will both be out later this year OR you can just add all the special monster packs for $19.99 a year"

People who start off with "Hey save half to get it online instead of physical" get turned into $170 a year customers... people who would say "I don't know I don't need all 3 books out this year for $150" will be saying "I got a deal I got my Vtt all my add ons and all those books for ONLY $170"

(Warning all numbers made up and in no way reflect what will or will not happen just kept using them as example)

 

[Scribe]

Your Tabaxi glaive echo knight fighter will cost 5 bucks each for the tabaxi head, snow leapard skin, glaive weapon, cape, and echo effect.
Then if you want to import that to the MMO and tactics game, that $25 dollars each unless you have DNDB Premium.

See now, a fully featured MMO, would get me to subscribe to something, assuming it was actually good. Then fill the cash shop with options like you say here, and your on to something.

 

[Clint_L]

It is hard to get more money out of players.

Tell me about it! Amirite, fellow DMs?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Tell me about it! Amirite, fellow DMs?

I keep being told there are Dms that get paid for it... I am just not that guy

 

[Clint_L]

I get paid for running a D&D summer camp, which includes a lot of DMing, but the pay is not great considering the hours that go into it, and I don't want to ask my school to pay me for all the prep time or I'm afraid the camp will become unaffordable. (I got paid $40/hour but I only charged for my hours literally running games with the kids).

But I really like that I can call myself a professional Dungeon Master!

 

[corwyn77]

my guess (and what I would do if I had to do it) is lobster boiling in a pot.

If it's anything like this, 5.0 will be the last edition I buy.

 

[Clint_L]

my guess (and what I would do if I had to do it) is lobster boiling in a pot.

Start with "Oh the book is $50, but you can get it on our stream service electronically for $25" lead to "Oh you can get a subscription for ALL the books this year... there will be 3-5 at $40-$50 each but the subscription is $119.99 for the year or $13.99 per month" then go with "You can add the VTT with all these 2D minis and import monsters right from our books its $4.99 a month of $49.99 a year OR if you already have the $119.99 book sub you can add a year of this at half price and it's only $142.99 per year." then add "Oh we have these rare special monsters not in any book you can only buy online set 1 is $9.99, sets 2 and 3 will both be out later this year OR you can just add all the special monster packs for $19.99 a year"

People who start off with "Hey save half to get it online instead of physical" get turned into $170 a year customers... people who would say "I don't know I don't need all 3 books out this year for $150" will be saying "I got a deal I got my Vtt all my add ons and all those books for ONLY $170"

(Warning all numbers made up and in no way reflect what will or will not happen just kept using them as example)

The thing is...that would be an incredible deal compared to buying physical miniatures and terrain. I have spent upwards of 2k this year (maybe way upwards; I've lost track). So what you described would be all the books PLUS all the terrain and miniatures to run them at a fraction, less than 10%, of what I currently spend.

I enjoy painting and collecting terrain, so I'm not complaining. But if I was younger and more tech savvy, a plan like the one you describe would be an incredible bargain.

If it's anything like this, 5.0 will be the last edition I buy.

That's the whole idea of OneD&D.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

If it's anything like this, 5.0 will be the last edition I buy.

Oh I agree... I in no way was saying it was what i wanted or was what i would go with as a customer... My group is torn right now as to weather to go to 1D&D or not