D&D General Is D&D Beyond Exclusivity Bad for D&D?

[SlyFlourish]

To be clear for my own part, I do not think there is anything wrong with using a service like Beyond or buying things in digital format that could (and probably will) go away at some point. I have a lot of money invested in Fantasy grounds VTT and I am sure someday that will all go up in smoke. But I do not own anything on FG that I can ONLY get on FG. When I buy a thing for FG, I am paying for the convenience of running it with the VTT. I can (and often do) buy it in another format. What I object to is Beyond exclusivity because you can't own it otherwise.

I thought Fantasy Grounds could be downloaded and backed up and all of that. Is that not true? There are the practical aspects of getting it up and running from a backup on new hardware or software if the company no longer provides it. That's a problem with Foundry too. Big complicated software doesn't necessarily last forever even with the best of intentions.

 

[SlyFlourish]

Such as? I can't say I'm an expert but I can't think of what you could be referring to.

If I tell you, will it change your mind?

 

[SlyFlourish]

Do you mean items that were available for purchase no longer being purchaseable, or that purchased items are removed from our libraries?

Because I certainly don't recall the latter.

Material removed from products purchased on D&D Beyond.

 

[AlViking]

If I tell you, will it change your mind?

If you know an example or two is there any reason not to provide specifics?

 

[SlyFlourish]

If you know an example or two is there any reason not to provide specifics?

I'll take that as a "no". I'm glad you're happy with the current state of things. God speed!

 

[AlViking]

I'll take that as a "no". I'm glad you're happy with the current state of things. God speed!

You made a claim that they've removed content. Until I see a specific example I'm not going to have an answer. If they've removed content it shouldn't be hard to provide an example or two.

 

[saviirkad]

Material removed from products purchased on D&D Beyond.

Oh, I think I know what you're talking about now, that one Eberron "pre-release" product that got updated to the "true" release version? I do really wish I had saved the early version of it before it had changed. I was given forewarning, just didn't think of it at the time.

Edit: must've autocorrected to "don't"

 

[AlViking]

Oh, I think I know what you're talking about now, that one Eberron "pre-release" product that got updated to the "true" release version? I do really wish I had saved the early version of it before it had changed. I was given forewarning, just didn't think of it at the time.

Edit: must've autocorrected to "don't"

But if something is labeled pre-release then it's kind of right there in the label. It's kind of like saying I don't have the book I originally purchased because errata was applied - technically true but not really a bad thing.

Without a single example I'm not going to speculate on whether or not I'd change my mind because it feels like a trick question just setting up a gotcha.

 

[mamba]

If you think 2024 is going another 10 years well buddy I dunno what to tell you but the ain't the way the world works. Sheesh by 2030, 2024 would have been out for 6 years, which is basically as long as 4E lasted. You really think 2024 will go longer than that?

I think 2030 is kind of the lower end for when we could possibly see a 6e, or at least another refresh. There is no chance we get anything 6e related in 2027, and I would not be surprised if that were true for 2030 as well

 

[SlyFlourish]

Oh, I think I know what you're talking about now, that one Eberron "pre-release" product that got updated to the "true" release version? I do really wish I had saved the early version of it before it had changed. I was given forewarning, just didn't think of it at the time.

Edit: must've autocorrected to "don't"

Ha! I forgot about that one! That wasn't the one I was thinking of.

Ok, I know it's not changing minds here but that's ok. It's not your minds I need to change.

They errata'd a bunch of lore out of Volo's Guide and updated DDB, taking it out of the one people paid for. Sure, maybe some folks didn't care, but it's a clear case of them removing material people paid for.