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

[Reynard]

I wanted to move this discussion out of the new AP thread out of respect for folks that want to talk about, you know, that.

So here we have a place where we can debate the question of whether WotC's apparent leaning into D&D Beyond exclusivity -- meaning not just not offering their digital books elsewhere, but actively putting otu things that will only appear on Beyond -- is bad for D&D and/or bad for customers.

I will not obscure my opinion: Beyond exclusitvity is bad, full stop. It is a crass bludgeon meant to drive people to that platform, and it stinks of the enshittification of D&D. I will not support Beyond, and am pretty sure it is time to stop supporting WotC overall.

Part and parcel with this is the debate about PDFs, which WotC is completely schizophrenic about. Old D&D stuff? Fine! Partnered content? Fine! But official 5E material -- HELL NO (except when it is not "hell no). The reason PDFs matter is PDFs are something you can own. And, IMO, no, forcing customers to make PDFs of badly formatted web pages is not a solution -- it is an insult.

SO that's my perspective, laid out. What's yours?

A note: I know many of us are going to disagree, but let's please try and not attack ONE ANOTHER even if we feel thew need to attack opinions. As @Umbran is almost certain to have to say, let's not make it personal.

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm of two minds. I have no issue with exclusive content. It's just a game, not food or water. They need to make money, I'm ok with that. It really doesn't effect me if I don't own something.

I really world like PDFs and to own content. I just download my dndbeyond stuff. Yes, it's ugly, but for adventures it's generally usable. But I would really prefer to own content rather than lease it. I really, really, want to own content like this that I pay full price for. If I can only lease it, charge less.

 

[payn]

Meh. I think D&D is taking the step into the beyond (pun intended) with online exclusives. Maybe its the next wave, maybe its a bad move? Im just glad D&D is making it and not an RPG that would likely go out of existence doing it.

 

[Marc17]

I don't think it is bad. It is probably good for the continued existence of D&D as it does provide a service some people want which causes a good revenue stream for D&D. Do I like it? Will I even use it? Probably not. I'm also not interested in renting non-PDF versions of books. Also haven't forgotten the betrayal over OGL. Not that particularly interested in a VTT. I do think they'll probably start adjusting rules so they are easier to do in the code of DDB, but not sure that will affect quality at all. Of course, if they go full online, it will probably kill D&D for me, at least of the current version, whatever it is.

 

[Scribe]

So here we have a place where we can debate the question of whether WotC's apparent leaning into D&D Beyond exclusivity -- meaning not just not offering their digital books elsewhere, but actively putting otu things that will only appear on Beyond -- is bad for D&D and/or bad for customers.

I will not obscure my opinion: Beyond exclusitvity is bad, full stop. It is a crass bludgeon meant to drive people to that platform, and it stinks of the enshittification of D&D. I will not support Beyond, and am pretty sure it is time to stop supporting WotC overall.

Yes, to all of this.

 

[whimsychris123]

It’s only bad if it starts affecting book content. If they start publishing exclusive content that really belonged in one of the books, then I’m annoyed and won’t be purchasing books (or any WotC stuff). To me, D&D is a game I play with books. My players use D&DBeyond, it’s a helpful tool, but I don’t want to be “forced” to use it as a supplement to the books, essentially forking out more money to make a book playable.

 

[Remathilis]

When I want to own something, I buy a hardcover. From my LGS.

I consider Beyond no different than watching a show on streaming (Netflix, Disney+) or listening to a song on Spotify or YouTube Music. Or maybe better, buying a cosmetic in a Liveservice game like WoW or Fortnite. At any minute any and all of those things can or will fail. Movies get pulled, servers shut down. The only safe play is physical media: books, records, CDs or DvDs.

So if Beyond wants to put some trinket on their platform and it's something I'm interested in (or better, is free) I have no qualm with it. No more than I have when a streaming service has an exclusive show. If I want to keep it forever, buy it in physical media.

 

[Alzrius]

I think it's a bad thing. I can live with stuff being sold exclusively on one store; there's a lot of stuff on DriveThruRPG that isn't on Paizo's store, or itch.io, or the Open Gaming Store, etc. But I'm not a fan of treating tabletop RPGs like streaming content, where you're paying for access; I prefer to own materials that I might want to reference months or even years after they come out. While I mostly prefer physical books, my limited shelf space means that I'm willing to settle for PDFs, but Beyond's having stuff that I can only view if I log into their portal is a bridge too far.

Particularly given that websites on the Internet tend to have a relatively short lifespan. WotC, in particular, doesn't have the best track record where the longevity of their online offerings are concerned. While I know that physical things are one flood or fire away from being destroyed, I can take measures to at least prepare for force majeure; I can't really do the same for the whims of some C-suite executive.

 

[Lanefan]

When I want to own something, I buy a hardcover. From my LGS.

Same here.

I think the OP is pointing to an emerging future, however, where that hardcover won't exist. The material will only be accessible through DDB.

So if Beyond wants to put some trinket on their platform and it's something I'm interested in (or better, is free) I have no qualm with it. No more than I have when a streaming service has an exclusive show. If I want to keep it forever, buy it in physical media.

Agreed, provided that physical media is available to buy.

More and more movies simply aren't being released on physical media any more, after their in-theatre days are done. You can't buy them. Instead, for any given movie you have to figure out which streaming service it's on and subscribe to that, hoping the movie you want to watch happens to be in their viewable lineup at the moment.

And they wonder why piracy is so popular.......

 

[ECMO3]

I don't see it as bad. You can still buy all the major books in print.