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

[VashVet]

I think of D&D Beyond as a service, and if I like the service that it provides when I’m playing 5e, then it’s fine. I’m not buying it to own the digital copy of the books - I’m using the service to help me run the game either online or face to face (but with devices rather than books or pdfs.) If they want to lock away content, I simply won’t use it. I’m not really a digital only gamer. I’m a physical book guy who will ALSO use digital but I very seldom rely strictly on digital.

Ultimately, I’m just not that bothered by this. I’ll flit in and out of D&D Beyond as I want but I play enough other games that I don’t see it tying me down.

 

[whimsychris123]

I want to re-state something because there seems to be a little confusion: this is not about things you can buy in other formats. This is about things that are only available in D&D Beyond. Right now, that is relatively small stuff, but we don't know what the future looks like. RIGHT NOW, they are producing D&D content that can only be purchased on Beyond. How do you feel about THAT.

You asked if exclusive content on D&DBeyond is hurting D&D. For me, D&D is books. Therefore, I don’t really care what they sell exclusively on D&DBeyond unless it starts to affect the print output. It doesn’t seem to be. Therefore, right now, I don’t really care about it.

 

[MockingBird]

I dont see no foul play by WotC offering exclusive stuff on DDB. As long as the main product line is available for physical purchase, im good with it. As long as they dont make the exclusive content required content, fair game. Just like DLC for video games.

 

[Maxperson]

Is it an issue now or not? Because right now there's only a handful of small adventures that we wouldn't have if the only option was a physical copy.

It's not a binary. They could sell downloads on DDB AND also sell PDFs so those of us who don't play on DDB and want to own our stuff could get those.

 

[cbwjm]

When I had DnDB, it was great, I had a bunch of books that I could share with my friends when we played. In general, I think DnDB is an excellent tool.

The only real issue I have with it, and it probably isn't really an issue, is that with it becoming so common place, I feel like 3rd party classes are less likely to get played simply because they aren't available on the platform. It's not just a case of bad ol' wizards won't add the class, I think it is also a case of DnDB being so easy to use that players may not want to engage with something that isn't on it (I've been guilty of this, I either don't engage or don't see it on DnDB so it may as well not exist).

Otherwise, I love digital platforms and if I was still running 5e, I'd still be subbed to DnDB.

 

[AlViking]

I dont see no foul play by WotC offering exclusive stuff on DDB. As long as the main product line is available for physical purchase, im good with it. As long as they dont make the exclusive content required content, fair game. Just like DLC for video games.

Not sure how they could ever make any content required. It will always be up to the DM and players what rules they use or do not.

That's where these things start to fall apart. First it's exclusive content then it's the microtransaction boogeyman which leads to enshitification somehow. I just don't see how it could happen. Raise the price too much? I don't have to pay for it.

 

[AlViking]

It's not a binary. They could also sell downloads on DDB AND also sell PDFs so those of us who don't play on DDB and want to own our stuff could get those.

I don't know why they don't sell PDFs and don't really care. It's their decision whether or not other companies sell them. If you want an offline copy there are options.

 

[Maxperson]

I don't know why they don't sell PDFs and don't really care. It's their decision whether or not other companies sell them. If you want an offline copy there are options.

I was just pointing out that physical only wasn't the only other option like you implied.

 

[Reynard]

If it ever happens and the price they're charging doesn't work for me I won't purchase it. What else is there to say? I could happily play D&D for the rest of my life with the rules I currently have. If DDB becomes too expensive I'll cancel my subscription and dig out my old character sheet spreadsheet.

But until then keep proclaiming ...

... any day now ... just you wait...

Which is contradicted by...


Is it an issue now or not? Because right now there's only a handful of small adventures that we wouldn't have if the only option was a physical copy.

I'm not sure how that is a contradiction since I literally use "right now" in bo0th quotes. So?...

 

[bsss]

Is it bad for D&D, the corporate-owned brand? Probably not --- I don't think it's affecting their sales negatively, and probably they make some kind of return on doing it.

Is it bad for the space around D&D, like consumer ownership, or platform choice, or other such things the community may care about more than WotC's profit? I don't see how it's a good thing, but it's hard to call it a bad thing at its current scope. It's antagonistic towards those community goals, but so are a lot of things.

That said, there's obvious potential for abuse, but per the OP's scope, they're not there yet.