Pre-Order DLC comes to D&D with Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Anyone who plays videos games knows pre-order bonuses for those willing to pay in advance of product launch. WotC's official toolset, D&D Beyond, is adopting this practice with 16 bonus feats exclusive to those who pre-order Xanathar's Guide to Everything on D&D Beyond.

View attachment 89175​

Here's what they're offering:

We're excited to announce the bonuses you will receive for pre-ordering Xanathar's Guide to Everything on D&D Beyond:
[h=4]Expanded Racial Feats[/h]You'll get access to 16 new racial feats for all the races available on D&D Beyond outside the Player's Handbook - from the aaracokra to the yuan-ti pureblood. Created by the D&D Beyond team, these feats can be used in your home games or as inspiration for your own upcoming homebrew racial feats.
[h=4]Digital Character Sheet Customization[/h]Get access to new digital character sheet image backgrounds and portrait frame options from artwork in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
[h=4]Alpha Access to the D&D Beyond Mobile App[/h]Get early alpha access to the D&D Beyond mobile app release later this year, which will include compendium/reader offline access for all the sources you've unlocked on D&D Beyond. Be among the first to help us test an exciting part of D&D Beyond's future!

The book comes out on 10th November, 2017.
[h=3][/h]

 

[Jester David]

Most third party books are licensed. Many use the Open Gaming License, officially provided by WotC.

The OGL is a very different from of "licences" than partnering directly with a company rather than just taking advantage of an open source licence and not having any contact.
It's a totally psychological difference, but there is a distinction. After all, no one at WotC likely touched Lost Tales of Myth Drannor and it's just an unofficial book blessed with official trade dress. But it feels more official.

 

[Morrus]

The OGL is a very different from of "licences" than partnering directly with a company rather than just taking advantage of an open source licence and not having any contact.
It's a totally psychological difference, but there is a distinction. After all, no one at WotC likely touched Lost Tales of Myth Drannor and it's just an unofficial book blessed with official trade dress. But it feels more official.

Licenses don’t really deal with feelings. A license is a license is a license.

 

[Jester David]

Licenses don’t really deal with feelings. A license is a license is a license.

So you don't want Lost Tales of Myth Drannor? You don't care about it any more than any other Adventurer's League adventures posted on the DMsGuild? Or, say, any of the well reviewed adventures by M.T. Black?

 

[RevTurkey]

I postulated something. Blimey, didn't know I had it in me I hope that those defending this are right and that it is just a benevolent bit of marketing. It could be perfectly harmless...but history of the videogames market suggests it also might not be etc... Slightly off topic...I love the artwork for the cover. Very nice.

 

[Coreyartus]

How do all those upset people complaining about offering incentives deal with something like Kickstarter? That's all about speculating on an unproven product, and buying into rewards for doing so, rewards that can't be had unless you invest in the product early.

Seems to me the problem with D&DBeyond is that they appear to be very very close to WotC regarding the nature of their partnership. The boundaries seem to get fuzzy--exclusive videos, etc--that seem to carry implications that D&DB's content is going to somehow be more "officially legitimate" than another 3rd Party Licensee's. The nature of their relationship seems to imply that potential exclusivity could be possible in the future, and as is typical we RPG gamers ramp up the speculation and draw conclusions because we've learned that sometimes those conclusions are accurate as much as they pan out to be false. There's a history of that in this industry, I think, and people are wary of getting promised something and then getting burned. Ultimately, what's offensive is the potential for official content behind a paywall.

On the other hand you have people saying this is a regular marketing tactic that isn't unusual. It's common to do this. And it works. And because they themselves say they're writing the content (whatever it is or might be in the future) it can't truly be "official", so there shouldn't be any worries. Our "completionist" genes, or our "responsible access" instincts don't need to take umbrage.

I think it all depends on how you view WotC's relationship with D&DBeyond. It's clear it's not like their relationships with Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds, but frankly we don't know that much about what it is nor what it might be used for in the future. And that makes us regret investing in one platform or another. And the lines between what is offered by any of them become more evident, and the distinctions become more important.

But underneath all of that is the unsettling potential that we cannot have it all. The idea that "official" content might only be accessed through specific platforms is unsettling. Mind you that exclusivity has been around for years--ENWorld's has pay-for-content offerings, for example. But what makes something "official"? What is the advantage of "official"? Is it edited better? Is it playtested better? Is it somehow imbued with proper vetting that makes its quality during play better? Does it really reduce the amount of time DMs need to examine content when it has already been "carefully examined" somehow? By whom?

Does the stamp of the rules-gurus legitimize the content of the game when it's obvious they can make mistakes themselves, that the web of rules and balance they've created is not foolproof? Or even when they say, ultimately, rules are up to each individual group playing experience? Does playing with official content only automatically improve one's game?

Why do we invest more in supplements/material that look and feel more similar to the original gaming materials, imbuing them with legitimacy? (Seriously, going through the Homebrewery and looking more legit doesn't make it higher quality...)

And, thus, does material coming from a company with an obviously unique relationship with WotC herald exclusive official paywall material?

Personally, I'm not sure I care that much... I can't consume it all anyway. Let it flow.

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

So you have to pay for the same thing twice, the physical book and the electronic data...What a ripoff!...and the price for the numeric bit is way to high ! again, a ripoff !

Alternatively, you could select one product instead of two and buy it only electronically or physically.

 

[Mercule]

I should get together with my FLGS and write them a few feats that they can hand out to anyone who pre-orders the physical book from them. In that regard, this doesn't bother me. I'm just as much a professional game developer as the crew of DDB -- maybe more, since I think I was home brewing game content before most of them were born.

The only potential issues are:
1) People still can't seem to figure out that Curse isn't a WotC subsidiary
2) DDB is the official digital tool for D&D and this'll be the only third party publisher with content in the system.

I hope they don't do this for every book released, but it's something cute while things are getting rolling. It would have been more appropriate to have done this as bonus content for those who subscribed that first week.

Either way, I would hope and expect that non-pre-order customers will be able to get this content for $1.99 (or something similar), down the road. I'm also okay with that.

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

So you don't want Lost Tales of Myth Drannor? You don't care about it any more than any other Adventurer's League adventures posted on the DMsGuild? Or, say, any of the well reviewed adventures by M.T. Black?

What does wanting it have to do with how it's licensed? There's lots of great material that is licensed under OGL and the like, I want Tales of Myth Drannor the way I wanted Tome of Beasts, or the Sterling Vermin Pugilist.

 

[ddaley]

So you have to pay for the same thing twice, the physical book and the electronic data...What a ripoff!...and the price for the numeric bit is way to high ! again, a ripoff !

I pre-ordered 2 copies of Xanathar's Guide from Amazon... funny thing is going to happen... I am going to get charged twice!!! Why do I have to pay twice for the same content! Shouldn't I get the 2nd copy for free? This is a ripoff!

 

[ddaley]

...

The only potential issues are:
...
2) DDB is the official digital tool for D&D and this'll be the only third party publisher with content in the system.
..

What does "this'll be the only third party publisher with content in the system." mean? Are you saying that Curse will be the only supplier of 3rd party content in D&D Beyond? Has it been published anywhere that they will not offer content from other parties at some point?