D&D (2024) The Very Real Possibility and Impact of Microtransactions in One D&D

[doctorbadwolf]

You mean those 12 years before they talked to their shareholders about monetizing their players in a manner that was suspiciously similar to the language used by video game companies like Electronic Arts? I get it, I'm the odd man out here. If you guys don't think there's anything worry about, well, I don't share your optimism but I hope you're right.

There are not the levers for them to pull to actually do what you’re suggesting, is the thing. They can’t sell character upgrades, they can’t block people from playing in person, how are they going to do what you think they’re going to do?

I guess I'm confused.

Microtransactions are already here.

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I think what folks are worried about it predatory microtransactions, but everyone just says microtransactions. But like…”pay to win” MTs just aren’t really plausible for a TTRPG.

This would be cool, which is why I expect them to try to come up with a character builder that is competitive with Heroforge's. They are trying to get more money out of players rather than DMs, and a super awesome character customizer with animation options, etc. seems like a given.

Yeah man I’ve been wanting that since 4e’s digital tools were announced. I use HeroForge for all my PCs, and a lot of NPCs, just to have a visual representation.

If I could put them into my DDB character sheet for the same PC, and have both integrate seemlessly with a 3D VTT? I might start putting the VTT on the big TV when I run games.

 

[Blue]

It's no secret that the future of Dungeons & Dragons is riddled with microtransactions and subscriptions.

It's no truth, either.

Now, that they will have these for DnDBeyond - they already have. That they will likely have them for a VTT? I can believe. That me playing around my dining room table with books will have them?

That's where your "future" is anything but.

So, let's change this. IF, and ONLY IF, you want digital tools, and go on their official ecosystem, you will likely (continue) to have microtransactions and subscriptions. Not as part of the future of D&D, but as a continuation of a trend that will only affect the digital end of the game.

Stop fearmongering.

 

[Umbran]

Not really, because you get to keep the book (or pdf). If it's digital, it can get yanked at any time.

Boogeyman. In theory, it can be yanked. In practice, yanking content is a customer relations issue. Yanking en masse would be a large customer relations issue - you'd need to have a lot of profit hanging on taking things away to make it worthwhile.

 

[Faolyn]

Boogeyman. In theory, it can be yanked. In practice, yanking content is a customer relations issue. Yanking en masse would be a large customer relations issue - you'd need to have a lot of profit hanging on taking things away to make it worthwhile.

Didn't DDB do something very similar with monsters, though, removing parts of the older descriptions and statblocks from VGM and MTF in favor of MPMM, rather than allowing both to exist?

 

[Faolyn]

I guess I'm confused.

Microtransactions are already here.

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OK, I realize this is to incentivize people to buy the entire book, but $2 for a single feat!? That's beyond ridiculous. I was assuming, like, $5 for all the feats, at most.

 

[cbwjm]

Didn't DDB do something very similar with monsters, though, removing parts of the older descriptions and statblocks from VGM and MTF in favor of MPMM, rather than allowing both to exist?

They marked the first two books as legacy and removed them from the site but they are still available to those who already purchased them.

 

[Clint_L]

OK, I realize this is to incentivize people to buy the entire book, but $2 for a single feat!? That's beyond ridiculous. I was assuming, like, $5 for all the feats, at most.

I agree! That seems overpriced, to me, especially considering the price of some other things you can buy in chunks.

But really, this is just a supply and demand issue. Presumably, if no one buys a feat for 2 bucks the price will come down.

I have learned from many years of collecting miniatures that sometimes what I see as ridiculous is more than worth it to someone else.

 

[Oofta]

I agree! That seems overpriced, to me, especially considering the price of some other things you can buy in chunks.

But really, this is just a supply and demand issue. Presumably, if no one buys a feat for 2 bucks the price will come down.

I have learned from many years of collecting miniatures that sometimes what I see as ridiculous is more than worth it to someone else.

Yup. The fact that people will spend $400 on a wizkids dragon mini still boggles my mind. But it's their money and they feel it's worth it.

No one's forcing them to buy it, just like no one will be able to force microtransactions on people.

 

[Umbran]

Didn't DDB do something very similar with monsters, though, removing parts of the older descriptions and statblocks from VGM and MTF in favor of MPMM, rather than allowing both to exist?

I still see items from VGM still present, labelled as "Legacy". So, while I think people feared they'd remove those items, they left them clearly marked instead.

 

[Umbran]

OK, I realize this is to incentivize people to buy the entire book, but $2 for a single feat!? That's beyond ridiculous. I was assuming, like, $5 for all the feats, at most.

Well, they also have the practice of knocking that price off the book, if you eventually choose to buy it.

So, I think part of the pricing is a bit of incentive for you to just buy the whole thing.