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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cergorach" data-source="post: 9748473" data-attributes="member: 725">The reality is that depending on the occasion we would love to play in person, BUT... Our group of friends moved all over the country, and some moved to different countries. Playing every other week in person just isn't an option, especially not when a player is on the other side of the globe. We're also in a point in our lives where travelling for four hours to play another four hours isn't at all desirable, even the folks that only have to travel two hours prefer to spend those with their kids instead.We've moved on to get together once or twice a year depending on when our overseas friend is back in town and spend a weekend playing games, including D&D. But Online is here to stay, whether some WotC manager wants it that way or not...They could easily have pulled that off eventually, but it needed to be good, affordable, accessible, and in massive amounts of choice. That would have taken dedication, patience, and oodles of resources. Something WotC/Hasbro obviously doesn't have.Also note that a year before WotC closed Sigil down, they started licensing D&D to far more capable VTTs (like Foundry), that could already do their stuff in 3D (as an option) and they were missing out partly because folks either imported their DND Beyond stuff into their VTT via a 3rd party or they just used a fan site to import stuff without paying anything (Arrr matey! Piracy of the worst sort! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ). So they started licensing their IP out so they could get more of the pie. Mean while something like TaleSpire was already doing 3D VTT so darned well via Steam, cross platform (Win/Mac), that a Sigil would need to fight an uphill battle...I've bought every official D&D Foundry VTT module to date (it's only been six), at $30/module, no printing, transportation, storage cost/fees, and no tariffs. I've been forced to look at some pretty darned good PF2e modules because at the time, there was almost NO official D&D modules. Two hundred buck on tokens and a carddeck, $120 for a adventure/campaign (Kingmaker), and that just on PF2e modules (besides PDFs and Bundles). Spend quite a bit on other FVTT modules, probably ~$1500 in the last 2,5 years, with probably another $500 on related services and software. I wouldn't spend that on WotC services, not because I wouldn't want to, but because I don't trust them to keep it up and running. But looking at what people spend on (a previously ancient) VTT like Roll20, it can be BIG business, especially when you not only own the VTT, but also the IP. You could get a big cut from third party sellers on the platform for doing very little. Essentially becoming the Valve/Steam for VTTs...Keep in mind that folks have a budget. When people normally bought books, only a VERY small part of the MSRP would end up in the hands of WotC, retailers, distributors, transport, storage, printing, etc. All cost a LOT, when previously they only got maybe 30% of a $60 book ($18), now they could keep the whole $30 they would ask for a purly digital product. (excluding payment costs). And they could still sell the physical books AND the digital products for their 3D VTT. And if they did it well, they could also sell STLs of the monsters for an adventure... Maybe create multiple different subscriptions, etc. Services like text-to-speech (read aloud texts), AI/LLM integration (generating text), image generation based on their image catalogue, speech-to-text for gaming logs, world building, blog space, campaign tracking, etc.But alas, they threw up their hands and screamed "DIFFICULT!" and walked away... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

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