The D&D Beyond Disaster Just Got Worse!

WoTC just walked back a decision to only use the 2024 rules with the D&D Beyond character generator tools. But is this a symptom of larger problem. (Ep. 412)

[SadPenguinInSnow]

No paper character sheet in the 2024 PHB and no version to download just yet. Writing is on the wall for where Hasbro is headed.

[dane]

Now we understand why WoTC is so eager to get older players out of the hobby. They want to be left alone with the children so they can take advantage of them.

[zaneaguilar]

The joke segment with your son being irresponsible and messy was funny and personable. It was definitely a dad-type joke to pull, and made me feel like you were not only a Youtuber, but a family friend.

I LOVE ALL DUNGEON CRAFT VIDEOS!

[renzopinasco]

i started playing with the basic set in 1989 in Peru. We used a photocopy a friend lent us and we started from there. In those times, it was very hard to get any material as Peru was going through terrible times and we almost had no imports. We would ask any friend that we knew was travelling to the US to see if they could find any DnD material and we used what we could. Years passed and Peru got better economically so we could find DnD books locally, still very limited, but we could find some things. We then played 1e and loved it. Loved the complexity and the "realism". We then migrated to 2e in 1992 and loved it even more. We played through our high school years, made a pause in college, and then retook the hobby after college up to 2003. Ive played scarcely with some college friends between 2003 and 2014. Work, family and stuff didnt make it possible to play more. Then 5e came out and we gather around our old friends from high school and started playing alongside 2e too and we keep playing up to this day. I have played with pencil and paper, with home made paper dice filled with candle wax, cassette´s boxes were used as dungeon walls when we got hold of some miniatures, we lost some paper dice to glasses filled with coke and others by violent fits of frustration when a black dragon killed our paladin. (the dice got under a friends foot - paper dice failed its death save). In all those years, never have thought to pay a monthly fee for the material published. The game was not developed that way in any edition interaction and, for me, this time will not be any different. DnD will always be the pen and paper game my friends and myself love, with maybe some use of technology nowadays, but never a videogame like game. NEVER.

[zombiehampster]

The other aspect about the whole subscription fee is that they'll try to get everyone in at a relatively lower cost, and then once they have a sizeable population, expect those fees to go up, ala Netflix, Amazon, Disney, etc. It's an RPG Roach motel in concept. DnD players go in...and don't come out.

[FettTheWatcher]

Remember when computers were new and you could just outright own a program. Now everything from office programs to games all require a subscription to use. You literally can’t outright own things like this anymore, they pushing more and more for temporary licenses to use a product. This is honestly a bunch of bs

[onlythatonetime]

"I can't turn my paper on" is a problem no one ever had. Yay for analog!

[nordri]

It may take a while, but eventially people will realize that imagination doesn't cost anything.

[EcowarriorII]

I’m 5 months into a DCC campaign and have been loving the pen and paper tactile experience. A player forgot their character sheet they remade in 3 minutes. Players are learning more and more to ask “can I”. They aren’t digging through their tablets for their special action/ per short rest and I”m loving it.

[treed]

Their timing is horrible. With the cost of living reaching untenable limits, this is not the time to discriminate your game from the competition by being the only one that costs a monthly subscription to play.

[ericsimoneau]

Yup im old and will never use DnD beyond. Not because i dont use phones or computers but because its a cash grab.

[Porphyrogenitus]

> Imagine canceling an in-person PnP RPG session because "the internet is down"

Whew lads. The mind wobbles.

[JustAnotherJarhead]

Let me be the first to say: SCREW Cynthia Williams.
" unlock " access to my wallet? After you already rifled through it, taking what you want for the books and the privilege of using your product.

We made a mistake as a Society by giving in to these software subscriptions like Microsoft .

There was a time when they did not have subscriptions, we should have stood our ground.

I try to imagine, How would things have gone in the 80s if D&D was priced like this ?

[Benjamin-lff]

I bought the pdf of Swords & Wizardry (Complete Rulebook) and printed it. And I now have a complete rpg, for very little money, that I can use for years. I add regularly homebrew rules like : reckless melee attack : +2 to hit, and -2 to AC.

[franklee]

To me, it seems like WotC is doing what a lot of media companies are doing and making a product for an assumed audience, which may or may not be real. Do D&D players really want to do video game subscription services? Do D&D players really want to do a WoW style game? Do D&D players want to make micro-transactions a part of their RPG experience?

There are certainly people who like D&D, and there are certainly people who like Candy Crush, but just mushing demographics together in a board room and then making products for people who don't actually exist sounds like a recipe for losing money

[zxql_]

I'm someone you'd consider a young generation (90s kid) and grew up with computers all around me. But every time I see a board game that requires an app to be played, or a push for using phones/tablets to play ttrpgs I get turned off big time. One of the selling points for D&D and board games for me is PRECISELY the ability to disconnect from the internet for a time and immerse into your own imagination.

[Xgdtss]

The way they shift between promising to be better and then betraying customer yet again sets a tone that they’re not to be trusted.
They are constantly trying to make sure fans content is in jeopardy if they don’t have physical copies.

[ahabstar]

I seem to recall, once upon a time people would share or give a set of dice to a new player from their “bad dice” and we would explain a rule or pass the book around and get a consensus if it was a little vague.

Graph paper, dice, pens and pencils was all that was needed. Maybe colored pencils, crayons or watercolors if you had a really artistic thing that had to be expressed. And we certainly used coins and dice as minis when needed.

I think one important thing is there is an independent game that just got a few awards, doesn’t fight with 3rd Party developers and can quickly adapt just about any D&D module regardless of edition by substituting monster stats. Easily 1000 adventures just from Dungeon magazine alone. How many of us kids only bought core books and dice and wrote lots of adventures that could see a new life again?

[Bonobo_JoJo]

Greed will always ruin a good product. Pushing the envelope too far will force players who just want to enjoy a game, without dropping dumb money, to go back to pen and paper. Likely ignoring the new systems and rules entirely.

D&D One will likely just make the older styles more popular - not replace them.

[DM_DooM]

Every day I am happier shadowdark exists.