this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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D&D Next - 5e Discussion
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Since the OGL situation I've purchased Glory of the Giants and let my D&DBeyond master subscription renew (on the annual rate). Prior to 2023, I purchased all 5e content available on D&DBeyond (I'd download a PDF online of any D&DBeyond content I owned), and now I limit myself to the content that actually really excites me, and I've tripled the amount of 3rd party content and different systems I own too. The majority of my players wouldn't have even been aware of the OGL situation if I hadn't kept them posted.
I actually really value 5e as a game and D&DBeyond as a toolset, and they currently offer no content that I find off-putting. In my case, I find this virtual tabletop more useful to me than Owlbear Rodeo which was my previous preference due to the automatic integration. I'm seeking the most convenient way to offer fun content to my players at no cost to them and this fits the requirements perfectly while being easier for them to pick up than mixing third party content.
When the OGL situation happened, I was fully prepared to boycott Hasbro permanently, then they reversed their intentions and released the SRD under the creative commons which was a huge step of good faith that nobody expected. It's not logical to demonise them after they tried their best to apologise and block themselves from ever doing this again, but it's reasonable to take a more measured approach to their content going forward, and this doesn't clash with that for me.
@Khrux @Observer1199
I mean, I use it, of course. But, they are a horrible money hungry corporation, no doubt.
That being said, so is Walmart, and Amazon, and temu.
And where else you gonna find stuff that cheap?
Like it on not wotc has a lock on integration, just like Google.
And in the end Integration is what people want and will pay for.
...i concur; it's a solid tool for general reference, sharing content, managing characters + campaigns, and this new map tool-in-progess feels like a snap to integrate with that same workflow...
...while there are many legitimate criticisms of WotC or hasbro, as long as DnDbeyond remains a best-in-class tool for what it does, i'm happy keep using it where it suits my needs...
@Khrux @Observer1199 but... they only did "the right thing" after trying very hard to do "the wrong thing" for several months, and only gave in when a wave of RPG celebrities threatened to boycott DnD and launch rival products. WotC is not operating in anything resembling good faith. They will do anything to get your money, full stop.
I don't think they understand their customer community at all, much less care about them in any genuine fashion.
@Khrux gotta be honest, not a fan of someone dictating what is or isn’t logical when making decisions of what games to support.
I only really mean to say my point of view in response to the question.
I do. I'm waiting for the service to change in a way that impacts me negatively
Really? That feels a lot like saying "I'm waiting to get shot at before I start looking for cover."
The vast majority of people go for convenience over morality.
Look at reddit, it hardly lost users.dndbeyond is really convenient.
With maps they're competing on features instead of legal stuff.
It might even make roll20 get off their ass and make it more usable.
I love your optimism
My players would have nowhere to make character sheets. They like the digital "do it for me" style.
Roll20's got a charactermancer that walks you through the steps the exact same way. You have to own the sourcebooks for whatever class/race/background, but even if you don't, you can go back and edit in the things you don't want to pay for, which IMO is a huge step up from Beyond where it will prevent you from using homebrew that it thinks is too close to source that you haven't bought.
If.. you invest time the roll20 charactermancer might be great.
But for me and many others dndbeyond is much more usable.
Roll20 has the current-IP, they sadly fail to make it really easy.
My hopes are on https://app.demiplane.com/nexus/5e
I've never had an issue home brewing stuff that's close to my nondigital content. Or even using it. Just can't publish it for people outside of my campaign. But within the campaign it's anything goes.
Anyways, I'm in a funny pickle because if I buy everything on roll20 then I'm paying WotC again. If I just move my group over to there without buying... I have to homebrew every class feature for them, which is a nightmare.
So I'm just going to use ddb for as long as I can until they make me not want to anymore.