D&D 5E D&D Beyond: No More À La Carte Purchases But US Customers Can Buy Physical Books

WotC has announced some changes to D&D Beyond's marketplace. These include physical products (for US customers), the removal of à la carte purchases, and various navigational changes.

You can no longer buy individual feats, subclasses, etc. -- you'll need to buy the whole book. The full list of changes includes:

• US shoppers can now buy physical books
• More info on product listings, including previews
• UI improvements to makee finding your purchased content and redeeming keys easier
• No more à la carte purchases (though your previous ones still count)

 

[Dausuul]

(And a certain predicted percentage would shift from a la carte to buying full books, etc. etc.)

I have a suspicion that somebody was being very optimistic about this percentage.

Whether that optimism is warranted remains to be seen, I guess. I am certainly not making that shift, but I may not be representative.

 

[SkidAce]

I would consider eating my hat if the actual decision was because they were worried about people on social media claiming an option that has been around for almost 7 years are suddenly bad microtransactions.

I also would eat my hat if this was true.

 

[Michael Mattei]

Really, it was the former WotC employees who had no reason to defend WotC at this point coming oit and sharing their experience thwt really sunk the lie. I honestly think he juat assumed that WotC people would maintain radio silence, and he could claim whatever he felt like.

 

[kenmarable]

I also would eat my hat if this was true.

Looking at your profile pic, that is an awfully nice hat. So I hope our hats remain uneaten!

 

[Nikosandros]

Yes, I relied a lot on PayPal. I've asked on the DDB forums if it is a "bug" or an intended change. I'll report if I get an answer.

I've got a reply from the staff and it is a known issue. I've been told that there should hopefully be an update soon.

 

[MNblockhead]

I wouldn’t classify those as one. Maybe start here - do you consider dawnguard a micro transaction? If not why not? What is different about it and other digital add on content?

No. Dawnguard is a major expansion to the game, adding new adventure paths and many more hours of play. But if they were to sell just the mechanics of a vampire or werewolf without the story/adventure material, that would be closer.

 

[MNblockhead]

I do wish buying the physical book gave you free access to the digital version (or the reverse!).

The Cortex Prime book did this and it was great. The Cortex Prime on-line rules interface was developed by the same people that developed DDB. Unfortunately, it has been static. I would have been great if you could select the various option you want to build your system with and have your own rule system saved. But I'm sure that would have required a subscription to make it economically feasible. A free PDF with a book is one thing, but getting access to continually developed platform is going to required continued funding. Since DDB allows you to buy a book without a subscription, I'm not sure that giving books free with purchase of a physical copy makes sense. At a discount, sure, but free, I don't see it. Now if they had a program where subscribers would be able to the book for free in DDB if they bought the physical, that might work.

 

[MNblockhead]

They also removed the secret disco wizard from the Marketplace section of DDB.

No more strobing menus there.

Oh no! That's it! I'm cancelling my subscription now! ;-)

Seriously though, they need to add some silly Vecna-themed easter eggs.

 

[MNblockhead]

Yeah, pretty sure there was a skeptical manager standing with arms crossed in a developer's cubicle as they tried to explain what the feature was and why it would be cool to keep it.

In the late 80s and early 90s, the engineers at my dad's company had to develop a lot of internal software themselves. The error messages were hilarious...they didn't last long.

 

[Imaro]

Why would I buy single pieces of rules when I can get them for free from a site supported by the publisher?
WotC's relationship with the fans of its games is increasingly toxic, yet those fans keep crawling back, celebrating minor concessions as major victories. At this point people should just accept that they won't be able to fix WotC and just look for other companies to support.

So that I continue to get tools at the caliber of D&DB... which cost money to develop, maintain and enhance...