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)

 

[DEFCON 1]

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

Indeed!

Not to mention also that a lot of us couldn't give a rat's ass about the companies themselves, our only care is about the product we are getting.

If I see something I want, I buy it. And that is the beginning and end of my relationship with whomever it is that made it. I have no care or concern about anything the company or some of the individuals within said company do otherwise.

 

[Jadeite]

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

I prefer a free resource site containing all the rules that I can refer potential players to, combined with a continuously updated character editor that offers most of each features for free with some requiring a one-time purchase to unlock. Both legal without any fear of legal actions against them.
Sed suum cuique.
Edit: I guess I should mention EN Publishing being similarly generous: Home | Level Up

 

[Maxperson]

So the primary existing means of making microtransaction purchases has been removed?

Buying physical books, and a discount on Physical with Digital, is interesting.

So two myths/rumors are countered in this announcement - that WOTC is moving more towards microtransactions, and away from physical books.

Not necessarily. Saying that they won't be breaking their books up for piecemeal purchases any longer doesn't preclude them from individually selling a race, class, magic item, etc. that didn't make the cut into a book. Microtransactions could still be a thing.

 

[Maxperson]

The Physical book thing is a positive, the a le cart thing is a shame even if I never used it I know others did.

Is it really a positive? Where are the physical books coming from? FLGS? If they are coming from WotC then this is just an attempt by them to hurt those stores and grab more money in the process. It would be a positive if they sold the digital for $10 when you purchased a physical book at a local game store.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I prefer a free resource site containing all the rules that I can refer potential players to, combined with a continuously updated character editor that offers most of each features for free with some requiring a one-time purchase to unlock. Both legal without any fear of legal actions against them.
Sed suum cuique.
Edit: I guess I should mention EN Publishing being similarly generous: Home | Level Up

WotC can't do that! How would they keep the lights on over there? They're barely scraping by as it is!

 

[Parmandur]

Is it really a positive? Where are the physical books coming from? FLGS? If they are coming from WotC then this is just an attempt by them to hurt those stores and grab more money in the process. It would be a positive if they sold the digital for $10 when you purchased a physical book at a local game store.

Shipped direct from WotC, sane as the physical/digital bundles, I suppose.

Not good for stores, which is a shame, but more options fir purchase is positive for customers: not everyone has a local store, or wants to buy from Amazon.

 

[Maxperson]

I'll be extremely surprised if the VTT doesn't have microtransactions, anything else would be leaving money on the table, and Hasbro hates that.

The D&D microtransactions were probably removed because they were competing with macrotransactions, and that's not good business.

Yes. A subclass that got a 50% approval rate and didn't make the cut into any book can be put up as a microtransaction for the low, low cost of a few bucks of some employee's time. Then that 50% that wanted it(or however many are on DDB) can buy it. The removal of these microtransactions doesn't equate to a total cessation of microtransaction sales. It might mean that, or it might not.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If WotC removed a la carte as a response to a perceived public call to fight microtransactions, don't you think they would say as much? I mean, in that scenario they think they're giving us what we want and bowing to public pressure.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I prefer a free resource site containing all the rules that I can refer potential players to, combined with a continuously updated character editor that offers most of each features for free with some requiring a one-time purchase to unlock. Both legal without any fear of legal actions against them.
Sed suum cuique.
Edit: I guess I should mention EN Publishing being similarly generous: Home | Level Up

That’s a positive with pathfinder, but it’s very rare to offer that. Most TTRPGs don’t, and I am not going to blame them for not doing that.

 

[Imaro]

I prefer a free resource site containing all the rules that I can refer potential players to, combined with a continuously updated character editor that offers most of each features for free with some requiring a one-time purchase to unlock. Both legal without any fear of legal actions against them.
Sed suum cuique.
Edit: I guess I should mention EN Publishing being similarly generous: Home | Level Up

Yeah... IMO that site is horrible for ease of usage. I'm ok paying for a much better interface and experience.