Dungeons & Dragons digital services

Dungeons & Dragons is not turning into a mandatory paid subscription game. However, the hobby is shifting in two distinct ways: Wizards of the Coast is leaning heavily into digital services and virtual tabletops, and a growing number of people are hiring "Professional Dungeon Masters" to run their campaigns.

How do you guys feel about these new developments? I mean, money is pretty tight so playing these 'online' in a subscription type basis is going to be hard for some. Not only that but if you just can't afford it anymore, all your characters, rulebooks etc. disappear too.

I am shifting more towards Pathfinder and Starfinder a lot now. Just a few thoughts.

I'm not a fan of the subscription direction.

Hi, I'm one of those professional dungeon masters! I've been running free games here for ages (still do), and paid games on and off for a few years now. It's still a very niche avenue, despite the sheer amount of advertising it gets. Trust me, I'm a little shocked at how often I see StartPlaying ads.

As for how I feel about it? People have decided that they are willing to pay for levels of quality control and sustainability in their games, and I have decided that I can spend more time in the hobby with a financial backing.

Meanwhile, dndbeyond has always been a subscription-based rental service*. You don't own anything on that site. You know what you do own? Books, and that free copy of the SRD you downloaded. Paper sheets. Plenty of free, digital character sheets.

TLDR: nothing is really changing, it just looks like it is. Except one site that is always getting worse.

All in my opinion, of course.

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* I know the style of the subscription is changing. But you still never owned any of the books.

The best session of gaming I've ever had was through a GM I found randomly on Startplaying. It wasn't that costly, though I don't think I would do that for a weekly game, but for a one shot when my real life group couldn't meet up it was a fun experiment. I remember I went to a concert the day after and commented to one of my players that it would have been a lot cheeper to find a pro GM again instead of going out :P

I was willing to pay though due to the fact that he wasn't running D&D. I can get D&D at my real life group, so I was only really willing to pay for any other game.

Maybe it will go the way Windows did. And dinosaurs.

Honestly, I have very mixed opinions about all of this. On one hand, it's remarkable to watch the hobby grow throughout the years. Seeing people being paid to run games is a byproduct of all this, as is the digital-only approach that WotC/Hasbro is implementing. They are both new ways of accessing the games and hobby, and that's pretty cool to see these developments. Virtual tabletops are an amazing innovation.

On the other hand, I've developed a certain fatigue with the obsession that seems to have evolved around monetizing gaming as much as possible. Rather than seeking ways to facilitate access and stimulate innovation, the primary goal appears to be maximizing profits. The endless Kickstarters for new products, D&D being discussed as becoming a 'live service model game', and now 'professional' DMs. I know there are arguments to be made for/against this, but is it better for gamers to have to pay to play games they already own and have purchased? I approach all this with trepidation, but am optimistic about what's to come.

Pretty sure Windows is still alive and kicking. And making buckets and buckets of money.
Who is having to pay to play games they own? Or purchased? If you're referring to anything on DND beyond, you've never owned anything on it; it's a rental service. You're paying for access to their books.

So were dinosaurs. Do enjoy it while it lasts, being part of that system. I'm not stopping you.

If I have to pay a DM, I'm now paying to play a game I own and have spent money to obtain.

As for D&D Beyond, people can still purchase digital copies of books on the site and subscribe to the platform.

I know you said you were a paid DM earlier in the thread cowleyc, but I wasn't taking a swipe at you personally, so please don't take it that way. I'm offering an opinion in response to the original question.

No offense taken! I suspect we're talking past each other. What I'm positing is that nobody has to pay to play a game, outside of buying the material. They never have and never will. Anyone can choose to pay for a game, but it is by no stretch of the imagination mandatory. The other side of that coin, however, is that you aren't owed any game. If you can't find any free games for Wildsea but there is one being offered for pay, you aren't being forced to pay for it. Home games still and always will exist, and in greater number.

As for dndbeyond, I've been pointing out for years that you don't actually own anything on it. I won't belabor the point.

I have, and likely always will, run games for free. Even with 40+ years of experience, I don't feel like I'm good enough to command money for my services. As for subscription, I own the hard copy books that I paid for, and they can't change that. Even if the game evolves, my copies are still valid (just as much as BECMI, or 1E, or 2E, or 3.5E, or even 4E). But corporate greed is one of the many reasons I prefer to play Pathfinder and Savage Worlds. Pathfinder is in the wild, and can't be taken back. Savage Worlds is still fairly cheap (compared to D&D) and is (IMHO) more fun anyway!

I have no problem with people hiring profession dungeon masters to run their games. It's an option for those with money to burn who don't have anyone to game with.

I get that people find DND Beyond incredibly convenient, but Hasbro bought it from Fandom (who acquired it from Curse) and that cost money. Hasbro is a publicly-owned company. As such, they have to keep shareholders happy. They will monetize anything and everything that they possibly can. Yeah, it sucks, but that's the hypercapitalist society we live in. Don't like paying? Then don't use it. Look for an alternative platform that you can live with and make it work.

I am of two minds on the topic. I am not against digitalisation per-se and I find it unavoidable - also it can provide a way to play for people that would have found it nigh impossible to find a group.

WotC's "enshittified" business model is, to me, disgusting. I am sick to death of subscriptions, and some choices in their product are really unjustifiable (6 characters limit unless you subscribe? What's the reason??). It annoys me as it is possible to have a good digital product, there is no need to be predatory to be profitable. Meh.

As per paid DMs, I don't mind that people offer it as a service. I personally am not in the target market. If I think about it I am, hm, "conceptually bothered" by the potential mechanics that could arise in a paid group: what makes a DM "good enough" for their bucks? Would players complain? How would they define what is the level of service adequate to what they are paying for? I don't want this kind of reasoning to be part of my playing group.

I'll just put this out there, based on my experience, spoilered in case folks don't care.

Way I see it if I'm no longer their audience I'll just stop buying their products and they can enjoy milking whoever is still around. The market is crazy saturated with great alternatives.

As for paid games. I already pay to play games at conventions. Don't feel like this is a new thing. Have at it!

Thanks. I was curious about it.

I don't really see the hobby shifting this way. Yes, WotC has subscription services like D&D beyond. But they scrapped their virtual tabletop plans earlier in the year.

Furthermore, if you like 5e, WotC has put the entire 5e system into creative commons, so even if they stop selling physical books and require everyone to subscribe to some digital service, you can still play the game for free. Nobody can take it from you. And there are many alternate versions of 5e made by other companies if you want something with active product support.

But last of all, you mentioned you were jumping over to other systems. Amazing. There are so many great games out there. Have a blast! The hobby is so much bigger than WotC.

As for paid GMs, doesn't bother me at all. If you don't like it, you can always become the GM yourself and run your own table.

I'm probably the least qualified here to talk about anything WotC (I stopped playing official D&D when 2e came out), but I do find all the doom and gloom around this stuff interesting. They're a company and need to be profitable to stay afloat and keep making stuff for their game. Subscriptions and rented content is just the way it is these days, and as Len and others say -- there are other ways to access (and own) the content. Paying a fee to use a service they've likely invested millions of dollars in by now shouldn't be a surprise. Otherwise said service would not exist.

Paid GMs: just one of many ways to play, and while I haven't tried it, I too pay for con games all the time (including premium fees to play with awesome GMs or creators), and am glad it's an option for people. As cowleyc says, it's generally a way for people to be able to play at all, or consistently -- and I've seen loads and loads of people who pay to play say they are very happy to do so.