From Newsgroup: rec.games.frp.dnd
Source:
https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/pre-orders-dlc-chart
Oh god, the new DnD books have a DLC chart
Wizards of the CoastrCOs pre-orders for the OneDnD core books come with a confusing DLC chart thatrCOs straight out of videogame marketing.
Timothy Linward
Wizards of the Coast has revealed a videogame DLC-style pre-order chart
to explain the bundle options fans have when pre-ordering the new
Dungeons and Dragons core books, and to emphasise the rCLsavingsrCY
available from buying the bigger bundles. But to find the actual price
of the bundles, you have to go to the DnD Beyond storefront.
This is going to be a snarky one, reader. While werCOre eagerly awaiting
the new DnD books on the DnD release schedule, seeing this kind of chart immediately makes us skeptical about the value of the pre-orders, both
as consumer advocates, and as industry observers.
While tabletop roleplaying games are usually a haven away from the
digital world, thererCOs no denying that digital DnD is a big part of the
game for many players. WargamerrCOs DnD expert Mollie Russell is actually increasingly upbeat about the official DnD virtual tabletop that is
supposed to be such a big part of One DnD. But werCOre irked that nonsense from the world of videogames has come along with it.
The three pre-order tiers are, in ascending order of content (and cost),
a digital only version of the PlayerrCOs Handbook ($29.99), a digital and print bundle ($79.98), and a bundle of all three physical and digital
books ($179.97). All of them come with some number of digital doodads,
like digital DnD dice sets, frames, and backdrops, and early access to
content online.
ThererCOs a $20 discount between the digital-only and digital-and-print
bundle rCo or to look at it another way, if you buy the print edition, you
can pay a $10 top up to get the digital edition as well. WerCOre not going
to argue that digital goods should be free rCo they take effort to design, even if theyrCOre almost free to reproduce rCo but itrCOs crummy that fans who miss the pre-order window wonrCOt get the same discount.
The bundle of all three core books and digital editions has a $60
discount rCo so again, yourCOre paying $10 per digital edition in this
bundle. For locking in a $180 pre-order, yourCOll also receive three additional digital dice sets, 24 extra frames, 10 extra backdrops, the rCyDragons of D&DrCO digital artbook, and a gold dragon digital mini for the upcoming official DnD virtual tabletop.
If you were going to pre-order anyway, cool, you get some extra stuff.
But is this supposed to be tempting? Would you buy these extras on their
own? Or are they more like the digital knicknacks and cheap resin
statuettes bolted on to videogames, there partly to inflate the
perceived value of the core product, and partly to ensure that the
customer cannot determine what the core of the product actually is from
the matrix of multiple different launch editions.
This DLC chart for the PlayerrCOs Handbook isnrCOt particularly obnoxious,
but as DnD is only going to get more digital, we have to wonder rCo is
this just the start? Will multiple editions and optional extras proliferate?
rCLMarketingrCY, in the big sense, means determining a market group of potential customers, producing something that meets their desires or
needs, and ensuring they can buy it. ItrCOs a long-term strategy that
requires you clarify the value of a product, not hide it, and
understands that a customer tricked into buying something wonrCOt stay a customer forever.
The digital shift could be a brilliant thing. The feature in DnD Beyond
that allowed you to purchase only those parts of a book that were
relevant to your characterrCOs DnD class or DnD race, used digital
technology to provide unique a benefit to consumers. But since that
feature was removed without explanation by a recent update, permit us a
little skepticism about how this is all going to turn out.
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