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DND Beyond as the New Gateway for D&D Updates
If you’re a Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast who takes advantage of the various online tools and platforms for the game, you may be aware of DND Beyond, an officially licensed digital toolset developed in collaboration with the role-playing game’s custodians, especially the Wizards of the Coast team. In this article, we delve into some upcoming changes in the dissemination of updates from the Wizards of the Coast camp.
Transitioning from the Old D&D Website
One significant development in the D&D universe that may surprise some fans is the phasing out of the dnd.wizards.com website. The decision to deprecate this old site and use DND Beyond as the official D&D announcement platform has been met with great anticipation. From the unveiling of new books to insider updates about the content creator summit, DND Beyond will serve as your one-stop-shop for all the latest from Wizards of the Coast.
Keeping Up With Community Updates
For those unaware of the Community Update feature on DND Beyond, this section promises live updates on all essential D&D matters. Users can expect to find announcements regarding the D&D content creator summit, information about the new book, details about playtests, and updates on upcoming D&D events.
Beyond Accommodating Creators: Educators Too
A New Wave Of Core Rulebooks
One intriguing piece of news from the recent content creator summit was about the 2024 core rulebooks. Contrary to speculation, these are not a fresh edition but a continuation of the fifth edition. This is part of what D&D refers to as the “One D&D” initiative, symbolizing the unity of the D&D universe, with upcoming tools like DND Beyond and others designed to serve their player base better.
The Future of D&D in Schools and Clubs
A prevailing question from creators is about the Wizards of the Coast team’s plan to support D&D usage in schools and clubs. The good news is that they plan to roll out D&D inspired teaching kits and after-school club kits, offering organizations everything they need to integrate D&D into their activities. Free kits are set to be distributed to qualified organizations across the United States.
A DND Beyond educator license is also on the horizon. Qualifying organizations will have free access to tools like the character builder and a selection of rule books and adventure products.
DND Beyond: Paving the Way for D&D Accessibility
In a bid to create a more inclusive D&D digital universe, the team behind DND Beyond is investing significantly in enhancing accessibility. Their aspiration is to continue improving the tool set to accommodate all players, including those with disabilities. With DND Beyond now a firm part of the broader D&D family, accessibility initiatives are set to become more substantive and influential in the game’s future.
The Future of the Third-Party Creator Marketplace
Another notable announcement from the recent summit was the intention to introduce a marketplace for third-party creators on DND Beyond. In the pipeline, the marketplace is a major initiative for the company. As plans around it mature, we can expect more updates, FAQs, and feedback sessions with creators and publishers.
Unanswered Questions About Marketplace
Even in its infancy, the marketplace idea raises a lot of curiosity and queries among the D&D community. One significant question is whether creatives will maintain ownership and rights over their content created on DND Beyond.
Comparing DMS Guild and DND Beyond Marketplace
There is a comparison brewing between the DMS Guild and the potential DND Beyond marketplace. With D&D hoping to consolidate its community under the DND Beyond roof, the future of the DMS Guild is under some scrutiny. However, if the revenue share on DND Beyond proves more favorable and more functionality is offered, it could convince creators to migrate from DMS Guild.
Staying Connected With The D&D Community
Throughout these changes, one thing remains clear: the D&D team, particularly Wizards of the Coast, understand the importance of maintaining open lines of communication with their community. Despite the vast array of outstanding queries, they are actively working on providing transparency at all levels and more regular updates, whether or not it’s the news the users want to hear.
As we all look forward to the unfolding changes in the D&D universe, current and future generations of players and creators can rest assured that the Wizards of the Coast team are working tirelessly to ensure a smoother, more integrated, user-friendly, and exciting experience for the entire community.
That's a super helpful PSA about the uncertain status of things like WotC's UA archive. Making D&D Beyond the "one stop shop" for D&D or at least D&D info for those of us who still like to buy out D&D from the FLGS makes sense … my problem is they put really good content on there occasionally and they get buried quick and the site is hard to navigate beyond the stuff posted on the front page. For instance James Haeck wrote a pretty fun encounter chain as prequel for Descent into Avernus, and he also did that or someone else in the D&D Beyond at the time bullpen did it for Rime of the Frostmaiden as well (and those are just two examples of something they did a lot before the WotC takeover). It's PITA to find that content.
As for the marketplace, something very robust and very new needs to be put in there. The closest equivalent is the "published homebrew section" which is notorious for hosting/pirating 3rd party publications material for the public distribution. It's totally legit to homebrew say Humblewood races into your personal homebrew collection and use it within your campaign, you are not supposed to hit the "publish button" which makes it accessible to the entire DDB community. Yet go into the public library of DDB, enter a random race from that book, and you'll find it reproduced around 20 times. The volunteer mods don't have the capacity to police something that some creators ideally wish to intersect with the publishers … so that library system requires some investment on WotC's part to make sure creator's rights and livlihoods remain secure and D&D Beyond doesn't become their own in house Pirate Bay. I dunno, maybe they can get Pinkerton to lay off the poor dude whose "guy" got him some Magic boxes before drop date and use their resources to secure the Dragon side of the house.
WotC, make a simple game with unique classes a bland everyone is the same.
Eff dd beyond
I was one of those who had been playing D&D for years on the WoTC forum. The amount of time and effort I put into them, and now I have no record of anything. It's been years & I still haven't tracked down most of the players who were my friends there. It left a sore spot with me with WoTC that the OGL sure did not help with.
If they want D&D Beyond to be the "Front Door," why aren't they making UA available on D&D Beyond again. Being able to make characters on D&D Beyond makes it so much easier to play test, because you don't make mistakes because you misinterpret the rules.
Gen Con is going to be interesting with both the Creator Summit and Critical Role's Daggerheart in the same building.
I got into dnd after high school and at the end of college I was busy parting playing football and dating girls lol but I love dnd now and think dnd clubs are great
Glad I downloaded the mystic!
Pinkertons may come to my house if I do something wizards doen’t like will they post it there?
I missed the educator stuff. Has this been out for awhile? By the wording it sounds like it.
by this point, we all know mechanics can't be copyrighted. that seems like plenty of reason to be able to publish content on the DMs guild, then slightly alter some of the flavor text, and re-publish it elsewhere. am I wrong? I would love to see a video about this.
not allowed to mention the pinkerton incident on their twitch, your message gets deleted no matter what + a mute
Thank you for your video
I’m curious why none of the YouTubers are talking about how WotC came to purchase DnD Beyond.
Dnd beyond had a perpetual license to all 5e content. WotC tried to buy them and they said ‘no thanks’. WotC responds by saying ‘we are making a new edition of the game and your license expires when that happens so you better sell to us right now’. Dnd beyond sells to WotC. WotC announces they are not making a new edition and are just updating 5e. I am just betting that the previous dnd beyond owners and getting their lawyers lined up and will sue as soon as the updated 5e drops. Bad faith negotiations and all that good stuff WotC pulled.
Wonder why the educator stuff is US only…
After Pinkerton's , I don't care about D&D. WotC is no longer a company of value. I am agreeing with some people of treating D&D like bud light.
The ship has sailed for me and those that I game with, WotC has failed it's customers and fans over and over again. There are plenty of other games, other companies and online resources. When people show you who they are, believe them.
When I see what they do vs what they DO are all I am interested in.
Thanks Ted. Good stuff
One thing which crossed my mind is on the third party sharing if WotC would care which license you choose to use. Would they have issues of having someone use the ORC license on Beyond? My creative content extends to real basic stuff like magic weapons and campaign ideas.
I was waiting for WotC to say something about the Pinkerton incident. Unless and until WotC and Hasbro make a legally-binding promise to never again utilize the Pinkertons, or do anything even remotely similar, they can rot in Hell. The OGL debacle used up all of my goodwill. Although they managed to get some back by putting the SRD into the Creative Commons, the Pinkerton incident has used that up and then some. They're going to have to do some serious grovelling, including firing everyone associated with the incident, before I will even consider giving them so much as a single penny. F Hasbro and F WotC.
Im still feeling really iffy about WotC cause while im not in the mtg community, i am still shocked and appauled that they sent the pinkertons on a guy who got cards that were gonna release in a month by mistake
Finally addressing the Pinkertons?
Social Emotional Learning is more commonly known as Critical Race Theory. So they are funding political, racial & sexual brainwashing!!!
This COMPLETELY kills off ANY Wotc/Hasbro product for me well into the future
What do you mean? This is where I get all my DnD news.
Yeah no, WoTC messed up one too many times for me to be in their financial ecosystem. I'll be buying my last D&D book used when it comes out.
Also I'm not sure how I feel about the 5.5 rules revision, but them calling it 5e (2024) feels disingenuous, but WoTC burned their last bridge.
DND Beyond is my least favorite online digital toolset. There are others that are more fluid, responsive, lightweight, and downloadable.
I'll still listen into Nerd Immersion, long time listener since "It Builds Character" and often Ted from Nerd Immersion has always been the number 1 source of product information (imo)
edit: Also I don't trust Wotc/Hasbro to keep servers online often they silently remove content all of the time. I can't even reread the digital Dragon+ magazines unless I am lucky to catch a video on YouTube doing a screen recording of it, and Dndbeyond removed officially published content (making it impossible to purchase)
Why do they keep pretending it's just a continuation? It's so obviously radically different. Is it because most of the basic rules are the same?
Subbed. ~Brian
Solid video and review!
Can’t wait to see how WotC responds to them hiring the Pinkertons
Bro pretty sure you can get something for that White chin beard syndrome you're sporting. -Brian.
Pinkertons not included.
How they displayed the update reminds me of the notice in Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy :
“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”
So im guessing they just forgot about their book lineup for the year, lol.
I remember when the WotC community forum was deleted. A sad day.
Or here me out, go play something else. There are better RPGs.
I personally think that with Critical Role releasing their own system/s many will move on, if not most of the younger players. Also it would seem that Pathfinder is gaining much more steam. Lets not forget that there are many other very good systems, many far better then the D&D ruleset are also seeing more players. I personally will not be purchasing any new D&D products beyond 3rd party. If that even at this point. I just have so much 3rd party stuff I would be good forever. At this point I am more interested in playing/running a game in a different system. At this point I have lost all hope when it comes from Wizards. Its obvious that its entirely about the money and even some kind of woke agenda. I would be very concerned as to what they put into school game packs.