D&D Beyond team denies $30 subscription fee rumor amid backlash from fans

Dungeons & Dragons (also known simply as ‘D&D’) is an iconic board game franchise that has also embraced the digital terrain.

D&D Beyond is a useful companion app that serves as a ‘digital toolset’ for fans. It is an access point to learn everything about the game, its rules, its cards, preparing matches, etc.

Fans have always been able to access Beyond for free. However, a couple of days ago the possibility arose that this could no longer be the case.

Will D&D Beyond really go to a monthly subscription model for a $30 fee? It seems that in the end this will not be so.

The rumor that surfaced a few days ago suggested that access to D&D Beyond (or D&D digital products) would cost $30 per month. Of course, this raised a lot of discussion among fans of the franchise.

Given the reaction of the fans to the rumor, the D&D Beyond team had to come out directly to clarify things. Fortunately, the rumored D&D Beyond $30 subscription fee is false, according to the company.

That said, fans of the franchise are not very convinced about the company’s intentions.

For instance, there are people who feel that the monthly subscription to Dungeons & Dragons digital products was the original plan, but it was canceled due to the leak and the massive backlash against it.

Seriously you’ve been caught with your pants down time and time again. There are people revealing this from inside the company! There’s proof of the $30 sub and you don’t send “drafts” with a contract and a due by date! You want a change? Replace your upper management.
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Sure. It is not 30 bucks, but 25, so false, right? What about microtransactions? And OF course you are working on DM-less game. That was a done deal as soon at the VTT was announced.
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Apparently, fans don’t completely take the company’s word for it due to previous actions.

Glad to see the announcement. However forgive my skepticism on these matters until you demonstrate your that you are worth trusting again. Glad to finally see some communication. A little late but better. This open communication is how you start rebuilding trust.
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Come on guys, it’s gonna be $29.99/month. Clearly that’s not $30.
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Actions that have broken community trust towards Wizards Of The Coast (owners of D&D and Magic) include a shady microtransaction policy and the new Magic OGL that makes it more restrictive.

Along with the rumor of the monthly fee, two other alleged changes were leaked and also received much criticism. The alleged changes in question were AI DMs (dungeon masters) and the homebrew block.

However, the company has denied that it will replace its human DMs with AIs. They have also stated that D&D homebrew is not going anywhere.

Homebrewing is core to D&D Beyond. It’s not going away, and we’re not going to charge you for it. Your homebrew is, and always will be, yours. We’ve always been excited to see your creations both on and off D&D Beyond!
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That said, there are still doubts from some fans regarding these latest denials as well:

No $30 = it’s $29.99
No one working on AI = outsourced it to another company
Designers for feedback “Act”= we postpone ideas you don’t like, not cancel
Homebrew = but we WILL charge you to integrate it with DnDB
*These are just my guess by what they REALLY mean* no trust.
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Apparently, Wizards Of The Coast’s record seriously damaged the confidence of the ‘D&D’ and ‘Magic’ fans. Only time will tell if they keep their word and these highly criticized changes are not carried out.

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