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D&D PHB for Roll20?

Now that D&D Beyond has their PHB available for $19.99 during the "founder's sale" I am faced with a dilemma. I use Roll20 exclusively to run my games, and I (along with a lot of others) have been practically begging for a full PHB on Roll20 for some time now. I Tweeted at Roll20 and Suzanne Wallace August 16th asking if there was anything coming so I could hold off on purchasing from DDB, but after two days neither account has even bothered to reply with any sort of comment at all! (Not good customer service). So, I'll try asking here. Is a PHB for Roll20 coming this year ? If the answer is YES, then I will be incredibly happy and wait with my money. If they answer is "No" or "We can't say" or "We don't know", or if my post is locked or deleted by Admins for being "off topic" of contrary to Roll20's PR desires, I will take that as a sign I should spend my money with DDB by Monday, and not with Roll20. If I sound angry, it's because we've been asking for this for a long time, and get nothing but static or silence.
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Lithl
Pro
Sheet Author
API Scripter
mjsoctober said: we've been asking for this for a long time, and get nothing but static or silence. I mean, silence on the part of Roll20 in matters like these is pretty much exclusively Wizards of the Coast's fault. Don't blame Roll20 for sticking to contracts written up by a much bigger fish.
No it's not. Roll20 has the license already. WotC doesn't make the Roll20 ver of the PHB, that's something Roll20 does. They already have the license to do it, they just need to devote the time/programing to it. They've said as much in online Q & A on Twitch in the past.
Brian said: mjsoctober said: we've been asking for this for a long time, and get nothing but static or silence. I mean, silence on the part of Roll20 in matters like these is pretty much exclusively Wizards of the Coast's fault. Don't blame Roll20 for sticking to contracts written up by a much bigger fish. Here is the Roll20 roundtable video from March on their YouTube channel. At 15:20 Nolan starts talking about WotC products and the work going into them. They are clearly working on the PHB, because he mentions it, but it seems the PHB isn't their priority because they have "ideas" about how they want to handle it. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRrxsfMYCW8" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRrxsfMYCW8</a>
So I had a conversation with Nolan on Twitter. He reiterated that Roll20 is "working" on a PHB but they have "ambitious plans" and no timeline for it,despite the fact there are now two competitors who have it. He clearly does not want my business, so I'll buy it from D&D beyond.
So just to confirm, a phb is planned for roll20, it just doesn't have a time frame yet?
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AFAIK they have an "ambitious plan" for a PHB and no timeline. From the sounds of it, though, it won't be any time soon. That's doesn't mean there ever will be a PHB I suppose. A PHB being "planned" assumed it is definitely coming. Having an "ambitious plan" for a PHB is semantically different and implies they have an idea for how they would like a PHB to work, but isn't necessarily going to happen. At no point that I am aware of have they ever emphatically stated that a PHB is coming. I assume someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
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DarkDeer
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
Compendium Curator
Hello! The team is currently at Gen Con, hence the slow response. We have not announced our plans for the PHB or other books at this time because the team is dedicated to making them more than just a Compendium expansion. I understand your frustration at a lack of a timeframe. There has been a lot of hiring here at Roll20 the past few months, which means more folks to work on these really exciting features. However, we will not promise features and dates without knowing we can integrate them well into Roll20. I hope that helps and you can expect more timely responses after Monday when the team is home. Mel Production Coordinator
Thanks for thr official response mel!
Mel said: Hello! The team is currently at Gen Con, hence the slow response. We have not announced our plans for the PHB or other books at this time because the team is dedicated to making them more than just a Compendium expansion. I understand your frustration at a lack of a timeframe. There has been a lot of hiring here at Roll20 the past few months, which means more folks to work on these really exciting features. However, we will not promise features and dates without knowing we can integrate them well into Roll20. I hope that helps and you can expect more timely responses after Monday when the team is home. Mel Production Coordinator While I appreciate the response, for me, Monday will be too late, and if Roll20 isn't announcing a PHB at GenCon (of all places) I doubt they will announce it Monday, or that the response will be any different from what Nolan said to me on Twitter. The D&D Beyond sale ends Monday, so my dollars are spent now. I also find it hard to believe that the Roll20 PR manager couldn't take 2 minutes to respond to my tweet even to say "Got your tweet, will get back to you with more Monday after GenCon." Instead I got the silent treatment. It seems to me GenCon would be the place and time to expect questions about Roll20, and D&D.
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I, and many other roll20 users, share your frustration, mjsoctober. Unfortunately I get the same from other VTT companies as well. Silent treatment and/or an ambiguous answer at best. From working in development myself this is sort of the way things are and frustratingly so. You can't promise your users something until there is actually something to promise. &nbsp;Again, I do understand how infuriating this can be and agree the PR manager should have said at least something. That being said, a lot of times the PR department and employees are directed to 'say nothing' for fear of even hinting at the possibility of something through an inarticulate response. I know this does little to help or ease your frustration, but just know you aren't alone.
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DarkDeer
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
Compendium Curator
Hey folks! As this question has been answered, I'm going to go ahead and close this thread. Enjoy your weekend!