D&D Beyond has responded to rumors of coming changes to its subscription fees that would see a 400-percent increase in the highest tier and would remove homebrew content from the free tier. The rumor started when three content creators cited sources within Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast sounding the alarm."Rumors of a $30 subscription fee are false," wrote D&D Beyond on Twitter. "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!"The rumor also mentioned D&D Beyond would soon roll out an AI DM feature--presumably based on the same technology as ChatGPT, which has proven to be a surprisingly effective DM. D&D Beyond also denied any AI-based Dungeon Master feature is being built and directed players who are looking for a DM to the official D&D Discord.
"No one at Wizards is working on AI DMs," D&D Beyond said. "We love our human DMs too much."
Players have responded with skepticism to D&D Beyond's statement, underscoring just how badly the community's faith is shaken in the wake of the OGL controversy. Despite walking back a version of a new OGL 1.1 license that would have essentially ended the vibrant culture of creation that surrounds Dungeons & Dragons, community outrage remains high. In an attempt to stem the loss of thousands of D&D Beyond subscribers, executive producer Kyle Brink posted another apology along with assurances that the next version of OGL will respect players, content creators, and third-party publishers.
"We are sorry," wrote Brink. "We got it wrong. Our language and requirements in the draft OGL were disruptive to creators and not in support of our core goals of protecting and cultivating an inclusive play environment and limiting the OGL to TTRPGs.
"Starting now, we’re going to do this a better way: more open and transparent, with our entire community of creators. With the time to iterate, to get feedback, to improve."