Need clarification on Modules/Packs and Licenses.

[Mithreinmaethor]

If I purchase a License for one month and purchase the 5e D&D Complete Core Class Pack am I to understand that I will lose access to the Class Pack when the one month is completed?????

[Zacchaeus]

Are you going to be playing as a player or a DM? If you are going to be a DM then, practically yes, you will only have access to whatever you buy for as long as you pay for the licence.
If you are a player then you don't need anything at all if your DM has the ultimate licence and all of the core material. If he only has a normal licence then you won't be able to join their game without a licence of your own. I'm not terribly sure what access you would have to the class packs using only the demo version of Fantasy Grounds; I suspect that you will still be able to access them to build characters.

The answer to your question really depends on how you are going to use Fantasy Grounds.

[damned]

I believe that the 5e stuff will only work with a licensed copy... so I think the OP is correct. if you later re-instate your subscription under the same username your purchased content would be available again.

[Mithreinmaethor]

@Zacchaeus - I do not currently plan to DM and do only play with DMs that have an Ultimate License.

@damned - This was my concern. I was hoping that the package would still be available for me to use in my "Manage Characters" section so that I could create and update my characters locally.

Thank you for the answers.

Perhaps someone else has tried this......or made the mistake of doing it.....that can share their experiences as well.

[kylania]

Probably best to just buy the full client, but you might email [email protected] to be sure since there's not really anything I see in the FAQ about this.

It's kind of like buying DLC for a game but not the game and expecting to be able to play the DLC.

[ddavison]

Damned is correct. You will only have access to the DLC as long as your subscription is active. If it becomes de-activated for a while, it will re-instate if you renew your subscription or if you later purchase a lifetime license.

[Griogre]

It should be pointed out that should the DM you are playing with not have the comple core pack, say he only has the Basic pack, with his permission you can use your core pack when connected to his server.

I thought there was a recent change that allowed the unlicensed to use packs in Manage character? IE
Version 3.1.0 (2015-06)
* All owned modules can now be viewed in Manage Characters mode, regardless of whether they are GM or Player modules.

[ddavison]

You still need a license, even if viewing something you bought for use as a player.

[Mask_of_winter]

Description taken from the Complete Core Class pack in the store: "Requirements: This content requires an active license to download and use."

[Griogre]

Ah thanks, guys - good info.

[damned]

this applies only to 5e content I think... untested but i thought I recalled something like that... the 5e stuff is kinda like OEM software - it has to be sold with the platform!

[Trenloe]

Some of the more recent non-5E releases are stored in the content vault (Pathfinder, The Road to Revolution for example) and have the same issue.

[kylania]

I do miss the days when you purchased something and you owned it.

Imagine if you bought a Player's Handbook from your FLGS and it came with a large smelly man who wouldn't let you touch it unless you paid him for both the book and his time and you still couldn't actually hold the book. He was the only one who could turn the pages for you and only when he felt like it. If your friend tries to read the book the unwashed man closes it and gives you the stink eye and calls you a criminal. Meanwhile your friend who wanted to read a page is sitting in the corner with a stack of books he found out by the curb happily reading and playing the game with his other friends.

Instead of locking things down with DRM, which only ever affects paying customers negatively, you need to add value to a product to encourage people to actually pay for it instead of other options.

[LordEntrails]

I do miss the days when you purchased something and you owned it.

...

Instead of locking things down with DRM, which only ever affects paying customers negatively, you need to add value to a product to encourage people to actually pay for it instead of other options.

Remember those days when you could purchase a car with a handshake? When people used to only use the things they bought or were legally entitled to?

I do agree with you about "you need to add value..." and this not a simple issue of 'remember when' *G* Its a fundamental evolution of our society. For better or worse.

[epithet]

...When people used to only use the things they bought or were legally entitled to?
...

I don't mean this to apply to FG modules - I think those are high quality and worth paying for - but there are increasingly circumstances where the products you can buy or are legally entitled to use are of dramatically lower quality than one or more other versions of the same product. As an example, CBS won't license their content to Hulu, apparently thinking that they can compel people who want to watch their shows online to do so through their website, which is a truly horrible portal. If you can watch the show with twice the resolution and no commercials somewhere else, you've really got to embrace that lawful alignment to watch a show on the CBS website.

I do think a product you've paid for, like the 5e player's handbook, should at least be available to you in the character creation window and in an offline session.

[damned]

I do think a product you've paid for, like the 5e player's handbook, should at least be available to you in the character creation window and in an offline session.

You should definitely vote on this. They have made imrovements in this area - such as when connected to a game and the GM doesnt have that material you can still request access to it.