WotC Hasbro CEO Chris Cox, "I would say that the underlying thesis of our D&D business is all about digital,”

[mamba]

But, I don't here constant calls for how TSR was totally incompetent to produce Spelljammer in a format that was pretty much the same as what WotC produced.

They were incompetent, they lost money on it and went broke. What about that is not incompetent? Not sure this needs to be repeated every time, it should be relatively well known around here

TSR gets hailed for it's creativity and whatnot for making all these wonderful settings. WotC then takes those settings, gives them a bit of spit and polish, promotes the crap out of them, then sells them and they're incompetent?

not sure who said incompetent, too short, no ship combat rules seem to be the main gripes, and no ship combat rules might be borderline incompetent

Never minding outselling 2e Spelljammer, there's literally more Spelljammer material available right now than there ever was before.

there is literally more of pretty much anything today, thanks to DMsG. Not much of a point to me

For some bizarre reason, no one seems to take DM's Guild into account when discussing these settings.

maybe because it is not official material so cannot count towards what WotC is publishing vs TSR

WotC has been really, crystal clear in how they are presenting settings. They bang out the bare bones, basic framework of the setting, along with an adventure path for that setting. Then they leave it up to DM's Guild to add in all that stuff that was used to get from TSR.

yes, but people want more official support, not that hard to understand

It's not like this is new. This is how they have been doing 5e since day 1 of 5e. They've stuck to their plan for ten years now.

agreed, but that does not mean people have to like it. DMsG sells considerable less than anything WotC does, for most people it does not exist

WHat baffles me is why people still seem surprised about this.

you can not like it and not be surprised

 

[mamba]

I would liek to see a chart of all sales within X time frame. Did SJ do well because it was SJ, or because it was whatever was newest?

supposedly it sold good for 4 weeks, then sales fell off drastically, bit of a rebound now, thanks to being half off at Amazon (in itself a sign...)

 

[Parmandur]

I would liek to see a chart of all sales within X time frame. Did SJ do well because it was SJ, or because it was whatever was newest?

Well, our only data points are 2Spelljammer box set all tike sales (83,000 and some change) per Ben Riggs, era's the BookScan numbers from the first 11 months for the 5E slipcase (84,000 and some change, ex Ludington vendors nor covered by BookScan, like any game store). Hard to day why it sold better, but it has.

 

[Parmandur]

not sure who said incompetent, too short, no ship combat rules seem to be the main gripes, and no ship combat rules might be borderline incompetent

Definitely too short, bit there are ship combat rules. They re congruent with prior 5E vehicle rules, too (Ghosta of Saltmarsh, Descent into Avernus).

 

[mamba]

Definitely too short, bit there are ship combat rules. They re congruent with prior 5E vehicle rules, too (Ghosta of Saltmarsh, Descent into Avernus).

Don't own it, do not like SJ, 2e or 5e, but I keep hearing it has none from just about every YT review. Weird...

 

[Reynard]

Well, our only data points are 2Spelljammer box set all tike sales (83,000 and some change) per Ben Riggs, era's the BookScan numbers from the first 11 months for the 5E slipcase (84,000 and some change, ex Ludington vendors nor covered by BookScan, like any game store). Hard to day why it sold better, but it has.

33 years on and it barely broke original sales suggests it was no actually especially successful.

 

[Hussar]

might have something to do with a drastically larger player base...

And we have a drastically larger player base because….?

 

[Dire Bare]

Was it a good product? Did it meet expectations, or was it about legacy and hype? Did you have a problem with the hadozee art?

Was the new Spelljammer slipcase set a good product? Hell yes.

Was it a perfect product? Of course not.

The hadozee problem, both the art and the written depiction, was a serious misstep. That WotC fixed.

Did some longterm, hardcore fans feel the product was lacking in certain things, like ship combat rules? Yes. That doesn't make the product bad or a failure, it just didn't meet the needs/wants of everyone is all.

Beyond Spelljammer, has WotC made some serious missteps this year? Wow, yes. Doesn't change the fact that overall, they've been very successful, competent, caretakers of the game.

It's just sour grapes of the new grognards that refuse to believe it.

Life isn't binary . . . everything sucks or everything rocks. WotC can simultaneously make good decisions and bad decisions with D&D . . . overall, they're doing fine, despite the sturm and drang on messageboards.

 

[Zardnaar]

So. Just a glimpse at how much bigger Baldur's Gate is than actual D&D. Look at the views on the videos at wizards youtube site.

The video game centric ones are a magnatude larger. The D&D centric ones, even the ones about using the video game with D&D or for it or as a leader into it, get a fraction of the views.

View attachment 292491

Do you rember when I said HAT might have been better off without D&D in the title?

Well done Larian lol. Wouldn't be surprised if we get a PS5 by end of the year (generally prefer Xbox but not to fanatic about it).

 

[Zardnaar]

supposedly it sold good for 4 weeks, then sales fell off drastically, bit of a rebound now, thanks to being half off at Amazon (in itself a sign...)

That and it gets buried elsewhere. This site is about the only place you find many defenders.