3rd printing of core books?

[Echohawk]

http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=16531748&postcount=237

Thanks for that link pukunui, much appreciated. I agree that not putting the errata in the deluxe editions is a mistake, and I'm going to continue hoping they have a change of heart before those books go to print.

 

[delericho]

Will this announcement finally put a stop to the random people putting up threads speculating about who will buy D&D once 4e fails financially?

I'm betting: no.

Besides, speculation can be fun for its own sake, despite the unlikelihood of the issue at hand (if nothing else, Hasbro don't generally sell IP anyway).

Personally, I have no doubt at all that the 4e books are selling extremely well. Not only is it a new edition of the most popular of all RPGs, but it also is a genuinely quality product (even if it's not for me - that remains to be seen).

However, where I see a risk is from the DDI. How many subscriptions had they projected to have sold by this point? How much have they invested in the project? How long will WotC be able to be patient? And how tightly are the financials of the DDI tied to D&D as a whole - have they 'bet the house' on this?

Naturally, I don't know the answers to any of these, nor do I expect WotC to be forthcoming with the information. So, I'm somewhat concerned. I'm hoping, first, that the DDI is successful, but second, that if it is not, it does not take the game as a whole with it.

 

[JoelF]

The other thing to consider regarding if 4E is a financial success is that the core books selling well won't matter in the long run. What will really determine the success of failure of 4E is how well all of the other products (DDI as well as print products) sell. I'm not saying that 4E will or won't fail, but I do think that no matter how well the core books sell, it's too early to tell how 4E as a whole will do. Maybe next summer once it's been out for a year there will be enough data (not that we're likely to see it).

 

[Grimstaff]

The other thing to consider regarding if 4E is a financial success is that the core books selling well won't matter in the long run.

Why do you think that? Its always been stated that Core books are the real money makers for D&D. The OGL and GSL are both designed around that truth.

 

[mechascorpio]

Thanks for that link pukunui, much appreciated. I agree that not putting the errata in the deluxe editions is a mistake, and I'm going to continue hoping they have a change of heart before those books go to print.

I suspect that they went to print at the same time as the first run. Print all the pages, segregate a group of them for different covers and the process that entails. I can think of no other reason that they couldn't get at least the first set of errata in there than "the pages have already been printed". The volume pricing probably offset the short-term storage cost.

 

[Mark]

I can think of no other reason that they couldn't get at least the first set of errata in (. . .)

This -

One of the ways to keep the per unit cost the same for subsequent print runs is to not make any (significant) changes to content. Any changes run up new pre-press costs and requires an adjustment to per unit costs in subsequent printings.

 

[The Little Raven]

One of the ways to keep the per unit cost the same for subsequent print runs is to not make any (significant) changes to content. Any changes run up new pre-press costs and requires an adjustment to per unit costs in subsequent printings.

Indeed.

Changing any of the content can have a ripple effect throughout the document, such as paragraph getting more text for clarification and bleeding over into the next column or page, thus pushing everything else back (and possibly rendering page number references less-than-useful).

 

[pukunui]

Thanks for that link pukunui, much appreciated. I agree that not putting the errata in the deluxe editions is a mistake, and I'm going to continue hoping they have a change of heart before those books go to print.

You're welcome.

Unfortunately, I think the deluxe books have probably already gone to print and that's why the errata won't be in them.

Besides, they're undoubtedly going to publish more errata in the next year or so (especially if the remaining items in the errata metathread are anything to go by) ... so if the deluxe books were supposed to be "up-to-date" editions, then they'd be putting them out too soon after release, and the deluxe books would end up needing errata too (this happened with 3.5 and the wild shape errata).

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I don't think anyone sane is surprised the first three books are selling remarkably well. 4e will sink or swim based on longevity. Not immidiate sales.

 

[CountPopeula]

Doesn't the GSL say that you can't include page numbers because they might change in subsequent printings?

This leads me to believe they at least have the intention of adding errata to reprints at some point, because there's no other reason to change the layout.