Has WotC saturated the published adventure market or are the two latest adventures not very popular?

[delericho]

I would love for them to make some softcover books like they did back in 3rd edition (Masters of the Wild and such), or even smaller hardcovers (like Arms and Equipment Guide). But ever since 3.5 WotC has been averse to ever touch a softcover again. Everything has to be giant 256 page hardcover book with large amounts of full color images.

I will be stunned if WotC ever again do a book that is not a full-colour hardback or costs less than $50.

(Note: I do mean specifically a book, not a boxed set, PDF, or whatever else. )

Another Starter Set type adventure would be nice.

Agreed. I think the best approach would be to revise the Starter Set - release LMoP onto DM's Guild and do a new boxed set with the new adventure. Again, I can't see them releasing such an adventure as a standalone (since it would be softcover, and less than $50).

Alternately, I could see them doing another book like "Tales of the Yawning Portal" - perhaps filled with new, rather than converted, adventures.

 

[Wiseblood]

I would say the size and frequency of the adventures causes a large amount of saturation. I have many older modules that are smaller and easy enough to splice into my campaigns. I would add that the themes of the adventures put out are too limiting.

 

[Jester David]

In a way I would love to have monthly installments for APs like what Paizo does, but not for the price Paizo asks. $25 per "issue" makes the entire path cost $150 without the subscription, which is 3x what a WotC published adventure costs. I mean, they are already releasing 2 adventures a year anyway. Would probably make them a bit easier to "digest" by getting them in smaller installments. Make them softcover, keep the non-adventure story out of it, and charge like $10 or $15 per installment. Gives them an overall increase in revenue (they'd be 60-90 dollars for the whole thing). Or maybe I'm just talking out of my back end about that. It's late, and I've been awake for 18 hours. So sorry if nothing made much sense.

Sorry, but no sense.
Paizo charges $25 because that's what they can produce a 96-page perfect bound book for and make money. WotC might be able to drop it down a little as they can print more copies. But they'd still be unlikely to get it below $20.
Plus, the problem with the Paizo model is lots of people buy the first volume and fewer buy the 6th. Sales decline and decline for each volume in the series.

 

[gyor]

I disagree with the very premise of this thread, not selling as well as some 5e books is not the same as not selling well period, I think it's absurd to think they expect every book to sell better as much as the last. They are selling very well, just not as well as, some other 5e books.

 

[Jester David]

I will be stunned if WotC ever again do a book that is not a full-colour hardback or costs less than $50.

(Note: I do mean specifically a book, not a boxed set, PDF, or whatever else. )

Agreed. I think the best approach would be to revise the Starter Set - release LMoP onto DM's Guild and do a new boxed set with the new adventure. Again, I can't see them releasing such an adventure as a standalone (since it would be softcover, and less than $50).

Alternately, I could see them doing another book like "Tales of the Yawning Portal" - perhaps filled with new, rather than converted, adventures.

Meanwhile, I'd be stunned if they redid the Starter Set.
It's still selling well. Better than Tome of Foes or Dragon Heist right now. It only needs to be replaced if it stops selling. Because it's a small, cheap product where they make almost no money with each sale. Selling volume is the only way they recoup the cost.

 

[delericho]

Meanwhile, I'd be stunned if they redid the Starter Set.
It's still selling well. Better than Tome of Foes or Dragon Heist right now. It only needs to be replaced if it stops selling. Because it's a small, cheap product where they make almost no money with each sale. Selling volume is the only way they recoup the cost.

Sure. I was agreeing that it would be nice, not necessarily that it's likely to happen.

 

[robus]

Sure. I was agreeing that it would be nice, not necessarily that it's likely to happen.

What blows my mind is that they didn't produce a starter set for the M:tG Ravnica folks. You want to invite in a new group of players and you just provide a big-ass book (that also requires purchasing 3 other books) in order to get your game on? (Yes there are the free basic rules if you're savvy enough to find them)

So it looks like 4 books in total for people wanting to try out this game... But a starter set with a Ravnica specific adventure (and a cool set of dice [with 2 d20s! ] seems like a no brainer to me. Have James Wyatt produce it in his copious spare time

 

[Parmandur]

Meanwhile, I'd be stunned if they redid the Starter Set.
It's still selling well. Better than Tome of Foes or Dragon Heist right now. It only needs to be replaced if it stops selling. Because it's a small, cheap product where they make almost no money with each sale. Selling volume is the only way they recoup the cost.

I halfway wonder if the 5E Starter Set might have snuck it's way into being one of the best-selling D&D products of all time by now? 4.33 years and still selling briskly, selling at Target right next to Settlers of Catan...

 

[delericho]

I halfway wonder if the 5E Starter Set might have snuck it's way into being one of the best-selling D&D products of all time by now? 4.33 years and still selling briskly, selling at Target right next to Settlers of Catan...

If they really have hit their stated target of 100k units per book, then all the 5e books are amongst the best-selling D&D products of all time. Prior to 5e there were only a very few non-core rulebook products to reach that threshold (something like half a dozen of the 1st Ed, BECMI, or older adventures). Of course, it depends how long you make your list of best-selling products - top-10, top-25, top-100?

The big announcement I keep waiting for is that the 5e PHB has become the best selling PHB of any edition. Granted, estimates for the number sold by 1st Ed vary, but they're probably around 1.5M copies. So if the 5e PHB were to hit a sufficiently high number (2M?) I would expect they'd feel confident to declare a winner - and I'd expect them to shout that one loudly.

 

[Parmandur]

If they really have hit their stated target of 100k units per book, then all the 5e books are amongst the best-selling D&D products of all time. Prior to 5e there were only a very few non-core rulebook products to reach that threshold (something like half a dozen of the 1st Ed, BECMI, or older adventures). Of course, it depends how long you make your list of best-selling products - top-10, top-25, top-100?

The big announcement I keep waiting for is that the 5e PHB has become the best selling PHB of any edition. Granted, estimates for the number sold by 1st Ed vary, but they're probably around 1.5M copies. So if the 5e PHB were to hit a sufficiently high number (2M?) I would expect they'd feel confident to declare a winner - and I'd expect them to shout that one loudly.

Actually, they might not trumpet that specifically, they play their hand close to their chest these days: it may already have done so, even.