D&D 5E Poll: How do you feel about 5e pace of releases?

[Parmandur]

no, you cannot really assume either for certain, I am just leaning more towards the increased output being the result of declining sales.

Isn’t that also how Ben Riggs tells it?

To me there is no doubt that you can flood the market beyond what is reasonable and 2e to 4e did so

Ni, I am not assuming causation. But there is a correlation: sometimes that means causation, sometimes not. But it raises the question.

 

[Echohawk]

Furthermore, folks making melodramatic comparisons to the TSR-driven mega-glut are simply incorrect. Every edition has had a lower average publication rate than that, much lower. Indeed, from what I'm seeing, every WotC edition has had a lower average publication rate than the one that came before.

Not quite, 3.0 edition also had a relatively low product count. 1st edition is also an oddity since the release pace changed quite a bit between 1977 and 1988 and that bit of the graph includes B/X and BECMI products.

Ignoring original D&D, B/X and BECMI releases, I'd estimate the order as:
2e > 3.5e > 4e > 3e > 1e > 5e.

 

[Parmandur]

Not quite, 3.0 edition also had a relatively low product count. 1st edition is also an oddity since the release pace changed quite a bit between 1977 and 1988 and that bit of the graph includes B/X and BECMI products.

Ignoring original D&D, B/X and BECMI releases, I'd estimate the order as:
2e > 3.5e > 4e > 3e > 1e > 5e.

3E has a dip there, but that dip is still higher than anything prior to 1983 or anything in the 5E era. Starting in 1983, 1E and BECMI (B/X beinf depreciated at that exact point of acceleration).really start ramping up the product line...but that's exactly when sales crateree for TSR and never recovered...as they kept accelerating into the turn.

 

[mamba]

Ni, I am not assuming causation. But there is a correlation: sometimes that means causation, sometimes not. But it raises the question.

I meant the general you, not you specifically

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

Imo they're too slow with their releases.

I don't personally care about more crunch, but I want them to provide more optional/modular things. A good system for ships. A good system for domain management. A good system for spelljammers.

 

[Velderan]

I certainly see no causation there, if anything it is the reverse. To stave off the declining total sales they release more products in hope of attracting buyers.

Who knows, if TSR could do basic accounting, it might even have worked, but selling products below cost without even realizing it is not a viable approach, no matter how many releases you have

What is clear is that there is such a thing as too many releases, and that 5e is below that threshold

You can make the argument Paizo is currently running the same strategy, except they seem to be able to manage basic accounting to not lose money on what they’re selling. Given their founder Lisa Stevens was the one who performed the autopsy on TSR’s financials during the purchase, I’m sure this point stuck as a reason they were in the position they were in.

I think WotC could probably release an extra book or two per year with no problem. Every book doesn’t need to appeal to every player, so widening their net just a little bit could help attract more players. It would be interesting to see if the backlog creating a bit of a flood of books these past few months shows WotC people are ok buying books if they’re released this quickly. Given the average Americans ability to save money, it’s not like most people saw the upcoming release schedule and saved their money to plan for it.

 

[Echohawk]

3E has a dip there, but that dip is still higher than anything prior to 1983 or anything in the 5E era.

Indeed. It's perhaps worth noting that 5e is the first edition that doesn't have some form of additional content being published in magazine format*. A detailed analysis of the total number of pages of game content put out per year including that is left as an exercise for the reader

*Ignoring Dragon+ which typically didn't have a lot of new game content.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Not quite, 3.0 edition also had a relatively low product count. 1st edition is also an oddity since the release pace changed quite a bit between 1977 and 1988 and that bit of the graph includes B/X and BECMI products.

Ignoring original D&D, B/X and BECMI releases, I'd estimate the order as:
2e > 3.5e > 4e > 3e > 1e > 5e.

I was treating 3.5e and 3e as one edition, since realistically they are (much as 5.5e and 5.0 will be).

 

[Parmandur]

Indeed. It's perhaps worth noting that 5e is the first edition that doesn't have some form of additional content being published in magazine format*. A detailed analysis of the total number of pages of game content put out per year including that is left as an exercise for the reader

*Ignoring Dragon+ which typically didn't have a lot of new game content.

OTOHz no other edition had the Wild West of DMs Guild publication, which serves a lot of the same functionality as a magazine would.

 

[Morrus]

I definitely don't get them all any more--I have over 20 and have only used a handful of them, so its nearly not too slow for me! I just get the ones which grab me thematically now. I'll get Planescape for sure.