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What stops WotC from *also* selling 3.5?
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 5692241" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>I think your presumption is absolutely wrong. It costs a lot to set up a print run, and the smaller the run, the higher the cost-per-unit.</p><p></p><p>Add to that the fact that 4e would lose some sales (certainly not 1:1, but some) and you have a lower profit product (via smaller print runs) eating away at the more profitable sales... I just can't see it happening.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It all boils down to, Will this make (more) money (than what we're already doing)? Unless the answer to this becomes a low-risk YES!!, the rest of these concerns are irrelevant from a corporate perspective.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Is there <em>hope?</em> Yes. Has WotC's track record with digital stuff been absolutely appallingly bad? GOD YES. Do I think they'll pull the digital initiative out of its own butt and make it work? Let's put it this way: More than a year after the offline tools were scrapped, the online Monster Builder can <em>finally</em> build monsters- but you can't export them to a "building an adventure"-friendly format, and they still use MM1 math. WTF, man, really? After more than a year of waiting for this, we get a Monster Builder that <em>still</em> doesn't offer anything practical to a group that doesn't play with internet devices at the table. </p><p></p><p>So, is there hope? Sure... sucker.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, a group needs only one copy of the board game and has no need for, and often no interest in, supplemental materials. Board games are a whole different sort of thing than RPGs; a board game customer is a sale once, whereas an RPG customer is a potential steady stream of income. Even board game collectors aren't great repeat customers; you can buy a new board game from any company and integrate it into "game night" equally easily, but if you run an RPG campaign, you probably buy material for the system you run (i.e. once you buy your Players Handbook, you're pretty likely to end up with Martial Power, which is another sale for WotC, but once you buy Wrath of Ashardalon you're just as likely to make your next game purchase Monopoly or Chess as the Ravenloft board game).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 5692241, member: 1210"] I think your presumption is absolutely wrong. It costs a lot to set up a print run, and the smaller the run, the higher the cost-per-unit. Add to that the fact that 4e would lose some sales (certainly not 1:1, but some) and you have a lower profit product (via smaller print runs) eating away at the more profitable sales... I just can't see it happening. It all boils down to, Will this make (more) money (than what we're already doing)? Unless the answer to this becomes a low-risk YES!!, the rest of these concerns are irrelevant from a corporate perspective. Is there [i]hope?[/i] Yes. Has WotC's track record with digital stuff been absolutely appallingly bad? GOD YES. Do I think they'll pull the digital initiative out of its own butt and make it work? Let's put it this way: More than a year after the offline tools were scrapped, the online Monster Builder can [i]finally[/i] build monsters- but you can't export them to a "building an adventure"-friendly format, and they still use MM1 math. WTF, man, really? After more than a year of waiting for this, we get a Monster Builder that [i]still[/i] doesn't offer anything practical to a group that doesn't play with internet devices at the table. So, is there hope? Sure... sucker. Well, a group needs only one copy of the board game and has no need for, and often no interest in, supplemental materials. Board games are a whole different sort of thing than RPGs; a board game customer is a sale once, whereas an RPG customer is a potential steady stream of income. Even board game collectors aren't great repeat customers; you can buy a new board game from any company and integrate it into "game night" equally easily, but if you run an RPG campaign, you probably buy material for the system you run (i.e. once you buy your Players Handbook, you're pretty likely to end up with Martial Power, which is another sale for WotC, but once you buy Wrath of Ashardalon you're just as likely to make your next game purchase Monopoly or Chess as the Ravenloft board game). [/QUOTE]
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What stops WotC from *also* selling 3.5?
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