D&D “Essentials” as a product line = making it less daunting to get into the game?

[Windjammer]

D&D “Essentials” as a product line = making it less daunting to get into the game?

According to WotC’ remarks surrounding the introduction of the “Essentials” product line (both in Ampersand and on GenCon presentations), one rationale for the new product line is to lessen the confusion created by a myriad of products on someone completely new to the hobby.


Of course, it was a clever marketing strategy to put the label “Core Rules” on many a hardcover, but the effect on a complete outsider who first glances at a shelf of 4E books in a gaming store is a daunting one…

Should he get PHB 1, 2, or 3 first, simply depending on his class? (Not that he knows yet which class is where, or even which class he would like to play.) Does he even need all of them?

And if he wants to start DMing, how many DMs and Monster Manuals should be buy? Which ones are fully up to date and work especially well with other books?

So to make it easier for these people, WotC introduced Essentials.

What I want to ask people here is, whether in your estimate WotC has

- succeeded to cut down on the product proliferation and
- rectified the sometimes unclear labeling of products (e.g. Adventurers Vault 2 as a “core” rules book)

with Essentials.

I’m particularly interested in the experience of people working at FLGS's who could observe the effect of the products on people walking into the store who’ve never heard of D&D before. (I'm sure any helpful conversation between store clerk and customer can instantly clarify any confusion, but that was true of 4E prior to Essentials too. I am interested in the above rationale for 4E to make it easier to understand what a newcomer needs without having to resort to clarifying talks with store clerks or internet forum users.)

And just to clarify, it's not about whether the clarity or quantity of rules texts in the book has made the game easier to get into. There's already a couple of useful threads on that question running next door - but this thread ain't it. This one is about Essentials as a product line.

Thanks for your thoughts.


As a PS, there's an image that, while polemical, does (I think) raise a legitimate worry:
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/9396/basic.jpg

 

[delericho]

What I want to ask people here is, whether in your estimate WotC has

- succeeded to cut down on the product proliferation and
- rectified the sometimes unclear labeling of products (e.g. Adventurers Vault 2 as a “core” rules book)

with Essentials.

I would have said 'no', except that they changed the size of the books. Doing so made Essentials a clear break from what had gone before, and so removed the "wall of books" perception.

A very good move by WotC, IMO.

[quoteAs a PS, there's an image that, while polemical, does (I think) raise a legitimate worry: http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/9396/basic.jpg[/quote]

No, it doesn't. It makes the wrong comparison (between 4e in 2008 and 4e in 2010). The comparison it should have been making was between 4e in January 2010 (with dozens of books available, many with very similar names, and all labelled "must have"), and October 2010 (with ten).

 

[DaveMage]

I would think it's a bit too soon to tell.

Maybe by March we might have a clearer picture. (Or at least once the holiday season has passed.)

 

[Aurumvorax]

It's not really simpler, they just consolidated all the "must haves" into smaller books that aren't branches off the "core" books like the Powers and Races books.

Honestly, as a long time D&D player including 4e, I was more confused as to what Essentials was. As a new player, or even a veteran player, I assume I need to get the starter kit first which, for whatever reason, rips off the art used in Mentzer's basic set 20 years ago. Okay, the starter kit kinda-sorta told me how to play the game so now I need the Rules Compendium first followed by one of the Heroes books but wait, where are the monsters and rules for the DM? Oh, never mind they're being printed a whole month down the road so I guess I have to cull monsters from one of the other MMs while I wait for the Essentials monsters. What's this about DDI? Okay, I registered and now I'm using the character builder but what's with the reference to feats and powers from source material I've never heard of before?

 

[MrMyth]

Personally, I think that Essentials provides a better entry point but does a poor job of communicating it and steering people in the right direction - as demonstrated by the picture you linked to. I mean, what, nearly half the items on that pictures are accessories like dice and dungeon tiles - which might be useful for players, but don't need to be put forward as prominently as the main books.

I think the goal is as follows:

1) Group is interested in D&D. Everyone chips in for the Red Box. Only a few bucks each, and they discover they enjoy the game.

2) Each player buys the Hero book that has what they are interested in. Some of them might buy the Rules Compendium, or maybe the group just invests in one copy of it.

3) The DM picks up the DM Kit and Monster Vault. Investing in other dungeon tiles and tools are optional.

So at its core, it is a cheaper investment. A player only really needs $20 for a Heroes book. A DM just needs the DM Kit and Monster Vault. The group as a whole only needs one Rules Compendium.

Assuming 5 players and a DM, total investment by the group is $210 (or about ~$140 via Amazon). Previous investment (a PHB for each player, and PHB, DMG and MM for the DM) is $280 (or ~$180 via Amazon).

So, the core cost? Has definitely dropped. Problem is... that isn't really communicated all that well. So a player might look at the Essentials packaging, and think they need both Heroes book and the Rules Compendium. A DM might think they need all that player stuff in addition to the DM content. And suddenly they are juggling multiple books and higher prices.

I think it will depend on the store reps. If they can direct people to the proper efficient purchases, it will be easier to get into the game. The Red Box as a whole will certainly make for an easier 'present' to direct parents to than trying to explain how the whole system works.

Overall, I think it will help... but could have been done a bit more efficiently. On the other hand, maybe WotC wanted something that both presents the cheaper entry into the game while encouraging those with cash to spend to buy up a bunch of books. I guess we'll see how it does.

Interestingly enough, I picked up Gamma World, and I feel that it is what the Red Box should have been. The game just seems so elegant in explaining the 4E rules, character creation is simple and yet presents a fast array of concepts, everything you need to play is consolidated in one place... honestly, I think the Essentials line-up could have been patterned after some of the approaches taken by Gamma World, and it would have been an amazing success.

 

[deinol]

Assuming 5 players and a DM, total investment by the group is $210 (or about ~$140 via Amazon). Previous investment (a PHB for each player, and PHB, DMG and MM for the DM) is $280 (or ~$180 via Amazon).

Really? I've more often seen a cost conscious group where the DM buys the core set, and maybe 1 of those other players buys a second PHB. Certainly that's the case in my Pathfinder game, where I have the APG, GMG, Bestiary, and Core, while a single one of my 4 players bought a second copy of the Core book to have at the table. He also really likes Pathfinder.

Anyway, that's my experience. The other group I know that plays 4E is also fairly frugal. Nobody buys a duplicate of any of the extra books (Martial power, etc) if someone else in the group owns it.

So buying a full set of essentials is a lot closer to the price of a core set + 1 spare PHB. In fact, the only book I can see needing a duplicate of is it would be handy to have 2 Rules Compendiums at a table. Since the player book is split into 2, it is easier to share as now 2 people can be working on characters at the same time.

I do think Essentials has the right idea with several books at $20 they are more likely to be picked up as impulse buys, hopefully drawing a new person (and possibly their friends) into the game.

 

[MrMyth]

Really? I've more often seen a cost conscious group where the DM buys the core set, and maybe 1 of those other players buys a second PHB.

You may have a point. When I was playing 2nd Ed in high school, this sounds like a closer match for my group's buying habits. But pretty much every group I've seen since 3rd Edition has tended to feature everyone (or nearly everyone) owning at least their own PHB. I don't know if that is a product of the newer editions or just my own social circles, though.

If one does assume that sort of frugal approach, then yeah, Essentials isn't as big a catch - I think it still comes out cheaper, but not by much. And, again, even more chance of the group having a harder time figuring out what the absolute minimum they need to play actually is.

 

[TerraDave]

Mr Myth pretty much covers it. Though of course there is another avenue for confusion: the existing core books. These are still there, of course, and who is to say that I don't need both a PHB and a Hero of...book. And why are these different here, and there, and here...

In theory, essentials could still work well. As the other dave says, we will have to see.

 

[Beginning of the End]

- succeeded to cut down on the product proliferation and
- rectified the sometimes unclear labeling of products (e.g. Adventurers Vault 2 as a “core” rules book)

Clearly not. You can't (a) increase the number of books available and (b) triple the number of "buy this first" products on the market and achieve those goals.

New Customer Pre-Essentials(TM) is forced to look at a wall o' product and eventually figure out that they need the PHB / DMG / MM to start playing the game.

New Customer Post-Essentials(TM) is forced to look at a wall o' even more product and eventually figures out that they can buy either the PHB/DMG/MM, the Starter Set, or a combination of 2 or 3 different Essentials products to start playing the game.

Arguably the Starter Set at least represents a lower price point, but since it's actually a pay-to-preview product the Essentials line actually increases the cost to start playing the full game compared to the PHB/DMG/MM triumvirate. (And that's true even if you skip the Starter Set entirely. Nor does it include the full line of Essentials products.)

With that being said: WotC had certainly dug itself into something of a hole by degrading the label of "core rulebook" until it meant "everything we publish". They might have been able to re-brand the "Essentials" trademark to replace that lost utility, but if that was the goal they reallty didn't achieve it: Labeling 10 different products with a total retail cost of several hundred dollars as being "essential" and "everything you need to play" D&D doesn't look particularly effective to me.

AFAICT, the Essentials products don't solve these problems. They make them worse.

Really? I've more often seen a cost conscious group where the DM buys the core set, and maybe 1 of those other players buys a second PHB. Certainly that's the case in my Pathfinder game, where I have the APG, GMG, Bestiary, and Core, while a single one of my 4 players bought a second copy of the Core book to have at the table. He also really likes Pathfinder.

There are, IME, two kinds of players: Those who want to own the rulebook and those who don't. They will often intermix at the same table. So the OP's math seems like a fake-out to me for several reasons:

(1) Many tables feature "one set of rulebooks" (usually owned by the DM). For these groups, the cost has gone from $105 (PHB/DMG/MM) to $110 (Rules Compendium, one Heroes book, DM's Kit, Monster Vault); $130 (for both Heroes books); or even $150 (if they also bought the Starter Set).

(2) If you have a player who likes to own the rulebook (instead of just borrowing a copy from someone else), then I find it doubtful that they're going to stop with just the character creation rules. They're going to also buy a copy of the Rules Compendium. So they've gone from $25 to a $40 investment.

(3) The idea that a DM isn't going to want a full set of rulebooks -- including the character creation rules -- seems alien to me. So saying that everyone at the table is going to own one of the Heroes books except for the DM seems bogus to me. The DM is going to own both of them, which immediately cranks their costs back up.

Finally, the concept of "everyone chipping in to buy a game and try it out" is an inherently geeky concept. And, IME, even most geeks don't do it.

Essentials is more confusing and more expensive.

 

[Sunseeker]

I'll be honest, I'm not sure if you have a gripe with 4e, WOTC, or Essentials not being 5e. Because while one topic was interesting, the fact that you've now made two topics on the subjects makes me raise eyebrows.

I don't think D&D is as daunting to get into as people make it out to be. All the books which come in multiples clearly state which number they are, either one, two, three, and sometimes four. Even if you're an idiot, you can generally resume that even though all three say "Player's Handbook", you can surmise that 1 comes before 2 and 2 before 3. Therefore, you should start with #1.

Likewise, I doubt many people wake up one morning and say to themselves: "I wish there were some sort of game, written in some kind book that could be played on a table and had optional action figures I could use." And even of those who do, I doubt very many of them wake up inclined to RUN this game. So I think you're making a fairly large straw-man regarding how many people this "daunting" number of books is going to intimidate.

For those small few who want to jump right in and try their best to drown, I doubt they are unintelligent enough to figure out that 1 comes before 2, and that books that say they are an accessory to other books mean you need those "core" books first. Most people who play, have played, or want to pay are not idiots. The few that are, yes, they are likely going to be turned off real quick to playing. But D&D isn't for idiots. It's not WoW and it shouldn't be. Attempts to make it WoW should be met with more nerd RAAAGGEEE than the death of Superman.(all 12 times).

I've seen people who have never played been asked to play, and they come in two prime varities. Either A: they get it. Their mind goes: "here's the numbers, here's the abilities, lets play." or B: they don't get it, and their mind goes: "What's a d6?" In the sub-varities, people with a head for numbers enjoy combat, and people without a head for numbers end up being great role-players. I was at Encounters(which is a good starting place), before Essentials came out and we asked a girl nearby if she wanted to play.

She consented and joined, and had a handle on the game within 10 minutes and a little friendly instruction. She had a great head for numbers and "got it", not a real RPer, but I think that was partly the DMs fault for not making the story(which was a bit dry) very engaging at all.

short story: I don't think D&D is hard to get into. And I don't think most people who play or want to play woke up one day thinking about playing D&D. I think it's more likely that everyone who plays or wants to play was introduced by a friend, the internet, or a friendly gaming-shop owner. Tabletop games are like diseases, they spread from person to person, nobody just "wakes up" with it.

On a personal note, I don't think Essentials really made it easier to get into the game. I think it made some logical fixes to the game that 4e was lacking without creating a whole new edition. I think it did a good job of summing up what's necessary for a quick, small campaign, without going into the often unneeded detail of the larger books. That said, it still requires all the same basic skills from anyone who wants to get into it, which include, but are not limited to: Good reading comprehension, a head for numbers or role-playing, ability to understand acronyms, and moderate social skills.