D&D 5E Initial D&D Next Releases Showing Up on Barnes & Noble Website

[Dire Bare]

WotC was actively publishing D&D in 2010 and 2011, when Pathfinder started doing quite well.

Quite well, or well enough to pose as serious competition to WotC? Not the same thing. Pathfinder is a great game that does sell very well, making the folks over at Paizo quite rightly proud of their accomplishments. Anecdotally, I'm sure that out of all the "D&D clones" out there, Pathfinder is the best in terms of production quality, support, player-base, and in sales. But that still doesn't mean they are in serious competition with D&D. And until after the sales for D&D 5E get going, and both Paizo and WotC release their sales figures (which won't happen), it's just you and me arguing.

 

[Warunsun]

However, opening up the D&D license has allowed anyone to compete with their version, which was impossible before open source, and that flies in the face of the common business wisdom. Pathfinder has become Dungeons & Dragons, or it hasn't. We'll see.

If Disney ever actually buys Hasbro (as has been rumored before) then everything will change. The mouse is gobbling up all the cheese!

 

[Dire Bare]

It's going to be interesting to learn if the traditional wisdom that once a market leader, always a market leader will stand. By common marketing wisdom, D&D *could not* lose it's position in the marketplace. It could not become the number two game. It was called the Law of Exclusivity by marketing guys Ries and Trout. It just couldn't and won't happen in such a mature market.

However, opening up the D&D license has allowed anyone to compete with their version, which was impossible before open source, and that flies in the face of the common business wisdom. Pathfinder has become Dungeons & Dragons, or it hasn't. We'll see.

I wrote a blog post a couple years ago about why I think logically, Pathfinder is immovable in it's marketing position. Not that it should have a bearing on the enjoyment of either game.

I don't think that it is impossible for D&D to lose it's top spot in the RPG field, temporarily or even long-term. It's unlikely, but not impossible. Being first IS a big deal and DOES have a long-lasting impact.

And, really, all those OSR clones, Pathfinder, and even d20 products (both for 3e and 4E) that are out there are in a very real sense, "D&D". They are all variants of the original game, or designed to be directly compatible with the original game. They are all D&D, if not officially. But we could argue, do they really compete with official D&D, or support it? Or maybe a little of both? Or is the effect, one-way-or-the-other, a very minor one? I personally feel that the competition factor is minimal, the support factor is greater, but still small, and both happen at the same time.

 

[Morrus]

Could you take the PF/D&D market share debate to another thread, please guys? Historically once it's raised it derails any other thread completely (and always has exactly the same posts in it, this thread being no exception!)

 

[Plaguescarred]

It's a good thought, but WotC has decided to license out miniatures this time around. Gale Force 9 is releasing the "Collector's Series" of resin D&D minis, and WizKids is releasing pre-painted collectible soft plastic minis. Gale Force 9 is already well into their own release cycle, check them out!

http://www.gf9-dnd.com/home.aspx

Thanks for the info & link, OMG wow they look great !!

 

[Mark CMG]

I would love to see a "Starter Set" that looked a lot like the board games WotC put out a few years ago, Wrath of Ahardalon, Castle Ravenloft, and The Legend of Drizzt games. A huge box filled with dungeon tiles, miniatures, and the "basic" D&D rulebook and an adventure to go along with the tiles and minis. That would rock! There's no reason they can't do both, and who knows, maybe they will!

That's an interesting take and don't forget the success of Lords of Waterdeep (and its expansion). Basically, a boardgame that could be used as a gateway game to D&D but stands on its own as a boardgame. I think that would do quite well, if the success of the other boardgames is any sign.

 

[Warunsun]

I think I might actually pre-order these books from Barnes & Noble. I do like supporting bricked game stores but at-least during the fourth edition run of D&D Wizards of the Coast made it difficult for these stores to get the dang books. At-least the smaller ones. The closest local store was getting new books well after everyone else on the planet was selling them. I tried to get a lot of the new releases from them and some of the premium reprints and they got them several weeks late after the "wide release" dates. The store owner complained that they should have gotten these books earlier because they were a bricked game store in the WotC Encounters system but that it wasn't helping them. Amazon has always been a great source of online books but over the last year there have been several problems between them and Wizards of the Coast on not shipping products timely or at all. I pre-ordered four new D&D products over the last two years from Amazon that didn't ever get shipped to me. Others were shipped but were delivered late.

 

[Jester David]

Sure, it meant nothing. Other than "Summer 2014".

"Summer 2014" is as informative as saying "it will cost money" or "the edition is not vaporwaree."
They've spent two years saying "we can't comment on products". We didn't even really know it was going to be a physical product until recently.

Meh. You and I obviously have very different ideas of marketing failure and the importance of the above details you mention, and when they are released.

Marketing is meant to keep us informed and build excitement for the game. They're not doing the former, and by failing that also not doing the latter. WotC doing less than the minimum to raise awareness of the edition.

 

[Agamon]

That's an interesting take and don't forget the success of Lords of Waterdeep (and its expansion). Basically, a boardgame that could be used as a gateway game to D&D but stands on its own as a boardgame. I think that would do quite well, if the success of the other boardgames is any sign.

I have no problem with them releasing more board games, I'm both a big RPGer and board gamer. But they need to keep the two lines separate. RPGs are not board games, nor vice versa.

Lords of Waterdeep is a great game, but it's as much D&D as a D&D coloring book.

 

[lkj]

Out of curiosity, how accurate are the first postings of a product on Barnes and Noble in terms of release date and price? I honestly don't know. But I figure that some of you might pay more attention than me.

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