D&D 5E I think WotC has it backwards (re: story arcs)

[Parmandur]

Pretty much everyone who posted in this thread was talking about RPG content.

Doesn't mean a hardback.

 

[Hussar]

I gotta ask, what the heck is "Rage of Drizzt"?

 

[Parmandur]

I gotta ask, what the heck is "Rage of Drizzt"?

The next storyline, "Rage of Demons,"involves the players fighting a Demonic invasion of the Underdark. Drizzt is in the tie-in novel, and perhaps video games. Green Ronin is designing the tabletop adventure and has already assured us that Drizzt will not be the focus of the AP (or even in it, maybe).

 

[sunshadow21]

Who said anything about a book? Given their references to board games, I wouldn't be surprised to see a boxed set show up at some point (considering they asked us in a recent survey if we would buy a new box set). And they only let us know about the July Starter Set in June, as pointed out above. They don't need that much lead time.

Book, boxed set, or something else, I would be surprised to see them release anything major without a lot of hoopla given the amount of material not being released. Lead time isn't the issue; giving marketing time to ramp up the hype is. It's still a bit early to see with complete certainty that nothing will happen at Gen Con, but time is pretty limited for an announcement that would allow the kind of attention that they seem to want for anything particularly large related to the RPG. I could see a surprise announcement related to a boardgame, video game, or movie, but they are releasing so little for the RPG they can't afford to make anything major on that front a surprise release, even with the amount of attention that they will get at Gen Con.

 

[Parmandur]

Book, boxed set, or something else, I would be surprised to see them release anything major without a lot of hoopla given the amount of material not being released. Lead time isn't the issue; giving marketing time to ramp up the hype is. It's still a bit early to see with complete certainty that nothing will happen at Gen Con, but time is pretty limited for an announcement that would allow the kind of attention that they seem to want for anything particularly large related to the RPG. I could see a surprise announcement related to a boardgame, video game, or movie, but they are releasing so little for the RPG they can't afford to make anything major on that front a surprise release, even with the amount of attention that they will get at Gen Con.

They have already shown that a month is sufficient lead time. Not saying they will, but no way we can know either way at this point. Either way is fine, but time will tell.

 

[delericho]

That'd be nice. Right now I have access to 0 of them.

Yep. I'm sure the AL stuff is nice and all, but right now it might as well not exist in my world - I have no access to those materials nor any way to (legally) gain that access.

Who said anything about a book? Given their references to board games, I wouldn't be surprised to see a boxed set show up at some point...

I would. Other than the obligatory "Starter Set" (which needs a box as it needs to include things like character sheets and dice), I'm pretty sure the days of boxed sets (from WotC) are essentially done. They have significant production costs that aren't faced by hardbacks, and thus they give you less material for the price point. Unless there's something in there that forces them to use the format (such as multiple poster maps) they're better going with the hardback book format.

(And, on a personal level, I'm not too disappointed by this - in the UK books are exempted from both import duty and VAT (currently at 20%). As soon as a boxed set includes dice, cards, or some other components it gets classed as a game, and suffers both. So the format suffers doubly for us.)

 

[sunshadow21]

They have already shown that a month is sufficient lead time. Not saying they will, but no way we can know either way at this point. Either way is fine, but time will tell.

For relatively minor stuff, sure, but anything particularly large, probably not. Even the Starter set wasn't that large, and existed primarily to whet the appetite for the core books. Anything that goes beyond the APs or providing basic support for the APs will almost certainly have more than 1 month lead time, especially if the plan is to release it at Gen Con.

 

[Benji]

Yeah, but the narrative from some posters is that WotC will surprise everyone with a product at GenCon or a last minute announcement. It doesn't make sense marketing wise. If they do surprise everyone with a FR campaign setting at GenCon, all the attention and money Rage over Drizzt would get would be diverted. If it is a splatbook called Heroes of the Elements, it won't get much attention away from the Rage storm. If it is Heroes the Abyssal Underdark, why not announce it with the rest of the Rage bundle? Expecting something more than a small adventure or booklet for GenCon is wishful thinking.

Given that a lot of people who want additional books are also saying 'I don't buy AP's' aren't they separate revenue streams? Also If I was (and this is just me) going to surprise people with a product at GenCon, it wouldn't mean the product is available right away. It'd just mean I could go "...And we have THIS AMAZING RED SAILS SETTING BOOK. Coming soon! Probably after RoD because then you have time to budget for both."

But that's just me. TBH your narrative makes more sense. I'm just saying what could happen. I'm waiting for the post-Gencon post one side of this arguement makes and then I can pretend I was on that side all along....

 

[Parmandur]

Yep. I'm sure the AL stuff is nice and all, but right now it might as well not exist in my world - I have no access to those materials nor any way to (legally) gain that access.







I would. Other than the obligatory "Starter Set" (which needs a box as it needs to include things like character sheets and dice), I'm pretty sure the days of boxed sets (from WotC) are essentially done. They have significant production costs that aren't faced by hardbacks, and thus they give you less material for the price point. Unless there's something in there that forces them to use the format (such as multiple poster maps) they're better going with the hardback book format.



(And, on a personal level, I'm not too disappointed by this - in the UK books are exempted from both import duty and VAT (currently at 20%). As soon as a boxed set includes dice, cards, or some other components it gets classed as a game, and suffers both. So the format suffers doubly for us.)

Except that they have straight up asked in the continuing polls if we would buy a boxed set. They are considering them as products, which would match the "board game/physical product/sell at WalMart" model they are touting on Twitter. I would not bet on all books going forwards...

 

[Kramodlog]

Given that a lot of people who want additional books are also saying 'I don't buy AP's' aren't they separate revenue streams? Also If I was (and this is just me) going to surprise people with a product at GenCon, it wouldn't mean the product is available right away. It'd just mean I could go "...And we have THIS AMAZING RED SAILS SETTING BOOK. Coming soon! Probably after RoD because then you have time to budget for both."

But that's just me. TBH your narrative makes more sense. I'm just saying what could happen. I'm waiting for the post Gen con post one side of this arguement makes and then I can pretend I was on that side all along....

I wouldn't be surprised if they announce the AP that comes after Rage over Drizzt at GenCon. At least give an idea of the theme/vilain. They are probably writting it right now. Well, the contrator is writting right now.