hawkeyefan
Legend
In order to get this evidence you have to take a chance. It seems like there are a lot of people who really like the 5th edition rules. What settings sold the best in the past has really no relevance now.
Let's say they take a chance. Let's say that they decide to put out a Dark Sun Book. For the record, I love Dark Sun (I'm actually using the setting in my 5E campaign). Let's say just for argument's sake that such a book wouldn't just appeal to a subsection of the market.
Do you think that a Dark Sun book would sell as highly as an equivalent FR Canpaign Guide? Because they have to make these kinds of decisions. They have a limited amount of people and resources. So they absolutely MUST choose what to publish at any given time. You've said it isn't an either/or situation but it is exactly that. Your view as a fan may not be either/or, but theirs as a business must be.
So let's say that they put out a Dark Sun Campaign Guide. If it doesn't sell well...this chance that you describe above...then that is a big deal. The FR stuff has a quantifiable appeal...they have a lot of data to give them an idea on how a FR book will sell. They have less for the other settings.
Yes, this is a case of a self fulfilling prophecy to some extent. But they have to go with what they know. Any risk taken must be carefully considered.
There has never been another 5th edition D&D out there so there is no way to know what will succeed or not until you try.
This is bonkers. Telling them to ignore what data they have and basically roll the dice and hope that a more niche setting will have a wider appeal than a more generic setting? Why?
Seriously, why would they do that? It's like telling Coca-Cola to spend less on production/support of Coke and instead focus on orange soda. It just doesn't make sense.
What they could do is decide what level of support such a niche product might garner, and then see if they can allocate enough resources to test it out, without actually disrupting their main product.