D&D 5E Why is WoTc still pushing AP's when the majority of gamers want something else?

[Hussar]

I'm still absolutely baffled that anyone could bitch about the lack of material for 5e while posting online. Good grief, there's a frigging MOUNTAIN of stuff on DMsGuild.

AND IT'S ALL D&D.

Psst, WotC is allowing people to produce material for WotC settings, in case you didn't know. There are a bajillion class and race splats. There's monster books galore. There's more adventures than you could possibly play in your lifetime already, right there. Most of it for the price of a Starbucks Coffee.

Holy crap, how much more material does anyone need? Just a quick perusal over there and there are just shy of three THOUSAND titles available. Even if 90% of it is crap, you still have HUNDREDS of books to suit your needs.

Look, I get that you want that official WotC seal of approval on your books. I get that. But, guess what? It's not going to happen. At least, not for a while. Not if WotC is serious about that 100k minimum sales for every title. There's nothing out there to suggest that they are going to change their business model any time soon.

So, you have two choices, [MENTION=6776548]Corpsetaker[/MENTION]. Either start looking at the other stuff being put out, or be disappointed. That's it. That's your choices, right now. Maybe it will change, I dunno. Stranger things have happened. But, I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Mouseferatu]

It's also important to consider the time involved in the process.

Back when I was working with WotC in the 3E and 4E eras, books were planned well over a year in advance. Even if WotC wanted to change course, it would likely take between one and two years before any of us saw the results of that. (That's assuming nothing about the process has changed since I was involved, of course, but I've no reason to think it should have.)

 

[Ath-kethin]

I had a typo. The first part of the sentence "I'll never buy an AP" was the correct part. In the later part it was supposed to be that they didn't fit my DMing style.

But it was just that - a typo. The fact that I'm glad they are making them for the FLGS and AL play is still true.

I assumed it was a typo (it didn't make sense otherwise), and was riffing on it. I was being funny. This is me being funny.

I have nothing against the APs, but they're not my style and not my thing. If they help grow the hobby, it can only be seen as a good thing and I hope they keep coming out.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Even if we accept the premise of the OP (which I don't), there is still a very good reason for WotC to keep publishing APs: they make money. Even if the majority of customers "wanted something else," APs have a high profit margin and sell very well. That "something else" is probably going to be different things, rather than a single item like APs, so the plurality of players appear to want APs. In business, you don't mess with what works.

Actually there is something that wasn't considered. I remember Perkin's stating that he had stories planned for the next X number of years. There could be a contract in place with various other companies that they may not be able to pull back on. It could also be that if Perkin's pulled back then it shows he was wrong.

 

[Corpsetaker]

On the one hand, I don't think it's super productive to criticize people personally. On the other hand, I don't think I've seen a thread from Corpsetaker since I got here that was not on the topic of "everything Wizards does is not what I want, they need to stop, here's why: I don't like it." To answer the question: I don't run APs, but I will happily buy them, because they have lots of bits and pieces I can use or adapt. I would also be happy with individual modules. But I am fine with these, so even though they're not specifically in the format I'll use them, the entire point of liking homebrew is that I"m planning to adapt other things to my needs.

If nobody ever pushed for change then the world would be a very bad place. There is nothing wrong with being persistent with what you want. There were several things that Mearls wanted to add to 5th edition that people rallied and said no. Remember the whole "damage on a miss" fiasco?

 

[Corpsetaker]

WotC (Mike Mearls) has repeatedly said that sales are higher on 5e products than they were or have been for products in earlier editions. That fact seems to belie your belief that a "majority" want something else. If another product type was in greater demand, WotC would publish it. Why does WotC keep publishing APs? They keep selling well. It's not a mystery.

Actually Mike did not say that. You've gotten your information wrong. Mike said they have sold more PHB's than some of the earlier editions. He tried to break up 3.0 and 3.5 as separate editions in order to prove his point correct when in fact 3.0 and 3.5 were not separate editions but one edition. This has been argued in other threads.

 

[Corpsetaker]

I'm still absolutely baffled that anyone could bitch about the lack of material for 5e while posting online. Good grief, there's a frigging MOUNTAIN of stuff on DMsGuild. AND IT'S ALL D&D. Psst, WotC is allowing people to produce material for WotC settings, in case you didn't know. There are a bajillion class and race splats. There's monster books galore. There's more adventures than you could possibly play in your lifetime already, right there. Most of it for the price of a Starbucks Coffee. Holy crap, how much more material does anyone need? Just a quick perusal over there and there are just shy of three THOUSAND titles available. Even if 90% of it is crap, you still have HUNDREDS of books to suit your needs. Look, I get that you want that official WotC seal of approval on your books. I get that. But, guess what? It's not going to happen. At least, not for a while. Not if WotC is serious about that 100k minimum sales for every title. There's nothing out there to suggest that they are going to change their business model any time soon. So, you have two choices, [MENTION=6776548]Corpsetaker[/MENTION]. Either start looking at the other stuff being put out, or be disappointed. That's it. That's your choices, right now. Maybe it will change, I dunno. Stranger things have happened. But, I wouldn't hold my breath.

This has already been explained to you before. DM'sGuild material is not legal in AL nor is it allowed at lot's of tables. Not to mention the fact that loads of it is broken, not play tested, and not official. Fan made material has been around for a long time, but now just because Wizards creates a site for it that it's suddenly become well accepted. Nothing has really changed in this department. Fan made material is still looked at cautiously and not accepted by loads of DM's.

 

[JeffB]

According to a Wizards survey, most people run their games using homebrew. Now this can mean anything from using an established setting but giving it your own stamp, or using a completely made up world.

Now Wizards always claimed they were using the surveys to give people what they want but it seems what people want doesn't align with that Wizards wants. When people say they run most of their games using homebrew then you would think they would be jumping to make more regional books, non setting books, and more DM's aids. I think this has been a product of the surveys all along but that's another topic.

So Wizards, we have told you what we want and how we run our games and yet you still try and shove AP's down our throats.

Why?

Shush.. Wizards knows what is best for us!

 

[sim-h]

I want APs.

WotC listen to me. Not you.

Ha.

 

[Wepwawet]

I guess I homebrew my campaign settings, in the sense that I don't care about the official setting and I just use enough of it to make it work in my games. It's Forgotten Realms, but deep down it doesn't matter, it's just a background for a story.

I love APs because they allow me to run a game written by professionals with little preparation from my part. There's still work in bringing them to my table, but far less than if I had to write one myself like in the past (which would be an ok adventure at most).

I'm very happy with all the AP's. Well, except that it's impossible for me to play all of it, but I hope that there are some lucky people in the world that do.

And I love that the setting material comes combined with the AP. I wouldn't have any interest in reading about Ravenloft if it wasn't for CoS (btw, LOVING IT)