TerraDave
5ever, or until 2024
XGtE, which has been doing well for months now, is the best selling game book, with over a month before it is available on Amazon.
Overall sales ranks #103. It almost certainly will go higher.
D&D 5E 3 Years Later: D&D's total Domination on Amazon (and Earth in General)
- Thread starter TerraDave
- Start date
XGtE, which has been doing well for months now, is the best selling game book, with over a month before it is available on Amazon.
Overall sales ranks #103. It almost certainly will go higher.
I thought that it was selling well because it was a good product but you are right, it must be because of the slow release of product.
Which would explain why the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Masters Guide, the Monster Manual and the Dungeon Masters Screen are four of the top five DnD products because of the slow release schedule.
Which would explain why the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Masters Guide, the Monster Manual and the Dungeon Masters Screen are four of the top five DnD products because of the slow release schedule.
Jester David
Hero
I thought that it was selling well because it was a good product but you are right, it must be because of the slow release of product.
Which would explain why the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Masters Guide, the Monster Manual and the Dungeon Masters Screen are four of the top five DnD products because of the slow release schedule.
They might very well be.
The thought is that when new players come into the game, they want to buy a book or two. If their group already has a PHB, they might buy another book: instead of getting the one repeated purchase, they spread out sales over two or three or a dozen side accessories...
Or they might not know to start with the PHB and buy a different book. The more books there are, the more confusion for where to start. And the game seems less intimidating as there's not a wall of sourcebooks or material that might all appear mandatory.
Also, because there's the one key book, it's easier to keep that in stock. Game stores have fewer purchases to make for gaming products (since they effectively pre-buy every book and then recoup the expense with a sale). Fewer accessories that might sell means they can afford to have more PHBs and core books on the shelves and visible. This makes it easier for people to buy said books, but also brings attention to the game and thus more sales.
Because there are fewer accessories and less bloat/ expansions, the rules aren't becoming as worn or played out. There's more room in the game for campaigns. Things feel less broken. This means more people are playing, which maintains visibility of the game as people talk about it.
Plus, with rarer accessories, each new book feels more special and warrants more attention and hype and excitement. The books become the focus for longer rather than the attention immediately moving over to the new sexy.
Or it could just be 5e and the right edition at the right time.
But both 4e and 3e had their fans. And 3e sold big numbers when it first launched. As Mearls commented when 5e released, the trick isn't having a best selling RPG for the first year, the trick is having a high selling RPG three or four years down the line.
So far 5e isn't experiencing the slow trickle down of sales expected by RPGs. Like was seen by 2e and 3e and 3.5e and 4e.
People dont seem to be that stupid. The top selling books are the core books and the latest releases.
And if you think that 5e does not suffer the "Wall o'Books" problem then your LFGS does not stock all the 5e books.
Azzy
ᚳᚣᚾᛖᚹᚢᛚᚠ (He/Him)
Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
Good heavens, there hasn't been real doubt in years.
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad
It does not suffer from the wall of books problem. The word "wall" was not being used figuratively. If you actually try and view all the Pathfinder books at once, it really does make a wall. 5e on the other hand has a total of 13 books so far. 13 books is not a wall of books. It's not even half a shelf of books.
Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
People seem a deal more easily confused than even suggested, unfortunately.
My FLGS doesn't stock all the books: the core and new books, really, not keeping the older APs in stock. The lack of confusing names like PHB II or Monster Manual III have helped as much as the slow pace of release, though St base bring a good game was a solid start.
Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
Particularly if a given store only has half in stock, and the priority of purchase is well labelled.
