D&D 5E What if the D&D Core outsells the revised D&D Core?

[ECMO3]

They won’t be running both lines at the same time. They’ll stop printing the old ones. Stocks will sell through them you’ll only be able to buy the new ones.

They will stop printing them, but they will be on shelves for a long time (I can still find 4E books) and I think a lot of people are using digital now and I think that will go quicker in the future.

It is a bit difficult for me to think they will pull the digital material off the market since it is essentially free money.

 

[Stormonu]

They will stop printing them, but they will be on shelves for a long time (I can still find 4E books) and I think a lot of people are using digital now and I think that will go quicker in the future.

It is a bit difficult for me to think they will pull the digital material off the market since it is essentially free money.

It’s not free money, as the stuff I paid for on Beyond was a one-time payment and they still have to pay the costs of storage and bandwidth.

I learned my lesson about digital back with 3E tools. I’m still willing to use it, but support doesn’t last forever, and the value of keeping it - and software/hardware support to keep it running - degrades quickly.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It is a bit difficult for me to think they will pull the digital material off the market since it is essentially free money.

They've already done it. They'll do it again. They pulled two MMs for 5E and replaced them with MotM. A bunch of people said "No fair I wanna buy the older versions!" and Beyond just said "Nah mate".

They also - and this is important - pulled the older MMs from Roll 20 and Fantasy Grounds. You can go check. This tells us something about WotC's contract with those companies - WotC can get them to pull material.

The last thing you want to do is have a confused customer buy the "wrong" book, and you have to realize how staggeringly ill-informed a huge percentage of customers are. If you let there be two books both called "The Player's Handbook", you're going to have a huge problem. Some people will buy the old one, and then get mad because it's the wrong one. Doesn't matter if you try to warn them. Some people will buy neither, because they're confused and uncertain (warnings make this much more likely, too). Some people will buy both, then get mad because you don't really need both, and so on. That adds up to a grand total of "more trouble than it's worth".

I will say, looking at this, it actually bodes fairly well for people who think 1D&D will be available on Roll 20 and Fantasy Grounds - I suspect, given WotC got them to pull the older MMs, they'll pull and replace the PHB/DMG/MM for 1D&D too.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I love seeing everyone claim they will stick with the current edition and not get the new one! I cant believe they are doing this to us!

Like an old song suddenly popping up on the radio.

 

[overgeeked]

They've already done it. They'll do it again. They pulled two MMs for 5E and replaced them with MotM. A bunch of people said "No fair I wanna buy the older versions!" and Beyond just said "Nah mate".

They also - and this is important - pulled the older MMs from Roll 20 and Fantasy Grounds. You can go check. This tells us something about WotC's contract with those companies - WotC can get them to pull material.

The last thing you want to do is have a confused customer buy the "wrong" book, and you have to realize how staggeringly ill-informed a huge percentage of customers are. If you let there be two books both called "The Player's Handbook", you're going to have a huge problem. Some people will buy the old one, and then get mad because it's the wrong one. Doesn't matter if you try to warn them. Some people will buy neither, because they're confused and uncertain (warnings make this much more likely, too). Some people will buy both, then get mad because you don't really need both, and so on. That adds up to a grand total of "more trouble than it's worth".

I will say, looking at this, it actually bodes fairly well for people who think 1D&D will be available on Roll 20 and Fantasy Grounds - I suspect, given WotC got them to pull the older MMs, they'll pull and replace the PHB/DMG/MM for 1D&D too.

Yeah, it’s weird and a bit disheartening to see people kid themselves into thinking WotC won’t pull all the old material they can from every source they can.

But at least we’ll be able to get PDFs of the 5E core three after the new core three come out…right WotC? Right!?

I love seeing everyone claim they will stick with the current edition and not get the new one! I cant believe they are doing this to us!

Like an old song suddenly popping up on the radio.

View attachment 271290

It’s rare, but it happens. We stuck with AD&D until 4E came out. Still play B/X, OSE, AD&D, and 4E.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

But at least we’ll be able to get PDFs of the 5E core three after the new core three come out…right WotC? Right!?

I mean, technically I'm sure that's true.

After.

Probably like, 5-10 years after.

It’s rare, but it happens. We stuck with AD&D until 4E came out. Still play B/X, OSE, AD&D, and 4E.

You have no idea how much I respect this. I should have done the same.

 

[Clint_L]

What if the new books tank then? I wonder if they'll just be called the PHB DMG and MM?

They are just going to be called the PHB, MM, and DMG, and the game is just going to be called D&D. If they tank, then the game is tanking, and I don't think it will be because of the books.

 

[Clint_L]

They will stop printing them, but they will be on shelves for a long time (I can still find 4E books) and I think a lot of people are using digital now and I think that will go quicker in the future.

It is a bit difficult for me to think they will pull the digital material off the market since it is essentially free money.

That's exactly what they've already done on DnDBeyond. As soon as Monsters of the Multiverse came out, you could no longer buy Volo's and Tome of Foes. You can still access and use them if you already have them, but there are no new digital copies for sale.

I keep emphasizing this, but the new PHB etc. are still using the 5e chassis. Your new PHB will still work with the old MM, just like MotM works with your old PHB.

 

[MGibster]

They are just going to be called the PHB, MM, and DMG, and the game is just going to be called D&D. If they tank, then the game is tanking, and I don't think it will be because of the books.

I expect the popularity of D&D to wane in the coming years. Not necessarily because of anything WotC does, but because it can't increase in popularity forever and people will move on to other things. But I'm sure it will provide us with plenty of fodder to discuss why. Was it their monetizing initiative attempting to make recurrent spenders a thing? The usual suspects will blame it on D&D going "woke" of course. Or maybe people will argue it's because of the rules.

In reality it'll be because Call of Cthulhu becomes the next big thing in RPGs. Mark my words. You heard it here first.

 

[Zardnaar]

6E doesn't have to outsell 5E.

It just has to outsell 5E in 2023. And iseally sustain it. If it tanks it tanks.

But one key thing would be price spikes on 5E phb after 6E lands. Happened with 3.5 when 4E landed. eBay 3.5 phb were going for more than the retail price.