D&D 5E The Printers Can't Handle WotC's One D&D Print Runs!

One of the reasons why the three new core rulebooks next year will not be released together is because D&D is such a juggernaut that the printers can't actually handle the size of the print runs!

Jeremy Crawford told Polygon "Our print runs are pretty darn big and printers are telling us you can’t give us these three books at the same time.” And Chris Perkins added that "The print runs we’re talking about are massive. That’s been not only true of the core books, but also Tasha’s Cauldron. It’s what we call a high-end problem."

 

[Oofta]

Game's already died. Least the way it used to be, which was better. We had so much content, even had magazine issues, and it's all gone. We get a stingy few books a year, the lore of the Forgotten Realms hasn't expanded past the Sword Coast book, it's ridiculous.

Heck, the quality is garbage also. Let's see here:

SWORD COAST ADVENTURER'S GUIDE (5th Edition)

• 44,000 word count approximately
• 160 pages
• covered only small part of Faerun
• Barely any game material (feats, spells, subclasses, items, etc.)
• No poster map
• Cost $40+tax (originally)

FORGOTTEN REALMS CAMPAIGN SETTING (3rd Edition)

• 220,000 word count
• 330+ pages
• Explores most of Faerun and even a little beyond
• A wonderful amount of game material (Prestige Classes, spells, feats, etc.)
• and a POSTER MAP!
• Cost $40+tax (originally)

The game may be doing great profitably but it's dying in every other aspect. I wouldn't call that a win. I'd call that capitalism ruining the things we love as always.

And now they're selling books at an even HIGHER price as the news recently shared, for the same low quality and quantity of content and the newbs are gonna eat it up like it's the best thing ever, completely disregarding how much better it was pre-4E days (The Legacy D&D Days I call it)

The game may have died for you. D&D 5E is far, far more popular than 3.5 ever was, it seems to be working for a lot of people. You may not be the target audience any more, but I've been happy with my purchases overall even if I don't agree with every change they're making.

Just like I'm not stuck on music that was produced while I was still in high school, I choose to accept that the only constant is change. Oh, and there's some good music out there if you give it a chance even if I listen to oldies now and then as well.

 

[Micah Sweet]

then enjoy the other instead of constantly whining about the former (the generic ‘you’)

Unfortunately, WotC is the big dog. Most of the talk is about them, the community is heavily focused on their activities, and they control a lot of IP I like. Hard to ignore.

 

[Plageman]

We get more fan content in a week via the internet than TSR could put out in a year at their prime. I don’t think the game is dead, just decentralized.

Yeah, Fan production is at a all time high. And quality is sometime even better than WotC own products. But it's not official releases. If they want to release something be it crunch or lore, that invalidates some fan-produced content, it is their right to do so.
We are blessed with all the toys WotC leave play with but keep in mind that the settings are theirs, not ours.

 

[mamba]

After 11 years of amazing content. And that just 2e. 3e had a lot of good stuff too.

oh, I liked the 2e content (some settings at least), but nothing ruins a game more than it ceasing to exist

And the game dying? It has more players than ever, so that is not a term I would use.

It certainly can have stopped being the game you would want it to be, but that is not the same as ruined or dying

 

[mamba]

Unfortunately, WotC is the big dog. Most of the talk is about them, the community is heavily focused on their activities, and they control a lot of IP I like. Hard to ignore.

If I am not interested in something, I find it quite easy to ignore. I have no need to tell everyone that I do not like it.

This is no different for a CD, book, movie, game, actor, … or TTRPG book / edition / entire system

 

[Plageman]

I like the simplicity of 5e, even if it lack some aspect I liked in 4e and 3e and would have liked seen kept in that new iteration. Mostly my issue is with the way content is delivered with the focus on AP rather than developing settings (or at least -a- setting). I like my background books, that's why I like Shadowrun and continue to read them even if I dislike the system it comes with. I get it that it sells well, and it's good for the industry in a sense. But I tend to gravitate with fan or third party 5e publishers because of that.
I'm -interested- in the refresh, I hope it will be more than a cosmetic shift and will usher a new period of growth for DnD and the hobby in general.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If I am not interested in something, I find it quite easy to ignore. I have no need to tell everyone that I do not like it.

This is no different for a CD, book, movie, game, actor, … or TTRPG book / edition / entire system

It is different. WotC is, by far, the biggest player in the RPG industry. Activity anywhere else pales in comparison and you know it. Ignoring it means ignoring the vast majority of RPG conversation, and certainly most of the more active ones.

And I was a WotC customer since they bought D&D, over twenty years at this point, and of TSR for nearly 20 years before that. Like I said, hard to ignore.

 

[Velderan]

Game's already died. Least the way it used to be, which was better. We had so much content, even had magazine issues, and it's all gone. We get a stingy few books a year, the lore of the Forgotten Realms hasn't expanded past the Sword Coast book, it's ridiculous.

Heck, the quality is garbage also. Let's see here:

SWORD COAST ADVENTURER'S GUIDE (5th Edition)

• 44,000 word count approximately
• 160 pages
• covered only small part of Faerun
• Barely any game material (feats, spells, subclasses, items, etc.)
• No poster map
• Cost $40+tax (originally)

FORGOTTEN REALMS CAMPAIGN SETTING (3rd Edition)

• 220,000 word count
• 330+ pages
• Explores most of Faerun and even a little beyond
• A wonderful amount of game material (Prestige Classes, spells, feats, etc.)
• and a POSTER MAP!
• Cost $40+tax (originally)

The game may be doing great profitably but it's dying in every other aspect. I wouldn't call that a win. I'd call that capitalism ruining the things we love as always.

And now they're selling books at an even HIGHER price as the news recently shared, for the same low quality and quantity of content and the newbs are gonna eat it up like it's the best thing ever, completely disregarding how much better it was pre-4E days (The Legacy D&D Days I call it)

Thankfully I can solve your problem for you! Here you go!

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (3e) - Wizards of the Coast | Dungeons & Dragons 3.x | Forgotten Realms 3.x | Dungeons & Dragons 3.x | Forgotten Realms | Dungeon Masters Guild

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (3e) - Dark perils and great deeds await. Welcome to Faerûn, a land of high magic, terrifying monsters, ancient ruins, and hid

www.dmsguild.com

You're welcome!

 

[Reef]

It is different. WotC is, by far, the biggest player in the RPG industry. Activity anywhere else pales in comparison and you know it. Ignoring it means ignoring the vast majority of RPG conversation, and certainly most of the more active ones.

And I was a WotC customer since they bought D&D, over twenty years at this point, and of TSR for nearly 20 years before that. Like I said, hard to ignore.

So, because you can't find anyone who wants to talk about the version you like, you console yourself with complaining about the version you don't? How is that at all satisfying for you?

 

[Micah Sweet]

So, because you can't find anyone who wants to talk about the version you like, you console yourself with complaining about the version you don't? How is that at all satisfying for you?

This is an argument against expressing negative feelings about anything, taken to a personal degree. It is not appreciated.