D&D General Is DnD being mothballed?

[darjr]

I respect you a lot.

Please stop saying that because it's the best selling RPG that it's done everything right. Doing some key things right doesn't mean the game or its design has all been objectively correct.

Thank you.

Let me assure you I’m not saying that they are doing everything right. I do have posts here that I think can confirm that.

However being the best selling rpg ever. By a lot a lot, I think does go some way to point out they are not doing everything wrong either and quite possibly have gotten quite a few things right.

Note that doesn’t mean that all or any of those things are to my taste or liking.

 

[mamba]

No, it is not illogical. It is a syllogism. It is, by definition, logical.

Not everything you express in three sentences is a syllogism.

"an instance of a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn (whether validly or not) from two given or assumed propositions (premises), each of which shares a term with the conclusion, and shares a common or middle term not present in the conclusion (e.g., all dogs are animals; all animals have four legs; therefore all dogs have four legs )."

You failed at the construction.

 

[bedir than]

"Just because that sentence is symmetrical, it doesn't make it not nonsense."

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Actually, it did work. For Battletech, for Storyteller, and for 2e, 3.5, and for 4e -and for PF1. It's just that 2e and 4e had the minor problem of it not being nearly enough, because 2e couldn't, in spite of so many dedicated fans buying every book it spat out, generate enough income to offset losses on novels, and the failed collectible card & dice games (and general mismanagement), and because 4e was given a yearly revenue goal like, 5 or 10 times the revenue of the entire industry or something.

When you have a small, but very dedicated fanbase that isn't growing so fast, pumping out product as fast as they'll obsessively buy it up, is the best you can do to flog cash out of a product line.

That's not the case, anymore.

Novels were consistently more profitable for TSR than RPG material.

 

[FallenRX]

I think it's fairly clear that D&D is as successful as it's ever been in 50 years. The current release rate has been working really well for a decade.

"D&D books are coming out too slowly" was 2015's conversation; I've no idea why it's suddenly an issue yet again today and I don't think a professional publisher like Matt Colville would suddenly come to this opinion 10 years after everybody else. Can we go back to "are hit points meat?" or something?

IS it an average release schedules? every other RPG developer ive seen and talk too are a fraction of the size of this game, and publish a lot more, and support their games more, i feel like even at this slow cadence they just....dont make much of anything for this game, and are not meeting the demands of their consumer base, your company makes more content for 5e then wizards does some years, if they actually really wanted to make money, they start publishing things that make money more, I feel like if they actually satisfied the demand Level Up wouldnt even have to exist to begin with.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

every other RPG developer ive seen and talk too are a fraction of the size of this game, and publish a lot more, and support their games more

You know an RPG developer who puts out MORE than 4-5 books per year for ten years and keeps around 60 products for their current edition IN PRINT at all times?

Because I do not.

 

[FallenRX]

You know an RPG developer who puts out MORE than 4-5 books per year for ten years and keeps around 60 products for their current edition IN PRINT at all times?

Because I do not.

Paizo, and Pinnacle comes to mind.
I literally just talked to the Creative Producer of Pinnacle and they said they publish more then WoTC does for their games, they dont understand wtf is happening their, but something is off, despite being a fraction of the size.

 

[Older Beholder]

I don‘t really see the mothballs. We’re currently in the middle of 4 releases in 4 months*, in the lead up to Christmas… on the back of a decent D&D movie and a smash hit video game… with the new core books coming out next year. Feels like the brand/game has some momentum.

*Bigby: Glory of the Giants August
The Shattered Obelix September
Planescape. October
Book of Many Things. November

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Paizo, and Pinnacle comes to mind.
I literally just talked to the Creative Producer of Pinnacle and they said they publish more then WoTC does for their games, they dont understand wtf is happening their, but something is off, despite being a fraction of the size.

They told you that, did they?

I count 65 products BY WoTC for D&D 5e that I can currently buy from my distributor. Paizo has 35 available for Pathfinder 2e. Pinnacle has about 30 available, out of something like 80 items, but most of them seem to be things like map packs and card decks, not 200 page hardcovers. Perhaps you're right, and they produce more "product" per year. I'm not that familiar with them, beyond two or three core products (because the rest don't sell very well).

 

[Echohawk]

That’s an interesting question. Do it?

Here is a graph of the hardcover releases. (Note: I counted the Spelljammer and Planescape sets as "one" hardcover.)