D&D General Is DnD being mothballed?

[Charlaquin]

Do you know this? Are you hooked into the "casual experience" in a way other people aren't? Or is this just your opinion?

It’s my opinion, and it’s also WotC’s explanation for why they don’t do “PHB/DMG/MM 2” type products any more.

 

[Parmandur]

It’s my opinion, and it’s also WotC’s explanation for why they don’t do “PHB/DMG/MM 2” type products any more.

Having met people, seems 100% plausible.

 

[Scribe]

It’s my opinion, and it’s also WotC’s explanation for why they don’t do “PHB/DMG/MM 2” type products any more.

And it makes a lot of sense honestly if we look at how other industries, relevant to the target demographic, treat numbered releases.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

My opinion is Hasbro is very interested into D&D brand because this allows consumer to buy several licenced products. For example Hasbro can sell a Monopoly: Fortnite or a Cluedo: Stranger Things, but a player is not going to buy again the same board game with a different licence. But D&D is not suitable yet for crossovers or collabs with no-fantasy franchises. I wonder if Hasbro could be interested into no-fantasy TTRPG IPs. Maybe Onyx-Path could be in the list of future acquisitions.

I would rather a lower candence releases because I bought too many sourcebooks in 3.5 age and then the level of interest into crunch can't be the same than before. And because I buy the translated editions. Even if I wanted I couldn't buy where I live the imported English-languange editions.

 

[Cadence]

As for WotC revenue, I just paid for a hero subscription for my teen because he needs more than six characters.

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Does D&D have the concept of idea equity kind of like MtG has reprint equity?

How Wizards Manages its Savings Account

@SaffronOlive discusses reprint equity, supplemental products, and the budgetary constraints of set design.

www.mtggoldfish.com

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I don't think he's saying there are NO benefits. Instead, he's saying that the pace was already a bit slower than perhaps was necessary, and seems to be slowing even further. To argue "slow is good and slower is better" is, as he says, equivalent to arguing that stopping is best.

It's been nearly two years between major, player-facing publications. Even if we take a fairly expansive definition, between Strixhaven and Glory of the Giants, there was one "player"-related book...full of reprinted races. That's it.

Is putting out new player facing books right before your big update of the PHB next year and before you've figured out what the changes will look like a good way to potentially piss off customers? (If it's popular and doesn't match the new revisions, will it lead to cries of new edition, for example?)

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

No, that is a ridiculous idea

 

[Micah Sweet]

I can't provide a citation but my memory matches @Charlaquin's on this point. I want to say that one of the designers made this claim in an interview or promotional article at about the time Xanathar's came out. Essentially they chose to go with names for books in 5e that were not repeats of books from earlier editions (so no Draconomicon or Manual of the Planes), or previous titles with a number (so no Player's Handbook 2), because their market research indicated that those titles created some confusion in at least a portion of their target audience.

Not a big fan of the, "Our customers are dense and we need to spell things out for them" argument, no matter how many people use it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It’s my opinion, and it’s also WotC’s explanation for why they don’t do “PHB/DMG/MM 2” type products any more.

I don't agree with them. People just aren't that dense. Nobody thought Ghostbusters 2 replaced the original film.

 

[darjr]

The other thing, we just are coming out of the pandemic mess and STILL having fallout from the shipocalyose.

So to say “the release cycle has seemed slow” right now is kinda missing a few years in consideration.

 

[Scribe]

Does D&D have the concept of idea equity kind of like MtG has reprint equity?

Great question, and yes I think so.

Is putting out new player facing books right before your big update of the PHB next year and before you've figured out what the changes will look like a good way to potentially piss off customers? (If it's popular and doesn't match the new revisions, will it lead to cries of new edition, for example?)

ALSO a great question, and yes I would think so. I didnt buy MotM, because I was tilted that it was just reprinting a bunch of things I already had.