WotC WotC can, and probably should support multiple editions of D&D.

[Zardnaar]

Right. They did have a Star Wars license for a few years though – but that used a version of d20 rather than a whole new system (closer to d20 Modern than D&D though).

Some of thise old d20 games are stupidly expensive now.

Kind of indicates low print runs.

I have the entire SWSE run and yeah I can't really replace them at a reasonable price.

 

[bloodtide]

Maybe....

They could make a Basic D&D for new players and kids

And have an...I don;t know, lets say Advanced D&D for experienced gamers and adults

Wonder if that could work?

 

[Umbran]

Okay. Look at the TTRPG industry. Just about the only big company that produces a single game and no others is WotC.

All the other "big companies" are not, at this time, big in the same sense WotC is. And not a one of them has a hit property like D&D has been for the past few years.

So, maybe those business models aren't comparable.

 

[see]

All the other "big companies" are not, at this time, big in the same sense WotC is. And not a one of them has a hit property like D&D has been for the past few years.

I mean, the MCDM RPG, in the third-largest TTRPG crowdfunding campaign of all time, managed to get a number of backers (30,177) that rivaled . . . the number of copies of the D&D cookbook sold in its first four weeks through Bookscan-reporting retailers (30,577).

That's actually a pretty good summary of the whole issue here. There's absolutely nothing about the RPG market that indicates that there's any demand worth WotC's while for anything other than D&D 5th edition. Nobody's selling enough of anything else to indicate that WotC should do anything other than debate whether they're currently at the sweet spot in terms of number of annual D&D 5th releases.

 

[the Jester]

There was some scholarship published in the past year that suggested whole lines of TSR settings never made any money. If that's accurate, it's hard to imagine that not contributing to their financial collapse.

This is the bottom line. They have their own way of making these decisions, some of which seem counterintuitive to outsiders, to put it mildly.

I never bought Jakandor.

 

[MGibster]

There was some scholarship published in the past year that suggested whole lines of TSR settings never made any money. If that's accurate, it's hard to imagine that not contributing to their financial collapse.

When I typed "it was a factor" it should not have been construed to mean that I was arguing it didn't matter. As far as I understand it, in the aggregate, TSR was still making a profit overall on their RPG sales even if one or more product lines didn't make them any money. One of the biggest problems TSR had was with their practice of factoring and the use of Random House as an informal bank. Without factoring or using Random House as an informal bank, TSR probably would have chugged along for a few more years.

 

[Zardnaar]

When I typed "it was a factor" it should not have been construed to mean that I was arguing it didn't matter. As far as I understand it, in the aggregate, TSR was still making a profit overall on their RPG sales even if one or more product lines didn't make them any money. One of the biggest problems TSR had was with their practice of factoring and the use of Random House as an informal bank. Without factoring or using Random House as an informal bank, TSR probably would have chugged along for a few more years.

Well that and Dragondice.

A big problem was also those lavish boxed sets that were retailing lower than production costs.

I think Stan! said something like Al Qadim made more money than things like Planescape and Darksun. As in it actually made money.

 

[bmfrosty]

Maybe....

They could make a Basic D&D for new players and kids

And have an...I don;t know, lets say Advanced D&D for experienced gamers and adults

Wonder if that could work?

Honestly, I included 3.x just because Pathfinder is/was a thing. I was mostly thinking very Dungeon Crawley build-resistant D&D vs. let's make a build that's for the highest possible DPR with my Kenku Spore Warden flying an Airship D&D.

You can tell which one I prefer by context clues.

 

[Umbran]

The profusion of cookbooks is a great example, some of which, like the big America's Test Kitchen doorstop, gets yearly updates, which is a great racket, along with literally dozens of specialized cookbooks.

It would be a great example, until you look at how few new cookbooks they put out, these days compared to a decade ago, and how astonishingly huge their online recipe collection is.

Really, ATK is an online subscription resource now. The print is a sideline by comparison.

 

[MGibster]

Well that and Dragondice.

Dragon Dice wouldn't have been as big a problem without factoring. Because of the way TSR set up their finances, they couldn't deviate from the plan no matter what happened during the year. They knew they were over producing Dragon Dice but they had no choice but continue. Wow. Lorraine Williams is just like Paul Maud'dib when he realizes the Freman jihad will happen no matter what he does.