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

[Iosue]

Dragon and Dungeon had 100k and over 30k every month or two.

Is that print run and/or sales to stores, or is that actual retail sales?

 

[SableWyvern]

They provide older editions and all the support material in PoD format on DTRPG. There’s enough there to last a lifetime!

Unfortunately, the POD support is extremely spotty, with very large, seemingly random gaps, but otherwise I agree

 

[Zardnaar]

Is that print run and/or sales to stores, or is that actual retail sales?

All of it iirc. They used to include the print run info and distribution in the magazines.

 

[Parmandur]

I do not believe for a second that WOTC has sold more 5E material in print than AD&D 1E and all the versions of BECMI. I don't think 5E has sold as much printed material as Dragon magazine alone did during 1E.

TSR sold around 3M copies of the various basic sets (not including Expert, Companion or any AD&D stuff) and Dragonlance sold 30M products (to be fair, this includes the novels).

Do also keep on mind that the numbers we have exclude sales from all game stores, sales from outside the U.S., and actually a lot of Amazon sales. Do, those numbers that already show the PHB sales as being higher are the tip of the iceberg.

Sales for older individual modules were, by all indications, a fraction of PHB and DMG sales, same as current sourcebook s.

 

[Blue]

I'm sorry you think I write business plans for WotC.

If you really think that I think you write business plans for WotC, I pity you.

If you are just saying it to try to score cheap points in a debate on the internet, I also pity you.

Either way, I see little reason to continue this.

 

[darjr]

I dunno if you can count the Novels as AD&D 1e product. Sounds like padding the books.

 

[Staffan]

The novels basically sustained TSR after RPG sales tanked. Though they may have ultimately contributed to the issue of surviving on book advances, the problem that was particularly flagged by WotC's analysis was the money being lost on the RPG side of the business, particularly through publishing ton of unprofitable material for settings like Dark Sun.

According to WotC's analysis of TSR's data, not only were many of these book unprofitable, they could never have been profitable. They were a doomed venture that was designed to kick the can rather than get TSR out of the hole. Which...kind of worked, in the sense of keeping the company alive long enough to be acquired by WotC.

My understanding is that there were three major things that made TSR nonviable.

1. Overextension. They were publishing dozens of game products per month across multiple semi-independent product lines. I mean, 25 books for the Birthright setting alone in two years (sure, many were just 32-page mini-sourcebooks for various kingdoms, but still).
2. Poor judgment in opening new product avenues. You had Dragon Dice, as well as not one but two CCGs trying to compete with Magic. You also had additional RPGs like Boot Hill, Gamma World, Amazing Engine, and of course Buck Rogers (which was likely a way for Williams to siphon some money from the company).
3. Novels. At one point, Dragonlance novels did save TSR. So of course TSR went all-in on novels, not all of which were even as good as Dragonlance. However, the book trade paid in advance for the books, which was good. What was less good was that they had the right to "return" unsold copies (where "return" really means destroy) for refunds – initially taking credit toward the next release, but eventually wanting actual money back. This would turn out to be the actual death blow, though a company in a better overall financial situation could have weathered that. A side effect of the heavy novel production was that they tended to drive metaplot in the actual game settings, which was Bad.

Teh Internetz have you covered, there:

TSR Archive

A visual checklist and catalog of the role-playing games of TSR, Wizards of the Coast and others

tsrarchive.com

For D&D, I usually use the Collector's Guides on some shoddy-looking website.

 

[Alzrius]

For D&D, I usually use the Collector's Guides on some shoddy-looking website.

Those are definitely worthwhile, but I prefer the TSR Archive for one reason: it has a physical description of each product. So it will tell me if a book should have a fold-out map, what's in a boxed set, etc.

 

[Mallus]

"Let's do what TSR did by the end of 2e, only more" is probably not the best business strategy.

 

[Parmandur]

I dunno if you can count the Novels as AD&D 1e product. Sounds like padding the books.

I don't think thr magazines really count, either, since the submission by fans model makes that content more like the DMsGuild than WotC book output...and comparing magazines to the DMsGuild is a bit complicated to say the least.