D&D (2024) D&D Pre-orders; this is sad

[MonsterEnvy]

There is going to have to be a major change in how digital media is consumed across the whole spectrum before such a change comes to D&D.

Agreed.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I am not sure they do need to take a step, they can just bide their time.

So we need to be on guard against WoTC... doing nothing... MENACINGLY!!

More seriously... okay. WoTC will "bide their time" by doing the exact same things they have been doing. Which is somehow bad because one day they will do something different.

not sure that Walmart sales are all that large to begin with. I doubt they carry more than the starter set and the core books,.

Are they large sales? Don't know. But as to them carrying the starter set and the core books... yeah, those are the important ones. Once you have someone interested in DnD, they can seek out more obscure books and adventures somewhere else. The important part is that the core set can be found by someone who wasn't looking for DnD.

As to how to do it, continue printing the starter set and core for now, have digital-only content on DDB (we have that already) and slowly phase out the adventures, eventually drop the corer as well and finally even the starter set.

But why would they stop selling the core books at Wal-mart when the entire point would be to entice new people into the hobby to sell them the digital-only content? That's what you aren't including in your calculations. You seem to assume that the only people buying DnD products are people who are already fans of DnD products, or are already in the TTRPG space. But Hasbro wants to sell to EVERYONE. So why remove their tether to the general public?

 

[HomegrownHydra]

sure, it still results in a higher profit margin than books do


printing may be fairly cheap, but the $50 at the FLGS or bookstore, how much of that goes to the store and how much to WotC. The part going to WotC probably is already less than they get from digital


no one said the books are not profitable

Do you think WotC would rather sell you the PHB as a book or on DDB? If your answer is DDB, you know the direction WotC wants to steer customers in

1) A lot of people buy both print and digital which makes WotC even more money than one type of product alone.
2) A lot of people strongly prefer print books and a good chunk of them would stop buying new products if they were digital only.
3) Physical products are a great way to draw people into the hobby, both because people see them in stores and because they see those owned by friends and family, and growing the hobby is the best way to maximize profit in the long term.
4) Physical products are a critical means of making sure game stores stay afloat, and WotC really wants game shops to stay in business because they are where Magic is played and Magic is a massive cash cow; they're also where D&D is often played so they help keep the game thriving. This is why WotC gives game shops preferential treatment when new books are released.

Focusing on profit margin would a disaster for WotC, the most important factor in generating long term profits is maximizing the number of people playing D&D and physical books are a critical part of achieving that.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I'm not anti-playing online when need be.
I simply prefer in-person and spending actual time with my friends.

I've never had DDB because (for me personally,) I didn't feel it offered the experience that I wanted.

Plenty of people do want it. For those people, I hope that what it offers makes them happy.

Hypothetically, if I were working for an evil corporation and trying to monetize physical product while pushing digital, I might consider some way of scanning physical product so that a purchaser then gets the digital version of the product on their DDB. I might also make some content rare, like how some Magic cards are.

So, perhaps you buy a pack of minis, cards, or whatever. In the case of minis, you can scan the minis and get digital versions. Maybe there is a special mini in 1 out of 100 booster packs of minis; scanning that mini unlocks the digital version as well as whatever special magic item the mini has.

I'm not saying that's an idea that should happen. Also, I just thought of that while typing this response, so take that for whatever little it may be worth. However, I could see something similar being a starting point from which a company builds digital sales while also creating a reason that people would still want to seek out and purchase physical product.

This could totally happen. I also don't think that being able to scan your mini on a chance to get the rare golden orc mini to pop up on digital will in any way affect people's ability to buy a physical core rulebook, sit at a table, and play with their friends.

It is the fear of the loss of the physical rulebooks that I am objecting to, not that they might try special ways to get people to spend money on digital skins and promo wallpapers.

 

[Chaosmancer]

There is going to have to be a major change in how digital media is consumed across the whole spectrum before such a change comes to D&D.

Exactly. We aren't looking at "this is the path video games took" as much as we are looking at "the entire structure of the global economy shifting" which, sure, could happen... but it isn't going to happen because Hasbro offered digital rewards.

 

[DarkCrisis]

There's a whole thread on sales. Basically it's been selling very well and continues to sell well, it's currently #290 out of all books they sell. So an estimated 5,000 copies in a month. It varies but it's often been around 200 or even higher when on sale.

So it's selling quite well for a 10 year old book.

I mean all books. Novels, text books, etc. Newspapers Magazines.

 

[mamba]

But why would they stop selling the core books at Wal-mart when the entire point would be to entice new people into the hobby to sell them the digital-only content? That's what you aren't including in your calculations.

sure I am, that is why core and starter set go digital last.

The other half of the equation is to get people to go digital right away. Offer a good VTT, if that ever gets done, offer exclusive digital content, increase the book prices while keeping digital the same…

 

[mamba]

Focusing on profit margin would a disaster for WotC, the most important factor in generating long term profits is maximizing the number of people playing D&D and physical books are a critical part of achieving that.

for now they are, doesn’t mean WotC is not working on reducing their relevance

 

[Chaosmancer]

sure I am, that is why core and starter set go digital last.

The other half of the equation is to get people to go digital right away. Offer a good VTT, if that ever gets done, offer exclusive digital content, increase the book prices while keeping digital the same…

Why would they go at all? Why would WoTC stop selling the product that is most likely to lead new customers to their other content? Their VTT could revolutionize the world of gaming as we know it... and it would be worthless in getting a 13 yr old interested in playing Dungeons and Dragons because the kid isn't going to go and buy a subscription to a VTT for a game they don't play.

You keep insisting that they will do this, that this is going to make them more profit, but you aren't explaining why beyond "but they will make more money on selling digital products" which doesn't matter one iota if they don't get people to buy the products in the first place. But your only response to that is "eventually they will work towards not selling the physical books anymore so they can increase their profits." like it is some sort of inevitable outcome that cannot possibly be denied.

 

[Chaosmancer]

for now they are, doesn’t mean WotC is not working on reducing their relevance

By doing what? What is WoTC doing, right now, to reduce the revelance of the Core Rulebooks?