D&D 5E (2024) One Store's Sales (D&D 2014 & 2024)

[FitzTheRuke]

I'm getting there!

That's really interesting to read about how folks react to the various starter sets. Maybe a better way to think of it is, "As many people are coming in, but not as many are buying."

I've always suspect that the number of people actively playing D&D looks like a line that goes up and to the right, while the number of people buying looks like a wave with various peaks and valleys.

It's probably a little down, but I think we can say that a LOT of people are still coming to D&D. In droves.

But I think that the newer Starters just aren't the massive deal of quality-and-quantity-for-buck that the OG 5e Starter Set was.

Heroes of the Borderland, I think, is excellent when it comes to achieving its goals as bridging the gap between D&D and a board game, but I think that it's sales "ceiling" is lower, both with the increased price, and how the format won't also appeal to extant players in the same way that LMoP did.

And, I do think at this point that WotC selling digital/physical bundles has and will eat into FLGSes sales. If we could offer digital "upgrades" with physical products (say, a code on a card) at our FLGSes, I think WotC would both share with us better, and also teach our customers the "joy" of digital, ultimately benefitting them (even more than us) in the long-term.

 

[Parmandur]

It's probably a little down, but I think we can say that a LOT of people are still coming to D&D. In droves.

But I think that the newer Starters just aren't the massive deal of quality-and-quantity-for-buck that the OG 5e Starter Set was.

Heroes of the Borderland, I think, is excellent when it comes to achieving its goals as bridging the gap between D&D and a board game, but I think that it's sales "ceiling" is lower, both with the increased price, and how the format won't also appeal to extant players in the same way that LMoP did.

And, I do think at this point that WotC selling digital/physical bundles has and will eat into FLGSes sales. If we could offer digital "upgrades" with physical products (say, a code on a card) at our FLGSes, I think WotC would both share with us better, and also teach our customers the "joy" of digital, ultimately benefitting them (even more than us) in the long-term.

One big difference between 2014 and 2024 is thst in 2014, yhe Dtarter Set was the low cost entry: now that's the free rules on Beyond. Heroes of the Borderlands is a bit more premium.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And, I do think at this point that WotC selling digital/physical bundles has and will eat into FLGSes sales. If we could offer digital "upgrades" with physical products (say, a code on a card) at our FLGSes, I think WotC would both share with us better, and also teach our customers the "joy" of digital, ultimately benefitting them (even more than us) in the long-term.

I think WotC is going to have to learn the lesson that the big comic companies learned earlier this century: that undercutting the direct market sales channels only seems like a good idea in the short term, but does serious damage to you beyond that.

 

[FrogReaver]

@FitzTheRuke

How do you forecast how many books you initially try to obtain?

 

[Reynard]

I think WotC is going to have to learn the lesson that the big comic companies learned earlier this century: that undercutting the direct market sales channels only seems like a good idea in the short term, but does serious damage to you beyond that.

Does that mean we will at least gen cinematic universes worth of D&D movies?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Does that mean we will at least gen cinematic universes worth of D&D movies?

Yes, but it also means we'll have the RPG equivalent of CrossGen and other "get rich quick" companies causing chaos along the way.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

@FitzTheRuke

How do you forecast how many books you initially try to obtain?

Haw! I trust my gut. I'm very, very good at ordering (I have been told as much by folks with even more experience than I have, and that's a LOT).

It's really hard to explain how.

It's an arcane formula of preorders vs previous sales vs hype vs appeal. I can't quite explain it, but it's hard, and yet I do it very successfully on hundreds of products every month!

EDIT: I reread this post and it can come off far more arrogant than I mean it to. I'm as surprised as anyone else might be that I do it as well as I do - it's not easy. I'm just muddling along as best I can!

 

[Reynard]

Yes, but it also means we'll have the RPG equivalent of CrossGen and other "get rich quick" companies causing chaos along the way.

Hey, Sovereign was a good book.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Hey, Sovereign was a good book.

Hey, the work that the creators did was very good. The work that the management did was less so.

 

[Reynard]

Hey, the work that the creators did was very good. The work that the management did was less so.

I mean, Greg Land spent a lot of time tracing Maxim and similar periodicals of the time -- but it wasn't a bad story!