[3.5] WotC motivation revealed!

[SemperJase]

Why did WotC publish a D&D 3.5?

To make as much money as they can. That's a good thing for them....and for ENWorld.

The main purpose of a business is to stay in business. To do that, they need to make a profit. The D&D brand makes a profit by selling as many books as possible.

Notice I say books. The business of D&D is not so much a game business as it is a book publishing business. To sell more books, WotC must continually revitalize the brand. Unlike a consumable business - Coke for example, there is little need for buyers to replace previously sold products.

Without WotC selling more D&D books , it will dry up and go away much like Alternity, Star Frontiers, or Tunnels & Trolls. Sure you can find small groups of players for those games, but nothing significant.

If you want to keep playing D&D then hope WotC can keep selling books.

My prediction is that 4th edition will be published within 3 or 4 years. WotC has figured out that to make a profit, they need to update the game much like Magic: the Gathering.

 

[alsih2o]

so, no possibility oin the interest of game evolution?

improvement?

quality product?

remember, the vast majority of people in "the field" aren't exactly raking it in. money is a consideration, but to hold it out as the only motivating factor is, imho, a gross oversimplification.

 

[Thorntangle]

Hooray for capitalism. It's good for them and good for us.

 

[BryonD]

Why did WotC publish 3e?

 

[Zappo]

so, no possibility oin the interest of game evolution?

3E is a lot better than 2E, and 3.5E is (IMO) somewhat better than 3E. And then there's the OGL, of course. Just because they did it for money, it doesn't mean that it has to be bad. There are such things as win-win situations, and WotC has been fairly good at generating them.

 

[SemperJase]

Why did WotC publish 3e?

Good point.

I would say the published 3e and 3.5e for the same reason that car manufacturers modify their designs every year.

People don't need new cars, but when they see something they perceive as improved, they are more likely to go buy a new one.

The car industry would go under if people bought a car once every ten years. The same with WotC. They need people to go buy more books (or cards). To do this they try to improve on previous versions. This benefits the consumer as well as the producer.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Why did WotC publish a D&D 3.5?

To make as much money as they can. *snip*

And the exsistance of the SRD and its update in conjunction with the release of 3.5 renders the rest of your point moot.

You don't have to buy the books. If you try and say the WotC is 'making' you buy new books I will have to gouge out your heart with an oyster fork

 

[WinnipegDragon]

I have trouble with this theory, simply because they are also taking a very big risk. If 3.5 bombs, then what? Printing costs are up front. Development costs are up front. Design costs are up front. They could lose their shirts if no one wanted this product.

If they make money on it, so be it. Enough people saw enough value to make it a profitable venture.

If you don't like it, vote with your wallet.

edit: 'loose their shirts', while an interesting concept, was gramatically incorrect in this instance

 

[KenM]

It seems to me that WOTC is starting to go the Games Workshop route with DnD. They put out a new edtion, then all the support products/ books for it. Then when the publish everything, they put out a new edtion and start over. Looks like I'm switching to Hackmaster.

 

[kenjib]

Well, it depends on whether or not they hit the right sweet spot. As they raise the ongoing costs, they lose some customers who no longer like the price point. Personally, I don't have much disposable income at the moment, so WotC has lost me as a customer. However, I think they will make far more money than they lose customers, but it all depends on how they continue.

Without tempering your logic with the idea of a sweet spot, putting out an update of this magnitude every four months would be even more beneficial than doing it every 3-4 years, whereas the truth of this is highly doubtful.

I think that 3-4 years is probably a good time-frame for Wizards of the Coast, but I'm no expert on the subject. I do know that it's too rapid for me though, so I'm now out of the upgrade loop and lost revenues.