D&D 3E/3.5 4E vs 3E Sales Figures: The Facts

[Wisdom Penalty]

Interesting numbers here:

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12654.html

Basically, it looks like the print run for 4e was half again as much as 3.5E and it's already sold out. Back to the printers you go! Not sure how it would compare to 3E's first print run, to be honest.

Edit: The sales and print run of 4E are greater than 3E, too.

Couple this with the numbers thrown around in that Forbes magazine interview, and we finally start to see some stats behind all the hyperbole on the boards.

I know...most probably aren't interested, but I thought it's kinda neat.

Wis

(Mods: Sorry if I'm in the wrong forum with this, or if it's already been posted somewhere else. Feel free, of course, to delete or move this post.)

 

[Nifft]

Interesting, thanks! -- N

 

[Rechan]

I wonder why the sales are more.

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

Also, Mearls in his journal notes as far as print runs:

3E < 3.5E < 4E

Regardless of what edition you like, these numbers seem to cast a very positive light on the size and growth of the hobby we share.

Wis

 

[Aus_Snow]

(fails Will save)

Spoiler

3.5 was a revision, not an edition. 4e vs. 3.0, now you're talking.

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

(fails Will save)

Spoiler

3.5 was a revision, not an edition. 4e vs. 3.0, now you're talking.

Right. That was one of the first things I noticed about the announcement. Credit my cynical nature, I guess. But, again, looks like 4e trumps the revision and the edition. Quite soundly, by all accounts, and only with tallying up pre-orders.

Again, this is a good time to be a gamer.

With any luck, the growing popularity will cause the D&D cartoon to return!

One can only hope...

Wis

 

[Rechan]

Wait a minute.

Was Amazon as big a force in 2000 when 3e came out?

The super sales of all the preorders might simply be that Amazon/buy/etc are just the more recognized, cheaper source (partially because the price has gone up so high that turning to cheaper online retail is necessary).

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

I'm sure we're better at supplying demand than we were in 2000, and Al Gore's internet has a lot to do with that. I don't think, however, that we're talking about pre-orders here (at least not exclusively). We're talking about number of units sold. And that's been a standard metric since the days cavemen first sold clubs.

 

[crazy_cat]

We're talking about number of units sold. And that's been a standard metric since the days cavemen first sold clubs.

Aren't we talking, at the moment, about pre-sales here to the trade rather than actual sales to consumers? There is the possibility of returns from retailers - I seem to remember that some companies have been burned on that before.

In fact, didn't some cavemen get seriously burned and end up with a cave full of basically worthless bits of wood and stones when they released Clubs 2.5 (that was the version with a big rock tied to the end) just as the neolithic hunting market upgraded en-masse to Spears and Bow and Arrows?

All this said I think 4e is going to sell in big numbers, to end users, and will be a big hit with gamers. Whether it is as big a hit as Hasbro would like remains to be seen.

 

[Kzach]

In fact, didn't some cavemen get seriously burned and end up with a cave full of basically worthless bits of wood and stones when they released Clubs 2.5 (that was the version with a big rock tied to the end) just as the neolithic hunting market upgraded en-masse to Spears and Bow and Arrows?

No, sales of Clubs 2.5 were dismal because they weren't field tested against Woman 1.0. Many deaths resulted because everyone was used to Clubs 2.0 not being as lethal when used to knock out Woman 1.0 and drag them back to your lair.

On another note, where are you reading that 4e sales have oustripped 3.0 sales? I don't see that on the site you linked.

 

[That One Guy]

Interesting. I know SR 4e printed, and then reprinted w/ errata fixed. Think there's any chance we'll be seeing that w/ D&D 4e?

 

[Dice4Hire]

One can only hope...

Not

 

[PeelSeel2]

Sounds great for our hobby!! More D&D nerd minions running around than even in my youth!

My question is since they are going for a second printing already: will they errata it and will the errated PDF be seen on the torrent's soon? It would be a travesty of justice if the torrent's where not updated either.

 

[Styracosaurus]

Does this prove that 3e was a good ambassador for the game?

2e was long stale before 3e was born and so really, the loss of gamers due to 2e had an impact on the sales numbers of the first run 3e.

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

Does this prove that 3e was a good ambassador for the game?

2e was long stale before 3e was born and so really, the loss of gamers due to 2e had an impact on the sales numbers of the first run 3e.

I think it does. While there's any number of other influencing factors, I think it's a safe assumption to state that 3e did indeed propel/grow the game. (Did we ever doubt this?)

That growth has acted as a springboard for what we're seeing now with 4e.

Still want the D&D cartoon back...

Wis

 

[Family]

since they are going for a second printing already: will they errata it?

From http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1038005

A single place where gamers can post errors they find is useful. We have an errata team forming, and I'll point them to that thread.

(he was talking about this thread btw: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=227743)

So...not yet.

 

[Nifft]

IMHO the best ambassador for D&D was Baldur's Gate II. The fact that 3.0e was released right on its coat tails was very good for 3.0e.

Similarly, KotOR was good for SW Saga.

I think the best thing for 4e would be a CRPG that wins Game of the Year.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Sounds great for our hobby!! More D&D nerd minions running around than even in my youth!

My question is since they are going for a second printing already: will they errata it and will the errated PDF be seen on the torrent's soon? It would be a travesty of justice if the torrent's where not updated either.

I wouldn't count on the second printing, tough. I am not sure, but in one of the other threads implied that the second printing might already be in process, there can't be that much errata in it...

 

[Kzach]

IMHO the best ambassador for D&D was Baldur's Gate II. The fact that 3.0e was released right on its coat tails was very good for 3.0e.

QFT

 

[Mercurius]

Why would 4e be more popular than 3e and 3.5e? As usual, a combination of factors. But what comes to mind is that fantasy itself has become more popular in the last decade or so, with the popularity of the LotR movies, Pottermania, not to mention fantasy (and scifi) elements in media of various sorts, from mainstream literature (e.g. Cormac McCarthy wrote a post-apocalyptic scifi novel) to tv shows, and so on. So while the core "graying" fan-base loses few members, there are still newbies coming in.

That is the obvious answer. A less obvious one, and one that is purely speculative, is that there is a slight back-lash to the prevalence of games such as World of Warcraft. I mean, I'm wondering (and hoping) if at some people people begin to get sick of imagination simulators and want to engage their actual, real imaginations again. The difference between pen-and-paper RPGs vs computer RPGs is similar to the difference between a violin and a programmed synthesizer. Let's just hope that in thirty years D&D, like the violin, is looked back on as a "classic" of human endeavor, rather than an anachronism of a bygone era before full-immersion VR.