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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 5296473" data-attributes="member: 996">One thing WotC had clearly realized by the time it was publishing 3.5 (if not 3e), was that, if you want to sell books, you should market to a larger audience, and offer them books that they want.There are more players than DMs.  This was extra-true in the 3.x days, when DMing was exceptionally difficult and time-consuming, even by D&D standards.  So, you should target books to sell to players, not to DMs.Players want books that have rules in them that make thier characters awesome.  They have wildly varying definitions of 'character' and 'awesome,' but that's prettymuch it.  A player might be a book if he finds it interesting - he will almost certainly buy a book if it has even /one little rule/ that makes his character 'better' in his estimation.  (BTW, this isn't all about powergaming - a concept-driven player might buy a book because he loves the fluff text of a PrC or look of a new race or something, too).  So, you should write books that have cool stuff in them for character building.  Not world-building.  Not challenging characters.  Building characters.This marketing model did not change with 4e.  I don't know if they /intend/ to change it with Essentials, but, if they do, it might not be the best thing for their sales figures.  Changing magic items back to the old-school, OD&D/AD&D DM's purview is risky, because players like running out and buying a new AV or whatever with a broken or flavorful item, and putting it on their wishlist, making, or buying it, and having fun with it until it's nerfed or something else shinier comes along.  Frankly, I don't think that either aproach - marketing lots of 'secret DM stuff' (setting material, DMGs, modules etc) or marketing lots of 'player goodies' (AVs, PHs, ________ Power books, player setting books, race books, character building guides, etc) - is morally superior or automatically better for the game, and a game needs to do at least some of both (you need DMs AND players, or it's just solitaire with wierd cards).  But WotC does have to make a choice when it comes to who they want their target market to be.I think the emphasis in 4e was to market to players, but also to make DMing much easier, so those players might actually find a game in which to play their awesome characters.  Good plan.  It seemed to work for a while.I don't think Essential's 'new direction' is to market more to DMs or empower DMs more.  I think it's to market to kids who bought the Red Box in the 80s, and who are now in thier peak-earning, midlife-crisis years.</blockquote>

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