D&D 3E/3.5 5E's Initial Raw Sales Numbers Stronger Than 3E's!

It seems that the initial sales of D&D 5th Edition are very strong. Asked about how they compare to 3E and 4E, WotC's Mike Mearls says that "Raw numbers are stronger, but that's not the complete picture. end of year 1 is the key." The Player's Handbook has now topped the hardcover nonfiction sellers list at Publishers Weekly. As of right now, it's #1 in Fantasy Gaming at Amazon, and a week ago it was the #1 book on Amazon!

In other news, prompted by some discussion about the gaps between D&D edition releases, I whipped up this quick info-graphic showing the dates that each edition was released. [threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?359004-So-I-have-been-out-of-town-for-a-few-weeks-did-I-miss-something[/threadcm]

 

[TerraDave]

PHB back in stock. Still trailing MM.

 

[Gamgee]

So far 5th seems to be very well received here and we don't even have the full book. I think this is a success. Like it or not. A return to form for D&D. So good in fact I'm excited. Can't say I've felt that about anything 3.5/4th/Pathfinder related ever.

 

[Dimitrios]

I would call it BS to be honest. There weren't that many people on the internet in 1982 and Danny Mills has a book which contains every user on the internet back then and I seriously doubt Mist is on it.

Maybe there is some confusion between the internet vs BBS's? True, few people were on the internet in 1982, but I can remember occasionally dialing up to BBS's from 1984 onward, and I wasn't especially ahead of the curve as far as I know. I think there were definitely BBS based rpg discussions going on in the early 80s.

 

[Jer]

books #1-5 from my favorite game, followed by a book from second favorite game.

Slightly off-topic, but Hyrule Historia is an awesome book.

 

[Kaffis]

That's tearable.

I think this is diskwalifyed because that's a legitamutly spelled wurd, just not the one you ment.

 

[aramis erak]

Le sigh. It is still a matter of scale. How many devices do you have these days that can be used to post a review online would be the main point? With that capability I would expect the more modern D&D is the more I would expect people to post about it and do things like online reviews.

Being honest how many online devices did you have in the following years in your home. And by online devices I mean things connected to the internet and could be used to browse it?

Mine

1998 0
2000 1 (1 console)
2003 3 (2 console, 1 PC)
2008 7 (2 PCs, 3 consoles, 2 phones)
2014 14 (2 phones, 2 PCs, 2 TVs, 1 tablet 7 consoles)

The jump between 2008 and 2014 is things like smart phones, TVs, and every gaming console having the net built in. Is my household unusual in the amount of web capable devices being added? I suppose it is odd I kept my old consoles including the one I had in 2000.

1992: 1 (via dialup through the university)
1994: 2 (via dialup through the university - both desktops)
1998: 5 (3x desktop, 1x laptop, 1x Newton MP140 with modem) and a cablemodem
2003: 5 (3x laptop, 2x desktop, 1x Newton)
2008: 12 (3x laptop, 4x desktop, 1x newton, 1x Wii, 3x Palm with wifi, 1xDSi, 1x DVD player)
2014: about 16, counting all the abandoned functional hardware of my parents. as in, 16 that one can pull the dustcover, plug it into the wall, fire it up, reset the clock, plug in the one physical cable that is there, and be able to go online. I'm not counting the half-dozen assorted needs-a-part or needs-a-reinstall.

One of the desktops only supports HTTP 1.0, and hasn't had a software upgrade since 1998. Runs Mac OS 8.5.

The Newton's browser sucked, but worked. The hardware still works, but I can't get dial-up any more.

I've got an ethernet card for the Apple IIGS, and could, in theory, run the web browser for it... but haven't counted it in any of the above.

All the local high schools had internet by 1999. Students were allowed to use it by 2001, when I started working for them.

I've had internet access since I started college... in 1988. Rec.games.frp.dnd dates to 1992. Rec.games.frp dates back further still. I didn't get into usenet until 1990, but there was discussion there about games already. And gopher servers on the internet with netbooks, often the same ones as were on WWIVnet. And wwivnet discussion groups were often nation wide, tho' it could take upwards of a week to see responses to your post from across the country.

There has always been a strong tech-geek element connection to RPG's. And lots of opinionation about them.

Most of my friends were on the internet by 1995, either through fidonet tie-ins, Compuserve, or through the university. D&D discussion online was pretty common. And blogs were happening - even tho' the term wasn't used yet - with people putting commentary up on their website, and then posting response comments to it received via email by manually editing the HTML. Much of it looked much like JH Kim's website. Internet email discussion groups were really popular from about 1994 on to about 2002.

 

[Gundark]

Double Post

 

[Mistwell]

I would call it BS to be honest. There weren't that many people on the internet in 1982 and Danny Mills has a book which contains every user on the internet back then and I seriously doubt Mist is on it.

First, screw you for accusing me of being a liar rather than asking me about something you obviously don't know anything about. Second, I was not on "the internet" in 1982, I was on local BBSes back then (heck, I was a sysop back then, and also a co-sysop on a second one). Eventually those BBSes started to use things like FidoNet around 1985 or so, so anyone with any knowledge of how things ran back then knows what I meant when I said that. I said in 1991 I was on the internet.

 

[Sailor Moon]

Maybe there is some confusion between the internet vs BBS's? True, few people were on the internet in 1982, but I can remember occasionally dialing up to BBS's from 1984 onward, and I wasn't especially ahead of the curve as far as I know. I think there were definitely BBS based rpg discussions going on in the early 80s.

Even if he was on a BBS, they were generally local so it would be people in your local community. Not much difference in meeting up the road or chatting on the phone.

 

[Mistwell]

Even if he was on a BBS, they were generally local so it would be people in your local community. Not much difference in meeting up the road or chatting on the phone.

You really have no friggen clue what you are talking about. Around 1984 FidoNet spread, to make BBSes nationally usable. Sure, we had to wait for the nightly download, so discussions were slower than they are now. But it was national. We had national messaging as well, which also did nightly downloads. I live in Los Angeles, we had several huge BBSes here. Thousands of people. Hundreds on at one time. My friend was running so many phone lines in his apartment building that the phone company thought he was re-selling lines.