A solution to the "core books sell" problem?

[Giltonio_Santos]

So, at some point, all next-related threads come to that same conclusion that, no matter how successful the game is, 6E will still be here sooner than we want it to, because WotC business is based in selling core rulebooks. What's my purposed solution? Make different games and sell them.

I don't want to buy new D&D editions every year from WotC, but if they release one solid game every year or two, I see myself buying them most of the time, because I like having different games to play and I'd love to have more than D&D from WotC, because I really believe they have talented folks there whose ideas are worth my money. I don't need a D&D brand in every product I purchase from WotC; I love Star Wars Saga and d20 Modern, for example, and I'm ready for even more unusual offers. If I were a designer there, I'd also prefer to be assigned the task of creating new games instead of the same splatbooks with adaptations of concepts that were first thought of four editions ago. To me, it's a win/win situation.

Now, I'm not talking about a bunch of d20 games based in someone's intellectual property, I'm talking about really new games with various themes, mechanics and style, some of which would probably be really successful, others not so much, but each one probably generating more discussion than "Complete Bestiary VIII", and before someone says that those games would compete with D&D and cause further damage to our community, we must remember that the market for non-D&D games is already here and thriving, WotC simply decided, up to this moment, to not make a profit from it.

If making other RPGs will help WotC keep the "core books sell" practice while allowing for D&D editions with more staying power, I'd love to see that change of pace. Any thoughts?

Cheers

 

[Ahnehnois]

I have a somewhat similar perspective. If I were in charge, I'd be publishing a very minimalist d20 system game, and then publishing variants for different settings and genres, some licensed, some not. I don't know that there's ever going to be any solutions to the problems that rpgs face as a business, but it does strike me that they could at least leverage their vast design space more effectively.

 

[Dungeoneer]

I've opined before that WotC should do different 'versions' (as opposed to 'editions') of D&D to appeal to different types of gamers: a tactical version, a storyteller version, a 'simulationist' version, etc. This would allow them to appeal to different demographics without fragmenting their customer base with definitive 'editions'. It also, as Giltonio points out, allows them to sell core books more often.

Realistically, from a business perspective, a TRPG publisher NEEDS to sell more than one game to be sustainable in the long run. Most (not all, obviously!) customers will stick with a ruleset for a few years at best. After that they are going to want to try something new. So you want to release new games regularly to make sure that those gamers that 'churn' are still giving you money.

People will argue that this will 'fragment' the market, etc etc, but the market is already fragmented. That ship sailed twenty years ago. WotC needs to capitalize on it. At least with the D20 system they could ensure that their various versions felt somewhat familiar.

 

[The Human Target]

Do people think game designers have unlimited time and creativity?

 

[fjw70]

This is one strategy that TSR employed back in the old days. In addition to D&D there was Gamma World, Star Frontiers, Boot Hill, Top Secret, Marvel Superheroes, Conan, etc.

The Next team has stated they want to use the Next system to create RPGs in other genreas so we may see some of those titles coming back. They have even said that they are designing Next with an eye towards how it will handle other genres down the road.

They would probably brand them as D&D games though, like they did with the 4e D&D version of Gamma World (GW7?).

So it seems your idea has merit.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Do people think game designers have unlimited time and creativity?

Time, maybe.

 

[Morrus]

Do people think game designers have unlimited time and creativity?

No, but large companies have resources and means. Plenty of gaming companies quite happily produce multiple games; I'm not sure why you'd think it required unlimited time and creativity. It's a pretty ordinary thing to do.

 

[MJS]

I am all for WotC making their own games, and not calling them all D&D. 4E in particular should have been called something else. If it were, it would not be in the position of being tossed out in the edition churn, nor causing the shitstorm that it did.
It's annoying to see all this development go into new systems that are not actually D&D, and have the label slapped on them. This is why we have edition wars. Label confusion. D&D is already written and done. Do something else already.

What is authentically Dungeons & Dragons design* ends with 2E. The excellent games that follow are not that game. 3E has its home and renaming with Pathfinder - a much better name for that system. Maybe 4E will get re-christened with its own clone one day.

* fairly rules light & assumed mini-less (although accommodating to mini use).

Sell as many core books as you like, just stop with the schizophrenia already.

 

[TwoSix]

No, but large companies have resources and means. Plenty of gaming companies quite happily produce multiple games; I'm not sure why you'd think it required unlimited time and creativity. It's a pretty ordinary thing to do.

Especially if you don't assume that any of the games need regular, constant updates. Look at what (for example) Onyx Path is doing on what is surely a shoestring budget compared to what WotC has available.

 

[Umbran]

No, but large companies have resources and means. Plenty of gaming companies quite happily produce multiple games; I'm not sure why you'd think it required unlimited time and creativity. It's a pretty ordinary thing to do.

Moreover, when the core books are done, they normally release the designers of it to the wild, don't they?

Why not move them onto developing another project?

The one answer I can see is: Core books sell. But non-D&D core books don't sell as well as D&D core books.

The real question is: while *we* may not be fans of how quickly they revise the game, is there evidence that the larger market cares?