Complete Overload

[Psion]

Can some one explain to me why PrCs and Feats always get accused of being in a glut, but spells and monsters don't?

I don't think spells are any worse, but I think we are in full-on monster glut.

There is one nice thing about monster books that I think gets them off the hook. They are generally ready to go off the shelf. You don't have to cross reference or build anything with them, or have a stack of them to make an encounter or a character. You can open them up and run a game with the challenges therein.

 

[Celtavian]

re

I have to agree. I haven't even bought the Complete Warrior. Partly because I'm not impressed with the book, but also because there are already too many Prcs and feats that see very little to no use in my games. I feel like I would be paying money to use a few feats and maybe one or two Prcs. Its getting a bit out of hand.

 

[Echohawk]

I recall that TSR published over 50 books per year in the 90s (and that's a conservative estimate).

Here's a quick count of the D&D products published by TSR/WoTC each year since 1974, excluding magazines and reprints of products with no new content:

1974: 1
1975: 2
1976: 4
1977: 8
1978: 10
1979: 11
1980: 11
1981: 16
1982: 21
1983: 24
1984: 35
1985: 32
1986: 32
1987: 40
1988: 22
1989: 44
1990: 54
1991: 53
1992: 73
1993: 68
1994: 70
1995: 81
1996: 62
1997: 27
1998: 55
1999: 40
2000: 31
2001: 20
2002: 17
2003: 16
2004: 11 (up to August)

I think the numbers speak for themselves

 

[Gez]

You get one feat every three levels. This involve choices. Including hard choices. And since everyone gets feats, everyone has to choose.

Spells, on the other hand, you get more of them (unless bard, sorcerer or similar), and you can always research other later. If a divine (preparing) spell caster, you know each of those you can access to -- much less a problem.


The problem for WotC is simple.

Either publish, and create the overwhelming, discouraging glut of products everyone want to avoid. Or don't publish.

And they have to make money out of it.

Since setting books sell badly, they can't publish one new setting every three months. Adventures also sell little.

What sells well is rule book. "Crunch", in the new gaming jargon. So, they publish crunchy books. Lots of crunchy books. As long as crunchy books will be bestsellers, they'll make crunchy books.

Simple as that.


Unfortunately, they do have to earn money.


Of course, they could also publish a new edition every year. D&D 2004, D&D 2005, D&D 2006... What do you think?

 

[Nightfall]

Probably so, but also probably not with D&D, D20, or similar items

Probably when 5th ed. Ars Magica comes out

Maybe. But we'll see. Few though can resist the HUNGER long.

 

[Alzrius]

I'm so trying not to make comparisons to 2e-era TSR. I really am. But it's frustrating to see the original plan for not overwhelming folks with splatbooks tossed by the wayside.

As I remember it, the plan by WotC was to not dichotomize their audience along the lines of game worlds; the fact that they put out a large number of supplements was the result of that (roughly a game book a month for every other setting). That's what led to the perceived market flood that killed TSR.

 

[JeffB]

I feel increasingly like WotC is aiming at a different sort of player than me, though I'm not sure who that is.

Believe you me, I've felt that way for about 3 years now.

I also have a small handful of "go-to" D20 publishers, who happen to be ones that aren't D20 trend jumpers. I ignore everyone else.

As for the craptacular art, my vote for worst art from WOTC lately would have to go to Unnaproachable East. The race description art in that book is dreadful and damn near ruins the whole book

AFAIC, WOTCs pinnacle was MotP and FRCS. It's been all downhill since then.

 

[Buttercup]

This from the girl getting Mindshadows as well.

You must have me confused with someone else. I don't know what Mindshadows is, and I never said I was buying it. In fact, thinking that I was having a brain short circuit, I just did a search for posts by me that mention such a product. I can't find one. Is it a psionics thingie?

 

[Li Shenron]

Since setting books sell badly, they can't publish one new setting every three months. Adventures also sell little.

That's a pity because I was thinking it's the only thing that could make me buy again.

Nowadays I have nothing to get from more crunchy bits (well, I could get but not more than 5-10% per book) to add to our games: the 5 classbooks of 3.0 gave me far enough PrCls, after which 99% of the PrCl published mostly repeat the same abilities in different combinations, plus it's always more interesting to write up your own; new monsters are almost always variants, half-breeds or mixes of previous creatures; spells tend to mostly fill the gaps so to completely get rid of any need for "character research"; feats seems to be the only crunchy bits that still have some appeal to me, but since characters get so few of them, I will hardly have time to incorporate new ones in the game.

I have less about 10 books and still haven't had time to try the least of them! I had 4 PCs so far (and many NPCs as a DM) and luckily they are still alive. Looks like they should die soon and often to only make me use new stuff, but they refuse to.

On the other hand, one good setting with tailored adventures and a growing worldwide plot would really make me invest some money. Writing adventures is nice but very hard and time-consuming, especially if you want longlasting quests with subplots. I would be glad to pay for them if talented authors were to publish... Forgotten Realms has nice regional books for the background but no published adventures to run! Dragonlance doesn't sound nice at all from what I have heard. Rokugan sounds better, but I will surely have a hard time finding someone to play it (and I don't know if there are adventures). Planescape hasn't been converted to 3e. But if WotC knows that I'd be the only one buying adventures, I guess it's fair that I'll still have to write them up myself. And the result usually sucks...

 

[TiQuinn]

I think a large part of the problem is that so many d20 publishers have already flooded the market with splatbooks. When WotC comes around with a new book, it's already feels done to death. I've seriously cut down on my accessory purchases, not just because games for me have been few and far between, but also because I've got enough "crunchy" material to last me many, many campaigns. The only thing that will get me spending more at this point is if I went into a whole new game like Spycraft or Star Wars. But D&D? No way. I've got some great stuff, and I can't use all of it already.

On related note, do the "Complete" titles seem a little weird? Complete Warrior? Complete Divine? Not very evocative names for a big release from WotC. Coming soon...."The Complete Stuff"!