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Cost of D&D Editions, then and now
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<blockquote data-quote="Alphastream" data-source="post: 6275617" data-attributes="member: 11365"><p>Each 3-core set of books has outsold the previous one. The AD&D Monster Manual released at the end of 1977, had an initial print run of 50,000 copies. Over the next 12 years it was reprinted 15 times. The PHB was released in August of '78 and sold 10,000 copies in 3 months. The 2E PHB sold 289,000 copies in 1998. The D&D boxed set was said to have sold a million copies in one year (presumably '89). 3E was said by Dancey to have outsold 2E by a wide margin, selling 300,000 copies in 30 days (!!!!) and yet both pre-orders and initial sales for 4E were even stronger. </p><p></p><p>According to Dancey (not that I necessarily agree, mind you), core books have been 80% of the profit for D&D. Why lower that? </p><p></p><p>D&D has never had a problem selling core books. The problem for all RPGs has been sustaining sales beyond the core book(s). The very specific problem for WotC has been meeting far larger expectations than anyone else has - needing to make $50-100 Million in annual revenues. The likely path to that has little to do with the core book model (though the strength of the RPG's fan base does matter).</p><p></p><p>(Also worth noting that even the sales of the OD&D set at the end of 1974 exceed the sales of many small RPG publishers today. The strength of D&D (and now Pathfinder) is just on an entirely different scale than other RPGs.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alphastream, post: 6275617, member: 11365"] Each 3-core set of books has outsold the previous one. The AD&D Monster Manual released at the end of 1977, had an initial print run of 50,000 copies. Over the next 12 years it was reprinted 15 times. The PHB was released in August of '78 and sold 10,000 copies in 3 months. The 2E PHB sold 289,000 copies in 1998. The D&D boxed set was said to have sold a million copies in one year (presumably '89). 3E was said by Dancey to have outsold 2E by a wide margin, selling 300,000 copies in 30 days (!!!!) and yet both pre-orders and initial sales for 4E were even stronger. According to Dancey (not that I necessarily agree, mind you), core books have been 80% of the profit for D&D. Why lower that? D&D has never had a problem selling core books. The problem for all RPGs has been sustaining sales beyond the core book(s). The very specific problem for WotC has been meeting far larger expectations than anyone else has - needing to make $50-100 Million in annual revenues. The likely path to that has little to do with the core book model (though the strength of the RPG's fan base does matter). (Also worth noting that even the sales of the OD&D set at the end of 1974 exceed the sales of many small RPG publishers today. The strength of D&D (and now Pathfinder) is just on an entirely different scale than other RPGs.) [/QUOTE]
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