D&D General D&D 2024 does not deserve to succeed

[Micah Sweet]

The game was easy to learn at lower levels because it told you exactly what you could and could not do. That's far different from being able to tweak combat or add homebrew customizations. The interaction and details of powers was too complex to allow much of either.



Or you could let 3PP do it while you focus on the core rules. Which is what WotC seems to have done instead of the TSR model of trying to be everything and failing.

TSR did a pretty good job of being everything for a while IMO. Long enough to amass a huge stockpile of diverse and varied product.

 

[mamba]

Which is why most versions sold well for the first year or so and then died?

yes, most had steep drop off in core book sales

Versus 5E which has seen continued growth? Something doesn't seem to add up.

it adds up, you just need to look at the available data

For 1e to 4e that is Ben Riggs and heavily focused on 1e and 2e, for 5e we have bookscan

As far as more PHBs sold than adventures, many DMs do homebrew campaigns and once your done with an adventure it has little value so you can give it to someone else. Meanwhile many people are going to want their own PHB but only 1 person needs a module.

Sure, that does not change that the core books drive the sales and most of those go to new players. The core books sold about as much as all adventures combined I believe, would have to double check the bookscan numbers

EDIT: the three core books sold almost 2.5x as much as all adventures combined, the 50/50 was 3 core + 2 starter sets vs everything else

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

You also can never eliminate friction. This is not an excuse for leaving out ball bearings, oil, and grease.

They didn't. But to torture your analogy further, they made it like a tractor bearing: simple and robust.
You can use it in an aircraft engine, but you should probably get an aircraft mechanic to tweak it for that role, otherwise it will underperform.

 

[mamba]

TSR did a pretty good job of being everything for a while IMO. Long enough to amass a huge stockpile of diverse and varied product.

much of it in their warehouse…

 

[MockingBird]

I've never had any issues with monsters in 5e. I've never had a TPK, had some close calls but never a TPK. 4e definitely had the easiest encounter building but running the combats was a drag.

 

[Micah Sweet]

much of it in their warehouse…

Funny, but ultimately not relevant to my concern.

 

[Minigiant]

The game was easy to learn at lower levels because it told you exactly what you could and could not do. That's far different from being able to tweak combat or add homebrew customizations. The interaction and details of powers was too complex to allow much of either.

Nah the DMG told you how to adjudicate on the fly.

The complexity came from the later options bloat.

Or you could let 3PP do it while you focus on the core rules. Which is what WotC seems to have done instead of the TSR model of trying to be everything and failing

The same WOTC that got mad that 3PP did that exact thing and they attempted to control the whole market by funneling all 3PP through them?

That WOTC?

You can't have third parties through the parts that you don't want to do then be upset that you don't get a cut out of it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I've never had any issues with monsters in 5e. I've never had a TPK, had some close calls but never a TPK. 4e definitely had the easiest encounter building but running the combats was a drag.

Yup. I especially got very tired of PCs constantly pushing enemies off of cliffs and into damaging zones. It discouraged me from designing exciting fight locations, since the response was always spamming forced movement.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Nah the DMG told you how to adjudicate on the fly.

The complexity came from the later options bloat.



The same WOTC that got mad that 3PP did that exact thing and they attempted to control the whole market by funneling all 3PP through them?

That WOTC?

You can't have third parties through the parts that you don't want to do then be upset that you don't get a cut out of it.

Apparently you can. Turns out being inconsistent isn't a crime.

 

[Oofta]

TSR did a pretty good job of being everything for a while IMO. Long enough to amass a huge stockpile of diverse and varied product.

Amassing a huge stockpile of diverse and varied product while going bankrupt and suing or threatening to sue everyone who infringed on what they considered their IP is not exactly a selling point.

Being made by the same company that produces the core rules does not somehow make a product "better".