D&D Has the Biggest Playerbase, So Why is it the Hardest for 3rd Party to Market Too?

[Parmandur]

Seems like it would be the opposite. If you don't homebrew your own campaigns, then you'll need a steady stream of adventures or you run out of material. On the other hand, once you've got your PHB, you don't need to keep buying more.

Those of us who like playing with new mechanics do want an ongoing stream of splatbooks as well, but that doesn't require a lot of them. One book like Xanathar's supplies plenty of material to keep the game fresh for a couple of years. And even that is optional - we don't need the new mechanics in the way that a group relying on published adventures needs new adventures. We can keep playing with the stuff in the PHB indefinitely, we just start getting antsy after a while. A group that runs out of adventures, runs out of game.

They also make for fun reading material. Sky King's Thunder also sets up the various APs as fallback options in the Sword Coast, in case the PC's go rogue and want to do something other than planned.

 

[Zardnaar]

Seems like it would be the opposite. If you don't homebrew your own campaigns, then you'll need a steady stream of adventures or you run out of material. On the other hand, once you've got your PHB, you don't need to keep buying more.

Those of us who like playing with new mechanics do want an ongoing stream of splatbooks as well, but that doesn't require a lot of them. One book like Xanathar's supplies plenty of material to keep the game fresh for a couple of years. And even that is optional - we don't need the new mechanics in the way that a group relying on published adventures needs new adventures. We can keep playing with the stuff in the PHB indefinitely, we just start getting antsy after a while. A group that runs out of adventures, runs out of game.

Well I don't think most people finish AP type adventures so once you have a few from wotc you don;t need any more. Hell go back further to the ToEE lots of people played it few completed it.

I mean I'm not 100% sure but it just sem to be the way with the WoT hardcover APs and the Paizo ones or even the old Dungeons.

 

[Dausuul]

Well I don't think most people finish AP type adventures so once you have a few from wotc you don;t need any more. Hell go back further to the ToEE lots of people played it few completed it.

If you only play half of each adventure, you need twice as many adventures.

 

[Zardnaar]

If you only play half of each adventure, you need twice as many adventures.

Well you design a few and its more real life time. It take about a year of weekly play to complete one of those adventures and most players still don't do high level.

 

[Hussar]

Well I don't think most people finish AP type adventures so once you have a few from wotc you don;t need any more. Hell go back further to the ToEE lots of people played it few completed it.

I mean I'm not 100% sure but it just sem to be the way with the WoT hardcover APs and the Paizo ones or even the old Dungeons.

What do you base that on? That most people don't finish the AP's, I mean. Personal experience or something else? Because, for us, we do finish off the AP's that we start, by and large. We did Ravenloft (although the campaign crashed because of Real Life stuff getting in the way just at the end of it ), we're doing the Giants one right now and it's going pretty swimmingly. And, we've done most of the Primeval Thule adventures as well.

Why do you think most people don't finish the AP's that they start?

I'd point to the fact that even poorly reviewed WotC AP, like Hoard of the Dragon Queen are STILL, today, selling better than pretty much any other RPG product on the market, other than other 5e books that is.

 

[Zardnaar]

Well you design a few and its more real life time. It take about a year of weekly play to complete one of those adventures and most players still don't do high level.

Seems to be a thing online and the various surveys over the years about high level play. Personal experience as well seeing other groups, campaigns and games. Alot of short campaigns and one offs my group had long ones for years until recently.

We had played in the level 14-18 range and some epic games in 3.0 but I don't think that was very common. Could be wrong just an impression.

 

[MoonSong]

So 1st party = WoTC/TSR
3rd party = everyone else.

Who's the 2nd party?

I thought second party were for those companies with official licenses like Judge's Guild used to have for AD&D. Live and learn.

I think second party is when a company gets hired by the first party to do official stuff. Like when WotC outsourced the two first adventure paths.

 

[Morrus]

D&D Has the Biggest Playerbase, So Why is it the Hardest for 3rd Party to Market Too?

I thought second party were for those companies with official licenses like Judge's Guild used to have for AD&D. Live and learn.

It’s not an officialness ranking system. WotC sells books to the customer. Sometimes a third party will also sell books to the customer. There isn’t really a first or second party in common parlance; a third party publisher is a third party to the relationship between IP owner and customer. It’s just a colloquialism.

 

[MichaelSomething]

The only 3rd Party I need for 5th Edition is EN5ider. For less then a fancy coffee a week, I can get high quality stuff delivered right to my inbox EVERY WEEK!

 

[FrogReaver]

There’s way to much unregulated third party material of questionable quality. That’s the issue with third party material now.