D&D (2024) D&D Pre-orders; this is sad

[mamba]

Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof.

nothing extraordinary here, you disagree, that is fine. I mentioned several indications already, if you need sworn testimony by Cocks as proof, then I guess you will keep on disagreeing

And yes, this thread is full of fear mongering. There are people who are basing their opinion on the game now on the speculation that WotC will quit selling physical books in X years

why would I base my opinion now on what WotC might / probably will do 15 years from now? Sorry, if people are irrational that does not make speculating about it fear mongering, esp. for something with such limited impact

the assumption that WotC will cut off it's nose to spite it's face when so far, there is nothing but cheap gossip and baseless rumor to go on

that is not remotely close to my assumption, and that it is baseless is at best your opinion, not fact. You can disagree with my reasoning but that does not mean it is baseless. If anything the confidence that nothing will change seems to be based on nothing

If it was presented as a "what if" it would be worthy to speculate on. But it's presented as a "will happen soon" and that's not in touch with reality.

if for you soon is 15 years out, you have a different idea of soon than I do.

I already said it is speculation, of course it is. I am stating my opinion, not an irrefutable vision of the future. Anyone who thinks they know exactly what will happen 15 or 20 years out is either lying to you or to themselves

 

[occam]

it’s a fact but we do not have the numbers

If you don't have the numbers, then it isn't a fact (that digital books have higher profit margin for WotC, in dollars, than physical books).

 

[mamba]

If going fully digital was the sure-fire move of corporations, and it was so profitable... why has no board game company EVER gone fully digital?

I don’t know about you, but from my experience board games get played a few times a year and many are abandoned after a few evenings. Not sure how you think that lends itself to a subscription service

Are there some ‘hardcore’ board gamers, probably, but I see it as a much more casual market that does not lend itself to a subscription model easily

 

[mamba]

If you don't have the numbers, then it isn't a fact (that digital books have higher profit margin for WotC, in dollars, than physical books).

I put the smiley there for a reason…

 

[UngeheuerLich]

by moving more people away from print and onto digital. Have exclusive digital stuff: check,

Exclusive print things, like the alternate cover: check

increase the print price but not digital: check

Keeping price increase to absolute minimum considering the genral inflation: check. Even lowering the entry price by keeping the corebooks at 50 dollars despite inflation: check.
Not increasing digital prices because those costs did not increase to not look greedy: check.

expand digital options (VTT, Maps): check

Offering options for people that moved to online gaming during the pandemy: check.

Where you see malice, I see customer friendliness. Especially considering that they sell the paper core books comparatively cheaper than they did for quite a while (no price adjustment for inflation, bigger size).

And once again: math helps to get some context.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I put the smiley there for a reason…

Adding smileys does not make it better. You are still spreading baseless rumors.

 

[mamba]

Exclusive print things, like the alternate cover: check

you do realize that this is still more than 10 years out, correct?

Where you see malice, I see customer friendliness.

I am not seeing malice, but I agree that I don't think that WotC is doing this purely out of the goodness of their hearts

 

[mamba]

Adding smileys does not make it better. You are still spreading baseless rumors.

nah, it is still is almost definitely true. There is a difference between something being true and someone having the irrefutable data to back it up. Not having the data does not mean something is untrue. By that logic, please provide the data that they make more per book. Since you cannot do so I guess that means you are wrong about that...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

nah, it is still is almost definitely true. There is a difference between something being true and someone having the irrefutable data to back it up. Not having the data does not mean something is untrue.

Maybe. Sometimes baseless rumors turn out to be true. At zmthat point: baseless.

And to your other post: WotC has no heart. It is a corporation. Customer friendliness usually means profit in the long run.

 

[mamba]

Maybe. Sometimes baseless rumors turn out to be true. At zmthat point: baseless.

it's not baseless, it is an educated guess. Do I have WotC's numbers, no, but that does not mean it doesn't have a probability of > 95%

For an estimate of WotC gets per book, see Estimating D&D’s Revenue | Alphastream

"If the above model were true for D&D, a product like the $59.95 Bigby’s might look as follows:

• $60 retail price, which is what your FLGS charges you.
• $30 is what the retail store paid to the distributor.
• $15 is what the distributor paid to the gaming company.
• $15 is what the gaming company gets for all of its work. This must cover salaries, printing, art, editing, marketing, etc."

They easily make more profit per book on DDB