D&D 5E D&D Team Productivity?

[ccs]

So by my calculations in the roughly six and half years since 5e's launch WotC have published 24 D&D books and 2 boxes. 3 of the books have been updates of old material (Saltmarsh etc), 5 of them have been partially outsourced to other companys like Sasquatch, Green Ronin etc and 2 have been almost entirely written outside the design studio (Acquisitions and Wildemount).

Now surely that is a pretty low productivity rate?? I mention this now because it seems like a very very long time that this Candlekeep book has been in production.

All of the above comes from a position of love. I own every 5e product in at least two formats and a lot of them in 3 (standard, special edition and Beyond).

Ok, so what?
What you see as a low productive rate seems to the plan. And the plan seems to be working for the company.... So?

 

[Maxperson]

They've tried the "flood the market with product" strategy before, it was time to try something different.

It seems to be working reasonably well, why would they change? D&D is more popular than ever, the books they do release sell well with relatively minimal investment.

There is a middle ground, though.

 

[el-remmen]

I like my release schedule like I like my level advancement: SLOW.

 

[tetrasodium]

They've tried the "flood the market with product" strategy before, it was time to try something different.

It seems to be working reasonably well, why would they change? D&D is more popular than ever, the books they do release sell well with relatively minimal investment.

There is an ocean of middle ground between 5e' 1/quarter & the heyday of 3.x when we were getting 1-2+ books a month, that's not a gap that gets crossed instantly if they start doing things like putting out one or two more books a year dedicated to something other than FR or the needs of tables that want something different.

 

[Umbran]

There is a middle ground, though.

The Golden Mean Fallacy is a thing.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I think preference may in part be related to rate of play.

I have barely plumbed the PHB for characters much less my Xanathar’s and tashas, but I am a working family guy and cannot play often enough.

whether we use the product or not is a bigger question.

There are years worth of adventures at this point. The question is how many do you like? I don’t think many folks (operative word, many) have burned through all the APs.

as to characters classes and races....how many combinations Are there? If we include mordekainens Volos along with phb, xgte, tashas...holy Moses that is a lot of stuff.

not poo pooing others desires for more but more is definitely relative.

I like the releases as they are so I can actually evaluate them and be informed about the options. Bloat is not my friend.

 

[Dausuul]

Their output is certainly lower than previous editions. And...? What conclusion are you drawing from this?

 

[Morrus]

I've got more 5E books from WotC than I'm ever likely to use. I was buying them all up until about two years ago, and then I became more selective.

 

[Maxperson]

The Golden Mean Fallacy is a thing.

Sure, but I'm not claiming it as THE truth. Because the truth is, nobody, including WotC knows whether the middle ground or their current rate is better. My response was to the Strawman that implied that our wanting more equates to wanting the same rate of production 3e saw.

 

[Burnside]

Keep in mind WotC gets a cut of EVERY product sold on DMsGuild. It's a very successful medium for them to "publish" smaller adventure and supplement products that in past eras they would have produced themselves. The increasing willingness to include plugs for DMsGuild in every official release shows that this model is clearly working for them. DMsGuild creators represent an army of WotC freelancers. You may have doubts about how "official" those products are, and certainly the quality varies (as it does in the physical WotC content as well), but WotC is certainly willing to embrace it enough to put their name on it and promote it. And many of the most successful DMsGuild creators are the same people writing the "official" adventures now.

So in a sense WotC is publishing like dozens of 5E products every day. How you choose to classify those products is a subjective choice. But I think the model is here to stay.