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<blockquote data-quote="giant.robot" data-source="post: 5273392" data-attributes="member: 93119">&quot;When the time is right&quot; isn't so much about switching editions but when there's an actual need to print new books. If they decided tomorrow to print a new run of PHBs with errata changes in them they would have to pull back every copy of the current PHBs in their various distribution channels. This would cost them far more money than simply waiting until the channel has dried up and printing new copies when there's demand for them. There's little reason to do a new run of Core rulebooks until there's demand that outstrips their current supply. New players they gain through the Red Box and Essentials products will likely generate some demand for the Core rulebooks but it's not likely that there will be a demand large enough to justify new print runs, especially with updated copy since this requires a lot of extra QA effort (expense). A lot of Red Box players will likely just move onto Essentials books.In publishing you want to have an edition that is almost set in stone and just print a million copies of that. Every additional book printed lowers the per-book print cost since the fixed costs of the books are amortized over a larger number of units to be sold. I think WotC is waiting to see what the demand for the Core books are like once they get Essentials out in the market whether or not to do another print run or update the books and do a run. This is likely to have nothing at all to do with a new incompatible edition of the rules but instead publishing economics.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="giant.robot, post: 5273392, member: 93119"] "When the time is right" isn't so much about switching editions but when there's an actual need to print new books. If they decided tomorrow to print a new run of PHBs with errata changes in them they would have to pull back every copy of the current PHBs in their various distribution channels. This would cost them far more money than simply waiting until the channel has dried up and printing new copies when there's demand for them. There's little reason to do a new run of Core rulebooks until there's demand that outstrips their current supply. New players they gain through the Red Box and Essentials products will likely generate some demand for the Core rulebooks but it's not likely that there will be a demand large enough to justify new print runs, especially with updated copy since this requires a lot of extra QA effort (expense). A lot of Red Box players will likely just move onto Essentials books. In publishing you want to have an edition that is almost set in stone and just print a million copies of that. Every additional book printed lowers the per-book print cost since the fixed costs of the books are amortized over a larger number of units to be sold. I think WotC is waiting to see what the demand for the Core books are like once they get Essentials out in the market whether or not to do another print run or update the books and do a run. This is likely to have nothing at all to do with a new incompatible edition of the rules but instead publishing economics. [/QUOTE]

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