D&D 5E Greg Leeds talks about D&D

[Corpsetaker]

No treadmill please. This is a great game don't ruin it with bloat and power creep.

Nobody has asked for these things.

Putting out more product than they are now will not lead to powercreep and bloat. That is just scare mongering. Common sense will come into play when looking at a product that gets bloated. Bloat comes from creating the same thing using five different names while powercreep is trying to chase one option with another which in turn becomes more powerful.

You can do a lot more without going overboard.

 

[Mistwell]

I am so negative because for once, since 3rd edition, we have a really great set of rules and instead of giving us a significant amount of product to go with it, they give us this sparse release schedule and try to give us this corporate crap about it being better for the game overall when all it's better for is their spreadsheets.

They've learned to cut their costs and that's about it. Their release strategy isn't some cutting edge plan.

So you're saying you would be more pleasant if the edition sucked?

 

[El Mahdi]

It's not that they don't sell as well, it's that the very best of them sell only a fraction as well. Which means it's entirely possible (indeed, quite easy) for 5e to outsell the whole of 4e on the back of just the core rulebooks alone.

Indeed, game stores have reported that 5e is indeed selling as well with 9 products as Pathfinder is with 279. Which, yes, is only one data point, so I'm entirely ready to stand corrected when you provide some contrary data of your own.

That's a good point about supplements, but I think it's worth mentioning that Pathfinder's approach isn't necessarily wrong - or at least not wrong for them. No industry works with a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approach. It may be that making a lot of supplements is what Pathfinder needs to do to stay relevant - to keep their customers devoted. That may not be necessary for D&D, because...well, they're D&D. Ask non-RPG fans if they've heard of D&D, and the answer is likely Yes. Ask those same people if they've heard of Pathfinder, and you'll probably get blank stares. Different business situations may require different approaches.

 

[delericho]

That's a good point about supplements, but I think it's worth mentioning that Pathfinder's approach isn't necessarily wrong - or at least not wrong for them.

Absolutely. There's no one 'best' strategy. Different companies will choose different approaches, and indeed the same company may choose different approaches at different times. And while there are many strategies that will surely fail, there are also many strategies that will succeed.

It's like choosing your character's class: both Fighter and Wizard are fine choices; they're just different choices.

 

[darjr]

Actually I think even Paizo's slow approach to splats and core books is beginning to show strain. Any splat release schedule eventually leads to it. Not to mention the company will have to support the teams working on that stuff. Even slower than Paizo's will get there. I think their current approach is much, much better for the game. It seems that a promise of a long running edition that serves many styles that shies away from splats and bloats is a recipe for success. Why would they change that?

Though it does seem that they are ramping up for something. The number of employees working on D&D is growing.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Actually I think even Paizo's slow approach to splats and core books is beginning to show strain. Any splat release schedule eventually leads to it. Not to mention the company will have to support the teams working on that stuff. Even slower than Paizo's will get there. I think their current approach is much, much better for the game. It seems that a promise of a long running edition that serves many styles that shies away from splats and bloats is a recipe for success. Why would they change that?

Though it does seem that they are ramping up for something. The number of employees working on D&D is growing.

You do know that more releases do not automatically equal more powercreep and bloat right?

If you don't put out enough product then people will get bored and lose interest.

 

[darjr]

That doesn't seem to be the case here.

Not yet anyway. Their smart, I'm sure they'll keep an eye on it.

 

[Corpsetaker]

That doesn't seem to be the case here.

Not yet anyway. Their smart, I'm sure they'll keep an eye on it.

How have you come to that conclusion? SCAG has not been doing as well and they will only sell so many core rule books before everyone has a copy who wants one. People will get bored and want more.

 

[darjr]

The core books are still selling well.

And SCAG has mixed reviews but around here it's selling OK.

 

[Mistwell]

You do know that more releases do not automatically equal more powercreep and bloat right?

If you don't put out enough product then people will get bored and lose interest.

And yet, interest remains high according to every objective standard. It might be time to consider, after a year and a half, that you're wrong. That the rate of content you want might in fact not be the necessary rate of content to maintain interest. I mean, here you are still, right? And you're in the top 1% of angst-ridden posters here about this edition. If the top 1% of angst-ridden posters is still here after this rate...maybe the middle 70% are just fine.