D&D 5E How much money is D&D 5e actually making?

[dave2008]

4e online was generous if you didn't count the $70 a year for access.

It was still generous as that cost was less than the cost of the books published each year and it had more functionality.

 

[darjr]

Store owners around here that have told me say that 5e still sells well, the PHB surprisingly so.

 

[Azzy]

I dunno. I've bought almost all of the non-adventure books (and will get the rest and maybe an adventure or two), and most of the others in my group have bought at least the PHB.

 

[LordEntrails]

Store owners around here that have told me say that 5e still sells well, the PHB surprisingly so.

Yea, the PHB still ranks as one of the top selling books month after month. Awfully hard to argue with such success.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

4e online was generous if you didn't count the $70 a year for access.

That was an incredible deal. Not only were the tools really good, but full access to the books, and all article content, which was an enormous amount of content, was a very good deal.

I mean, you couldn’t even get the core set for that little.

All the books (50+ books?), plus the magazine content (about an extra source book per month, so another 30+), plus software worth at least a solid 20-30$, is worth, even if you value digital content at half price, at least 1,600$.

So, yes, generous.

 

[Tony Vargas]

That was an incredible deal. Not only were the tools really good, but full access to the books, and all article content, which was an enormous amount of content, was a very good deal.

Until it goes away, in 5 days, then you have nothing. If you'd been putting the money to books, you'd at least still have 'em. So, it was a good deal, until it wasn't.

 

[Zardnaar]

DDI is going bye bye?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Until it goes away, in 5 days, then you have nothing. If you'd been putting the money to books, you'd at least still have 'em. So, it was a good deal, until it wasn't.

Nope, it was still an absolute deal. Not to mention that the offline builder is only “piracy” if you get updates for it converted from the online version. Which means you still have permanent access to everything that was in the offline tools up to when they switched.

Also, you have always been able to download and keep the magazine issues, which were worth the price by themselves.

But even if we accept your pessimism, and assume the highest cost per month, it was still absolutely worth every penny for a year of access to all 4e content along with the tools.

It doesn’t lose any value whatsoever when you stop having that access. You paid a month or 3 months or a year for that much access, and you got it. At an incredible, insane, bargain.

 

[darjr]

It was a great deal. But I think something about the criticism stands. If you want to keep playing you now need to go get the books. Which, for many, sucks. It is what it is and folks should have understood at the beginning. I don’t really hav an issue with WotC over it though. What else can they do?

 

[Tony Vargas]

Nope, it was still an absolute deal. Not to mention that the offline builder is only “piracy” if you get updates for it converted from the online version. Which means you still have permanent access to everything that was in the offline tools up to when they switched.

which is, admittedly, most of the better stuff.

It doesn’t lose any value whatsoever when you stop having that access.

Compared to owning books, the difference matters.

I don’t really hav an issue with WotC over it though. What else can they do?

Offer the offline version, fully updated?
Release a 4e OGL/SRD so that 3pps can clone the game and pick up support for it?

..and, oh, better-enable the styles of play that 4e opened up, by, among other things, IDK, just off the top of my head...
finally putting a worthy full-class 5e Warlord in print...