Jester David
Hero
If I'm not buying more books and happy with the content I have it doesn't matter if the edition is ongoing or cancelled.Combining these responses because I think you miss a key point in both: player base.
If other people start gravitating to other games that WILL have an effect on you.
Just ask the people who still love 2E, or 4E.
It only has an impact when looking for new players or a new group. And that's aided by a non-fractured audience and a long-term edition that more people are familiar with.
I was calling for fewer releases and less crunch for years. I was exceedingly happy with the post-Essentials D&D offerings, with a couple books each year that were more than 50% flavour.I think you are falling for their spin.
If they were making the margins that they wanted on books, then they would be making more books.
They want to maintain the brand at a minimal investment.
That's not falling for their spin, it's agreeing with their approach.
Boredom and competition is a serious issue. And if you need to invest a heavy amount of time keeping up with new content and releases, reading books, and building characters the game becomes less appealing. That's time that could be spent on the MMO or a movie or family.Yes, people are still playing Basic. So why did WotC publish 5E rather than the vastly cheaper option of trumpting the republishing of Basic as the flagship D&D line?
Boredom is obviously an issue. But the constant demand of keeping up with the competition is also there. The competition can be a new game which could appear next month, but it is also just anything else. Whatever tomorrow's equivalent of an MMO is, it will be a competition for the time and dollars when it comes around. There is a lot of room between "bored" and "this is so fresh and exciting that it remains my first choice for how I spend my time".
D&D will always have a hard time competing as it's a group activity that requires buy in from multiple participants.
If a great new RPG comes out, it does NOT matter what new splatbook the game has, because the D&D is still D&D. I'm doing non-D&D mini-campaigns right now because my table wants a d20 break. New splatbooks wouldn't help (especially since we're coming off Pathfinder) and wouldn't keep us in that game. The solution to boredom isn't more content that's the same stuff but slightly different. But it's nice to know you can get back into D&D after a break easily, and without having to catch-up on a dozen books or learn a new edition. The freedom to take a D&D break is essential.
Some people get bored exceedingly quickly. The people who play weekly will burn through the game much faster than the people who play once a month. Everyone shouldn't be required to keep pace with the people bored the most easily.