Zaran
Adventurer
So if they come out with a second monster manual are you going to stop playing it after 2? I don't really understand why you only want to play if it keeps to 3 books? You don't have to buy any more books.
D&D 5E (2014) I think WotC has it backwards (re: story arcs)
- Thread starter Mercurius
- Start date
So if they come out with a second monster manual are you going to stop playing it after 2? I don't really understand why you only want to play if it keeps to 3 books? You don't have to buy any more books.
cmad1977
Hero
Ok, let me write this in English this time.
If 5e only released the 3 books I would still be playing in 5 years.
I don't get what you think I'm saying. Nowhere in my post have I suggested that I would stop playing under any circumstance.
Zaran
Adventurer
I'm not sure people are saying that they will get bored with 5e and stop playing if they aren't more books. Maybe one guys is but they are a minority. That being said, the demand for more than 3 core books is out there.
cmad1977
Hero
Ok... The question posed a few posts up was essentially 'if we're right about the release schedule will you be playing in 5 years' to which I responded 'even if WotC only released the 3 I would be playing in 5 years' meaning I will be playing in 5 years regardless of release schedule. I'm content with the core books and the AP's. I don't care if other aren't happy with it, but also don't care if other books get released.
Yes the 'demand' for more books is 'out there' but given that the demand is so spread out between settings, modules, class books, monster books, and others the 'demand' is more like a whine. If the community(of which we on this site form a teeny tiny portion of) collectively asked for a 'awesome book of awesomeness' then that would be real DEMAND. What people are describing is a 'desire' for something specific to their 'needs'. Hardly communal demand
cmad1977
Hero
I guess I'm in this boat. Not that I'll buy less per se... But I'll buy maybe 1 supplement depending on its quality and utility.
Nellisir
Hero
I don't think they are planning on it. I think plans are going to change. It was only 3 years between 3.0 and 3.5.
I really don't know how to say this, but the boxed sets aren't going to be "ordinary APs". That's exactly what I mean by people assuming it's all going to be business as usual indefinitely. I don't know what exactly they will be - mini-campaign in a box? - but they'll be much more beginner-focused. I think. And yeah, boxes are more expensive than ordinary hardcovers. Lords of Waterdeep retails at $50. A box lets you put fold-up battle maps in it, though. And maybe some other gimmicky thing. I dunno. If they're only going to sell one or two to you a year, they can do a $50 or $75 price point, particularly if it's GI Joe's Dungeons & Dragons, or whatever.
Nellisir
Hero
This is like going to a restaurant, ordering breakfast, and being told you can have printer ink. You don't want printer ink. You want waffles. Well, they have hubcaps too.
If I'm playing an RPG, I don't sit down in front of my tv and put a DVD in. If you want to watch a cartoon instead of play an RPG, that's great, but they're not the same thing or the same experience. Cutting back on RPGs to make more passive media is not an even trade as a consumer experience.
Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
I want breakfast sometimes, lunch at others. The current plan is awesome, and I am on board fully based on what has happened so far. I really, really don't want splats to return, the free adventurer handbook was about the right amount. Keep the focus on the stories, bring in nice boxed sets instead of books.
Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
Look at it this way:
The first major lesson WOTC learned examining TSR history was that you can't copyright rules. So they make the OGL, become game industry heroes.
At this point, they seem to have concluded that they can't just not copyright the rules, but making money off of them is not sustainable. So, they are looking to make money off of stories, and physical objects (coffee table quality core books, luscious but affordable starter set, DM screen, minis, etc). The rules, as such, are being given out for free. A penniless group of middle schoolers has full access to the rules, and most of the expansion material so far; this makes it easier to play without the qualms of piracy, and builds brand identity (the real money maker). Selling crunch is not their business anymore, it's selling fluff, because they can trademark fluff.
The first major lesson WOTC learned examining TSR history was that you can't copyright rules. So they make the OGL, become game industry heroes.
At this point, they seem to have concluded that they can't just not copyright the rules, but making money off of them is not sustainable. So, they are looking to make money off of stories, and physical objects (coffee table quality core books, luscious but affordable starter set, DM screen, minis, etc). The rules, as such, are being given out for free. A penniless group of middle schoolers has full access to the rules, and most of the expansion material so far; this makes it easier to play without the qualms of piracy, and builds brand identity (the real money maker). Selling crunch is not their business anymore, it's selling fluff, because they can trademark fluff.
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