ICv2 Summer 2014 Ranks

[Mercurius]

I love 5e but I don't expect the WOTC plan of 'few products' will beat the Paizo 'splat or two a month plus AP' plan long term.

And I'm fine with that.

I'm not fine with that, not because I care who is #1, but because I want to see more than just a trickle of products from WotC. I don't want to 2-3-4E glut, but more than what seems to be planned. I think they're right in wanting to tone down the glut, but I hope they don't go too far to the other extreme and go back to 1E output. But so far that seems to be the plan.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I was going to give you a "laugh point" but realized that you weren't kidding, and thus my "laugh" is of a different variety.

Come now, don't you think this is a tad hyperbolic? Stick a fork in D&D?

Slightly hyperbolic. But if D&D with a brand new PHB can't even outsell a five year old RPG in what should be its best ever month for sales it's in a lot of trouble. We've still got what we've got, but I'm expecting releases for 5e to be anaemic at this point.

 

[casterblaster]

You just cant go by this. What about towns like the on I live in that doesn't have a FLGS? I buy from BAM or Amazonas do others in my circle. Pathfinder is a good game just not what I want to play. DnD is more streamlined IMHO.

 

[sgtscott658]

Well lets hope not, Hasbro is a corporation and if sales lag in the future, I would not be surprised if they jettisoned the D&D paper and pencil part of WoTC if things go sour.

Slightly hyperbolic. But if D&D with a brand new PHB can't even outsell a five year old RPG in what should be its best ever month for sales it's in a lot of trouble. We've still got what we've got, but I'm expecting releases for 5e to be anaemic at this point.

 

[edutrevi]

I think D&D will climb back to #1 in 2015.
Pathfinder is nice, but D&D will be the best ever for me.
5E is the best system yet.

 

[Hand of Evil]

funny, I don't see D&D back in the number 1 spot do to its limited releases, Pathfinder's has released more product in the same period, not just hardback but also PDF.

 

[Mercurius]

Slightly hyperbolic. But if D&D with a brand new PHB can't even outsell a five year old RPG in what should be its best ever month for sales it's in a lot of trouble. We've still got what we've got, but I'm expecting releases for 5e to be anaemic at this point.

Well again, we're talking about a couple weeks of the PHB being on sale. And again, most sales come through Amazon, so it is hard to get the full picture. Let's see how the next rankings (or two) look before sticking a fork in.

 

[Grimstaff]

My reading of all this is that it's almost time to stick a fork in D&D. We don't just have two weeks, we have four for premium stores - and a strong opening that's fallen off. It wouldn't surprise me if over half the total sales for the PHB are in that first month. The MM is already languishing outside the top 100 on Amazon. (In the UK things are significantly worse - add a zero).

And from local experience, people are losing interest fast. 4e caused rioting - Next is just causing people to play it and shrug.

If Troll: Well played, sir.

If Serious: ROFL!

 

[MartyW]

Speaking anecdotally, I can say that Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia still seem to be pretty solidly Pathfinder country.

The problem with anecdotal evidence is that it's anecdotal.

Seriously though -- of the two relatively successful game stores near Virginia Beach, one always has a solid Pathfinder Society going on, usually 2 tables while D&D Adventures League is almost non-existent.

At the other store, it is the exact opposite. Adventures League is very strong with both D&D Encounters and D&D Expeditions games going strong at 2 - 3 tables on Monday and Wednesday nights. Pathfinder Society meets occasionally there, but not often as they tend to gather at the other store.

The owner or organized play volunteers at a given store will often color perceptions because their favored game will almost always win out over the other as they will tend to spend effort on organizing one and leaving the other to languish. This makes no business sense to me as it would seem obvious that the best thing for the store is to have a strong audience for all your organized play events as that will lead directly to increased sales.

 

[danbala]

If Hasbro is happy it is because they carefully kept costs down and probably had modest expectations. The goal of this edition is just to have something published to support licensed products, not to be the top selling RPG.