Is this the benefit of an R&D department

[Man-thing]

From Gaming Reports - Gen Con Coverage of the DND Seminar.

Dragon Magic, the next release, did not follow the normal production cycle. According to Wotc staff they had a hole in the schedule and found they have had their best sales from items with the words dragon or magic in the title, so they quickly developed a book with those two words as the title.

2 word are go, quickly go write a book on those words.

Discuss.

 

[reanjr]

I think it's hilarious and while I wish it were wrong, it probably is spot on.

 

[Sir Brennen]

Sounds like a tongue in cheek comment that someone thought was "news worthy".

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's also what they're saying in the August Previews.

But why do you wish it was wrong? How many people on this board own Complete Arcane? I'd venture the majority of them, and more than own any one of the others.

How many own the Draconomicon, especially as compared to the other monster series books?

Now, why would creating something you know people are interested in be a bad thing?

And, frankly, the basic description sounds pretty neat, even if you just use the book to detail dragons' minions and allies and not, as will be possible with the book, dragon-ruled societies (which could be pretty damn neat).

 

[Faraer]

Sounds quite believable to me. People buy things in large part because of what they're called and what they look like, however much individuals protest that they don't.

 

[Kishin]

It's also what they're saying in the August Previews.

But why do you wish it was wrong? How many people on this board own Complete Arcane? I'd venture the majority of them, and more than own any one of the others.

How many own the Draconomicon, especially as compared to the other monster series books?

Now, why would creating something you know people are interested in be a bad thing?

And, frankly, the basic description sounds pretty neat, even if you just use the book to detail dragons' minions and allies and not, as will be possible with the book, dragon-ruled societies (which could be pretty damn neat).

Its brilliant in an amusing sort of way.

Also, to be honest, I agree that it sounds fairly neat. Then again, I do have a rather large dracocentric empire floating around my homebrew, so YMMV.

 

[Mark]

I'm glad they didn't step on the title of my upcoming The Magic of Dragons.

 

[Wik]

Yeah, as someone who is getting ready to run a campaign based entirely around a dragon-run society (and an uprising of "half-human" races against the society), I can see something as Dragon Magic being very helpful. So what if they decided that by putting "dragon" and "magic" in the name, they'll make more money. I'm fine with that - the content seems downright helpful for what I plan on running, so I won't complain.

 

[Umbran]

Discuss.

Hey, they did enough research to discover a corellation between the words and sales. That's not as easy a task as you might imagine. They're paying attention to what sells - that's important.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The alternative -- "We know people want stuff on magic and on dragons, but SCREW THEM!" -- seems like a strange business plan.