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<blockquote data-quote="BlackMoria" data-source="post: 3267285" data-attributes="member: 424">It is not exactly the same problem as TSR had during its final days.TSR fragmented their market because the majority of their products was focused on a great number of settings.&nbsp; Dark Sun, Planescape, Mystara, Red Steel, Birthright, Spelljammer, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, and Greyhawk.&nbsp; I am probably missing some.&nbsp; The main problem is that products done for, let's say, Dark Sun, have poor portability into another setting, like say, Birthright.&nbsp;&nbsp; Also, TSR's print runs were too large and alot of their product sat in warehouses, which further contributed to their financial woes.&nbsp; So the issue was principally not one of buyer fatigue resulting in poor sales, it was too many settings, too focused product support and large print runs.In contrast, WOTC has not gone the route of &quot;setting of the month&quot;.&nbsp; They have retained Greyhawk as the default setting, keep the Forgotten Realms and cut loose the rest.&nbsp; They added Eberron so their stable is only three settings.&nbsp;&nbsp; Also, the product support tends to focus on 'generic' support (usable with any setting) with only a minority being specific to a particular setting.&nbsp; If you compare the old TSR release schedule to WOTC current schedule, you will see that WOTC is releasing less product per month than TSR.&nbsp; Also, I think they have recognized the problems of TSR and kept the print runs small.I don't think they are making the same mistakes that TSR did but learned from them.&nbsp; They have kept the settings few in number and focused, and have most of the product is 'generic' for maximum utility for a large target audience.&nbsp; I think that if they felt they were reaching market saturation, they would scale back the production schedule and would become even more focused on what they released.&nbsp; The fact that they haven't tells me that sales must still robust.Just remember, ENWorld members represent only a small percentage of the D&amp;D market.&nbsp; Just because some members feel they don't need another 'Complete ____ ' doesn't mean the majority of gamers/players not represented on these boards feel the same way.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="BlackMoria, post: 3267285, member: 424"] It is not exactly the same problem as TSR had during its final days. TSR fragmented their market because the majority of their products was focused on a great number of settings. Dark Sun, Planescape, Mystara, Red Steel, Birthright, Spelljammer, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, and Greyhawk. I am probably missing some. The main problem is that products done for, let's say, Dark Sun, have poor portability into another setting, like say, Birthright. Also, TSR's print runs were too large and alot of their product sat in warehouses, which further contributed to their financial woes. So the issue was principally not one of buyer fatigue resulting in poor sales, it was too many settings, too focused product support and large print runs. In contrast, WOTC has not gone the route of "setting of the month". They have retained Greyhawk as the default setting, keep the Forgotten Realms and cut loose the rest. They added Eberron so their stable is only three settings. Also, the product support tends to focus on 'generic' support (usable with any setting) with only a minority being specific to a particular setting. If you compare the old TSR release schedule to WOTC current schedule, you will see that WOTC is releasing less product per month than TSR. Also, I think they have recognized the problems of TSR and kept the print runs small. I don't think they are making the same mistakes that TSR did but learned from them. They have kept the settings few in number and focused, and have most of the product is 'generic' for maximum utility for a large target audience. I think that if they felt they were reaching market saturation, they would scale back the production schedule and would become even more focused on what they released. The fact that they haven't tells me that sales must still robust. Just remember, ENWorld members represent only a small percentage of the D&D market. Just because some members feel they don't need another 'Complete ____ ' doesn't mean the majority of gamers/players not represented on these boards feel the same way. [/QUOTE]

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