D&D 5E Light release schedule: More harm than good?

[Mistwell]

*sighs*

Why are you using extremes? You can have a healthy release schedule without needing a Fighters Handbook III or the like.

And you can have a healthy release schedule with 2-3 books a year. It just comes down to a fundamental difference between preferences for what is "healthy".

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

*sighs*

Why are you using extremes? You can have a healthy release schedule without needing a Fighters Handbook III or the like.

How is the current model not a healthy release schedule? I don't see the problem myself.

 

[Parmandur]

And the most well known RPG out there can't sell enough books to warrant the production? That's pretty sad.

They have stated that they are interested more in getting people to play than in being the number one selling TTRPG product per se; more people playing means increased exposure for big money propositions like movies or children's toys. I know I want my son to have a healthy collection of D&D toys, and WOTC might know some people who can make them. What I am seeing tight now is that they are subsidizing people playing by giving the player crunch for free, and charging for DM materials like adventures and screens. Honestly, their core audience of teens and college students (who they have said is the bulk of players still) have a high chance of pirating this stuff anyways: they've beaten them to the pass by putting it up for free.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

*sighs*

Why are you using extremes? You can have a healthy release schedule without needing a Fighters Handbook III or the like.

And you can have a healthy release schedule with 2-3 books a year. It just comes down to a fundamental difference between preferences for what is "healthy".

What Mistwell said.

You already said earlier in this very thread that you'd be much happier with a schedule of ~6 releases a year. Between August '14 and April '15, they'll have put out 6 hardcover books, and there could very well be as-yet-unannounced products due to come out before the 1 year anniversary of the 5E launch that put it over that number. Just because you're not interested in some of those products doesn't mean they're not being put out; there are others out there who are happy to buy adventures like Elemental Evil but don't have any interest in specific class / psionic / magic item splatbooks.

You seem thoroughly convinced catering to those players' tastes as opposed to your own is the wrong move, but Wizards has obviously taken a look at the sales figures and come to a very different conclusion.

 

[Shasarak]

So why should someone agree with your thesis?

Someone who wanted content that has not been released may agree with the thesis.

 

[D'karr]

I'm not an RPG Designer or have ever worked on this type or publishing, but I have a knack for calling it.

Isn't that the same as saying "I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV?"

I'd rather have a real doctor and I'd rather have a real professional doing it. Not the guy on TV.

I usually don't go see my dentist when my car needs a transmission. I'd rather have the mechanic take a look at it. He has a knack for calling it.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

Someone who wanted content that has not been released may agree with the thesis.

The thesis is that not putting out enough book releases (splatbooks, as the adventures appear to be repeatedly discounted or ignored) is harmful to the game.

Someone who wanted content that has not been released can agree that that sucks and express that they wish that WotC was producing the splatbooks they wanted, but that does not equal harming the game. Wizards is pursuing a strategy of getting as many people as possible to play and doesn't want bloat to intimidate new players. I suspect that from here on out in Wizards' eyes, splatbook sales don't matter, only core book sales - and if too many of the former hurt the latter, they just won't bother putting out the former.

 

[Shasarak]

The thesis is that not putting out enough book releases (splatbooks, as the adventures appear to be repeatedly discounted or ignored) is harmful to the game.

Someone who wanted content that has not been released can agree that that sucks and express that they wish that WotC was producing the splatbooks they wanted, but that does not equal harming the game. Wizards is pursuing a strategy of getting as many people as possible to play and doesn't want bloat to intimidate new players. I suspect that from here on out in Wizards' eyes, splatbook sales don't matter, only core book sales - and if too many of the former hurt the latter, they just won't bother putting out the former.

I believe it is called the "Gnome effect" in DnD parlance. People may disagree on exactly how harmful it is but it is certainly harmful enough to be a factor.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

I believe it is called the "Gnome effect" in DnD parlance. People may disagree on exactly how harmful it is but it is certainly harmful enough to be a factor.

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the term - I assume it's referencing how gnomes weren't in 4E's PHB 1? (Correct me if I'm wrong!)

If so, I don't think it applies to 5E - this edition's PHB covers a lot of ground, with nothing obvious missing.

(For the last four editions psionics have been non-core, added on in supplements down the line; and while there is no "Warlord" class the official Wizards party line is that that is represented well enough in 5E by the Battlemaster so I don't expect to see a Warlord class appearing in supplements down the road.)

"The gnome effect" as I'm understanding it would only really apply to obvious absences from the core material, and I've not seen any of those. I'd like to see more sub-classes and spells and magic items as much as everyone else, but 5E is very "complete" as it stands right now.

 

[Staffan]

The thesis is that not putting out enough book releases (splatbooks, as the adventures appear to be repeatedly discounted or ignored) is harmful to the game.

You're forgetting sourcebooks as a third option for releases. These do not need much in the way of "crunch" in them, and thus do not contribute to system bloat (at least not the way splatbooks do).