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

[Sailor Moon]

Then it would follow that they should have a light release schedule, right?

Or maybe they could actually use some common sense and stop trying to be a jack of all trades master of none.

 

[Bluenose]

Ah, but there's the rub!

WotC want to do what makes them the most money. Which means growing the brand, mostly via licensing. Hence their prioritisation of board games, video games, movies, toys, etc etc.

Arguably for WotC the options are to expand their slice of the RPG pie - I personally think that's unlikely to happen, they were after all number one in 4e days while they had a significant release schedule - or to make the pie bigger in general. People are drawn into playing RPGs through video games, novels, and so on, and while the percentage may not be great the total number is still significant - 1% of the 2 million or so Baldur's Gate sales is twenty thousand customers, which is a huge number in the RPG market. Some won't carry on, but others will and some of those will branch out into other games than the one associated with their entry to the hobby. Or WotC can say it's not their job to do anything to attract new gamers, and concentrate on shipping smaller quantities of books to a population in slow decline.

 

[chriton227]

And how many other games have they come out with that wasn't great?

Baldur's Gate was just one of those great games that people enjoyed. Nothing else with the D&D name on it has been great since. Some things just can't be repeated and Baldur's Gate is one of them.

So because not all games are successful, they shouldn't even try? Even if a game isn't a blockbuster success, it can still be a good return on investment if WotC doesn't have to make a particularly large investment into the effort.

And as far as it not being able to be repeated, they already did. Neverwinter Nights sold over 2 million copies, about the same as Baldur's Gate. And before BG, the old Pool of Radiance gold box game sold 250k copies, which for it's time was huge (15% of homes had PCs in 1988, compared with over 80% now).

Look, I know you want more 5e RPG stuff released. I think at this point everyone on ENWorld knows you want more 5e stuff released. But the one thing you keep missing is that WotC doesn't exist to make D&D 5e books. They don't even exist to make Magic cards. They exist to make money for Hasbro's shareholders. They have apparently decided that churning out the books you want at the pace you want isn't the best way to do that. If you disagree, feel free to tell WotC that. Feel free to go to Greg Leeds, President of Wizards of the Coast, and state your case that you can run the D&D brand better than their current staff can. If you can convince him that your way of doing things is best, maybe you can take the reins and steer it the direction you want to go. Or organize a group of investors to offer to buy the D&D brand from WotC so you can run it the way you think it needs to be run. But just repeating the same line about how they aren't making enough books for you and you don't like that they are trying to diversify the brand isn't going to change anything. The people you are saying these things are not in a position to make any changes to how things are done, they have no more influence over WotC's decisions than you do.

Your view is not the community consensus, there is no community consensus on the issue. There have been posters agreeing with you, there have been posters that disagree with you that things need to change, and there have been posters that agree things should change but not in the way you want. Discussing these things can be good, but only if people keep an open mind and actually listen to what other people are saying instead of dismissing everyone with a different opinion; dismissing everyone who disagrees with you doesn't automatically make you right and them wrong. And for the record, I'm one who would like to see more stand-alone adventures and campaign setting material released, but not all the splatbooks that the previous editions were known for. But I also acknowledge that what I want and what is best financially for WotC may not be the same thing, and without the detailed knowledge of their licensing agreements, sales information, production costs, fixed expenses, and future brand strategy, any opinion any of us could voice about how they are handling things is nothing but poorly informed opinion, useful for entertaining discussions but nothing but noise when it comes to the actual business strategy.

 

[Sailor Moon]

So because not all games are successful, they shouldn't even try? Even if a game isn't a blockbuster success, it can still be a good return on investment if WotC doesn't have to make a particularly large investment into the effort.

And as far as it not being able to be repeated, they already did. Neverwinter Nights sold over 2 million copies, about the same as Baldur's Gate. And before BG, the old Pool of Radiance gold box game sold 250k copies, which for it's time was huge (15% of homes had PCs in 1988, compared with over 80% now).

Look, I know you want more 5e RPG stuff released. I think at this point everyone on ENWorld knows you want more 5e stuff released. But the one thing you keep missing is that WotC doesn't exist to make D&D 5e books. They don't even exist to make Magic cards. They exist to make money for Hasbro's shareholders. They have apparently decided that churning out the books you want at the pace you want isn't the best way to do that. If you disagree, feel free to tell WotC that. Feel free to go to Greg Leeds, President of Wizards of the Coast, and state your case that you can run the D&D brand better than their current staff can. If you can convince him that your way of doing things is best, maybe you can take the reins and steer it the direction you want to go. Or organize a group of investors to offer to buy the D&D brand from WotC so you can run it the way you think it needs to be run. But just repeating the same line about how they aren't making enough books for you and you don't like that they are trying to diversify the brand isn't going to change anything. The people you are saying these things are not in a position to make any changes to how things are done, they have no more influence over WotC's decisions than you do.

Your view is not the community consensus, there is no community consensus on the issue. There have been posters agreeing with you, there have been posters that disagree with you that things need to change, and there have been posters that agree things should change but not in the way you want. Discussing these things can be good, but only if people keep an open mind and actually listen to what other people are saying instead of dismissing everyone with a different opinion; dismissing everyone who disagrees with you doesn't automatically make you right and them wrong. And for the record, I'm one who would like to see more stand-alone adventures and campaign setting material released, but not all the splatbooks that the previous editions were known for. But I also acknowledge that what I want and what is best financially for WotC may not be the same thing, and without the detailed knowledge of their licensing agreements, sales information, production costs, fixed expenses, and future brand strategy, any opinion any of us could voice about how they are handling things is nothing but poorly informed opinion, useful for entertaining discussions but nothing but noise when it comes to the actual business strategy.

There is nothing wrong with trying, but when you are taking too much focus away from your bread and butter it can become a problem.

Unfortunately, the D&D brand is not and will probably not be as big they think. Having a video game attract people to D&D is a great theory and all but I wouldn't say it brings in that many people. Video games can be the bane of D&D because of it's ease and convenience. Also, what exactly are those people going to come over to? There aren't many products for those people to dive in to.

 

[painted_klown]

D&D Starter Set - available

D&D Basic Rules - available

D&D Player's Handbook - available

Hoard of the Dragon Queen - available

D&D Monster Manual - available

The Rise of Tiamat - available

D&D Dungeon Master's Guide - available

Deluxe D&D DM Screen - available

D&D Icons of the Realms Starter Set miniatures - available

D&D Icons of the Realms Tyranny of Dragons boosters miniatures - available

D&D Spell Cards - available

Character Token Set - available

D&D Attack Wing - available

Tyranny of Dragons DM Screen (Gale Force 9) - available

The Wizard's Amulet - available

Fifth Edition Fantasy #1: Giltterdoom - available

Fifth Edition Fantasy #2: The Fey Sister's Fate - available

Stonefast - available

The Sylvan Temple - available

The Mines of Valdhum - available

X1 Wrath of the Goblinoids - available

X2 Payback - available

Assault on the Southern Horn - available

The Fiddler's Lament - available

The Murmering Fountain - available

Road to Destiny - available

Wanted - available

Monster Templates: Headless Horseman - available

Gothnog's Magnificent Cantrips - available

The Gift of the Gnarled One - available

The Cry of a Daughter - available

Trailblazer Tokens (Fighter and Wizard) - available

5th Edition Foes - available


This list doesn't include any announced produtcs, only ones that are currently available. IMO, it looks like there's plenty for players to do.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

There is nothing wrong with trying, but when you are taking too much focus away from your bread and butter it can become a problem.

If I'm reading you correctly here, you seem to think that the bread and butter of WotC (well, the D&D division thereof) is books for the D&D RPG line.

With the printing costs on hardcover books and online stores like Amazon cutting down on their margin significantly, I guarantee you they are making more licensing money from Sword Coast Legends then they will off 5E book sales in 2015. Possibly 2014 as well, though hard to say without exact figures for the core book sales. The brand is the bread and butter, of which the RPG is but one component - the original component, the component we all on ENWorld love most, but still just one piece of the overall picture, and probably the least profitable piece to boot.

Also, what exactly are those people going to come over to? There aren't many products for those people to dive in to.

The three core rule books, the only books anyone has ever needed to buy to play D&D. Possibly the FRCS book if that comes out in late 2015 or early 2016. The point of drawing people into the hobby isn't to make a killing on hardcover supplement sales, it's getting those people to introduce new players and start their own groups - good for us because it perpetuates and grows the hobby, good for Hasbro because it nets them more customers for the next movie / video game / TV series.

 

[Nellisir]

I'm so pissed at Black & Decker right now! I bought a set of tools...and they're fine tools, don't get me wrong. Sturdy, well built, versatile. But since I bought them, I've received NOTHING from B&D! Not a thing! Where's my coffee table? My back fence isn't going to fix itself! I'm *this* close to jumping ship and giving my money to another company. Possibly Craftsman, but I'm not sure.

Seriously, though, with the tools WotC has given us (in the core books), I could play for years without them releasing another thing. I hope they do release things, and of course we *know* they are, but it wouldn't really matter if they don't. I have the tools to play pretty much any adventure from any previous version with minimal conversion. The game doesn't stop being useful if WotC only puts out a handful of adventures a year. The core rulebooks of D&D have always been tools, and they've always been all you need to play. Adventure modules have *always* been optional.

Ah, it's the wrongbadfun post, where you tell me how I should be happy with what I have because you're happy with it. Really, your argument boils down to "I have a bicycle, so you don't need a car".

Also, Black & Decker is your epitome of "sturdy, well-built, and versatile", AND you want to throw construction analogies at me? Just...don't. Don't even go there.

 

[guachi]

If someone new to roleplaying had no one but other newbies to play with my response if I were asked if they should play D&D would be:
"The Starter Set is great and cheap. The one hard back adventure they have isn't very good so after you finish the Starter Set adventure (which is, again, quite good) I'd not bother getting any other books. It's not a good use of your money as there is so little support for you."

 

[Kramodlog]

D&D Starter Set - available

D&D Basic Rules - available

D&D Player's Handbook - available

Hoard of the Dragon Queen - available

D&D Monster Manual - available

The Rise of Tiamat - available

D&D Dungeon Master's Guide - available

Deluxe D&D DM Screen - available

D&D Icons of the Realms Starter Set miniatures - available

D&D Icons of the Realms Tyranny of Dragons boosters miniatures - available

D&D Spell Cards - available

Character Token Set - available

D&D Attack Wing - available

Tyranny of Dragons DM Screen (Gale Force 9) - available

The Wizard's Amulet - available

Fifth Edition Fantasy #1: Giltterdoom - available

Fifth Edition Fantasy #2: The Fey Sister's Fate - available

Stonefast - available

The Sylvan Temple - available

The Mines of Valdhum - available

X1 Wrath of the Goblinoids - available

X2 Payback - available

Assault on the Southern Horn - available

The Fiddler's Lament - available

The Murmering Fountain - available

Road to Destiny - available

Wanted - available

Monster Templates: Headless Horseman - available

Gothnog's Magnificent Cantrips - available

The Gift of the Gnarled One - available

The Cry of a Daughter - available

Trailblazer Tokens (Fighter and Wizard) - available

5th Edition Foes - available


This list doesn't include any announced produtcs, only ones that are currently available. IMO, it looks like there's plenty for players to do.

What is a player supposed to do with a DM screen? Or a deluxe screen?

 

[Kramodlog]

I guarantee you they are making more licensing money from Sword Coast Legends then they will off 5E book sales in 2015.

Well, a stranger on the internet just garanteed me his gut feeling. I guess it must be true. The world I use to know was a lie.