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

[Hussar]

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.

Wait, what?

The Neverwinter Nights line was hugely successful. DDO has been around for darn near TEN YEARS now, no mean feat for any MMO, and, at least according to wikipedia, is pretty well regarded.

There was also that Facebook game although I have no idea how well that went over, but, there hasn't been a new D&D branded video game other than that for years. There wasn't one for 4e. The one that's coming out this year is the first D&D branded game in, what, six or seven years?

 

[Nellisir]

Did you buy the core 3? Then that's pretty much all they're expecting you to do. That's the point of a light release schedule. They aren't trying to sell to you. If you get the core three and you're done? Then join the club of the overwhelming majority of D&D gamers throughout the game's history.

Well that's self-fulfilling. We only expect people to buy the core 3, so...that's all we'll write. :/

I'm thinking that somehow I'm misunderstanding your point. WotC seems to be making an adventure. I would think that they expect the buyers of said adventure to have purchased the core 3. So clearly they're expecting SOME purchasers of the core 3 to ALSO purchase the adventure.

Who ARE they trying to sell to, if not people that bought the core 3?

I sold my used 2e stuff for about a thousand dollars. My used 3e stuff was a few times that when I sold it. (That's not what I paid -- that's what I got back after selling it.) I've got several thousand dollars in purchased pdfs. If WotC only wants approx $130 (that's 3 core books + starter set on Amazon, with a discount on some of it) of my money this time around, then so be it, but it's the godawful worst business plan I've ever heard of.

 

[Parmandur]

Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale 2, Baldurs Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2...

 

[painted_klown]

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

I use mine to hide dice rolls, notes, books, and monsters I have prepared.

Any other uses you come up with are fine as well.

 

[Kramodlog]

I use mine to hide dice rolls, notes, books, and monsters I have prepared.

Any other uses you come up with are fine as well.

Why would a player hide dice rolls, notes, books and monters?

 

[Hussar]

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

Seriously? THAT'S your response? 30+ products out there in under the first year of release, and you're complaining because not 100% of them are player specific? Really?

 

[painted_klown]

Why would a player hide dice rolls, notes, books and monters?

Some don't. I hide mine.

If you're insinuating that DM's aren't playing the game, then I respectfully disagree.

Additionally, in order for your questions/arguement to hold any authority, you would have to show that out of all of the new players that may start playing D&D, that NONE will be the DM.

That simply isn't the reality, but nice try at baiting me with a flawed arguement.

 

[Shasarak]

Why would a player hide dice rolls, notes, books and monters?

So that you can always crit when you need to!

 

[Hussar]

Well that's self-fulfilling. We only expect people to buy the core 3, so...that's all we'll do. :/

I sold my used 2e stuff for about a thousand dollars. My used 3e stuff was a few times that when I sold it. I've got several thousand dollars in purchased pdfs. If WotC only wants approx $130 (that's 3 core books + starter set on Amazon, with a discount on some of it) of my money this time around, then so be it.

It's not self fulfilling. It's a recognition of reality. The core sells well. Every subsequent product sells less well. So, you have a choice, sell a whole lot of products with very slim margins until the whole house of cards collapses, just like it has done every single time with every single edition. Or, you bank on those core 3 sales, only sell a few products a year in order to keep people interested in those core three books, and giggle all the way to the bank.

Remember, the whole point of this is to break the edition churn cycle. Which is getting shorter and shorter every time. Three years per edition is far, far too much money spent in game development. By ever greening the core three, you can spread those profits over a much longer period. Heck, simply bank the money is probably a better ROI than continuously banging out new books in a losing race.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Or, you bank on those core 3 sales, only sell a few products a year in order to keep people interested in those core three books, and giggle all the way to the bank.

How does that work? How does a light release schedule keep people interested in the game? Isn't it like saying that, had JK Rowling never released sequels to the original Harry Potter book, she could have kept people interested in that book and "giggle all the way to the bank"? Historically, RPG lines that are not supported fade away, they don't grow stronger.