D&D 5E My Crazy Theory about 2015 5e

[Kramodlog]

I don't know. The last 0.5 (Essentials) wasn't well received. At the same time this is WotC. Their business model for their best selling product (MtG) is churning out new content and saying the old one can't be used in tournements. People still buy a lot of cards.

Clearly with 5e they want to make money from the core books. They aren't the gateway to buying more books like the core book is for Pathfinder. Just compare prices. Pathfinder's core book cost 40$ for 800 pages of content. 10$ for the PDF. They aren't making money with it. D&D's PHB and DMG cost 100$ for the same amount of content and there are no cheap(er) ebooks.

Some brilliant VP can say "Just release new core books every two years or so. They will buy them. Like with MtG cards! Mouahahahaha!".

 

[doctorhook]

Doing an update after a single year is way too soon - many issues will simply not yet have been found.

Well, without new material someone has probably seen each one by now. The real tipping point is when the community begins to agree that a given phenomenon is problematic.

 

[Nebulous]

I keep asking myself what WotC is working on if they aren't working on adventures and settings.

So this idea just popped into my head.

Last year was the 40th Anniversary. They pretty much had to put out SOMETHING out. So, I think they put out 5e in a late Beta state. Adding in a whole bunch of new content that wasn't playtested and sold it as finished product.

Then they can spend this year putting out surveys and data-mining our discussions about everything and then come out with a revised product that they can sell to us all over again.

It would explain why they are being so secretive about what they are working on this year. They can't really say they are working on "5.5e" or people would just flip out and stop buying any more core books. To tell you the truth if this was the case I wouldn't mind. I would like to see the game perfected without throwing out everything and making a new edition.

I just don't think this is the case, my friend. This thing went through *extensive* testing, there were thousands and thousands involved with it, hell, a lot of them post on this very board.

 

[Nebulous]

Clearly with 5e they want to make money from the core books. They aren't the gateway to buying more books like the core book is for Pathfinder. Just compare prices. Pathfinder's core book cost 40$ for 800 pages of content. 10$ for the PDF. They aren't making money with it. D&D's PHB and DMG cost 100$ for the same amount of content and there are no cheap(er) ebooks.

Some brilliant VP can say "Just release new core books every two years or so. They will buy them. Like with MtG cards! Mouahahahaha!".

WotC has already stated that they want to bring in more money by expanding to other media: tv shows, film, novels, etc. to make up for the far slower hardback releases.

 

[Kramodlog]

I just don't think this is the case, my friend. This thing went through *extensive* testing, there were thousands and thousands involved with it, hell, a lot of them post on this very board.

And yet concentration is mentioned as being problematic for any caster class.

 

[Gecko85]

And yet concentration is mentioned as being problematic for any caster class.

Some people will find anything to complain about, but that doesn't make it actually true.

 

[doctorhook]

I don't know. The last 0.5 (Essentials) wasn't well received. At the same time this is WotC. Their business model for their best selling product (MtG) is churning out new content and saying the old one can't be used in tournements. People still buy a lot of cards.

Essentials wasn't a revision at all, it was a repackaging *EDIT: with new, non-redundant, backwards-compatible content.* Folks have been calling it 4.5E since it happened, but it was never official nor apt.

Clearly with 5e they want to make money from the core books. They aren't the gateway to buying more books like the core book is for Pathfinder. Just compare prices. Pathfinder's core book cost 40$ for 800 pages of content. 10$ for the PDF. They aren't making money with it. D&D's PHB and DMG cost 100$ for the same amount of content and there are no cheap(er) ebooks.

Some brilliant VP can say "Just release new core books every two years or so. They will buy them. Like with MtG cards! Mouahahahaha!".

Nah, clearly WotC is planning to make money on 5E with something other than (their own) books: licensing fees and royalties. It's not WotC's fault if Paizo sells their core book at or below cost, and it's hard to imagine they make much profit on that beast.

 

[Nebulous]

And yet concentration is mentioned as being problematic for any caster class.

But I don't think that is indicative of WotC thinking: "Let's put in this mechanic knowing the player base won't like it so we can sell them a fixed version later."

 

[Nebulous]

Some people will find anything to complain about, but that doesn't make it actually true.

Right. And our group hasn't had any complaining about Concentration yet, so I can't say it's a widespread "problem" across the gaming community. All I have is our limited experience and for us there's not been an issue. Yet.

 

[TarionzCousin]

In theory, it's actually not a bad idea - give the base game time to settle, give people a chance to dig in and find the bugs, and then polish and re-issue. But the timing is key in this: a lot of issues only come to light after very extensive play, such that they were completely missed even after 3 years (3.5e). Doing an update after a single year is way too soon - many issues will simply not yet have been found.

Here's a crazy thought: have the initial 5E release on free or cheap PDF's only. Release the hardback books after a year or three of gaming. Yes: it's too late now, and not profitable. I'm dreaming again.

Some people will find anything to complain about, but that doesn't make it actually true.

True. I am currently trying to complain about your post but not finding anything. Oh yeah: not enough chocolate in it!