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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Coreyartus" data-source="post: 1719129" data-attributes="member: 5399">That's a given, but lower print runs as the series went on would have meant lower outright cost.  I don't have access to WotC's financial statements (meow), but you don't need them to ask a publisher to make printing estimates--simply show him the mod and ask "how much would this cost to make?"  Piece it together--let's say a mod takes $30,000 to make--that's including printing for a run of 5,000 (with their paper choices, black and white, and gloss color cover), distribution costs, and a stipend for the creative staff.  You know WotC made more money than that on all of those mods.  It's not a lot, but it's enough to pay for itself, and the early ones made enough to pay for themselves many times over.  The size of WotC's print runs are bigger than a couple thousand.  But the creative costs remain consistent regardless, and the printing costs actually get cheaper with larger runs.   Yeah, but their expectations aren't as astronomical either.  Smaller scale companies define "windfall" by different terms than WotC.  Does it pay for itself and cover the costs to produce it?  That's often enough to warrant the creation of a product.  Profit is great, but company survivability is sometimes just fine.  Everyone brings down a paycheck, and earned it doing what they love, and the consumers got what they wanted.  You might earn enough to start on the costs of the next project.  I personally define that as success.Sorry, I was just stretching things to make a point.  I can indeed play nice, and even with the adults sometimes.  I will exercise self-control and refrain from insults (implied and otherwise) in the future.Touché!  But I predict that the Eberron Campaign Setting will slip nicely into that catagory soon, especially if WotC makes the decision to place most of their attention in that direction, establishing it as a pseudo-necessity in order to make sense of future product.I don't bergrudge them success either.  I just think it's curious to so adamantly "poo-poo" modules and then turn around and start producing them.  It doesn't inspire me with great faith in them.  It strikes me as a move that demonstrates the company is either (and I am trying to be as non-insulting as I can be here) somewhat lacking in the "visionary" department, or taking an uncomfortably aggressive turn.  Like I said, WotC doesn't do anything without there being some return on their investment.  (The OGL was, perhaps, the biggest outside-the-box loss-leader risk they took.  Do they need to do more?)Regardless of their motivations for changing their policy, however, the impact on smaller d20 publishers will be profound. That, combined with the economic downturn in the industry and the vast number of extant companies today, I predict we will see a number of company closures.  Some might say that's a good thing considering the high number of them, but I'm gonna wait to see who it takes out before I can say WotC's take on mods has improved the quality of my overall gaming experience, especially at the cost of products from other companies that have been a lot of fun.2cp.Coreyartus</blockquote>

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