WotC No new DMs Guild Adept titles since mid-December?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I was more than a little surprised to see how few ZineQuest books from previous years are obtainable from anywhere other than Kickstarter. Clearly the model is shifting, for at least some creators.

 

[Jaspor]

I would love to hear a publisher compare how sales in DMs Guild and in the larger Drive Thru RPG ecosystems compare.

Stories I've heard from people who have published on both is that sales are typically much better on DMs Guild. And while creators get a bigger cut of royalties on DTRPG, it's usually not enough to offset the difference in quantity sold. That D&D branding and marketing is very powerful.

If you take a look at the "Metals" pages for each site, that gives us some insight into the different numbers.
DTRPG has been around since about 2002, has over 100,000 products, and about 5% of their titles (5,428) have sold 500+ copies.
DMs Guild has been around since about 2013, has almost 22,000 products, and almost 8% of their titles (1,672) have sold 500+ copies.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I find that many of the best 5E third party products are actually on Drive Thru RPG.

I am surprised by that. Maybe it is because I have been involved with 5E since launch of both it and of DMs Guild, but when I think of looking for Fantasy 5E material, I only think of looking at DMs Guild, because I don't expect to find any on DTRPG, or only expect to see OGL stuff and not stuff that has access to all of 5E IP. Now, if I want something I know is OGL, like Esper Genesis, then I go to DTRPG because I know it will not be on DMs Guild.

 

[Burnside]

I would love to hear a publisher compare how sales in DMs Guild and in the larger Drive Thru RPG ecosystems compare. I would assume there's a fair number of people who only buy from DMs Guild, so in theory, there could be more customers, but I don't know that giving WotC a cut in return for being able to say the magic words "Forgotten Realms" is necessarily a great deal. I find that many of the best 5E third party products are actually on Drive Thru RPG.

I'm curious to see if the former Adepts are continuing their output there.

I follow the creator community closely, although I have only published on DMsGuild (with some success, but not overwhelming; I have one Gold best-seller title, and a smattering of scattered Electrums, Silvers, Coppers, and nothings).

The visibility of DMsGuild far outstrips DriveThru at this point, due to WotC plugging it in official products and communications. For MOST creators who are releasing 5E stuff, DMsGuild is going to be the better bet financially. The increased visibility offsets the less favorable revenue split.

HOWEVER, the more you're an established name/brand in your own right, the more it makes sense to use DriveThru - both for the more favorable royalty split, and also for retaining rights to your stuff and being able to use third party project funding sources like Patreon and Kickstarter to support your products (can't do that with DMsGuild). This applies to certain creators who established themselves on the DMsGuild but now may have big enough names to go it alone without WotC.

If I was just starting out now with zero recognition, I would publish on DMsGuild. However, I would also be daunted about starting at all because it is SO saturated now. My first product was published in 2018 and I was able to do fine with it through mostly word-of-mouth - there just wasn't THAT much stuff coming out. The difference in product volume between 2018 and now is night and day. And I feel like a good amount of my success now really relies on the fact that my earlier stuff got bought and played. I think if I released those adventures today there is a much better chance they would just disappear into the crowd.

 

[Jaspor]

I follow the creator community closely, although I have only published on DMsGuild (with some success, but not overwhelming; I have one Gold best-seller title, and a smattering of scattered Electrums, Silvers, Coppers, and nothings).

The visibility of DMsGuild far outstrips DriveThru at this point, due to WotC plugging it in official products and communications. For MOST creators who are releasing 5E stuff, DMsGuild is going to be the better bet financially. The increased visibility offsets the less favorable revenue split.

HOWEVER, the more you're an established name/brand in your own right, the more it makes sense to use DriveThru - both for the more favorable royalty split, and also for retaining rights to your stuff and being able to use third party project funding sources like Patreon and Kickstarter to support your products (can't do that with DMsGuild). This applies to certain creators who established themselves on the DMsGuild but now may have big enough names to go it alone without WotC.

If I was just starting out now with zero recognition, I would publish on DMsGuild. However, I would also be daunted about starting at all because it is SO saturated now. My first product was published in 2018 and I was able to do fine with it through mostly word-of-mouth - there just wasn't THAT much stuff coming out. The difference in product volume between 2018 and now is night and day. And I feel like a good amount of my success now really relies on the fact that my earlier stuff got bought and played. I think if I released those adventures today there is a much better chance they would just disappear into the crowd.

Yep, this has been my experience as well, 100%. (And I made an earlier post saying a lot of the same, but somehow that one is stuck in moderation. Weird.) The D&D branding and marketing is very powerful and drives a ton of traffic and sales.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I am surprised by that. Maybe it is because I have been involved with 5E since launch of both it and of DMs Guild, but when I think of looking for Fantasy 5E material, I only think of looking at DMs Guild, because I don't expect to find any on DTRPG, or only expect to see OGL stuff and not stuff that has access to all of 5E IP. Now, if I want something I know is OGL, like Esper Genesis, then I go to DTRPG because I know it will not be on DMs Guild.

You are missing out, IMO. Most of the time, 5E IP in DMs Guild books consists of "we said 'Forgotten Realms' on the cover," in my experience. The stuff inside often is close to 100% OGL.

Here's just a D&D-compatible sampler of what's on my wishlist, not even my library:

• 2020 One Page Dungeon Compendium Early Release Edition
• Cobalt Book of Kobolds
• Downcrawl
• Epochrypha - A Book of Speculative Ages
• Fantastical Felines
• Magical Industrial Revolution
• Mimic Book of Mimics
• Monsters of Feyland
• Monsters of the Underworld
• Prison of the Hated Pretender (I own and will be running Operation: Unfathomable soon for a group that did D1-3 back in the day, and I look forward to breaking their brains with that one)
• Taverns and Tankards
• The Blue Rose Adventurer's Guide
• The Hell House Beckons
• Through Dungeons Deeper: A Survival Guide For Dungeoneers As Written By A Survivor

I also own a large portion of 0one Games' maps, having used them as my go-to for maps since 2006 or so.

There's good stuff on DMs Guild, but for the most part, it's not as creative as the stuff I find on DriveThruRPG.

 

[Greg K]

That is interesting despite me never having never seen a single Adept product that I have considered worth my purchasing (and I have purchased 5e products from DMsGuild despite not having run 5e).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If you take a look at the "Metals" pages for each site, that gives us some insight into the different numbers.
DTRPG has been around since about 2002, has over 100,000 products, and about 5% of their titles (5,428) have sold 500+ copies.
DMs Guild has been around since about 2013, has almost 22,000 products, and almost 8% of their titles (1,672) have sold 500+ copies.

Depressing numbers for both sides of the fence, honestly. A 92% chance of fewer than 500 people reading what you've written is grim.

Obviously, industries vary, as do motivations for publishing.

I participated in the RPG Workshop last year and will be finally cranking out a module this year (2020 was crazy, as it was for a lot of folks). But that's mostly just to check a box and say "I did it."

 

[Burnside]

Depressing numbers for both sides of the fence, honestly. A 92% chance of fewer than 500 people reading what you've read is grim.

Obviously, industries vary, as do motivations for publishing.

I participated in the RPG Workshop last year and will be finally cranking out a module this year (2020 was crazy, as it was for a lot of folks). But that's mostly just to check a box and say "I did it."

When you release, DM me here or here. I'll plug it.

 

[darjr]

Wasn’t @M.T. Black switching to drive thru as a bit of an experiment? I wonder what he’d has to say. Need to check his blog.