Ok, but couldn't the second idea get in conflict with the first one?
I mean, if D&D can become more profitable by going fully digital it is obvious that Wotc should act so.
But if at the same time D&D needs a retail presence to remain relevant as a tabletop rpg, Wotc should have to cover for this too. Unless, D&D does not need that to remain relevant.
So, what I take from your answers is that while the industry needs D&D, D&D does not need the industry. I most honestly believe that in today's world this is categorically wrong.
Now, that may not be necessarily what you are saying here, if what you are thinking is that Wotc could manage a specific balance of operations that could let it achieve both of the above goals. And perhaps this is what you are truly thinking.
But honestly I find this highly ambitious. I find it hard to believe that mass market retailers and hobby stores could constantly keep on their shelves high numbers of the same evergreen D&D products and the casual D&D supplement that would hit the market every couple or even three or even four months or so. Simply because of their own opportunity costs.
So, whatda you say?
More like a two prong strategy perhaps...like what may be evolving for D&D right now.
Remember, Essentials was designed to be a product that was always available on the shelves. At it's heart, it is an introductory group of rules into D&D.
Some view it as a new revision...but perhaps they should consider it as exactly as stated...a product that will always be on the shelves.
After that introduction...people then can move onto a pay for info online if they want more. It's heavily suggested throughout Essentials even.
Of course, that may be shaken up within the next year...but currently a game plan like that goes hand in hand with a digital transition. Slowly drop the hard documentation...aka...hard copies of books except what is needed to draw interest...and do the rest with a subscription or at least pay model to draw monies directly to the company instead of going through middle men.
A great example...let's say a subscription service has 45,000 subscribers...and charges $10 a month. That is 450,000 a Month total, for 5.4 million dollars a year.
If a book is released and let's say it sells from the publisher for $5 (and then the shipper takes another $5 for shipping to the distributor...who then takes a $10 cut, and then to the retailer who takes a $10 cut for a cost of $30 to the consumer) they need to sell at least 90,000 hardcopies to equal this, and that's at the rate of releasing one book per month. The hardcopy books take twice the amount of people and resource to create and put out as well...so that's also a detractor...so we'll say you have to actually sell 100K copies to make up for it.
Now if you have a slump one month...and people don't like what you put out as much...and you only sell 30K books...you suddenly have a lower income. People can be locked in at $10 a month for the online payment...but you can't do the same for hardcopies.
In that light it could actually be a lot easier and cheaper to get an online pay formulation with the only hardcopies really being available being the introductory books on the shelves.
You slow sales down to a trickle, release more information via payments online...and you see profits increase hopefully.
Not saying this is exactly what's happening...but it's just some thoughts on what Essentials actually could be used for in WotC's current strategy.