D&D 5E So what exactly is Wizards working on?

[Sacrosanct]

They're working on ways to piss off entitled gamers who will never be pleased.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

The only things we know they have been working on are the story bibles for future arcs and adventures for organized play.

There is probably more in the works, but they are taking an experimental approach to support, so we simply don't know what it will look like.

 

[TwoSix]

Complaining about the slow pace of releases probably puts you at the very bottom of the list of consumers that Wizards is concerned about pacifying. I mean, you're pretty much a guaranteed sale, right?

 

[Ilbranteloth]

I think it is possible that there is a mandate to focus on the Adventurer's League over other content. If the in-house team is directing most of its attention to AL modules that suggests WotC thinks AL is worth their investment more than, say, a Realms hardcover. That leads to the question as to how: in what way does AL monetize D&D? Is it just core book sales? Are the events actually profitible? Is there a microtransaction element to it? T-shirts?

ANyone big into the AL? What's your take?

I am really interested in the AL, but don't have the time right now. But I'm far more interested than earlier incarnations.

But I do think that AL increases PHB sales at the very least, and since the Encounters series are the start of the big adventures, and the AL adventures tie into the big adventures I suspect it's having a healthy impact on getting people to go out and actually buy the big adventure to continue the story.

It's really a pretty well thought out business model. You sell more products to people if they are actively playing, and in general you sell more to DM's. Good organized play fosters both.

I'm not sure if it's having the effect they are hoping for, but from anecdotal evidence the 5th edition in general seems to be doing very well.

Ilbranteloth

 

[Sailor Moon]

Focusing on AL instead of home games is a bad move. I know loads of people who are no where near a store that does AL.

Funny how Paizo is able to give full focus on Pathfinder Society as well as put out loads of product.

 

[Reynard]

You sell more products to people if they are actively playing, and in general you sell more to DM's

But the question "What products" is going to come up a lot. If the PGs to the modules are free PDFs then you only sell 1 book (the adventure) for a group of 5-8 people. Isn't that what drove the player-oriented shift in recent years, with more books containing crunch for PCs to drive up sales of books that might otherwise only interest DMs? Not that i want that again, but I'm just wondering how AL actually monetizes D&D. I don't think it is through books. Brand awareness, perhaps?

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Focusing on AL instead of home games is a bad move. I know loads of people who are no where near a store that does AL.

Funny how Paizo is able to give full focus on Pathfinder Society as well as put out loads of product.

It may just be you will be happier with their approach to releasing loads of product. Doesn't appear WotC is going that way.

 

[neobolts]

I think it is possible that there is a mandate to focus on the Adventurer's League over other content. If the in-house team is directing most of its attention to AL modules that suggests WotC thinks AL is worth their investment more than, say, a Realms hardcover. That leads to the question as to how: in what way does AL monetize D&D? Is it just core book sales? Are the events actually profitible? Is there a microtransaction element to it? T-shirts?

ANyone big into the AL? What's your take?

I think their plan is to bring in new blood with AL, a next gen of players.

Unfortunately, our 3 FLGS have over the years have: 1) gone solely to CCGs, 2) gone solely to comics, or 3) focused on tabletop and gone out of business. The local store that went CCGs was the big winner, they are called Star City Games and they turned into an absurdly successful Magic the Gathering juggernaut. Star City was a typical tiny local FLGS selling selling D&D and anime back in the day.

Anyway, I'm a bit off topic. Point is, FLGS seem to be dying or reinventing themselves. There's no nearby FLGS and I have already have a steady gaming group and a pretty slick gaming room. So AL does me no good. I have to be reminded that AL even is a thing.

 

[Sailor Moon]

It may just be you will be happier with their approach to releasing loads of product. Doesn't appear WotC is going that way.

It's not about releasing "loads" of products. It's about the dumb excuses I keep hearing. If I didn't know better, I would think Wizards was a newbie company that can't walk and chew gum at the same time. I'm just pointing out the fact that Paizo can produce a successful Society program while dishing out loads of product.

Once again, nobody here is asking for tons of product, hell you would think at the pace they were going we would at least have one or two more really great products after the core three. All we've gotten are a few AP'S that another company did and a 25 page PDF that is more than half of spells.

 

[Zardnaar]

Complaining about the slow pace of releases probably puts you at the very bottom of the list of consumers that Wizards is concerned about pacifying. I mean, you're pretty much a guaranteed sale, right?

No because you start looking for substitutes and that probably means Pathfinder or an OSR game. 4E didn't interest me so I went elsewhere no WoTC content so I am now looking at OGL 5E material. Running 5E tonight using an adventure from Quests of Doom.