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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eyebeams" data-source="post: 4264125" data-attributes="member: 9225">You do realize that this is throughout the life of the brand, encompassing an unknown percentage of the brand's properties, don't you? Now I don't think the brand or even the RPG is doing badly, as the last annual report I read from Hasbro (I think it was for 2005 or 2006) specifically mentioned D&D as a lead performer in its division.I've also noticed a trend to effectively under-print releases. This has been seen in several companies and it makes sense from an economic and PR standpoint. Printing and is not nearly the pain it used to be, but shipping and warehousing in large volume is still annoying. It also generates the positive feeling represented by threads like this. On the other hand, it may represent some recovery from previous slumps, or just that companies are erring on the side of caution.Once again, I'll mention that D&D's presence in the book trade means that an order doesn't necessarily mean money's coming in. Consumers buying the books means money's coming in. If the demand is being generated by large number of consumer preorders, that's a good thing. I think this edition is probably being ordered online quite a bit. I've heard several anecdotes about game stores being surprised at the low level of anticipation and demand, but of consumers buying via online ordering when in the past, they would have done it through B&M retail. If the printing is being generated by unrealistic speculation from the book trade, that's a bad thing -- as is any possibility that the online discounters are attacking Hasbro's margins (this is good for you, but it makes D&D look like a waste of time to the manufacturer). We will probably know best in about a year and a bit's time when we see any changes to division management, brand management and the release schedule.My totally intuitive (i.e. BS-ridden) speculation is that there will be a huge rush of initial sales followed by a sharp slump after early adopters get their copies, but that sales will recover from this. If I were thinking about the brand's best interests, I'd pick around the 90 day mark to redouble marketing efforts, especially for new players. I think the smartest thing they could do would be to make enough DDI functionality free to attract and provide basic play tools and social networking for novice D&D players.</blockquote>

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