D&D 5E The Printers Can't Handle WotC's One D&D Print Runs!

One of the reasons why the three new core rulebooks next year will not be released together is because D&D is such a juggernaut that the printers can't actually handle the size of the print runs!

Jeremy Crawford told Polygon "Our print runs are pretty darn big and printers are telling us you can’t give us these three books at the same time.” And Chris Perkins added that "The print runs we’re talking about are massive. That’s been not only true of the core books, but also Tasha’s Cauldron. It’s what we call a high-end problem."

 

[Velderan]

The 528 page book will take me about 10 hours to read, making its cost $3/hour. Assuming i play a year of an rpg before moving on to a new game, playing every two weeks for 3 hours, with gaps, that’s about 120 hours, for a total of about 55 cents an hour.

So we're in agreement that TTRPG could cost $100 and still be a fantastic value?

 

[Micah Sweet]

So we're in agreement that TTRPG could cost $100 and still be a fantastic value?

Important to remember here that you're not paying $3 or 55 cents an hour, or a day, or a week. You're paying the full price ($60 or $80 or $100) right now. No one buys RPG books on the installment plan. You have to be willing to pay the entire cost all at once, and hope that you spend enough time with the purchase for it to be worth it.

 

[Velderan]

Important to remember here that you're not paying $3 or 55 cents an hour, or a day, or a week. You're paying the full price ($60 or $80 or $100) right now. No one buys RPG books on the installment plan. You have to be willing to pay the entire cost all at once, and hope that you spend enough time with the purchase for it to be worth it.

No one buys RPG books on the installment plan?

Googles US credit card debt

We're going to have to agree to disagree here.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Important to remember here that you're not paying $3 or 55 cents an hour, or a day, or a week. You're paying the full price ($60 or $80 or $100) right now. No one buys RPG books on the installment plan. You have to be willing to pay the entire cost all at once, and hope that you spend enough time with the purchase for it to be worth it.

You can make anything seem affordable if you find the hourly or daily cost that makes it pocket change or the classic route of "for just the cost of a cup of coffee"

 

[Micah Sweet]

No one buys RPG books on the installment plan?

Googles US credit card debt

We're going to have to agree to disagree here.

Fair enough. I don't own a credit card.

 

[Velderan]

You can make anything seem affordable if you find the hourly or daily cost that makes it pocket change or the classic route of "for just the cost of a cup of coffee"

Which the last one is a non-starter for me because it implies I give up coffee to pay for the other thing. You might as well ask me to stop breathing.

 

[Velderan]

Fair enough. I don't own a credit card.

They're good if you're disciplined and don't carry a balance. It's generally safer to shop online with a credit card than a debit card and most cards have a reward program in the US. But you absolutely have to have the discipline to zero the balance each month.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Which the last one is a non-starter for me because it implies I give up coffee to pay for the other thing. You might as well ask me to stop breathing.

And this was generally done before Starbucks and before coffee in general became more pricey. Now a cup of coffee could be 7 bucks depending on what you order and where

 

[Warpiglet-7]

A one time increase for a nonessential accessory is…not a big deal.

It will reduce units sold, sure. They know generally what this will mean vis a vis increased revenue per unit.

I am in no way looking down on folks that are impoverished. But if 10 bucks is going to hurt you that bad, a book with extra subclasses is not your biggest concern.

This seems to be blown way out of proportion.

 

[GrahamWills]

So we're in agreement that TTRPG could cost $100 and still be a fantastic value?

Yes, but it would Also be a luxury because it is significantly more expensive than it need be.

I have a $20 Fate book which, with the online SRD, has run a group of five people for multiple years. Fantastic value and economical.

I have a leather bound version of the 13A book, and yes, fantastic value compare to my luxury hardback novels, but also a luxury.

I have an expensive version of Dragon Age RPG which I haven’t really read properly and will never play. Poor value and a luxury.

Something can be fantastic value AND luxurious. A million dollar yacht on sale for $10000 is both, as another example.