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."

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Depends on how well they're doing. I don't follow Paizo, but I know WotC's huge and continuing success with 5e means that they don't need to raise prices to stay afloat. And why would they risk angering fans more by raising digital prices? They don't have that plausible excuse in that arena.

You can't really compare WotC and indy publishers, they function on entirely difference economics of scale, the shear bulk volume of WotCs purchasing power alone nets it savings.

 

[bedir than]

I'm talking about the new core, not their current stock. Of course they want to sell that.

The new core that they commissioned all new art for, are expanding page count for, changed the font size for, are creating a better index for and have announced a staggered release because every printer in the US is printing at near max capacity already since two of the three largest printers no longer exist is evidence that they don't care about printed books?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

There's no plausible excuse for a company that sells things to make a profit?

The issue isn't that they make a profit, ots that WotC is making so much profit they can afford to eat inflation increases and still make increasingly large profits.

 

[Oofta]

You keep framing it as, "they just want to make a profit". They are making a profit, right now. Quite a lot of profit, given the runaway success of 5e. This isn't about them making money at all, and I explained that if you would bother to read my post.

So you get to decide how much profit is "enough". Gotcha.

There are certainly companies large and small that engage in price gouging. I personally think all Apple products are overpriced for what you get. So you know what I do? I don't claim that they "should" charge less, I simply don't think their product is worth the premium, I simply don't purchase their product.

Price gouging primarily happens on goods and services people need to survive, books to support a hobby are not required to survive.

 

[Umbran]

Mine as well, 3.5e wasn't bad however, and even 4e at least put more effort into their alt lore then 5e puts into lore period,like 4e at least knew to seperate setting books from the adventures, instead of trying to do everything with one book.

Ah. They aren't trying to do everything in one book. Everything is not the goal. The goal seems to be a product that has some nostalgia draw, but is also an introduction to the bulk of the market, who are new enough that they haven't played the settings in prior editions.

And everything is too much for an introduction. Sufficient lore to support an adventure/short campaign is a decent introduction.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

The issue isn't that they make a profit, ots that WotC is making so much profit they can afford to eat inflation increases and still make increasingly large profits.

Have you broken down how much of the profit you keep claiming is from the sale of books?

Have you done a deep dive into the increased cost of production in printing books recently?

Do you know what the difference is in costs and profits between legacy products that they just keep printing and the additional costs associated with bringing this new version to market (including increased marketing, etc.)?

Is there a youtube video that you can point me to that provides a good breakdown as to what the various parts of D&D are that make up those profits, and what the cross-subsidies are that should be expected between those various parts?

Is there some metric I should be using, other than inflation or cost of living, to understand whether a price increase on a book is "acceptable" or "price gouging?"

 

[Parmandur]

The lady Snarf doth protest too much, methinks

I can only assume that Snarf actually plays Gnome Bards IRL.

 

[Parmandur]

The issue isn't that they make a profit, ots that WotC is making so much profit they can afford to eat inflation increases and still make increasingly large profits.

Absolutely, they can, and have done so: that's why they adjusting now, rather than years ago. They ate the cost as years of inflation chipped away at the margins. Bit any company can only do that for so long, before either increasing prices or cancelling a product line.

They aren't going to sell books at a loss.

 

[Oofta]

I can only assume that Snarf actually plays Gnome Bards IRL.

You're more generous than I am. I assume he actually is a Gnome Bard.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Absolutely, they can, and have done so: that's why they adjusting now, rather than years ago. They ate the cost as years of inflation chipped away at the margins. Bit any company can only do that for so long, before either increasing prices or cancelling a product line.

They aren't going to sell books at a loss.

C'mon. If TSR could do it, Hasbro can do it!