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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mark CMG" data-source="post: 6507370" data-attributes="member: 10479"><p>Factions in WotC have been saying for years that there's no real money in the support products.  And with this latest info coming from Mearls who said TSR's problem wasn't just setting bloat but, and I paraphrase, anything-beyond-core bloat, it sure seems like the current wisdom is only the core books really make any money worth noting.  If the licensee is the top dog in the field, by orders of magnitude, and they tell the IP holder they only need one core book (or just a couple/few) and that anything more by way of support is just going to dilute the profit margin, I see no reason why the IP holder wouldn't want a single big payoff up front.  The one or couple/few books can include all the support that seems necessary to play the whole game.  The advertising becomes infinitely easier and more focused ("Here's everything you need!").  No worrying that one not-so-well received supplement alng the way is going to tank the RPG's viability or cut severely into profit margins on the whole line.  The waiting for the inevitable tail end of when supplements fall away cutting into those margins and leaving someone holding the bag on two in the pipeline and man hours already allocated and used on two others.  We're definitely looking at whole new ways to plan such things but the evidence I see suggests it's the safest and best approach I can fathom for outside IP (just considering RPGs here, not other game formats).</p></blockquote><p></p>

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