Jester David
Hero
Doctor Who AITS doesn't have beginner targeted boxed sets, they just sell their core rules in boxed sets at a pretty high price.
And Star Wars Edge of the Empire likely has a boxed set for similar reasons to D&D: the property has a Name and expects people will be curious about the game, so it provides a cheap way of starting to play.
The Pathfinder box is different. It works because Pathfinder is really not set up for new players. The box is much more of a necessity. But, with D&D Next still being written they could avoid that with a simple and new player friendly core rulebook.
The problem with Beginner Sets is the two masters.
Master 1: They have to work as a "giftable" product people can give to young relatives to get into interested in the hobby.
Master 2: They have to work as introductory products that can be purchased by people curious about the game.
The problem is Master #2 requires a low price point. So they design cheap little $20-30 buck sets (like the Essentials or the Star Wars box) that have the barest amount of content, often lacking rules for making your own characters or adventures, and only lets you play for a few short hours. All for 1/2 to 1/3 the price of a full rulebook with much, much more content.
It's silly when a "beginner box" is really just a demo of the game.
So treat it like a video game demo and put it online. The point is to hook the curious, and that's much easier if it's free and has enough content. No $20 investment, no risk, and much more open play. D&D spread quickly in the '80s while people played with photocopied rulebooks and the like, which was possible with the small folios. If the starter kit is a printer friendly download that's just as easy.
(If it includes a rules variant replacing most d20 rolls with "2d6" you wouldn't even need to buy dice).
That leaves Master #1 and the idea of giftable product. Well, a book is just as easy to give as a box. And if the gifter is in-the-know they can likely get dice as well.
But it'd be no problem to have a "starter kit" version of the Core Rulebook with some extra stuff added and a tube of dice shrinkwrapped and sticking out the side or the top. Or a secondary accessory that's sold beside the core rulebooks, like the "starter pack" I mentioned earlier.
This is also nicer because instead of giving the gift of a gaming addition and obligation to buy a $50 book, the kid now has the full game. And they have much more content to work through before they need to consider buying an accessory.
Focusing giftage sales on the core rulebook also makes financial sense. The larger the print runs the cheaper the per item cost. And the greater the sales, the high percentage becomes profit. Having one entry level product for everyone helps focus sales and generates more money for WotC, which is in turn good for D&D and the hobby.
This is just one way to increase sales and try and get new players.
If I were in charge of WotC I'd also put some serious focus on youth novels. Not just "young adult" novels like they did with that Reno Salvatore book, because, let's face it, the existing WotC and TSR novels can be read by kids in Jr. High without difficulty. I started the Dragonlance series when I was twelve. Instead, focus on some books for even younger kids. Youth fiction is huge right now, especially with fantasy, and WotC should get in on that.
In addition to novels at younger readers they should have introductory reader products. Books at level 3 or 4. WotC has a crap tonn of art they could reappropriate for that type of book and could tell simple retellings of classic adventures or novels.
Choose Your Own Adventure style books would be a good idea. Like the Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy series.
If need be, WotC could partner with Scholastic. Get those books into Book Fairs and thus into schools and school libraries. Get kids used to the brand and the idea fantasy where you're in control and the world(s) of D&D.
