What is that game you play with your kids where you all stack you hands in a pile and the bottom hand slides out to be placed on top. after a bit, people know they are coming up and slid their hand out faster and faster. In the end you just get people just slapping hands like some sort of cat attack. This seems to be the publishing schedule before it falls apart and 6e comes out.
This applies more to the pre-5E paradigm. 5E is different, with its emphasis on stories and worlds, of which there are infinite possible variations and diversity.
I also wonder if there will be a connection between quality of work and pace of releases.
As with the music industry, there are far more talented game designers out there than any number of product that WotC hopes to produce.
Really, I think the pace will be the direct result of WotC closely watching the market, meaning relative to sales. I think they'll add a bit slowly and keep an eye on if there is any waning in sales per book.
Let's say they find that they can comfortably publish six books a year and sales for all or most remain great, both initially and in an ongoing manner. Let's say they go for seven, and start noticing a dip in sales per book, but it still remains more profitable to publish seven than six. Then they try eight, and the drop becomes more noticeable, with one or two books seriously lagging behind, and overall ongoing sales dipping. At that point they might dial it back to seven.
Meaning, if we continue to buy, they'll continue to publish. And more to the point, it is clear that, over the last few years, they're starting to stretch our capacity and interest in buying. I see no reason why they won't continue to
slowly test and expand, and only stop growth when they reach a point when they feel it is no longer more profitable to expand than maintain (or dial back).
In other words, WotC will let the market dictate how many books they produce, and will bring in new game designers as necessary. But slowly and carefully.
I thought I would say that there is also a quest to beat last quarters dollar projections, but some may also be based on consumer wishes and not just corporate greed. I mean that I would buy more myself if they published more I liked.
Exactly. Now imagine 49,999,999 other D&D buyers, and WotC is assessing what they/we want. With their resources and such a large buying group, they can produce both books that appeal to as many folks as possible, and also hone in on sub-groups that really want a particular thing.
