WotC Which releases do you own?

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I'd bet you that each of those things sold far fewer copies than Xanathar's or Volo's. Crunch sells more than those "major releases."

What does the amount sold have to do with them being classified major releases? Major releases are books and box sets. There were 7 in 2019.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

There is also risk that a slow release schedule will cross another fine line in the other direction and cause the edition to stagnate.

Yes, that's possible, but this is the 6th year of D&D 5e, and they haven't seemed to have crossed that line.

 

[Mercurius]

Your speculation is equally hypothetical. Correlation does not equal causation. There's nothing to indicate that the wild success is due to the release rate. There is a lot of support for the idea that it's due to it being widely appealing, bringing back old players and bringing in new ones. You're assuming as much as I am.

We know that the game is thriving, perhaps in an unparalleled way--or at least since the booming early 80s. From that I am suggesting that at least part of the reason they're doing so well is because, err, what they are doing. You are saying "but if they did something other than what they're doing, they could be doing better."

If they are both hypotheticals, one is quite a bit closer to what we actually know.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

At least we won't have a satanic panic this decade of D&D.

 

[Parmandur]

I'd bet you that each of those things sold far fewer copies than Xanathar's or Volo's. Crunch sells more than those "major releases."

I'm this little sample we have here, 114 folks have bought fewer than 300 copies of the big "crunch" books, and over 500 Adventures. Any one Adventure is less than Xanathar's or Volo's, butbin aggregate are bigger, in this sample. I'd say the larger numbers might bear that out in general.

The Adventures are major cornerstones of the release schedule, and significant products. They often have "crunch" too.

 

[Maxperson]

I'm this little sample we have here, 114 folks have bought fewer than 300 copies of the big "crunch" books, and over 500 Adventures. Any one Adventure is less than Xanathar's or Volo's, butbin aggregate are bigger, in this sample. I'd say the larger numbers might bear that out in general.

But each adventure has to be designed, edited, etc. Then a new print run has to be issued, and it takes a certain number of copies printed and sold before those costs are eaten up and the profits really start taking off.

So according to the poll here, we have 6 crunch books selling 592 copies, according to this poll. And then 21 other products combining to 962. 3 and a half times more products and the total isn't even double what those 6 books have sold.

 

[Eltab]

Players Handbook (of course, cannot create a character without it)
Rise of Tiamat - souvenir from DM'ing about half way through
Sword Coast Adventurers Guide - for lore & fluff, and character options

I have checked out almost everything else from my Public Library and made copies of the interesting stuff within, for later use in my own campaign.

 

[Mercurius]

I'm this little sample we have here, 114 folks have bought fewer than 300 copies of the big "crunch" books, and over 500 Adventures. Any one Adventure is less than Xanathar's or Volo's, butbin aggregate are bigger, in this sample. I'd say the larger numbers might bear that out in general.

The Adventures are major cornerstones of the release schedule, and significant products. They often have "crunch" too.

Through 116 voters, the core rulebooks average 111 each (96%), the three pure rules supplements 88 each (76%) the settings 54 each (47%), and adventures 50 each (43%). I'm not counting AI, Theros, the box sets and Tyranny.

What we don't know is how well that 76% rate for supplements would hold up with more books published. It would probably dip, but how much and at what point? And then how to balance that with work required and the danger of bloat? Presumably WotC thinks one every two years is the sweet-spot. Doesn't mean it won't change, but it feels quite deliberate.

 

[Maxperson]

Through 116 voters, the core rulebooks average 111 each (96%), the three pure rules supplements 88 each (76%) the settings 54 each (47%), and adventures 50 each (43%). I'm not counting AI, Theros, the box sets and Tyranny.

What we don't know is how well that 76% rate for supplements would hold up with more books published. It would probably dip, but how much and at what point? And then how to balance that with work required and the danger of bloat? Presumably WotC thinks one every two years is the sweet-spot. Doesn't mean it won't change, but it feels quite deliberate.

I'm sure it is deliberate. WotC has a history of overreaction. They see something not working, so they go too far in the other direction. Bounded accuracy was good, but they over bounded it. 3e was too unbalanced and feats too swingy, so they over tightened the math and made individual feats virtually meaningless in 4e. 3e and 4e put out too many products, so they overreacted with the 5e release rate.

 

[Magister Ludorum]

Everything except Acquisitions Incorporated: got that from the library to check it out, but wasn't feeling it.

I bought it when my FLGS marked it 50% off.