D&D 5E Why is WoTc still pushing AP's when the majority of gamers want something else?

[Corwin]

Laugh Charles Rampant laughed with this post.

There was nothing funny about my post so I'm not sure why you are laughing. If I was laughing then you hitting the laugh button would make sense, but I wasn't. Not sure if you've had a look but it's been changed to " laugh with X", not "laugh at X".

Is this line of posts really just a (not so) subtle way of fishing for XP, since a laugh is still worth a point? Otherwise, wouldn't it make sense to address your concerns via PM?

 

[ccs]

Laugh Charles Rampant laughed with this post.

There was nothing funny about my post so I'm not sure why you are laughing. If I was laughing then you hitting the laugh button would make sense, but I wasn't. Not sure if you've had a look but it's been changed to " laugh with X", not "laugh at X".

We're laughing because your posts/rants/reasoning etc amuse.
Doesn't matter if that wasn't you're intent.....
And you amuse because you're one of those who take this stuff way to seriously & don't stop.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Basically what Wizards is most likely going by is their PHB sales numbers. They figure everyone who plays probably has a PHB. I can tell you for a fact that is false.

These are some pretty big assumptions. Do you have any evidenced to support your claim?


Oh, and you're taking the laugh button too seriously (ironic that).

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I want a "Shake My Head at this post" button.

But since this would get treated the same as the dreaded "thumbs down" button on other sites, it would not happen. Probably the same reason "Laugh at" was changed to "Laugh with". I had not even realized that Morrus had changed that til today.

 

[Jester David]

I want a "Shake My Head at this post" button.

But since this would get treated the same as the dreaded "thumbs down" button on other sites, it would not happen. Probably the same reason "Laugh at" was changed to "Laugh with". I had not even realized that Morrus had changed that til today.

It makes senses to clarify that it is "laughing with" rather than "laughing at" and not the opposite of giving xp.
You *can* rate threads though, and I recconend doing so. It's at the top right of the threads, just below the names and a couple lines below the page numbers.

 

[Ilbranteloth]

A lot of this wouldnt need to be discussed if WotC included Mechanics and Crunch involved with the flavour of the AP like they said they were going to during the lead up to 5e (eg horror flavour mechanics and crunch in COS) but then again a lot of what we were told we were going to get never eventuated.

There's crunch in all of the APs, including horror guidelines in CoS. They opted for a role-playing approach to setting a mood rather than hard horror rules that have mechanical effects, which is in line with keeping things simple.

 

[Ilbranteloth]

I run a homebrew setting. I also buy APs, or at least LMoP, HotDQ, OotA, and CoS. I'm actually going to pull elements of OotA and CoS into my Adventures in Middle-Earth campaign.

I find APs far more useful than campaign settings for homebrew. In fact I think they are the most valuable books for a home-brew DM that WotC could produce, except perhaps shorter adventures that I could more easily mix and match...

OK. Now I want that.

And you have that. Check out the dozen or so adventures released for Adventurer's League that are related to each AP. Available cheap at DMsGuild.

And in response to another comment, unlike many DMsGuild products, these are approved for Adventurer's League play.

 

[BookBarbarian]

And you have that. Check out the dozen or so adventures released for Adventurer's League that are related to each AP. Available cheap at DMsGuild.

And in response to another comment, unlike many DMsGuild products, these are approved for Adventurer's League play.

I had forgotten about those adventures. I even ran the first one for the Out of the Abyss AL season. It was released for free on Draogn+. It was a great little adventure.

 

[discosoc]

I think they are listening, TBH. The first round of AP's were kind of full-featured leveling experiences that take you from 1-15+ over the course of a singular story. Then they sanctioned something a bit different in the form of OotA, where there was room for expanding on the story and "filling in the blanks," so to speak. Now we're seeing stuff like Ravenloft and SKT, where the story itself is not meant to be a singular experience, but rather something closer to a story thread or diversion to use in an existing campaign.

 

[Ilbranteloth]

Actually sales numbers only show just that, sales numbers.

Do you think WoTc know the ratio between all D&D players vs how many are buying these AP's?

The answer is no they don't. Also, they don't know what new players would buy had they been given the option.

And?

I don't think it's relevant, nor are they ever going to be able to determine the answers to those questions.

Instead they have business projections and goals based in part on earlier releases. As long as they are meeting or exceeding those goals, it's a success. What other people "might have bought" isn't really relevant.

Their job is to make stuff people will buy. Mission accomplished.

That doesn't mean they can't or won't look for other opportunities. But their strategy has been spelled out in detail several times in the last couple of years. Two APs a year, with some new game material as well (spells, races, class options, monsters, rules options, whatever). They said that was the plan, and they've followed that plan. The fact that they are still hitting or exceeding their sales goals makes it a good plan and a success.

Now they've started supplementing that once/year with an additional non-AP book, plus I keep reminding everybody that they do release a dozen or so short adventures via DMsGuild that tie into the AP.

You may not like their business plan, fair enough. But it's certainly not a secret, and they have stuck with it and I don't think, considering the success it's had, that it will change. To tie it back to your original post, they aren't "shoving APs down your throat," they are simply following the plan they announced way back in 2014.

The question is - what might be the next non-AP book release? And will they move to two non-AP books per year?

Note that a few things from UA have already made it into published books, I expect that clues may be found in the UA articles in the next 6 months or so.