Critical Role Wildemount: Most Pre-orders Since D&D Core Rulebooks

It seems that the most popular D&D setting in the 5E era is... Wildemount! Talking about the upcoming Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, WotC's Greg Tito said on a Twitch stream recently that "we're pretty sure that this book has seen the most pre-orders and pre-release excitement since any of the core rulebooks for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition were released".

Here's the quote in full:

"...It was number 1, ranked number 1, for all books on Amazon. How many of you out there remember when Amazon was just selling books? Raise your hands. Yeah, that's me. So it's really cool, even though obviously I do a lot more other fun stuff right now, there is a ton out there that are excited for this book, and it isn't even out yet.

"We have little bit of an internal metrics, but we're pretty sure that this book has seen the most pre-orders and pre-release excitement since any of the core rulebooks for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition were released, and if you've been following along at home, Dungeons & Dragons has been selling like hotcakes since 5th Edition released in 2014."

It sounds like the Critical Role setting is proving more popular (at least right now) than traditional D&D settings like Ravenloft or Eberron, newer ones like Ravnica, or adventures set in the Forgotten Realms.

Explorer's Guide to Wildemount will hit game stores on March 17th.

 

[akr71]

You can already use Critical Role characters in Pillars of Eternity II - they are even voiced by the actors themselves

Ya, I know. I hated the story to the first one, so I'm not getting burned a second time. Great game play, horrible story line. That's just my opinion though.

 

[Mournblade94]

I think the sales of this book also highlight just how much a factor the world of streaming has affected D&D's success and made the game as huge as it currently is. I know many players like to poo-poo the idea of watching people play D&D... but the sales of this book are an incredibly strong indicator of just how many people have had Critical Role be their introduction or their primary go-to into the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

5E did a very good job of being an edition that re-introduced older players to either switch in, or come back to the game. But it was Critical Role and other streamers that helped bring in the huge swathe of younger players to the game for the first time-- the generation for whom game streaming of all types has become their primary entertainment. And while this book might not be what many of the older generation wants (those who want to recapture the nostalgia of game worlds past)... the younger generation sees their game world available to be played in alongside all the characters they love.

I much rather prefer they release new campaign settings for the newer players rather than tamper with the settings to 'make them welcoming' like they did to Forgotten Realms.

 

[dave2008]

I ran an old school game and scared the hell out of this new generation of gamer,...

Yep, that is one of the things I love abut 5e, it is so easy to mod into that old school deadly feel.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Ya, I know. I hated the story to the first one, so I'm not getting burned a second time. Great game play, horrible story line. That's just my opinion though.

The second one is much the same: lots of great sandboxy sidequests, but the main quest story isn't only bad, it makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[gyor]

I'm not surprised by this news, but it makes me a bit sad and comes with a sense of foreboding.

I've read Matt Mercer's statement about this product not getting in the way of other publications/settings. I get that.

But if these sales #'s hold up, then they are going to likely put OTHER Exandria publications in place of older or more traditional setting publications because they are what is selling well.

Since I have very little tie to the CR worlds (I've watched a handful of episodes, but none of Campaign 2 so far), I care nothing for this product or other CR products.

I'm glad for the CR folks and for D&D that they're having something sell this well, but I'm bummed for what that probably means for the prospects of other settings I love.

Matt Mercier made it clear that it means absolutely nothing for other settings, it didn't impact other settings at all (although it's extreme success and the success of other Campaign Setting Guides so far means more setting guides are very likely, especially traditional settings).

 

[JeffB]

It seems tht Chris Perkins has said the opposite in his interviews on D&D Beyond- this certainly did take up WOTC resources (and he talks about the development, and editing, and art, etc). According to him, they had a gap in their schedule and decided to fill that gap with the Wildemount book. So definitely not Mercer's fault- but WOTC certainly could have filled the schedule with a different product- They chose to reach out to Mercer for a CR book.

 

[cmad1977]

It seems tht Chris Perkins has said the opposite in his interviews on D&D Beyond- this certainly did take up WOTC resources (and he talks about the development, and editing, and art, etc). According to him, they had a gap in their schedule and decided to fill that gap with the Wildemount book. So definitely not Mercer's fault- but WOTC certainly could have filled the schedule with a different product- They chose to reach out to Mercer for a CR book.

It would have been an awful business decision but they COULD have filled the schedule with a different, less profitable, product.

 

[JeffB]

It would have been an awful business decision but they COULD have filled the schedule with a different, less profitable, product.

I agree completely. Just adding some info to the conversation per Perkins.

 

[Dave2]

Wildemount is 304 pages. It was indicated in the product announcement. I also just picked up Tal’Dorei from Amazon which has it for great price 21 and get 3 for price of 2. Was hard to pass up. Speaking of Amazon; I think if the animated show his hit they could lock in a contract for the Critical Role staff. What was the season cost estimates Lord Rings something like 1 Billion. I think saying here is 150 million for 5 to 6 seasons Crtical Role signs the contract tomorrow. I think if any company could buy D&D like an after thought it would be Amazon who intern for good measure could by the distabuion chains of Allaunce/Diamond for good measure.

 

[gyor]

It seems tht Chris Perkins has said the opposite in his interviews on D&D Beyond- this certainly did take up WOTC resources (and he talks about the development, and editing, and art, etc). According to him, they had a gap in their schedule and decided to fill that gap with the Wildemount book. So definitely not Mercer's fault- but WOTC certainly could have filled the schedule with a different product- They chose to reach out to Mercer for a CR book.

Maybe what they told Mercier is different from what really went down, its not like WotC has lied to people before.