30+% growth for 4 straight years, on a product 40 years old is unheard of
30+% growth for 4 straight years, on a product 40 years old is unheard of
I wasn't aware that 5th edition was now 40 years old.
I think Bedir Than mean D&D in general by 40 years, not 5e spefically.
If so, then that's not a product selling for over 40 years. D&D hasn't been a single cohesive product. Even ignoring edition changes, video games, films, comics, novels, and toys, D&D has been a line of individual but interrelated products, not a single product.
Another thing to consider, in addition to continued strong sales on Amazon and in local stores: D&D Beyond got up and running in the past year, and they seems to be doing brisk business, as well, without slowing down the print game. Also, DMsGuild, Fantasy Ground, Roll20 and other chain stores like Barnes & Noble or Target (the Starter Set is well placed in the toys section) carry the game.
if you want to delve into the depths of product line differentiation we could definitely do that.
You would be stuck trying to prove that to someone unfamiliar with the product that there is a great set of differences between all versions of D&D, again, to the outsider. This is like when Starbucks claims that every ground coffee is a different product. A vast majority of consumers don't actually think that. They see it as minor variations on a theme, rather than a separate line of products.
D&D, the RPG, is like Starbucks whole bean coffee. It's 40+ years old, and the vast majority of consumers don't see any variation between then and now.
The IP and the brand is 40+ years old. Certainly. That the brand is still yielding appreciable profits is impressive, and does seem to be in no small part tied to the renaissance of nerd culture that's seen more "ordinary" people developing or admitting to "nerdy" interests. Hopefully, the movie (assuming that's still coming) won't suck.
While some may look at D&D and mistakenly see as a single product that's existed 40 years, public misperception doesn't make all of D&D a single product. Products have a generally defined life-cycle, with stages differentiated by the features, pricing and distribution of the product.
The argument that each edition is it's own product is easily made, with each edition having fit with the profits curve generally observable during a product lifecycle. And it's certainly not the only product that works this way. Coming up with add-ons that expand the usefulness or increase the customization of a product (in D&D's case, the various splat and setting books) is a storied strategy for enhancing profits at the maturity stage, or staving off the decline phase of a product's lifecycle.
The IP and the brand is 40+ years old. Certainly. That the brand is still yielding appreciable profits is impressive, and does seem to be in no small part tied to the renaissance of nerd culture that's seen more "ordinary" people developing or admitting to "nerdy" interests. Hopefully, the movie (assuming that's still coming) won't suck.
While some may look at D&D and mistakenly see as a single product that's existed 40 years, public misperception doesn't make all of D&D a single product. Products have a generally defined life-cycle, with stages differentiated by the features, pricing and distribution of the product.
The argument that each edition is it's own product is easily made, with each edition having fit with the profits curve generally observable during a product lifecycle. And it's certainly not the only product that works this way. Coming up with add-ons that expand the usefulness or increase the customization of a product (in D&D's case, the various splat and setting books) is a storied strategy for enhancing profits at the maturity stage, or staving off the decline phase of a product's lifecycle.
Even the vernacular of "edition" denies that it is a different product, as the companies themselves just refer to it as simple advancement of the same concept rather than a new product.
Your argument would be the idea that the 2018 Tesla is a new product as opposed to the 2017 Tesla. They aren't.