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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 6990127" data-attributes="member: 6778044">I pulled together a similar list a few months ago, can't remember which thread though. It would be interesting to see the change in that time though...Personally, I think that CoS might point to a future opportunity. First, it's holding up well. Second, they released a number of AP before doing the SCAG to tie them together. If it were me, releasing an AP in a different campaign as a test for a potential future sourcebook would be one way to go.So I think many of those "keeping up" are those playing the APs. I have them all, but haven't run any of them. I use them more as sourcebooks.I think that more books won't impact the sales of the core books. But they probably would impact the sales of the prior non-core book. The more copies you can sell of a given release, the more profitable it is. You've already paid for the development, and larger print runs get better rates. In the past (particularly the TSR years), there were periods where there was something released every month. What I think happened is that the RPG market was growing quickly enough that it masked the fact that they were cannibalizing their own sales. While you'll never reach 100% penetration, where everybody buys every book, you can increase margin and profit.To look at it a different way - if each product costs $50,000 to manufacture, and sells wholesale for $25, then the first 2,000 copied recoup your cost. After that, each sale is a profit. If your typical sales are 500 units/month, then it takes 4 months to recoup your costs and start making money. For the sake of this argument, we'll say there's a fixed market, that is, you always sell 500 units/month.If you release your next product 4 months after the last one, then just as you are starting to make money, you shift a chunk of your sales to the next product. The core book sales remain the same - new players need those regardless. But you also find that 7 or 8 months down the road you've saturated your market. That is, instead of selling 500 units, you're selling 400 or 300 units. Releasing a new product then bumps you back up to your 500 units/month. You'll still cannibalize some of the older book, but it will still continue to sell over time. Obviously it's not that simple, but back when TSR was releasing so many products, sales were good, but they weren't making a profit because the next product was taking the sales dollars and they were essentially competing with themselves. Obviously there were a number of other things at play, but it's not uncommon for a company to stumble when they shift from exponential growth in a new industry to a market that has plateaued.I would be one of those, but there has been a lot of sourcebook material in the APs, which have also been produced in a way that it's very easy to pull just a section of the adventure out to drop in a different campaign. WotC business model for D&D isn't the only one, obviously, and Pathfinder has found one that works for them. But WotC is a small part of a very large company. So they have different requirements for their business, and really what makes D&D valuable to Hasbro is the brand. The fact that they can do video games, comics, movies, I think I recall hearing about a potential TV show in development at one point. Now I don't think Hasbro has any interest nor direct input into the business model of WotC in regards to D&D. I think they have indirect input in that they have sales/profit goals or requirements, and it's up to the WotC team to meet those.Of course, #66 in books (not RPGs, not games, but all books) is amazing 2 1/2 years later. And I think with all of the UA articles being released, another Core book of some sort is likely, although it's quite possible those rules could be presented as a campaign book too.BTW - have you ever looked at the top 100 at Amazon?<a href="https://www.amazon.com/best-sellers-books-Amazon/zgbs/books/ref=pd_dp_ts_b_1#1" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/best-sellers-books-Amazon/zgbs/books/ref=pd_dp_ts_b_1#1</a>The PHB is #61 right now, and there are very few books that aren't less than 6 months to 1 year old, much less 2 1/2. There are a few older ones, but not many. The Pathfinder books I looked at were in the 30,000+ range (although Amazon may not be their primary outlet).</blockquote>

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