WotC: Re-issue older editions.

[Reynard]

Go ahead. Do it. Here's why:

People that want to play B/X D&D* are probably not people that want to play 4E, so you're not stealing from your own customer base. OTOH, people that want to play 4E may well be people that want to play -- or at least BUY -- B/X D&D. (*=or OD&D, AD&D1E, etc...)

Secondly, after your initial outlay to repackage those older edition core materials, you have an evergreen product. There never has to be another edition of 2nd Edition, for example. If it is sold as a PDF and/or as a POD product, you don't even have to fill a warehouse full of questionable content.

If you're worried about the ability to support these games with supplements and adventures, don't. The community will do it for you. Many of them already are. Sure, some of the hardcore OSR folks would balk at the 1E Reissue, refusing to change from only supporting OSRIC, but the majority of them would be glad to slap a "Compatible With Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, 1st Edition" logo on their product cover.

There is also the fact that you can sell certain products -- map tiles, tokens and miniatures, etc... -- to everyone that plays any version of D&D.

Finally, it would buy you a whole lot of good will. Everyone knows that there are people that love and play every edition of the game. Everyone knows that, for the most part, each edition is different, providing a different play experience to a different audience. Therefore, everyone knows that acknowledging one game and its audience is not an attack against another. Moreover, if you were to acknowledge, through these reissues, that every D&D fan, from 65 to 15 years old, from whatever "school" and whatever flavor the game, was a beloved D&D fan and customer of WotC.

I could be wrong of course. Who am I? Just a guy on the internet who loves D&D in (almost) all its forms.

 

[delericho]

People that want to play B/X D&D* are probably not people that want to play 4E, so you're not stealing from your own customer base. OTOH, people that want to play 4E may well be people that want to play -- or at least BUY -- B/X D&D. (*=or OD&D, AD&D1E, etc...)

I would buy a hard-copy version of the BECM D&D Rules Cyclopedia. I have it on PDF, but it's a bit lacking. I also have pretty much everything else I want.

If you're worried about the ability to support these games with supplements and adventures, don't. The community will do it for you. Many of them already are. Sure, some of the hardcore OSR folks would balk at the 1E Reissue, refusing to change from only supporting OSRIC, but the majority of them would be glad to slap a "Compatible With Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, 1st Edition" logo on their product cover.

This is where the real value of such a product would lie.

Although, given the presence of the retro-clones and Ebay (and, if we're honest, pirated PDFs), there's probably no need for any sort of a reissue. And also, given that WotC have been pulling back from any notion of open gaming for years, I doubt they'd be keen on enabling third-party support.

Still, it's a nice idea.

 

[Glade Riven]

If Wizards did this, it would be a limited run "Collector's Edition" at a much higher price price point, leading to more complaints against them. They probably won't do is because RPGs are already a niche market, and doing so would be to try to appeal to a niche market within a niche market.

 

[scruffygrognard]

If Wizards did this, it would be a limited run "Collector's Edition" at a much higher price price point, leading to more complaints against them. They probably won't do is because RPGs are already a niche market, and doing so would be to try to appeal to a niche market within a niche market.

That's why a print-on-demand model would be perfect. No storage costs, no worries about unsold products. The inflated costs get passed along to the consumer... who is free to do as they wish.

I wouldn't complain if I could get my hands on another copy of the World of Greyhawk boxed set for $50-60.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I would buy a hard-copy version of the BECM D&D Rules Cyclopedia.

Yeah, so would I, even if it was a marked-up leather-bound "Collector's Edition". The Silver Anniversary boxed set was a great release.

Actually, a parallel thought -- what if WotC re-licensed the older editions in addition to releasing some "core books". Say, for example, they reprint and sell the 1E PHB, DMG, & MM with appropriate branding, then license someone like Paizo or Kenzer to publish the remaining 1E material as well as "1e-compatible" material (so long as they don't reprint the core books). It's like the 3E OGL model, only without the "O".

 

[Reynard]

It seems to me that WotC is moving away from a business model that centers on printing a bazillion books and instead toward one that centers on producing *stuff* for playing D&D -- tiles, tokens, cards, plus all the online stuff. As such, there's a lot of room for cross sales. I can to this realization when I, someone who refuses to play or run 4E after giving it a go, dropped almost $100 of holiday money on the Monster Vault and dungeon tiles. Similarly, edition non-specific "fluff" could be easily marketted across editions of D&D.

But even that aside, the fact is there is obviously some market for previous editions. I don't know how many copies of Labrynth Lord have been sold, but I know I bought it. I am sure an actual B/X reissue would sell ten times better than LL. WotC is essentially giving money to smaller competitors, as well as allowing others to take the role of stewards of D&D (call it OSRIC all you want, but it is AD&D1E, and we all know it).

D&D has lasted over 30 years in multiple incarnations and people still love it. There is no reason to pick and choose among your customer and fan base -- embrace them all and all of them will continue to think of you when they think of D&D. If they stop thinking D&D and think Pathfinder or Labrynth Lord, and stop thinking WotC and start thinking Paizo or Goblinoid, you have lost them -- and that can't be a preferable (or profitable) result in any case.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

But even that aside, the fact is there is obviously some market for previous editions. I don't know how many copies of Labrynth Lord have been sold, but I know I bought it. I am sure an actual B/X reissue would sell ten times better than LL. WotC is essentially giving money to smaller competitors, as well as allowing others to take the role of stewards of D&D (call it OSRIC all you want, but it is AD&D1E, and we all know it).

I'd be careful following that assumption too far. The EN World population is self-selecting and we're hardly representative of the total gaming market. I suspect (without hard evidence, admittedly) that the total market for products like LL and OSRIC is such a pittance you couldn't get WotC's attention.

 

[amerigoV]

I'd be careful following that assumption too far. The EN World population is self-selecting and we're hardly representative of the total gaming market. I suspect (without hard evidence, admittedly) that the total market for products like LL and OSRIC is such a pittance you couldn't get WotC's attention.

I agree here. How big is that market? A jump over to EBAY shows the following prices (Buy it now):

AD&D 1e:

• PHB "new cover" (wizard): $13.95
• PHB "old cover" (wizard): $47.63
• DMG "new cover": $17.95
• DMG "old cover": $25.39 (from the UK)

AD&D 2e (original book covers):

• PHB "new cover" (wizard): $9-$18
• DMG "new cover" (wizard): $9-$15

The old artwork sells well on EBAY due to scarcity. So there are books available. Amazon have a few "new" versions highly priced, but the used are in the $10-$15 range.

Would a print run say with some updated art sell? Maybe, but the availability of those books in a print option probably would exceed any real demand (the PHB 3.5 shows some value at $60, but even then how big of a print run would really be needed to satisfy the market at its "normal" price

 

[kitsune9]

Go ahead. Do it. Here's why:

People that want to play B/X D&D* are probably not people that want to play 4E, so you're not stealing from your own customer base. OTOH, people that want to play 4E may well be people that want to play -- or at least BUY -- B/X D&D. (*=or OD&D, AD&D1E, etc...)

This is interesting, but the issue here is cost of a print run and whether demand is there to pick it up. A lot of rpg gamers wax old about nostalgia and the Ye Olde Days, but if the D&D Red Box, AD&D 1e Player's Handbook, etc. was reprinted today, would there be a demand strong enough to justify the print run expense? That I can't say.

Secondly, after your initial outlay to repackage those older edition core materials, you have an evergreen product. There never has to be another edition of 2nd Edition, for example. If it is sold as a PDF and/or as a POD product, you don't even have to fill a warehouse full of questionable content.

This would require a bigger print run and/or price increase on the product since evergreen materials are more costly. The whole PDF thing, WotC is not warm to the idea, because of piracy as they made that clear when they took down all the products to begin with. Should the cultural attitude over at WotC change, I don't see this happening.

If you're worried about the ability to support these games with supplements and adventures, don't. The community will do it for you. Many of them already are. Sure, some of the hardcore OSR folks would balk at the 1E Reissue, refusing to change from only supporting OSRIC, but the majority of them would be glad to slap a "Compatible With Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, 1st Edition" logo on their product cover.

Good idea, though WotC is particular about third party development. We have the GSL to look at to see what their attitude is about it on the matter.

There is also the fact that you can sell certain products -- map tiles, tokens and miniatures, etc... -- to everyone that plays any version of D&D.

Definitely!

Finally, it would buy you a whole lot of good will. Everyone knows that there are people that love and play every edition of the game. Everyone knows that, for the most part, each edition is different, providing a different play experience to a different audience. Therefore, everyone knows that acknowledging one game and its audience is not an attack against another. Moreover, if you were to acknowledge, through these reissues, that every D&D fan, from 65 to 15 years old, from whatever "school" and whatever flavor the game, was a beloved D&D fan and customer of WotC.

Good will is great so long as all the stakeholders believe in it. Who are the stakeholders? Well, it's WotC employees, the executive management, Hasbro, and Hasbro investors (who serve the double role of being a stakeholder and a shareholder), then of course us. Maybe the WotC employees are shouting what you're stating above, but the executive management is against it. Maybe all of WotC is for this, but Hasbro is against it. Maybe Wotc and Hasbro would be for this, but they fear it could trigger a shareholder lawsuit for acting against the interests of the shareholder (shareholders sue for all sorts of reasons--that's why there is liability insurance just for this). Whatever the case is, one or more of the stakeholders (who has authority) is against this idea.

I could be wrong of course. Who am I? Just a guy on the internet who loves D&D in (almost) all its forms.

I too would like to see this come about; however, we've seen WotC do pretty much the opposite so that means that someone sees some other kind of picture than we do and they are acting in the best interests of the company (from their perspective). I couldn't tell you what that big picture is nor possibly speculate.

Happy Gaming!

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

This is interesting, but the issue here is cost of a print run and whether demand is there to pick it up. A lot of rpg gamers wax old about nostalgia and the Ye Olde Days, but if the D&D Red Box, AD&D 1e Player's Handbook, etc. was reprinted today, would there be a demand strong enough to justify the print run expense? That I can't say.

Did you perhaps miss the bit about using print-on-demand technology in the original post?

The marketplace has changed. Instead of one customer-base, there are now quite a few separate ones who would prefer to remain with their preferred edition. We know that selling to these people would increase WOTC's customer-base, but the question is by how much? My own feeling is that it would be 10%-30%. (I think that at least 30% of the active gaming market would prefer not to move to 4e, but the unknown variable is what percentage of these people would be in the market for new books.)