WotC still has "it" apparently

[BryonD]

It is pretty simple.
D&D is still a hugely popular game.
However, it has gone from being alone on the mountaintop to sharing the spotlight.

And absolutely agreed that Amazon alone doesn't mean anything. Though I'm still amused that 4E fans who will insist that collections of data don't mean anything will then turn around and point at isolated data points and declare victory.

4E is very very popular. It will continue to be until 5E is announced.

If "it" is popularity, then D&D still has "it".
If "it" is *being the one 800 lb gorilla* then there seems to be quite a deal of reasonable doubt around that.

 

[Fifth Element]

It is pretty simple.
D&D is still a hugely popular game.
However, it has gone from being alone on the mountaintop to sharing the spotlight.

Very difficult to argue with this. Being the leader and being the only are different things.

Edit: Of course, it's another version of D&D that joins D&D on the mountaintop.

 

[Stormonu]

[MENTION=52734]Stormonu[/MENTION], was there something about the fact that the last thread on this topic was forcibly closed, and had quite a few people personally attacking one another, and led to pages of pages of people all arguing something that neither side can ever prove ... that led you to believe starting a NEW thread about it was the right move?

This is post #13 and there are already people above this post throwing insults around. On page 1!

This was not a thread that needed to be started.

If other people cannot keep a civil tongue, that is their problem, not mine.

I find the ebb and flow of amazon's numbers interesting, though without knowing exact number of sales they don't tell a whole lot (about all they tell me is who is more interested in what in the last hour).

I still buy the occassional WotC product - mostly tiles thes days and most recently MV for the counters and map(s), as well as Wrath. I think, like most everybody else, I want to see them put out products I like. And to me, it looks like a lot of folks want Heroes of Shadow, and that is a good thing.

I mean, compare it to what a copy of the late [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Survival-Dragons-Fantasy-Roleplaying/dp/0786947306/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1302270317&sr=8-1"]Dungeon Survival Guide[/ame] goes for. Not everything WotC puts out is going to be an automatic winner.

 

[Falstaff]

This could very well be part of WotC's strategy. By limiting the number of physical products, maybe they believe that a larger proportion of their market will buy each specific product?

Didn't work on me.

 

[Fifth Element]

Didn't work on me.

Hey, me neither! But we're not the entire market in this hypothesis are we?

 

[BryonD]

Very difficult to argue with this. Being the leader and being the only are different things.

Absolutely. D&D used to be "the only". The one time that WoD showed parity was considered a major development. And that was a fleeting thing.

But this is all that has ever been argued.

The market is now split.

Edit: Of course, it's another version of D&D that joins D&D on the mountaintop.

Meh. Brand name is a huge part of this.

 

[Argyle King]

As others have said, it's no surprise that D&D is doing well. WoTC is (as far as I can tell) the company which has the most resources.

However, what I think is surprising some of the community is that D&D isn't nearly as far ahead of the competition as you'd think they would be considering the differences in effort, funds, resources, and etc.

It's kind of like when the Yankees lose the world series (or don't make it.) You look at how much they spend and all of the hype and then scratch your head at how they could lose to teams who spend nowhere near the same amount. Overall the Yankees are still a very successful team; I would never say they were terrible in any given season; however, you'd think they would more regularly perform better than they do.

Honestly though, I feel it's a good thing if WoTC slips a little. There are a lot of great games out there which aren't known by the rpg community. I think it's good for the hobby and the community for people to become more aware that there's more than one brand. Rolling a d20 isn't the only way to slay a dragon.

 

[Fifth Element]

Meh. Brand name is a huge part of this.

In some sense, sure. But it's noteworthy that Pathfinder is not a new RPG by itself, and had a built-in market in the form of 3E players. If WotC had continued publishing 3E along with 4E, I'm sure the market would be just as split, but WotC would still be alone on the mountaintop since it would have both games.

 

[Umbran]

This was not a thread that needed to be started.

I find I have to agree.

What, exactly, is this community going to get out of yet another thread about Amazon sales rankings, other than more animosity?

If someone has a really good argument that this is going to be anything other than a breeding pit for anger, PM me or another mod. Until that point, I'm going to close this as a bad idea.