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<blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 7297914" data-attributes="member: 12377">You're missing the up-front costs. Each book requires a writing staff, editors, art commissions, layout, playtest coordinators, distribution arrangements, marketing programs...For the PHB, that was all done three years ago. So the &quot;multiplier&quot; grows over time as more PHBs sell without incurring new up-front costs. Maybe it was 0.75x last year, 1x this year, 1.2x next year -- as the up-front-cost gets amortized over time the overall return on investment increases.Supplement sales are generally much more short term. You spend all the up-front costs, then it sells super well for a few months, then it goes back on the shelf and winds up selling a very small fraction of ongoing PHB sales for the rest of time. The only reason to even make supplements is to keep the current player base engaged so that they bring in new players.Now, obviously there is an equilibrium here. I suspect you're right that Wizards could put out more rules supplements to please their existing player base, without alienating new players. But how many more? Go from 1 a year to 2 a year? 3 a year? At what point does it turn into a 3E/4E/PF book treadmill? I can't answer that, because I don't have Hasbro's marketing research arm to consult with. But based on how D&amp;D is making money hand over fist, I'm guessing Wizards has done the math on it, and taken into account more factors than just Xanathar's strong sales.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="77IM, post: 7297914, member: 12377"] You're missing the up-front costs. Each book requires a writing staff, editors, art commissions, layout, playtest coordinators, distribution arrangements, marketing programs... For the PHB, that was all done three years ago. So the "multiplier" grows over time as more PHBs sell without incurring new up-front costs. Maybe it was 0.75x last year, 1x this year, 1.2x next year -- as the up-front-cost gets amortized over time the overall return on investment [I]increases[/I]. Supplement sales are generally much more short term. You spend all the up-front costs, then it sells super well for a few months, then it goes back on the shelf and winds up selling a [I]very small fraction[/I] of ongoing PHB sales for the rest of time. The only reason to even make supplements is to keep the current player base engaged so that they bring in new players. Now, obviously there is an equilibrium here. I suspect you're right that Wizards could put out more rules supplements to please their existing player base, without alienating new players. But how many more? Go from 1 a year to 2 a year? 3 a year? At what point does it turn into a 3E/4E/PF book treadmill? I can't answer that, because I don't have Hasbro's marketing research arm to consult with. But based on how D&D is making money hand over fist, I'm guessing Wizards has done the math on it, and taken into account more factors than just Xanathar's strong sales. [/QUOTE]

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