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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 4:33PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Jan 30, 2007
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1. Cheap PDFs for Rules - Yes, your crap will get pirated. Congragulations, you live in the age of the internet. I agree that it sucks that people will steal your stuff. However, if you make your game cheap, or build in some nice features (like, say, free downloads of PDFs with the updated/errata'd rules), how many more people would buy, say, the Players Guide, or the DM guide? I'm willing to bet that if it was a, say, $20 PDF, you're probably going to make a lot more money than just selling $29 books. Anecdotally, I've heard of people that bought the books, but wanted a way to reference the rules without carrying 35+ pounds of paper and cardboard. Really, WotC is the only company I know of who is a contemporary RPG company that isn't embracing PDF sales, despite piracy. Mostly because they do my next hope:
2. Sell/create more game enhancing products - stuff like Dungeon Tiles and Map Packs. Team up with WorldWorks Games for an official D&D Terraclips set. Make products that enhance the game, like DM screens, or critical hit decks, or other stuff that's optional, but can be incorporated into games. Heck, a product I'd like to see is a "Loot Deck", where you have decks of Common, Uncommon, Rare, etc, and for loot, I shuffle the appropriate deck and draw a card... and then, it's expandable (booster pack for Eberron items, or for Shipwreck...). Remember those folders given out for the Gameday (had all those panels for rules)? Sell that from day one, not three years in.
3. No PH3 or AV2... seriously, this kind of wears me out. Provide new classes through DDI, and not through published books. Again, what point is publishing books, if you're going to give me 75% of the content through DDI? Provide it through DDI, and then I get the fluff AND the mechanics, and you don't have to deal with the cost of printing/shipping (i.e. more profit)
Salla, on minions: I typically use them as encounter filler. 'I didn't quite fill out the XP budget, not enough room left for a decent near-level monster ... sprinkle in a few minions'. Kind of like monster styrofoam packing peanuts.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 5:07PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Mar 29, 2012
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I would say produce both. I want books, I don't use a laptop at the table. But I know some that do. I agree with the PH3 being to much. Introduce races and classes in 'modules' like Wilderness Adventure Guide for Players.
Providing map products for the published adventures (either PDF or book) is a great idea! Monster Mini Packs for the adventure too! WorldWorksGames has a great product but would need to lower the price point to make it affordable for DMs. Nobody will want to DM if they are forced to spend 10 times more than the players. They have to spend triple as it is...
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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 6:11PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Jan 30, 2007
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I would say produce both. I want books, I don't use a laptop at the table. But I know some that do. I agree with the PH3 being to much. Introduce races and classes in 'modules' like Wilderness Adventure Guide for Players.
Providing map products for the published adventures (either PDF or book) is a great idea! Monster Mini Packs for the adventure too! WorldWorksGames has a great product but would need to lower the price point to make it affordable for DMs. Nobody will want to DM if they are forced to spend 10 times more than the players. They have to spend triple as it is...
I'll point out that if the DMG+Player's Guide+MM combo was only a $40 pdf, DMs would have much more money for physical stuff...
I'm cool with books, but what I really want to get away from is EXCLUSIVELY only dealing with books.
It sucked having DDI, having the Monster Compendium and the like updated, but not knowing any of the fluff. Essentially, they'd expect me to pay an additional $30 to get the flavor/fluff, which as a DM who steals blatantly for campaigns, is actually what I care about.
But I think my main belief on this is that WotC needs to stop treating as the core rules as the cash cow, and realize that the rules are what get people to buy the OTHER stuff, which might be stuff they can monetize better (loot deck cards is my first thought)
Salla, on minions: I typically use them as encounter filler. 'I didn't quite fill out the XP budget, not enough room left for a decent near-level monster ... sprinkle in a few minions'. Kind of like monster styrofoam packing peanuts.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 6:21PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Mar 29, 2012
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Decks of cards aren't going to make D&D $$$. Magic worked for WotC because it was a card game. But we are talking Hasbro now. They will want action figures and playsets! And that means books and boxsets. I would like to see PDFs as well, but this is bigger than just a hobby to the people behind the product so I don't see them putting out products that would hurt them in the long run.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 6:24PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Nov 21, 2012
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In a utopia we don't live in, I'd like to see the core rules as an OGL up front. Sell the PHB, DMG and MM (because I want a real copy of them) and offer the information for free online. Supplements should be the main profit point. Don't charge me to be a Fighter, but if I want a Kensai I'll gladly pay for the Complete Warrior. I'd like to see many wonderful sourcebooks to collect over the next decade like 3rd edition offered, but also simple core rules that anyone can access.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 6:25PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Nov 18, 2008
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I agree with the OP! All the books being put out!!! Stop the madess!!! I have an entire shelf in my library occupied by 4E books alone!
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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 6:25PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jan 30, 2007
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In a utopia we don't live in, I'd like to see the core rules as an OGL up front. Sell the PHB, DMG and MM (because I want a real copy of them) and offer the information for free online. Supplements should be the main profit point. Don't charge me to be a Fighter, but if I want a Kensai I'll gladly pay for the Complete Warrior. I'd like to see many wonderful sourcebooks to collect over the next decade like 3rd edition offered, but also simple core rules that anyone can access.
+1
Salla, on minions: I typically use them as encounter filler. 'I didn't quite fill out the XP budget, not enough room left for a decent near-level monster ... sprinkle in a few minions'. Kind of like monster styrofoam packing peanuts.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 6:30PM
#8
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Date Joined:
Dec 22, 2012
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I have no interest whatsoever in the idea of buying pdfs myself, although I think they should be an option for those who want them. When Dragon magazine quit being a 'real' physical publication, I simply quit getting it. DDI is a poor substitute from my point of view.
As for the rest, I think that ramping up dungeon tiles, collectible cards to enhance gameplay, dm screens/reference cards for rules, and miniatures is important for obvious reasons. Miniatures especially, as I can say that my group spent more money on the official miniatures than any other product in the D&D cannon (until of course, it was decided to pull the plug on the miniatures game tie-in, and later the miniatures themselves).
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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 6:35PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Nov 18, 2004
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1. Cheap PDFs for Rules - Yes, your crap will get pirated. Congragulations, you live in the age of the internet. I agree that it sucks that people will steal your stuff. However, if you make your game cheap, or build in some nice features (like, say, free downloads of PDFs with the updated/errata'd rules), how many more people would buy, say, the Players Guide, or the DM guide? I'm willing to bet that if it was a, say, $20 PDF, you're probably going to make a lot more money than just selling $29 books. Anecdotally, I've heard of people that bought the books, but wanted a way to reference the rules without carrying 35+ pounds of paper and cardboard. Really, WotC is the only company I know of who is a contemporary RPG company that isn't embracing PDF sales, despite piracy. Mostly because they do my next hope:
2. Sell/create more game enhancing products - stuff like Dungeon Tiles and Map Packs. Team up with WorldWorks Games for an official D&D Terraclips set. Make products that enhance the game, like DM screens, or critical hit decks, or other stuff that's optional, but can be incorporated into games. Heck, a product I'd like to see is a "Loot Deck", where you have decks of Common, Uncommon, Rare, etc, and for loot, I shuffle the appropriate deck and draw a card... and then, it's expandable (booster pack for Eberron items, or for Shipwreck...). Remember those folders given out for the Gameday (had all those panels for rules)? Sell that from day one, not three years in.
3. No PH3 or AV2... seriously, this kind of wears me out. Provide new classes through DDI, and not through published books. Again, what point is publishing books, if you're going to give me 75% of the content through DDI? Provide it through DDI, and then I get the fluff AND the mechanics, and you don't have to deal with the cost of printing/shipping (i.e. more profit)
I agree with much of what you've said, except the loot deck thing, that'll get flamed to heck by established players and I'm not sure it'd even be useful considering that an edition of D&D should have literally thousands of options between magic items, valueable non-magic items (Think art, or rare tomes), and gems. Personally, I think that whole Mtg type labelling of magic items is going to be a major issue in the coming months as we see the system detailed.
I would add two other things they *really* need to do.
1. More Modules. Modules let people become casual players, modules let time-limited people play, modules introduce people to how to create memorable games and invest them. The greatest fault of the last several editions of D&D has been poor variety of modules.
2. Go out, buy a touch panel monitor, lay it horizontally, and tell a programmer to create an easy to use program that lets a DM create a dungeon and let people use it. Google the youtube D&D projector videos, then think of that on a horizontal touch panel monitor. I'm this || close to doing it myself if I can just find an artist. D&D participation will skyrocket if you add modern visuals to the experience, and the technology is finally here to do it.
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4 months ago ::
Jan 20, 2013 - 6:49PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Aug 16, 2012
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Here's the rub: Hasbro is waaaay, waaaay too big for role playing games as they exist in this day and age. Smaller companies use Print on Demand services, test the waters with crowd funding, tend to have very short print runs on their physical materials, and rely heavily on .pdf sales. This model basically ensures that they won't find themselves sitting on thousands of unsold copies of their first print runs.
Like I said, Hasbro is way too big a company to manage D&D (or any of their properties) at that level.
Now, when it comes to supplemental material... well, let's just say that for every one guy who will buy it, there will be ten who will decline to do so. The Powers Decks and most of the other 4E peripherals sold about as well as can be expected (not well, not well at all), the sales on modules weren't great either, and most of the game stores in my area are still sitting on copies of the initial printing of the 4E core books (and these will never sell, even with the "shelf of shame" discount). These books, like most RPG materials, are like milk, they have a best-before date.
Seriously, one has only to look at the final days of TSR to see what overreaching and poor product research can do to a company. I mean, how do you think WotC acquired the D&D brand in the first place?
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