Essentials line: Attempt to tap into "Lapsed Players" - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Essentials line: Attempt to tap into "Lapsed Players"

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Style75
Mar 31, 2010 5:16:04 I just saw the transcript of an interesting WoTC info session. The most interesting part was their research on the current number of people playing D&D. They list 1.5 million active players (pretty good in my opinion, for a hobby game) and 24 million "Lapsed Players". I'm not sure what they mean by a lapsed player, but I think it means someone who has played D&D sometime in the past but is not playing now.

They then went on to say that the Essentials line is an attempt to reach out to those lapsed players and bring them back as well as recruit totally new players, especially youth. The decision was made to keep the cost as low as possible, thus paperbacks, and provide a simplified version of the core ruleset. It was made obvious that this was not an attempt to replace the 4th ed. rules with 4.5. In fact, they even said "No rules changes, this is still 4.0 "

Thoughts:
- I'm glad they're reaching out to a bigger audience. More players = more products

- I'm worried that they're worried enough to have to do this. I get the sense that there's fear at the top of WoTC that their player base is shrinking. That is very bad for D&D.

- I'm glad that they've identified the trend and are doing something about it. TSR did the same thing back in the early 80's with the original red box and it bought them another 10 years.

- Lets hope WoTC doesn't then repeat what TSR did with their expanded player base: Sub-par product glut.

- I'm hopeful for the future of D&D. Sadly, a lot of it simply depends on the health of the economy. Hasbro/WoTC is a business and will make business decisions.
#2
mellored
Mar 31, 2010 12:29:03 I don't think WoTC "fears" anything. They just want to expand the player base as any sane buisness would.

1.5 million people is good, but if they can get even 1% of the 24 million, it's worth the time to make the essentials line.

The rest of us are just going to have a slow few months.
#3
Johnny_Angel
Mar 31, 2010 14:55:40 I don't think there is any fear that D&D is on the verge of collapse. However, it wouldn't surprise me if the company has been getting smaller returns on their newer products because that has been the trend in the local stores here; I was somewhat surprised when the PHB 3 Game Day had to be cancelled due to not enough people showing up to play.

As for '4.5' I'd argue that when/if PHB5 is released we will have '4.5.' Each new round of books has changed the rules while still remaining (mostly) compatible with the earlier content - which is pretty much exactly what 3.5 did in relation to 3.0.

I suspect that D&D is healthy, but probably not nearly as healthy as it was expected to be by this point in time. I'll also take a guess and say that products produced by other companies are becoming healthier than expected.

I'm basing most of this on what I've seen as the local buying trends and playing trends of gamers here. I'm also basing some of it on games I've been asked to run recently; I was surprised when I found myself needing to dust of some of my old books.
#4
thax
Apr 04, 2010 21:47:02 There will not be a 4.5 change. If this edition ever gets to the point that 3.0 did (doubtful if it ever could get that broken) then it will go to the next edition, not a half lite change, a 2nd edition as it were.
#5
Shadowsire
Apr 04, 2010 23:02:43
As for '4.5' I'd argue that when/if PHB5 is released we will have '4.5.' Each new round of books has changed the rules while still remaining (mostly) compatible with the earlier content - which is pretty much exactly what 3.5 did in relation to 3.0.

This is not my understanding of the situations. No 4th edition books have changed the basic rules; only updates have done that. A few books reprint some of the updates that have already changed the rules, but that's not the same thing. Wizards could release 15 PHs and that still wouldn't mean we have 4.1, let alone 4.5. In addition, I thought that 3.5 was out of the blue and sudden and and mainly included changes that had not shown up gradually in previous books. I could be mistaken about that latter point, though.
#6
strand0
Apr 05, 2010 20:14:11
As for '4.5' I'd argue that when/if PHB5 is released we will have '4.5.' Each new round of books has changed the rules while still remaining (mostly) compatible with the earlier content - which is pretty much exactly what 3.5 did in relation to 3.0.

This is not my understanding of the situations. No 4th edition books have changed the basic rules; only updates have done that. A few books reprint some of the updates that have already changed the rules, but that's not the same thing. Wizards could release 15 PHs and that still wouldn't mean we have 4.1, let alone 4.5. In addition, I thought that 3.5 was out of the blue and sudden and and mainly included changes that had not shown up gradually in previous books. I could be mistaken about that latter point, though.

The Player Handbook 2 changes the rules for Stealth! Complete change IIRC.

#7
thax
Apr 05, 2010 20:26:41 Ahem...

They printed the changes for stealth that had already been errated.
#8
strand0
Apr 05, 2010 20:53:01
Ahem...

They printed the changes for stealth that had already been errated.

So, 4.1?

Edit 7:08 : E-D&D will be 4.1 IMO
#9
thax
Apr 05, 2010 20:57:30 *Sigh*

Do you even know what the changes are between 3.0 and 3.5?

This new edition isn't even close to that big of a change. The design is such that there never will be.
#10
celticmutt
Apr 06, 2010 0:34:08 Hell must have frozen over, because I agree with everything thaX has (so far) said in this thread.

I feel dirty now ....
#11
strand0
Apr 06, 2010 1:38:01
*Sigh*

Do you even know what the changes are between 3.0 and 3.5?

This new edition isn't even close to that big of a change. The design is such that there never will be.

Do you know the difference between a .5 and a .1?
That was how I was indicating that I consider it a small (but not insignificant) change.

I never said that Essential was as "big a change". That was all you and OP.
#12
The_Jester
Apr 06, 2010 8:00:49 They're pushing for DDE to be the jumping-on point. As has been said before, it's hard for new players to walk into a store and see 30 D&D books and wonder how to get into the game. Having a "start here" book helps.
And making it a box can have it sold as a "kit" and make its way into other box stores (WalMart for example). It's essentially a new starting box.

Of course, they're also making 5+ expansions for the "starter set" so the new player comes into a gaming store and sees 36 D&D products or a non-gaming store and *just* sees a half-dozen.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Style75 Mar 31, 2010 5:16:04	I just saw the transcript of an interesting WoTC info session. The most interesting part was their research on the current number of people playing D&D. They list 1.5 million active players (pretty good in my opinion, for a hobby game) and 24 million "Lapsed Players". I'm not sure what they mean by a lapsed player, but I think it means someone who has played D&D sometime in the past but is not playing now. They then went on to say that the Essentials line is an attempt to reach out to those lapsed players and bring them back as well as recruit totally new players, especially youth. The decision was made to keep the cost as low as possible, thus paperbacks, and provide a simplified version of the core ruleset. It was made obvious that this was not an attempt to replace the 4th ed. rules with 4.5. In fact, they even said "No rules changes, this is still 4.0 " Thoughts: - I'm glad they're reaching out to a bigger audience. More players = more products - I'm worried that they're worried enough to have to do this. I get the sense that there's fear at the top of WoTC that their player base is shrinking. That is very bad for D&D. - I'm glad that they've identified the trend and are doing something about it. TSR did the same thing back in the early 80's with the original red box and it bought them another 10 years. - Lets hope WoTC doesn't then repeat what TSR did with their expanded player base: Sub-par product glut. - I'm hopeful for the future of D&D. Sadly, a lot of it simply depends on the health of the economy. Hasbro/WoTC is a business and will make business decisions.
#2 mellored Mar 31, 2010 12:29:03	I don't think WoTC "fears" anything. They just want to expand the player base as any sane buisness would. 1.5 million people is good, but if they can get even 1% of the 24 million, it's worth the time to make the essentials line. The rest of us are just going to have a slow few months.
#3 Johnny_Angel Mar 31, 2010 14:55:40	I don't think there is any fear that D&D is on the verge of collapse. However, it wouldn't surprise me if the company has been getting smaller returns on their newer products because that has been the trend in the local stores here; I was somewhat surprised when the PHB 3 Game Day had to be cancelled due to not enough people showing up to play. As for '4.5' I'd argue that when/if PHB5 is released we will have '4.5.' Each new round of books has changed the rules while still remaining (mostly) compatible with the earlier content - which is pretty much exactly what 3.5 did in relation to 3.0. I suspect that D&D is healthy, but probably not nearly as healthy as it was expected to be by this point in time. I'll also take a guess and say that products produced by other companies are becoming healthier than expected. I'm basing most of this on what I've seen as the local buying trends and playing trends of gamers here. I'm also basing some of it on games I've been asked to run recently; I was surprised when I found myself needing to dust of some of my old books.
#4 thax Apr 04, 2010 21:47:02	There will not be a 4.5 change. If this edition ever gets to the point that 3.0 did (doubtful if it ever could get that broken) then it will go to the next edition, not a half lite change, a 2nd edition as it were.
#5 Shadowsire Apr 04, 2010 23:02:43	As for '4.5' I'd argue that when/if PHB5 is released we will have '4.5.' Each new round of books has changed the rules while still remaining (mostly) compatible with the earlier content - which is pretty much exactly what 3.5 did in relation to 3.0. This is not my understanding of the situations. No 4th edition books have changed the basic rules; only updates have done that. A few books reprint some of the updates that have already changed the rules, but that's not the same thing. Wizards could release 15 PHs and that still wouldn't mean we have 4.1, let alone 4.5. In addition, I thought that 3.5 was out of the blue and sudden and and mainly included changes that had not shown up gradually in previous books. I could be mistaken about that latter point, though.
#6 strand0 Apr 05, 2010 20:14:11	As for '4.5' I'd argue that when/if PHB5 is released we will have '4.5.' Each new round of books has changed the rules while still remaining (mostly) compatible with the earlier content - which is pretty much exactly what 3.5 did in relation to 3.0. This is not my understanding of the situations. No 4th edition books have changed the basic rules; only updates have done that. A few books reprint some of the updates that have already changed the rules, but that's not the same thing. Wizards could release 15 PHs and that still wouldn't mean we have 4.1, let alone 4.5. In addition, I thought that 3.5 was out of the blue and sudden and and mainly included changes that had not shown up gradually in previous books. I could be mistaken about that latter point, though. The Player Handbook 2 changes the rules for Stealth! Complete change IIRC.
#7 thax Apr 05, 2010 20:26:41	Ahem... They printed the changes for stealth that had already been errated.
#8 strand0 Apr 05, 2010 20:53:01	Ahem... They printed the changes for stealth that had already been errated. So, 4.1? Edit 7:08 : E-D&D will be 4.1 IMO
#9 thax Apr 05, 2010 20:57:30	Sigh Do you even know what the changes are between 3.0 and 3.5? This new edition isn't even close to that big of a change. The design is such that there never will be.
#10 celticmutt Apr 06, 2010 0:34:08	Hell must have frozen over, because I agree with everything thaX has (so far) said in this thread. I feel dirty now ....
#11 strand0 Apr 06, 2010 1:38:01	Sigh Do you even know what the changes are between 3.0 and 3.5? This new edition isn't even close to that big of a change. The design is such that there never will be. Do you know the difference between a .5 and a .1? That was how I was indicating that I consider it a small (but not insignificant) change. I never said that Essential was as "big a change". That was all you and OP.
#12 The_Jester Apr 06, 2010 8:00:49	They're pushing for DDE to be the jumping-on point. As has been said before, it's hard for new players to walk into a store and see 30 D&D books and wonder how to get into the game. Having a "start here" book helps. And making it a box can have it sold as a "kit" and make its way into other box stores (WalMart for example). It's essentially a new starting box. Of course, they're also making 5+ expansions for the "starter set" so the new player comes into a gaming store and sees 36 D&D products or a non-gaming store and just sees a half-dozen.