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<blockquote data-quote="Ruin Explorer" data-source="post: 8898565" data-attributes="member: 18"><p>Not only is that true, but on top of that, 5E is unique among D&D editions in that it really hasn't put out many books a player would ever consider buying.</p><p></p><p>Typically players buy books that have a bunch of player-facing content in them, and don't also have a ton of stuff that's clearly DM-directed. There are only two such books for 5E (apart from the PHB), in 8 years. Xanathar's and Tasha's. It's possible some players would also buy the dragon book, but it was marketed in a very DM-oriented way.</p><p></p><p>This is in huge contrast to 2/3/4E.</p><p></p><p>All of them pumped out "splatbooks" which is what players usually buy. 2E had Handbook after Handbook, just a hose of player-facing content. Then Skills & Powers and all that too, which was player-facing.</p><p></p><p>3E even more so. Endless splatbooks. PrCs being in the mix just made it more extreme!</p><p></p><p>4E had multiple "PHBs" full of player-facing material, class-based splatbooks, and then the Essentials line was also extremely player-friendly - certainly both the Essentials books were bought by my players.</p><p></p><p>Now 5E did recognise something important:</p><p></p><p>If you only sell to the DM, and making far fewer books, your sales become vastly more efficient, in terms of sell-through and real use at the table. But the problem is, that means DMs are even more your main audience than they are in previous editions. So you'd really better not piss them off. And given they also tend to be far more hooked-in to RPG news, far more likely to be interested in 3PP products, and are the only person in the group even remotely reliably capable of moving the group to another game, this sort of thing is EXACTLY what you want to avoid.</p><p></p><p>However, I don't think WotC's current leadership even understands the DM/player distinction, let alone that they've been selling to DMs. I'm sure Winninger did, and Perkins and Crawford do, but Dan Rawson or Cynthia Williams? Unlikely based on this. This reeks of failure to know your audience.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ruin Explorer, post: 8898565, member: 18"] Not only is that true, but on top of that, 5E is unique among D&D editions in that it really hasn't put out many books a player would ever consider buying. Typically players buy books that have a bunch of player-facing content in them, and don't also have a ton of stuff that's clearly DM-directed. There are only two such books for 5E (apart from the PHB), in 8 years. Xanathar's and Tasha's. It's possible some players would also buy the dragon book, but it was marketed in a very DM-oriented way. This is in huge contrast to 2/3/4E. All of them pumped out "splatbooks" which is what players usually buy. 2E had Handbook after Handbook, just a hose of player-facing content. Then Skills & Powers and all that too, which was player-facing. 3E even more so. Endless splatbooks. PrCs being in the mix just made it more extreme! 4E had multiple "PHBs" full of player-facing material, class-based splatbooks, and then the Essentials line was also extremely player-friendly - certainly both the Essentials books were bought by my players. Now 5E did recognise something important: If you only sell to the DM, and making far fewer books, your sales become vastly more efficient, in terms of sell-through and real use at the table. But the problem is, that means DMs are even more your main audience than they are in previous editions. So you'd really better not piss them off. And given they also tend to be far more hooked-in to RPG news, far more likely to be interested in 3PP products, and are the only person in the group even remotely reliably capable of moving the group to another game, this sort of thing is EXACTLY what you want to avoid. However, I don't think WotC's current leadership even understands the DM/player distinction, let alone that they've been selling to DMs. I'm sure Winninger did, and Perkins and Crawford do, but Dan Rawson or Cynthia Williams? Unlikely based on this. This reeks of failure to know your audience. [/QUOTE]
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