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And the Fall 2014 report is out. No surprises; D&D passed Pathfinder to claim the #1 spot.
http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/30955/top-5-roleplaying-games-fall-ho liday-2014
I'm actually surprised that Star Wars and Numenara continue to cling to the chart. It's odd to see the game split evenly between fantasy and sci-fi.
1 Dungeons & Dragons
2 Pathfinder
3 Star Wars
4 Numenara
5 Fate
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Okay, so they made the first step get number one, happened later then I anticipated but that is an artifact of the release calendar and ICv2's periods. So how long will they hold #1. At the current rate of publication I'm still inclined to keep my original estimate of 2-3 periods.
Time to wait and watch.
D&D is in 1st place now.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?423969-ICv2-Fall-Winter-2014-Ho bby-Game-Rankings-D-amp-D-Up-To-1
Ninja'd bythe jester 2 hours agoD&D is in 1st place now.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?423969-ICv2-Fall-Winter-2014-Ho bby-Game-Rankings-D-amp-D-Up-To-1
Touche touche.
No big surprised. Those ranks come froma time the PHB was #1 on Amazon. Now the PBH is around #120, the MM #350 and the DMG #470. The descent with only continue. PoA will mostly be a blimp on the radar of the next 6 months.
On the other hand, the Pathfinder Core Rule Book is the #1 Pathfinder product on Amazon and #3448 overall. Also, the PHB was #106 last time I checked.
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I think D&D taking the top spot was a foregone conclusion. The real question is, can it hold it? My guess is no, especially given the intentionally sparse release schedule, but WotC simply may not care. It seems to me that 5E is more about the D&D brand than it is about RPG book sales. Which is a big part of the reason I find their ongoing, multi-year failure to address e-books so puzzling...but that's another thread.
Does ebooks really show up in the ICv2?
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Yeah, WotC has, mostly thanks to M:tG, a relationship with brick'n'mortar stores that's pretty much pure love and fluffybuns - which is why they don't ever want to do anything that would remotely irk LGSes. Paizo went the opposite direction and decided to g!% d!$n the torpedoes with direct sales, subs and PDFs for everything, resulting in a far less cordial relationship with stores. Time will tell who bet on the right horse.
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Yeah, WotC has, mostly thanks to M:tG, a relationship with brick'n'mortar stores that's pretty much pure love and fluffybuns - which is why they don't ever want to do anything that would remotely irk LGSes. Paizo went the opposite direction and decided to g%@ d#@n the torpedoes with direct sales, subs and PDFs for everything, resulting in a far less cordial relationship with stores. Time will tell who bet on the right horse.
At this point, I would have to say Paizo.
For all that Paizo may not have the close relationship with game stores that WotC does, they still have a decent working relationship with most of them. PFS still brings a lot of people into the actual stores, and their subscriptions are more broken down so that people will often buy books from lines they don't subscribe to from stores. In the end, Paizo may have tensions with brick and mortar game stores, but they do have a working relationship with them despite those tensions. As long as they keep communication channnels open and PFS remains strong, they will likely continue to have that working relationship.
In contrast, WotC has virtually zero internet presence, and that will definitely hurt them going forward. The needs of catering to the Magic crowd limits their ability to expand into what for D&D is a crucial area, as physical books are now just one part of publishing a tabletop RPG. The relationship that WotC has fostered and requires for Magic is going to be a major problem when it comes to supporting the D&D brand, which has already hurt WotC, and will only do so more and more in the future. They are in a tough spot where in order to keep both brands strong, they are going to have to accept that some things are going to have to change across the entire company, not just in the individual brands, making necessary changes much, much harder.
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But is WotC really interested in D&D books in gaming stores? I doubt so, if they were, they would be putting out books at rate they did in 3e/4e times. I believe 5e is The Placeholder Edition, out there merely to keep the "product zero" alive so that WotC can license the hell out of it and have relatively easy income without all the hassle.
Of course, at this point most retailers are overjoyed, because finally they have The Most Popular P'n'p RPG back on their shelves and the publisher isn't trying to work around them. But what will happen in a while, if D&D release schedule is pretty much "2 super adventures per year, zero splatbooks"?
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Works for me, given that the "placeholder edition", as you feel the need to denigrate it, is better than any edition of D&D to come out since the '90s ended (or any derivatives of those editions).
I don't think placeholder is a particularly denigrating term. It's not referencing the quality of the edition, simply as Gorbacz noted in the message you responded to, that the edition has very little planned supporting books and adventures.
If it is a placeholder, it's a daggum shame. It's one of the finer editions of the game, and, by my reckoning, superior by far to the old AD&D stuff or the 4E stuff, mechanically.*
My problem with WotC is their lack of pdf options, their general apparent treatment of fans and fan-sites** (which may have merit, but a merit that is very hard to see on my end) means that it's becoming difficult to support an edition from my end.
It feels like a placeholder, and it feels like a placeholder for the purpose of having a brand to licence, and that sucks, because it could be great - the basic mechanical chassis is, as is some of the presentation and style.
** Yes, I understand the arguments. The fact that their actions have actively disincentive me from purchasing their current or past stuff means that not only did they do things that resulted in the opposite of their intent of those action, but they did something that cost them business that I wanted to give them. Perhaps it will drive some to purchase more of their current stuff. I, at least, was purchasing older materials through legal venues. Now, not so much.
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When it comes to shutting down fan sites, I don't think its merit so much as obligated. The fan site disputes I've seen have included unauthorised and unlicensed use of "D&D" which means, as I understand it, that telling those sites to stop is basically required.
I concede I don't really follow things that closely - perhaps there are fan sites being asked to stop who weren't using IP without a license?
In my mind, the test for wotc in this regard will be how they respond to the various OGL 5E products that are about to come out.
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But is WotC really interested in D&D books in gaming stores? I doubt so, if they were, they would be putting out books at rate they did in 3e/4e times. I believe 5e is The Placeholder Edition, out there merely to keep the "product zero" alive so that WotC can license the hell out of it and have relatively easy income without all the hassle.
Of course, at this point most retailers are overjoyed, because finally they have The Most Popular P'n'p RPG back on their shelves and the publisher isn't trying to work around them. But what will happen in a while, if D&D release schedule is pretty much "2 super adventures per year, zero splatbooks"?
I think this is definitely their plan. The release of 5E has seen a number of non TTRPG products already - the "one story, multiple ways to experience it" is obviously a thing.
With regard to the (disappointing, to me) release schedule for the TTRPG. There have been some licensed D&D releases beyond the books (minis from Wizkids and cards/screens/maps from gale force nine that I know of). Similarly, there's a handful of 5E compatible products coming out via the ogl.
Perhaps these will also make their way into FLGSs eventually - they may be less of a risk if wotc have a slow and steady release schedule.
But is WotC really interested in D&D books in gaming stores? I doubt so, if they were, they would be putting out books at rate they did in 3e/4e times. I believe 5e is The Placeholder Edition, out there merely to keep the "product zero" alive so that WotC can license the hell out of it and have relatively easy income without all the hassle.
Of course, at this point most retailers are overjoyed, because finally they have The Most Popular P'n'p RPG back on their shelves and the publisher isn't trying to work around them. But what will happen in a while, if D&D release schedule is pretty much "2 super adventures per year, zero splatbooks"?
I'm inclined to agree with you, and that plan has problems. That was the plan with 4E as well, and look what came of it. While they can't do much worse than they did with 4E, where they had no success, I have to question how far they are really going to get with the whole reliance on outside licensing, especially when they are showing very little interest in actively supporting their own product for the brand. Also, what happens when those licenses start encroaching on the retailers (which is bound to happen eventually if any outside licenses prove to be more successful than the base game)?
In the end, I just don't see the brand going very far in the hands of WotC/Hasbro. There's so many internal conflicts to overcome that any kind of success is likely to trigger an equally large conflict, meaning that, at best, they maintain their current position while the rest of the industry slowly passes them by. There are very few scenarios available to WotC that don't end up cannabalizing either the core tabletop rpg or Magic, and that is going to cause them major problems going forward. Outside licensing reduces some of them to some degree, but not all of them and none of them completely.
But is WotC really interested in D&D books in gaming stores? I doubt so, if they were, they would be putting out books at rate they did in 3e/4e times. I believe 5e is The Placeholder Edition, out there merely to keep the "product zero" alive so that WotC can license the hell out of it and have relatively easy income without all the hassle.I'm inclined to agree with you, and that plan has problems. That was the plan with 4E as well, and look what came of it.
It really wasnt. In fact, the plan with 4E was pretty much the opposite:
They churned out a ton of books for 4E and simultaneously made it much harder for other companies to work as a licensee. They also tried to provide all the online stuff themselves, rather than outsourcing it. The boardgames and other products were generally produced by Wizards of the Coast themselves. The computer games werent licensed. Plus they continued to produce the miniatures in-house, in contrast to the 5E minis. They focussed on PDF releases rather than printed books.
The 5E strategy has almost nothing in common with the 4E strategy (which seems to have been based on the now thoroughly debunked idea that the public would just buy whatever had D&D on the cover).
But is WotC really interested in D&D books in gaming stores? I doubt so, if they were, they would be putting out books at rate they did in 3e/4e times. I believe 5e is The Placeholder Edition, out there merely to keep the "product zero" alive so that WotC can license the hell out of it and have relatively easy income without all the hassle.I'm inclined to agree with you, and that plan has problems. That was the plan with 4E as well, and look what came of it.It really wasnt. In fact, the plan with 4E was pretty much the opposite:
They churned out a ton of books for 4E and simultaneously made it much harder for other companies to work as a licensee. They also tried to provide all the online stuff themselves, rather than outsourcing it. The boardgames and other products were generally produced by Wizards of the Coast themselves. The computer games werent licensed. Plus they continued to produce the miniatures in-house, in contrast to the 5E minis. They focussed on PDF releases rather than printed books.
The 5E strategy has almost nothing in common with the 4E strategy (which seems to have been based on the now thoroughly debunked idea that the public would just buy whatever had D&D on the cover).
Outside license or inside work, the effect is the same. They were trying to make the tabletop game one small part of the larger brand and failed. Relying on outside licenses instead of doing it in house won't really change the reasons the idea largely fell flat before. Their ability to support a larger D&D brand without alienating the stores that are key to supporting Magic is always going to be limited, and convincing others to support the brand when direct support is as limited as it has been so far for 5E is going to be a challenge.
I guess that while I don't think it's a bad idea, I'm not convinced they have the ability to pull it off. They have had two editions and multiple decades to get something going, and they haven't been able to sustain any kind of success in establishing the larger brand. This new edition, while a good edition, isn't going to help any, as it is very group dependent for house rules, and the lack of any digital resources is going to limit it's usefulness in the bigger plan even further. Any successful license could potentially overshadow the underlying brand, limiting it's usefulness; they already have that problem with Drizzt, where many readers of the novels don't really associate him with any brand other than Drizzt and Salvatore.
I'm not going to say it's impossible, but they will need to do a lot more than put out a solid, but largely placeholder, edition in hopes that investors and outside companies will rush to support a brand that they themselves are putting so little effort into. They don't need another flood of splat books, but they need something more than the very meager output we are seeing from them post core books.
They have had two editions and multiple decades to get something going, and they haven't been able to sustain any kind of success in establishing the larger brand.
I dont know how to respond to a framing of the issues in which the brand of D&D isnt established outside of the minuscule TTRPG market (in which it is also well established).
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D&D is a big brand. Over in US and Canada, at least, D&D is synonymous with an entire hobby. But it's a big brand with a tiny target market, so what WotC is doing that's trying to take the big brand to new markets. That's very sensible, and likely also an indicator that the pnp RPG hobby is shrinking. Over 25 years of playing CCGs, board games, wargames and RPGs I've seen the first three hobbies explode in popularity, while the RPGs have their glory days long gone.
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D&D is a big brand. Over in US and Canada, at least, D&D is synonymous with an entire hobby. But it's a big brand with a tiny target market, so what WotC is doing that's trying to take the big brand to new markets. That's very sensible, and likely also an indicator that the pnp RPG hobby is shrinking. Over 25 years of playing CCGs, board games, wargames and RPGs I've seen the first three hobbies explode in popularity, while the RPGs have their glory days long gone.
I agree. Here (in Australia)
D&D = 'that World of Warcraft game geeks used to play'
Pathfinder = 'an SUV'
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Cool beans, never knew much about Aussie RPG market before :)
Europe is much more varied when it comes to RPGs, as a result no game can claim to be "that LotR game geeks used to play" (well, maybe except DSA in Germany and Warhammer in UK and Poland). Also, it's something like 20% of the whole global p'n'p RPG market, and of course it's all hopelessly splintered, and all those Frenchies, Italians and Spaniards won't ever touch anything not written in their native tongue, and other factors which result in that pretty much everybody, Paizo included, treating EU as a secondary market at best.
Cool beans, never knew much about Aussie RPG market before :)
Full discolusre: neither do I. It's purely anecdotal. Nonetheless, nearly everyone I know when it comes up has some vague memory of the nerds in high school playing D&D but nobody has any idea that there's another RPG one might play.
D&D is a big brand. Over in US and Canada, at least, D&D is synonymous with an entire hobby. But it's a big brand with a tiny target market, so what WotC is doing that's trying to take the big brand to new markets. That's very sensible, and likely also an indicator that the pnp RPG hobby is shrinking. Over 25 years of playing CCGs, board games, wargames and RPGs I've seen the first three hobbies explode in popularity, while the RPGs have their glory days long gone.
The problem that WotC has that Paizo doesn't is that WotC has to figure out how to reconcile the future with the past, not to mention juggle the needs of their other brands. The lack of e-books is a key example of this. In order to make significant progress, they have to find a way to reconcile their current distribution model with brick and mortar stores with the increasing need for having something digital at the same time. I don't mind the basic idea of what they are doing; I just don't see them having the capability to really do much better than they have in the past, which while has seen some successes has seen as many flops that limit the effectiveness of the successes.
Their core goal remains the same it has been the entire time they have owned the brand, which is to somehow tie all the different IPs and products out there right now together into something that would be recognizable as a single, easily identified brand to someone whose never heard of them before. The fact that they are still having to push the same basic goal two editions after acquiring the brand is not helpful to them. 5E's successful launch certainly helped, but the collapse of the deal for an online program hurt them, as will a limited amount of direct support. They aren't going backwards anymore, but going forward is still going to be a major challenge for them. They still have a lot of challenges that they created for themselves.
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On the two occasions that I've played it, I found D&D 5E to be a great game. But until WotC sells PDFs and offers reasonable licensing (which is the gate-keeper for all kinds of support), the quality of the game itself is beside the point -- it simply doesn't fulfill my requirements.
Thankfully, though it may be painful to watch WotC torpedo ANOTHER edition of D&D, the industry -- at least in some form -- will survive. The economics of e-books all but guarantees that much.
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On the two occasions that I've played it, I found D&D 5E to be a good -- no, great -- game. But until WotC sells PDFs and offers reasonable licensing (which is the gate-keeper for all kinds of support), the quality of the game itself is beside the point -- it simply isn't a realistic option for me.
Thankfully, though it will be personally painful to watch WotC torpedo ANOTHER edition of D&D, the industry will survive. The economics of e-books all but guarantees that much.
Do you think you're representative of the entire market, though?
I understand that "no PDF = no buy in" for you, but does that necessarily mean that they're doomed to fail (presuming their goal is purely to keep a foot in the door, not to dominate the TTRPG market)?
Works for me, given that the "placeholder edition", as you feel the need to denigrate it, is better than any edition of D&D to come out since the '90s ended (or any derivatives of those editions).
That's an opinion, and one I disagree with entirely. D&D next IMO is entirely too simplified. While I personally think 2nd Edition D&D was the best, 3.5 was far better than D&D next as well... it is what Pathfinder is based on after all. While I didn't consider 4th edition to be D&D, I did enjoy playing it at lower levels.
D&D next (aka 5th edition, the current D&D) is better than the "Basic set" D&D, where as I recall Elf and Dwarf were classes rather than races. But otherwise I don't see it as being better than any of the other editions.
What has bothered me most is TSR's treating the players of its games like dirt by cancelling thriving ongoing campaigns when they decided to put out a new edition of the game just as the campaigns were maturing into a rich depth of storyline development. They killed the Living City campaign (2nd ed.) and Greyhawk campaign (3.5 ed.) both times when they put out a new edition of rules (that nobody (or few) wanted at the time) to force us all to change to the new system. They did the same with 4th edition (though from what I hear about high-level play, it was a mercy-killing), and I have no doubt that in a few years (once sales slow down) they will decide 5th edition is too simplified, and will release a new edition that has more character options and depth, and summarily terminate the Adventurer's League.
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First of all, thanks for not accusing me of being a liar -- that is, that I sneak off and play 5E because it's just that good.
Yes, that is a thing that happened.
Do you think you're representative of the entire market, though?
The entire market? No. More so every day? Absolutely. I'm already 42, but I'm pretty darn sure the printed book will become a niche item -- if not a museum piece -- within my lifetime. WotC leadership is showing all the signs of clinging to a dead business model until the bitter end.
I understand that "no PDF = no buy in" for you, but does that necessarily mean that they're doomed to fail (presuming their goal is purely to keep a foot in the door, not to dominate the TTRPG market)?
It isn't so much that the lack of PDFs will kill them; it's the "we know best" hubris behind it (and the lack of a licensing process, and the C&Ds, etc.). Any number of people have been asking for a PDF/ebook option for years to no avail. Companies which ignore their customers to that extent do so at their peril. Seriously, taking nothing away from Paizo, the TTRPG market was WotC's to lose in 2008, and lose it they did. Spectacularly.
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On the two occasions that I've played it, I found D&D 5E to be a good -- no, great -- game. But until WotC sells PDFs and offers reasonable licensing (which is the gate-keeper for all kinds of support), the quality of the game itself is beside the point -- it simply isn't a realistic option for me.Thankfully, though it will be personally painful to watch WotC torpedo ANOTHER edition of D&D, the industry will survive. The economics of e-books all but guarantees that much.
Do you think you're representative of the entire market, though?
I understand that "no PDF = no buy in" for you, but does that necessarily mean that they're doomed to fail (presuming their goal is purely to keep a foot in the door, not to dominate the TTRPG market)?
PDFs don't matter that much to me. They are a convenience and there are items that are PDF only but I like my dead tree copies. Adventures are another thing I can do without completely. I do my own. I am on the old side of gaming demographics (56) and I started playing early (1974). So I'm probably not typical of current gamers, but then neither are posters on message boards. I doubt more than a minority of gamers post on the boards anywhere. I suspect most people buy brick and mortar (hobby or book stores) or order through Amazon (or B&N etc.). Without considering the whole consumer base and their buying habits (and we don't have access to that information) a discussion of marketing strategy / success is pretty much hypothetical...
Without considering the whole consumer base and their buying habits (and we don't have access to that information) a discussion of marketing strategy / success is pretty much hypothetical...
This is not hypothetical. This is a sea change in how written content is marketed, sold, and consumed. Not having an e-book option in 2015 is foolish. In 2025, it will be a death sentence. I sincerely hope they wise up, but I've been saying that since the great PDF debacle of 2010.
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Without considering the whole consumer base and their buying habits (and we don't have access to that information) a discussion of marketing strategy / success is pretty much hypothetical...
This is not hypothetical. This is a sea change in how written content is marketed, sold, and consumed. Not having an e-book option in 2015 is foolish. In 2025, it will be a death sentence. I sincerely hope they wise up, but I've been saying that since the great PDF debacle of 2010.
I don't disagree that PDFs / e-book options are increasingly important in the niche market that is TTRPGs, but the degree is questionable. One problem / barrier that TTRPGs have in all their forms is "reading". Having to read them is a problem for many. If you want popular games look at video / computer games. Minimal time reading vs. playing...
I don't disagree that PDFs / e-book options are increasingly important in the niche market that is TTRPGs, but the degree is questionable. One problem / barrier that TTRPGs have in all their forms is "reading". Having to read them is a problem for many. If you want popular games look at video / computer games. Minimal time reading vs. playing...
You are absolutely correct: I can really only speak for myself. Lack of digital support in 5E is a deal-killer for me.
I also happen to believe that the way PDFs were handled in 2009 hurt 4E and generated a lot of ill-will, but I can't prove that. I can say with certainty that it pissed *me* off. :)
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First of all, thanks for not accusing me of being a liar -- that is, that I sneak off and play 5E because it's just that good.
Yes, that is a thing that happened.
:)
Even if I found it useful to impute unspoken motive to others' posts, your well known commitment to "the PDF cause" would be enough to dissuade me.
Do you think you're representative of the entire market, though?The entire market? No. More so every day? Absolutely. I'm already 42, but I'm pretty darn sure the printed book will become a niche item -- if not a museum piece -- within my lifetime. WotC leadership is showing all the signs of clinging to a dead business model until the bitter end.
I understand that "no PDF = no buy in" for you, but does that necessarily mean that they're doomed to fail (presuming their goal is purely to keep a foot in the door, not to dominate the TTRPG market)?It isn't so much that the lack of PDFs will kill them; it's the "we know best" hubris behind it (and the lack of a licensing process, and the C&Ds, etc.). Any number of people have been asking for a PDF/ebook option for years to no avail. Companies which ignore their customers to that extent do so at their peril. Seriously, taking nothing away from Paizo, the TTRPG market was WotC's to lose in 2008, and lose it they did. Spectacularly.
That makes sense - I agree that WotC have effectively conceded the war for TTRPG dominance by abandoning the OGL and an electronic focus. Having said that, I will be interested to see how the "unofficial 5E" products go which are being released through the OGL.
Reading back, I didnt really explain myself terribly well. My query was in the context of Gorbacz's summary above - which I agree with. I think WotC dont really care about "winning ICv2" because that represents gaining the lion's share of a trivial market. As such, I dont see that failing to provide for electronic distribution of the core books is going to "torpedo" this edition, even if it means that a significant number of potential players stick with Pathfinder or other, 21st-century-friendly games.
I think their entire plan rests on selling boardgames, novels, computer games, miniatures, comics, movies, cartoons, television shows, etcetera - I further think that licensing those things is likely to be the modus operandi (barring the ability to leverage some of Hasbro's infrastructure/marketting/supply chain).
Although the fans seem to care deeply, I dont think WotC care very much whether their TTRPG is competitive with other RPG publishers. I think they want to make sure their IP remains 'current' and is generating them some level of profit while they chase the movie/computer game windfall.
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Although the fans seem to care deeply, I dont think WotC care very much whether their TTRPG is competitive with other RPG publishers. I think they want to make sure their IP remains 'current' and is generating them some level of profit while they chase the movie/computer game windfall.
I think you must have it right. Which makes me very sad, but such is life. :)
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I am also in my 40's, having played since the 70's in first edition and lack of PDF is pretty much a deal breaker for me ... I will likely TRY 5E at some point because of the basic PDF that IS available.
This is not to say that I wouldn't also buy the hard copy books. For pathfinder I buy the core books, and most supporting material as PDFs. I just like the searchable and always present aspect of a PDF. To not support PDFs is ludicrous.
If I'm going to sit down and read the book in large chunks I want (in this case) either a true ebook that reformats for the screen, (no-one is doing this yet ... they're ALL behind the times), or a regular book. The typical RPG rule book is a pain to just read as a pdf (too much zooming and moving the page around ... this on a tablet ... )
But most of the time I am not reading the rules for pleasure ... I am referencing multiple sources or quickly looking something up. I want PDFs and something like the PRD. That's crucial to playability.
My understanding is that the PDFs are coming though, the relationship with the prior digital provider just failed (I think that was all discussed earlier in this thread.)
Of course, if they only ever make three books, then there's not much need to reference "multiple sources".
Really though when WILL we see a true ebook from Paizo (or any publisher) ... where the page reformats for the device it's on, elements within the book are linked to other elements (and other books), diagrams and such can be animated to show how AOO's work for instance ...
Start with the PRD that already has the text and links, and go from there.
To stay on topic though, if WoTC introduces PDFs that'd just be a short term boost ... they clearly need on-going new material to maintain their 1st place. If the people that have already bought everything there is to buy have nothing new to buy, those numbers are just going to drop.
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1. The printed book will not become a niche item, much less a museum piece, within your grandchildren lifetime. Almost everyone I know, to include even the most tech savy, prefer to read an actual paper book than any kind of electronic alternative.
2. I'm perfectly fine with 5e having a much slower release schedule that previous editions. So far, all the releases have been extremely high quality. If they don't feel the need to bloat the living hell out of the system, I can only see that as a GOOD thing. Somehow I don't see them rushing error-filled, badly balanced books just to get it out for GenCon. The same can't be said for the #2 publisher on that list.
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Really though when WILL we see a true ebook from Paizo (or any publisher)
There are actually several publishers that offer true-ebooks of at least some of their titles. My iPad currently has epub versions of the OSRIC rulebook, the FATE Core System rulebook, the FATE System Toolkit, the FATE Accelerated rulebook, and most notably the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition rulebook and the Investigator's Guide, and there are quite a few other RPG epubs that I own that I don't have on my iPad.
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I don't disagree that PDFs / e-book options are increasingly important in the niche market that is TTRPGs, but the degree is questionable. One problem / barrier that TTRPGs have in all their forms is "reading". Having to read them is a problem for many. If you want popular games look at video / computer games. Minimal time reading vs. playing...You are absolutely correct: I can really only speak for myself. Lack of digital support in 5E is a deal-killer for me.
I also happen to believe that the way PDFs were handled in 2009 hurt 4E and generated a lot of ill-will, but I can't prove that. I can say with certainty that it pissed *me* off. :)
I have no doubt about you knowing yourself :) Personally I hope they have PDFs (or some reasonable alternative E-book solution) available. They are not a deal breaker for me, but they are a convenience that I'd like to have available. WotC has been quite adept at pissing off it's fans. Hopefully they give that a rest for awhile...
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It would be great if WotC could start providing pdfs of the 5E rule set. I don't have the space right now to buy a set of hardcover books, especially for a game I am not actively playing at the moment.
HOWEVER, I also don't think I represent the typical gamer, and I think a lot of casual groups don't even know there are PDF options, not to mention various grognard groups that probably don't even allow computers at the table. Also, while we can laud Paizo for their PDF options, I should note that Paizo having their own storefront helps alot with this. I will also note that until the recent TOR announcement, Paizo had 0 support for Kindle and similar devices, which had to have been significantly impacting sales of their fiction.
So I think PDFs are important to woo over the gaming crowd, but perhaps not vital to keep the edition going.
As for the release schedule, 5E is a simplified game and I honestly think simplified games work better with slower production schedules. Really the only material that would benefit from a high production cycle are campaign setting books, which given all the settings WotC has are pretty near inexhaustible. Hell, I worry about the Pathfinder production schedule, and that is a complex game. The only real issue I might criticize is the almost complete lack of news regarding what if any rulebooks are coming out this fall. This really feeds the speculation that 5E might be an "abandoned" system.
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It isn't so much that the lack of PDFs will kill them; it's the "we know best" hubris behind it (and the lack of a licensing process, and the C&Ds, etc.). Any number of people have been asking for a PDF/ebook option for years to no avail. Companies which ignore their customers to that extent do so at their peril. Seriously, taking nothing away from Paizo, the TTRPG market was WotC's to lose in 2008, and lose it they did. Spectacularly.
These days If a game doesn't have a PDF electronic version of their books I don't play or support it. It's just that simple for me. Digital real estate is cheaper than physical space and allows me to store and transport more. It allows me to look up rules and other elements of the game quicker and with ease whether i'm at home or at work on a lunch break or waiting for a flight at the airport or sitting on a plane.
I've read actual books on my ipad and phone but to me game books are reference books. I dont usually read them from cover to cover or try to commit them to memory but just use them to find specific information that I need at the time. If a publisher is set on making that difficult or not even a possibility then I cant support them. In this case I wasn't going to be supporting WOTC anyway but the chance that I would have at least picked up a PDF of the player's handbook as a PDF would be good.
The Basic PDF is not a good stand-in for the actual full text in this case. Not for me anyway.
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You know, every time I see this I have to wonder something. Of the games which do have PDFs and some sort of licensing scheme that allows for support, what do you play?
Pathfinder (mostly; owned in PDF) and Savage Worlds (when I can get it; also owned in PDF). I'd also like to try Dungeon World (which I own in PDF), 13th Age (also owned in PDF), FATE (owned in PDF) and Castles and Crusade (which -- spoiler alert -- I own in PDF).
In fact, there is literally no RPG I own or have any desire to play that isn't readily available in (DRM free!) PDF, coupled with liberal fan licensing...except D&D.
Even the RIAA has figured out that offering high-quality DRM free content is the way to go. The @#$@#$ RIAA!
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Pathfinder PDFs do come with DRM. Have you not noticed the watermarks?
Don't get me wrong, I love PDFs. My full RPG library is probably 100 PDFs for every physical book I own (and that's a VERY conservative estimate...I shudder to think how much $$$ I have thrown at DriveThruRPG alone, not to mention Paizo, Chaosium, and Frog God Games). But I don't see the lack of a PDF as a deal-breaker. Maybe that's because I was already playing multiple systems back in the mid-80s when the closest thing to digital books was abusing the hell out of both your books and a copy machine. :P
The issue I see is the virtual lack of any kind of digital presence on WotC's part. Whether it be PDFs, e-books, or something else, they are going to need a lot more than the basic PDF going forward or they are going to lose a lot of their potential audience. Even DDI, for all of its problems, was better than their current status on that front.