D&D 5E The Printers Can't Handle WotC's One D&D Print Runs!

One of the reasons why the three new core rulebooks next year will not be released together is because D&D is such a juggernaut that the printers can't actually handle the size of the print runs!

Jeremy Crawford told Polygon "Our print runs are pretty darn big and printers are telling us you can’t give us these three books at the same time.” And Chris Perkins added that "The print runs we’re talking about are massive. That’s been not only true of the core books, but also Tasha’s Cauldron. It’s what we call a high-end problem."

 

[Reef]

A message in response to me can reasonably be presumed to have to do with me. The "It's not all about you" drum people keep banging on to silence dissent doesn't apply to direct responses.

I don't think people are trying to silence dissent. There's been a ton of (healthy, I think) dissent in the play test topics for example. It's more the rote responses that keep coming up along the lines of "The latest 5e stuff sucks, and I'm not going to buy it anyway" in every topic. That sort of criticism isn't spawning discussion or is helpful to either party in the conversation.

At some point, one needs to accept that the current game is no longer their cup of tea and move on to versions or other games that are. Isn't life too short to constantly gripe about something that isn't going to change? And realistically, there's no way D&D is going to shift course based on the constant griping of a handful of posters on an internet forum when their market research clearly shows they are on the right track to where they want to be.

 

[Velderan]

In the EN World Crowdingfunding report the creator of the Mystery Flesh Pit says part of the reason that they are not doing a 5e conversion as the lead of the product is that they would have trouble getting product printed at that demand.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-crowdfunding-news-%E2%80%93-mystery-flesh-pit-national-park-knave-pacific-rim-kong-and-more.697877/

To be fair, it isn't just because it's 5e that they're not printing books. The Cypher system rewards for that KS are all POD also (unless I'm missing something), due to the reasons they gave explaining why they're just doing the 5e material as a stretch goal, which as you noted is them not wanting to deal with the printing mess that exists in 2023 along with backer's general dissatisfaction with inconsistent wait times and logistical challenges of needing a warehouse to store the books while they handle fulfillment. By now, I think most rational people should be pretty understanding on delays for projects but I can certainly understand them not wanting to deal with the issue.

 

[Parmandur]

The 3e FRCS would actually be worth that, there is not a single 5e book that is half as good, except maybe Eberron Rising From the Last War, which is 2 thirds as good. If you could some how add the 3.5e setting expansion to the FRCG no 5e book would be even a third as good, except ERftLW which would be half as good.

5e does a medioce to outright naughty word job of settings, except for ERftLW or maybe Wildemount. The SCAG isn't bad, its just vastly too small.

And many of the rest are good enough to torment you with what they could have been had certain things had been done different.

It was a pretty good book: but the point is, they charged more for that book than they do for any 5E hardcover.

 

[Parmandur]

We aren't in the MM phase of the RD&D playtest yet, so that flavour thing, and should, happen given its where WotC is weakest.

They never did for Volo's, Tome of Foes, or Mosnters of the Multiverse. I expect we may get some rules tests for the MM, but probably not much.

 

[Michael Linke]

A message in response to me can reasonably be presumed to have to do with me. The "It's not all about you" drum people keep banging on to silence dissent doesn't apply to direct responses.

Until enworld unlocks the option for ME to delete YOUR posts, dissent is literally not being silenced. Your post could have been quoted because someone wanted to engage with you directly, or just because it echoed a sentiment someone wanted to respond to.

You’re free to respond however you like to anything at all, i’m just saying it’s possible that someone didn’t mean to argue directly with you just because they quoted you.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Until enworld unlocks the option for ME to delete YOUR posts, dissent is literally not being silenced. Your post could have been quoted because someone wanted to engage with you directly, or just because it echoed a sentiment someone wanted to respond to.

You’re free to respond however you like to anything at all, i’m just saying it’s possible that someone didn’t mean to argue directly with you just because they quoted you.

Sure, and we worked it out yesterday. I didn't bring it up again.

And the point was that the hope from those using this principle in discourse is that future dissent is silenced. Can't do anything about the past.

 

[Michael Linke]

Tell that to many, many companies that Kickstart new products regularly.

They kickstart new products that are “ready to go”? I haven’t encountered that, but I don’t directly browse Kickstarter much.

I’m aware of biggish established hobby companies using kickstarter, but it’s still to fund products that aren’t finalized, certainly not “ready to go”.

 

[Micah Sweet]

They kickstart new products that are “ready to go”? I haven’t encountered that, but I don’t directly browse Kickstarter much.

I’m aware of biggish established hobby companies using kickstarter, but it’s still to fund products that aren’t finalized, certainly not “ready to go”.

I have backed every Level Up Kickstarter, and they all had a pdf ready for download upon the completion of the campaign. Other companies do the same, and those are the ones I support.

 

[Michael Linke]

I have backed every Level Up Kickstarter, and they all had a pdf ready for download upon the completion of the campaign. Other companies do the same, and those are the ones I support.

I guess that’s true in a sense. As I interpret those campaigns, the physical book is the product, and it needs the kickstarter to be realized. I wouldn’t consider the pdf content to be the “product”, but it’s semantic.

If you’re saying you save your money for campaigns where the content is ready to go, and they just need to fund the layout, printing and distribution of physical product, I can understand that, though I still think there are good projects that seek funding even before the content is finished.

Cortex Prime delivered in a reasonable timeframe and had no finalized content until long after the campaign funded.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I guess that’s true in a sense. As I interpret those campaigns, the physical book is the product, and it needs the kickstarter to be realized. I wouldn’t consider the pdf content to be the “product”, but it’s semantic.

If you’re saying you save your money for campaigns where the content is ready to go, and they just need to fund the layout, printing and distribution of physical product, I can understand that, though I still think there are good projects that seek funding even before the content is finished.

Cortex Prime delivered in a reasonable timeframe and had no finalized content until long after the campaign funded.

Such good products are absolutely out there, but I've been burned before so I don't trust it. If it works it will eventually become available through conventional channels, and I can support them then.