Is it me or is this winter sale and event just bad? Really old content on sale. No freebies like the free stuff they did last year. Seems like they just didnt do anything good for this one.
Just my opinion, but yes. I agree with you. Why not put everything on sale and let the customers decide what they want to buy. They are much more likely to spend more money that way. They are missing out on so many potential sales. Especially if the players already own the things that are on sale.
What I find frustrating is the stress related to trying to take advantage of these sales. The Black Friday offerings included a bundle including the physical editions of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything & Xanthar's Guide to Everything. I wanted these, but held off because I want the bundles, not just the physical (or just the digital) editions. I almost purchased this, thinking WoTC might offer the digital editions on Cyber Monday, but I passed and they did not.
But the digital bundle is now being offered with the Winter Sale. Should I buy it, and wait another year in hopes the physical bundle might be offered again? I am inclined to pass.
--Nimglin & Kurrelguyre were my main AD&D characters from the late 1970's/early '80's --I resumed playing AD&D in 2015 (and continue to do so) --I began playing D&D 5e in 2025
Just my opinion, but yes. I agree with you. Why not put everything on sale and let the customers decide what they want to buy. They are much more likely to spend more money that way. They are missing out on so many potential sales. Especially if the players already own the things that are on sale.
You're thinking about this like a customer..... you need to stop right now. Putting things on discount sale for something you can only sell once is lost profits. So you gotta squeeze it by making the normal price look better by increasing prices on something else. And this market is way more finite then video games, which can manufacture demand for consumables and cyclical upgrades. And now theres a new Exec coming to WotC, in another attempt to fix the revenue generating potential of its brands. Della Bitta (sp?) is ex-blizzard and gonna be in charge of video games...... so its not hard to guess where the money and attention is being shifted to. Ohlen, the creative lead of Exodus, is moving out of video games into the TTRPG side of the house; but it doesn't look like he wants to, or is going to try and work on the DnD franchise
With all that in mind, I'm wagering a guess everything not already in the pipe line is on hold while leadership decides on a new strategy. Big discounts and freebies are usually part of a larger strategy to drive sales in other areas. With them working on the backend, I'm wondering if there was a plan in place to monetize under the new structure.
2 of the D&D books are 25% off. A few supplements are 20% off. There's a couple of decent ones in there this time, at least. Nothing I'm picking up, but still.
WOTC need to think like customers if they actually want to increase sales. I'm happy to spend the money if I see sales. I'm also quite content keeping my money otherwise. I'm sure I'm not the only one. From my point of view, they're losing potential sales. I don't need to buy anything, as I have friends sharing it with me. But sometimes this website doesn't work properly and I need the DM to add or change things for me from their end. Which can be a hassle. So, I figured I would buy some of the stuff myself, to make sure it works properly. But again, I definitely DON'T NEED to spend any money or buy anything. And I won't when it's a hassle to do so, or it's not on sale. Again, I think they're losing money.
Also, there is a documentary on Netflix about how Amazon executives wanted to streamline the process to make buying something only take one single click. Make it as easy as possible for customers to buy things. WOTC could learn a thing or two from this concept!! As a customer outside the US, my purchase at the beginning of December was a nightmare, that I'm still dealing with via emails back and forth with the support team. I can't justify ever buying physical books from them again. Nor will I ever recommend it to any friends.
Is it me or is this winter sale and event just bad? Really old content on sale. No freebies like the free stuff they did last year. Seems like they just didnt do anything good for this one.
Just my opinion, but yes. I agree with you. Why not put everything on sale and let the customers decide what they want to buy. They are much more likely to spend more money that way. They are missing out on so many potential sales. Especially if the players already own the things that are on sale.
The Black Friday sale was massively underwhelming too. I guess they've just decided not to do decent sales
What I find frustrating is the stress related to trying to take advantage of these sales. The Black Friday offerings included a bundle including the physical editions of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything & Xanthar's Guide to Everything. I wanted these, but held off because I want the bundles, not just the physical (or just the digital) editions. I almost purchased this, thinking WoTC might offer the digital editions on Cyber Monday, but I passed and they did not.
But the digital bundle is now being offered with the Winter Sale. Should I buy it, and wait another year in hopes the physical bundle might be offered again? I am inclined to pass.
I find this to be stressful, frustrating, & sad!
--Nimglin & Kurrelguyre were my main AD&D characters from the late 1970's/early '80's
--I resumed playing AD&D in 2015 (and continue to do so)
--I began playing D&D 5e in 2025
You're thinking about this like a customer..... you need to stop right now. Putting things on discount sale for something you can only sell once is lost profits. So you gotta squeeze it by making the normal price look better by increasing prices on something else. And this market is way more finite then video games, which can manufacture demand for consumables and cyclical upgrades. And now theres a new Exec coming to WotC, in another attempt to fix the revenue generating potential of its brands. Della Bitta (sp?) is ex-blizzard and gonna be in charge of video games...... so its not hard to guess where the money and attention is being shifted to. Ohlen, the creative lead of Exodus, is moving out of video games into the TTRPG side of the house; but it doesn't look like he wants to, or is going to try and work on the DnD franchise
With all that in mind, I'm wagering a guess everything not already in the pipe line is on hold while leadership decides on a new strategy. Big discounts and freebies are usually part of a larger strategy to drive sales in other areas. With them working on the backend, I'm wondering if there was a plan in place to monetize under the new structure.
2 of the D&D books are 25% off. A few supplements are 20% off. There's a couple of decent ones in there this time, at least. Nothing I'm picking up, but still.
WOTC need to think like customers if they actually want to increase sales. I'm happy to spend the money if I see sales. I'm also quite content keeping my money otherwise. I'm sure I'm not the only one. From my point of view, they're losing potential sales. I don't need to buy anything, as I have friends sharing it with me. But sometimes this website doesn't work properly and I need the DM to add or change things for me from their end. Which can be a hassle. So, I figured I would buy some of the stuff myself, to make sure it works properly. But again, I definitely DON'T NEED to spend any money or buy anything. And I won't when it's a hassle to do so, or it's not on sale. Again, I think they're losing money.
Also, there is a documentary on Netflix about how Amazon executives wanted to streamline the process to make buying something only take one single click. Make it as easy as possible for customers to buy things. WOTC could learn a thing or two from this concept!! As a customer outside the US, my purchase at the beginning of December was a nightmare, that I'm still dealing with via emails back and forth with the support team. I can't justify ever buying physical books from them again. Nor will I ever recommend it to any friends.