Where's the numbers?

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Post originally by screenmonkey at 2004-09-10 02:25:48
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i am very curious as to how 3.0 sales compared to 3.5 sales.
No one has provided any facts or sources thereof, so far. Does anyone here have any facts about the comparative sales of the two editions?

Frankly, adjectives don't mean anything - where are the numbers?

Thanks.

Happy Gaming, =)
screenmonkey

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Post originally by NotMousse at 2004-09-15 04:00:21
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Great point, but there is still a bit of a problem with the numbers. While they don't 'lie' numbers can be grouped in such a way as to make it seem completely different from the truth.

Political polls are a prime example of this. On any given day there's a 10 point swing between the most liberal and conservative polls. Then there's the BS questions like 'who would you rather have a beer with'.

But, I'll try and find out what the sales are for each edition, and post any findings.

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Post originally by heuristo at 2004-09-29 14:31:42
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Here's some facts, and also some speculation, about the matter. Dungeons & Dragons "Dungeon Master's Guide" 3.0 Edition is ranked 1,423 in total sales by Amazon.com. The 3.5 Edition is ranked 3,869.

What do these ranks mean in terms of total sales? This thread gives some insight into what these rankings mean in terms of real sales figures: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=13883

Using this information, you can get an estimate of numbers of books sold per day online. D&D 3.0 has averaged 7 books sold a day at Amazon, over its roughly 1000 day lifespan. D&D 3.5 is currently averaging 2.5 books a day and has been selling for roughly 400 days. Total numbers sold online are therefore on the order of 7400 copies for 3.0, and 1000 copies for 3.5.

What about total numbers of these books sold? In 2000, according to the U.S. Census, 14% of all sales of books and magazines were sold online: (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-44.html)

I'd speculate that this is a conservative estimate for gaming books, sold in the year 2004. However if we apply this as a multiplier it suggests

53,000 copies of 3.0 Dungeon Masters Guide (all outlets)
7,000 copies of 3.5 Dungeon Masters Guide (all outlets)

This correlates well with information here:(http://p222.ezboard.com/fokayyourturnfrm11.showMessageRange?start=21&stop=40&topicID=127.topic)
that a good selling product sells 10,000 to 20,000 copies in total.

Now, from facts to speculation to sheer opinion. Given these total numbers I'd conclude that 3.5 sales are a success.

Cheers,
Scott

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Post originally by Tom Pigeon at 2004-09-29 14:41:46
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Hey, that was a clever approach. Good analysis, you're probably about as right as any figure can be without getting the publisher to tell us.