another rpg industry doomsday article (merged: all 3 "Mishler Rant" threads)

[thecasualoblivion]

This is true. As well as I find it a little ruder to not respond to the man on his blog but instead snark elsewhere.

I snarked him just fine on his blog.

 

[JeffB]

Yikes. More rant.

I really think alot of these BLOGS get drawn along party lines anymore- I notice the OSR crowd in general flocks to posts like James', spewing doom and gloom because the hobby industry is not like it was in (insert fave year from D&D's heyday) When the people who are actually successful in the market today like WOTC, Paizo and Goodman, say they are doing well- they get jumped by all the negative nellies.

More importantly, As an original LBB'er and OSR fan who also totally digs 4E, who do I get pi$$ed off at at now?.. Paizo??? White Wolf?? Which Bandwagon do I jump on?

 

[DaveMage]

I started gaming in 1988.

In the 21 years since then, I've heard every single year that this industry was on the cusp of failure. I don't think the assertion is any truer now than it was 21 years ago.

"This time for sure!" /Bullwinkle

 

[PaulofCthulhu]

Well, here's my plan to save the industry...

1. From here on out, every RPG book must have a "tastefully" scantily clad woman on the cover. Perhaps getting actual pictures of celebrities dressed up in fantasy constumes might help.

2. A certain portion of each book will be dedicated to advertising. Such adverstising would cater to the average gamer, everything from miniatures to deodorant. Coupons could be included.

3. Maybe each book could contain a centerfold of the person on the cover.

4. Along with tips and advice of performing well at table, relationship advice could also be included. "10 ways to tell if that gamer girl is into you!" Or "Only gamer chick at the FLGS? Try these 7 things to WoW them!"

5. Gaming books releases should be monthly (they practically are now anyway).

6. Perhaps the teen demographic could be reached with books that contain articles for them. "Miley Cyrus: D&D or not D&D?" "Parents think you worship Satan? 10 ways to prove them wrong!"

7. All RPG books can repeat the same topic every 2-3 years or so. (Wait minute...they almost do that already...)

You sir, are a marketing genius!

<hastily scribbles cribbed notes>

 

[Saracenus]

And then there is the guy who thinks those young whippersnappers are the future of the hobby:

The Inevitable Future of Tabletop Gaming
The Inevitable Future of Tabletop Gaming | SquareMans

D&D: The Lost Art of Adventure Writing & The Death of the Hobby
D&D: The Lost Art of Adventure Writing & The Death of the Hobby | SquareMans

I honestly don't understand folks who think that because their business model worked yesterday it should always work.

If you cannot adjust to conditions in the market or better yet find new markets your endeavors are doomed to mediocrity or failure.

 

[carmachu]

Part of teh orignial author's problem is that he equates the PDF and hardcover book as having the same value. They arent, and dont. I dont value a PDF the same as a actual book. I dont think anyone does.

 

[ggroy]

Part of teh orignial author's problem is that he equates the PDF and hardcover book as having the same value. They arent, and dont. I dont value a PDF the same as a actual book. I dont think anyone does.

To me, PDFs are worthless other than as an easy way to browse through a book. I don't have a laptop, and I find it annoying to read through PDFs on my desktop computer. I usually just buy the books instead.

 

[seskis281]

Huh.

Well, the thing I find interesting is - why is everyone so easily worked up and pissed off over this?

James posted his own opinions and ideas on his own blog, as he or anyone has the right to do lol. He didn't come here and open this or other thread.. others brought it here.

James has a pretty gloomy vision of the industry (not the hobby, as he says), but also says he hopes he's wrong. The man's entitled to his opinion, and he has experience that gives him a point of view... others have the right to say "I disagree." Hell, he even titles his own blog "ramblings..." I know James and I love the guy - he's one of the best GMs you could ever have - but I don't necessarily agree with every point of view he holds... big deal, that's America heh.... but he says what he thinks...

I am a bit saddened by how Erik Mona came into this so strongly. I've never met him but have always enjoyed his writings and his opinions. I understand an impetus to defend one's company, but all James did was say he didn't like the approach being taken by Paizo on the pdf pricing for the Pathfinder rulebook. Coming back with a bit of namecalling and denegrating James on a personal level strikes me as a bit off... James Mishler's blog and opinion is a threat to the Pathfinder release?

In the end I just have to ask - why do you guys care so much to get so worked up over it?

 

[DaveMage]

Maybe this is a naive thing to say, and even though I love many of them, I really don't think the "hobby" is dependent on 95% of the publishers that currently exist in order to thrive. 1-3 biggies is all that's needed to keep it viable in stores. (Maybe the glut of publishers and systems has even contributed heavily to the problem.)

Taking it a step further, I'd even go so far as to say the hobby really doesn't need *any* new product from publishers at this point for it to go on anyway. RPG Publishers need consumers more than consumers need RPG publishers.

If all publishers shut down tomorrow, the hobby would go on. I would still play. Many would still play. Cons would still go on, though they may certainly get smaller.

 

[ggroy]

D&D: The Lost Art of Adventure Writing & The Death of the Hobby
D&D: The Lost Art of Adventure Writing & The Death of the Hobby | SquareMans

There was a section from this blog post which asserts:

WotC went through a period, mostly concurrent with D&D3, where they tried to offload the burden of adventures, never super profitable, onto third party publishers using the OGL. At least, that’s how it was pitched to the top brass there by Ryan Dancey. If you knew Ryan, though, and paid attention to what he said in other venues, you knew Ryan was really tricking WotC into opening D&D because he didn’t like the idea of D&D’s fate being tied to the success of one company.

In the highlighted text, I wonder how much of this was really Ryan Dancey's true intentions.