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4 Hours w/ RSD - Escapist Bonus Column
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<blockquote data-quote="Cergorach" data-source="post: 7647734" data-attributes="member: 725"><p>Aren't both L5R and Shadowrun in print? Whether they are 'making any money' for their publishers is the whole point of this blog entry/thread. If there was much money in TRPGs, the other two would be in print as well ;-)</p><p></p><p>Imho any business needs to objectively look at if the money that is invested is the best investment they can make. What is wrong with the hobby is that it's customers don't spend enough money on the hobby, but demand top quality. That's of course the consumer's right, but it's the business that actually provides the products. Magic Eight Ball says 'sales poor compared to investment'.</p><p></p><p>And supporting multiple editions is just insane, not doable and totally unprofitable for a property such as D&D. Selling new books to customers is what keeps game companies in business, ideally they would want to sell you each book multiple times. Core books sell best, every expansion sells a little less well, and eventually you've sold all the core books your likely to sell, expansion sales tapper off. Then it is time for a new edition. But new editions are tricky, White Wolf screwed up with their nWoD, WotC screwed up with D&D 4E (or they wouldn't have lost so many customers to Paizo), FFG screwed up with WFRP 3E (imho), even Shadowrun isn't what it used to be (4E). Companies don't need a better game, they need a sellable game that makes a decent profit. Listening to customers on the Internet might work for small publishers who's focus group is on the Internet, but it generally doesn't work for companies who's customers have never been to ENworld and don't read/post on the WotC boards.</p><p></p><p>Companies like dp9 and PP are going to be releasing their own RPGs again (Heavy Gear RPG and Iron Kingdoms RPG), both their core businesses aren't RPGs. Both are back to their own systems after going D20. Hell PP got started as a D20 company before they launched their successful Warmachine. The only reason why there is a 40k RPG series and a WFRP game is because there is a miniatures game. The reason that there still is a D&D brand is imho not because of the TRPG, it's because of the CRPGs and the novels. If I day D&D there will be more folks thinking fondly of Eye of the Beholder, Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights then folks thinking of the TRPG. The same goes for the novels...</p><p></p><p>Just look at what it costs to develop an RPG (line), write, edit, illustrate, print, transport, etc. How many copies would you need to sell to earn back that investment and compensate the hours you've spend working on it. If your used to an IT professional freelancers hourly wage, you need to sell a LOT of copies, and most IT professional freelancers don't have a significant money investment like RPG lines have. If you don't do that, your not working for a business, your working as a hobby. Working as a hobby is fine, but not exactly a stable business and certainly not doable for properties like D&D, 40k, Mechwarrior, etc.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cergorach, post: 7647734, member: 725"] Aren't both L5R and Shadowrun in print? Whether they are 'making any money' for their publishers is the whole point of this blog entry/thread. If there was much money in TRPGs, the other two would be in print as well ;-) Imho any business needs to objectively look at if the money that is invested is the best investment they can make. What is wrong with the hobby is that it's customers don't spend enough money on the hobby, but demand top quality. That's of course the consumer's right, but it's the business that actually provides the products. Magic Eight Ball says 'sales poor compared to investment'. And supporting multiple editions is just insane, not doable and totally unprofitable for a property such as D&D. Selling new books to customers is what keeps game companies in business, ideally they would want to sell you each book multiple times. Core books sell best, every expansion sells a little less well, and eventually you've sold all the core books your likely to sell, expansion sales tapper off. Then it is time for a new edition. But new editions are tricky, White Wolf screwed up with their nWoD, WotC screwed up with D&D 4E (or they wouldn't have lost so many customers to Paizo), FFG screwed up with WFRP 3E (imho), even Shadowrun isn't what it used to be (4E). Companies don't need a better game, they need a sellable game that makes a decent profit. Listening to customers on the Internet might work for small publishers who's focus group is on the Internet, but it generally doesn't work for companies who's customers have never been to ENworld and don't read/post on the WotC boards. Companies like dp9 and PP are going to be releasing their own RPGs again (Heavy Gear RPG and Iron Kingdoms RPG), both their core businesses aren't RPGs. Both are back to their own systems after going D20. Hell PP got started as a D20 company before they launched their successful Warmachine. The only reason why there is a 40k RPG series and a WFRP game is because there is a miniatures game. The reason that there still is a D&D brand is imho not because of the TRPG, it's because of the CRPGs and the novels. If I day D&D there will be more folks thinking fondly of Eye of the Beholder, Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights then folks thinking of the TRPG. The same goes for the novels... Just look at what it costs to develop an RPG (line), write, edit, illustrate, print, transport, etc. How many copies would you need to sell to earn back that investment and compensate the hours you've spend working on it. If your used to an IT professional freelancers hourly wage, you need to sell a LOT of copies, and most IT professional freelancers don't have a significant money investment like RPG lines have. If you don't do that, your not working for a business, your working as a hobby. Working as a hobby is fine, but not exactly a stable business and certainly not doable for properties like D&D, 40k, Mechwarrior, etc. [/QUOTE]
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