Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Game Fundamentals - The Illusion of Accomplishment
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 5158372" data-attributes="member: 20741"><p>Maybe it can. I think the other point to consider is what the consequences are for “chasing gamers from the game” if the positive ego affirming doggie treats are not used. Do you end up with less overall gamers down the road? Even if you don’t – do you end up with less overall sales? </p><p></p><p> You just might. </p><p> </p><p>So does the more gamers “down the road” assessment really matter to a game company’s bottom line? I would argue that from a large company like WotC, they have decided that it is not their focus. Don’t get me wrong, lifestyle gamers are great to have and provide a certain level of guaranteed sales for all products over the course of the game’ product cycle. Lifestyle gamers can be a pain in the ass to deal with in terms of customer service and marketing, but having them LEAVE YOUR GAME hurts your company’s bottom line in a measurable and significant way, especially in the later stages of a game’s product cycle when the Lifestyle Gamer’s market share of overall sales of late stage products increases relative to newcomer purchases. So you do want Lifestyle gamers as part of your market. But to maximize profits, I’m not sure that creating them is part of a game company’s focus.</p><p> </p><p>I would argue that managing a game’s “churn” rate is the most important aspect from a large game manufacturer’s viewpoint. On a macro scale, gamers come and go every hour, of every day of the week, every year of the product's life cycle, without cessation or fail. There is <strong>absolutely nothing you can do to stop it</strong>, as most of the meta-reasons for people leaving the game have little to do with the game itself, and far more to do with: social factors; moving away; girlfriends & wives; children; new jobs; different activities competing for leisure time; and, people simply entering into different stages in their lives. </p><p></p><p>Accordingly, companies like WoC adjudge that the big impacts on the player departure aspect of "churn" are, for the most part, judged to be beyond their reasonable control or any element of their game's design.</p><p> </p><p>And in fairness, I think that’s probably an accurate assessment.</p><p> </p><p>So instead, the wise game company focuses upon that aspect of player churn they CAN control – and that’s player acquisition and persuading the new player to stay in the game long enough to at least purchase the core rule books. Any more purchases than that – including the purchase of game accessories or online subscriptions, is absolute gravy. </p><p> </p><p>Sometimes, you need to accept that the game manufacturer’s view of its bottom line and its best interests do not always coincide with the health of your own gaming group or a preferred play style. When it comes to heavy-handed praise and positive reinforcement for the benefit of acquiring new players and new sales from those new players, I think this is one of those times that our overall interests may diverge somewhat from the game company’s.</p><p></p><p> Great post though!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steel_Wind, post: 5158372, member: 20741"] Maybe it can. I think the other point to consider is what the consequences are for “chasing gamers from the game” if the positive ego affirming doggie treats are not used. Do you end up with less overall gamers down the road? Even if you don’t – do you end up with less overall sales? You just might. So does the more gamers “down the road” assessment really matter to a game company’s bottom line? I would argue that from a large company like WotC, they have decided that it is not their focus. Don’t get me wrong, lifestyle gamers are great to have and provide a certain level of guaranteed sales for all products over the course of the game’ product cycle. Lifestyle gamers can be a pain in the ass to deal with in terms of customer service and marketing, but having them LEAVE YOUR GAME hurts your company’s bottom line in a measurable and significant way, especially in the later stages of a game’s product cycle when the Lifestyle Gamer’s market share of overall sales of late stage products increases relative to newcomer purchases. So you do want Lifestyle gamers as part of your market. But to maximize profits, I’m not sure that creating them is part of a game company’s focus. I would argue that managing a game’s “churn” rate is the most important aspect from a large game manufacturer’s viewpoint. On a macro scale, gamers come and go every hour, of every day of the week, every year of the product's life cycle, without cessation or fail. There is [B]absolutely nothing you can do to stop it[/B], as most of the meta-reasons for people leaving the game have little to do with the game itself, and far more to do with: social factors; moving away; girlfriends & wives; children; new jobs; different activities competing for leisure time; and, people simply entering into different stages in their lives. Accordingly, companies like WoC adjudge that the big impacts on the player departure aspect of "churn" are, for the most part, judged to be beyond their reasonable control or any element of their game's design. And in fairness, I think that’s probably an accurate assessment. So instead, the wise game company focuses upon that aspect of player churn they CAN control – and that’s player acquisition and persuading the new player to stay in the game long enough to at least purchase the core rule books. Any more purchases than that – including the purchase of game accessories or online subscriptions, is absolute gravy. Sometimes, you need to accept that the game manufacturer’s view of its bottom line and its best interests do not always coincide with the health of your own gaming group or a preferred play style. When it comes to heavy-handed praise and positive reinforcement for the benefit of acquiring new players and new sales from those new players, I think this is one of those times that our overall interests may diverge somewhat from the game company’s. Great post though! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Game Fundamentals - The Illusion of Accomplishment
Top