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I just don't see why they even bothered with the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.
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<blockquote data-quote="Doctor Futurity" data-source="post: 6765438" data-attributes="member: 10738"><p>I'll mention that I don't have a bone in this fight, and actually wish that most of the content I see on Kickstarters ended up available at the retail level. The stores I've spoken to include four locations in Tucson, AZ and the one location in NM that I frequent regularly. I know the information I have to offer is anecdotal, but it's not a big industry, and the fact of the matter is if store owners are perceiving an impact and reacting to it, then what's driving or affecting the market is the owners themselves, who are basing their decisions on a combination of A. talking to each other, B. possible sales results from a couple tries or efforts at dabbling in stocking kickstarter content, and C. a likely lack of interest exhibited by their customers due to the competition of the online element (i.e. customers indicating lack of interest because they are already backing).</p><p></p><p>If you're serious about this I'd be happy to list store names and contact information...but again, I'm aware this is anecdotal evidence and since I trust that you are representing yourself accurately it sounds like you have a larger store sampling suggesting that Kickstarters are successful for retailers in your area. Maybe you could convince the AZ/NM crowd of the same.....I'd really appreciate it!</p><p></p><p>On Black Diamond: I'll see if I can dig up some specific examples, but I've been reading his blog for years and he's been very opinionated about his take on Kickstarters. I tend to weigh what he says in the retail corner of the market as more reliable because he is running one of the more successful San Francisco area stores and seems to take being a successful owner of a game store very seriously. If you follow his blog and read his sales charts, strategy, and general approach it becomes very clear that Kickstarters do not factor in at all.</p><p></p><p>Here's some links easily generated by googling Black Diamond Games and Kickstarter:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/2012/03/kickstarter-and-retailers.html" target="_blank">http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/2012/03/kickstarter-and-retailers.html</a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-mark-of-kickstarter.html" target="_blank">http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-mark-of-kickstarter.html</a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/2013/05/our-reaper-relationship.html" target="_blank">http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/2013/05/our-reaper-relationship.html</a></p><p></p><p>Now, to play devil's advocate, and emphasize the actual end-point of my original post: I think the real issue with Kickstarter and retailers is that they appeal to two entirely different niches. Retailers collect the interest, often very much "on the surface" of the local game crowd. They need Pathfinder, D&D, Star Wars and a small number of other books for sale on the shelves with high visibility and good returns. Kickstarters specifically work best when the product is something with a lot of hobby interest that may not have a lot of local interest....prestige books and targeted projects which have a lot of potential fans, but not in any sort of cluster that would benefit local retail markets.</p><p></p><p>Again: not trying to convince anyone here of anything, as I already have lots of local evidence from the people I consider relevant to this topic (actual store owners) who are making crucial decisions for their business based on this data. In a perfect world our hobby would have lots of stats and data to support any argument, but we're generally left with vague figures related to online downloads, the ICV2 report which is shaky at best and some occasional factoids from places like Roll20. Not easy to compile accurate stats from any of that. But since the hobby is small enough, talking to retailers locally can at least tell you what their perception of the market is....and it sounds like you're in a much nicer area with a more receptive audience to Kickstarted products than I am.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Doctor Futurity, post: 6765438, member: 10738"] I'll mention that I don't have a bone in this fight, and actually wish that most of the content I see on Kickstarters ended up available at the retail level. The stores I've spoken to include four locations in Tucson, AZ and the one location in NM that I frequent regularly. I know the information I have to offer is anecdotal, but it's not a big industry, and the fact of the matter is if store owners are perceiving an impact and reacting to it, then what's driving or affecting the market is the owners themselves, who are basing their decisions on a combination of A. talking to each other, B. possible sales results from a couple tries or efforts at dabbling in stocking kickstarter content, and C. a likely lack of interest exhibited by their customers due to the competition of the online element (i.e. customers indicating lack of interest because they are already backing). If you're serious about this I'd be happy to list store names and contact information...but again, I'm aware this is anecdotal evidence and since I trust that you are representing yourself accurately it sounds like you have a larger store sampling suggesting that Kickstarters are successful for retailers in your area. Maybe you could convince the AZ/NM crowd of the same.....I'd really appreciate it! On Black Diamond: I'll see if I can dig up some specific examples, but I've been reading his blog for years and he's been very opinionated about his take on Kickstarters. I tend to weigh what he says in the retail corner of the market as more reliable because he is running one of the more successful San Francisco area stores and seems to take being a successful owner of a game store very seriously. If you follow his blog and read his sales charts, strategy, and general approach it becomes very clear that Kickstarters do not factor in at all. Here's some links easily generated by googling Black Diamond Games and Kickstarter: [url]http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/2012/03/kickstarter-and-retailers.html[/url] [url]http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-mark-of-kickstarter.html[/url] [url]http://blackdiamondgames.blogspot.com/2013/05/our-reaper-relationship.html[/url] Now, to play devil's advocate, and emphasize the actual end-point of my original post: I think the real issue with Kickstarter and retailers is that they appeal to two entirely different niches. Retailers collect the interest, often very much "on the surface" of the local game crowd. They need Pathfinder, D&D, Star Wars and a small number of other books for sale on the shelves with high visibility and good returns. Kickstarters specifically work best when the product is something with a lot of hobby interest that may not have a lot of local interest....prestige books and targeted projects which have a lot of potential fans, but not in any sort of cluster that would benefit local retail markets. Again: not trying to convince anyone here of anything, as I already have lots of local evidence from the people I consider relevant to this topic (actual store owners) who are making crucial decisions for their business based on this data. In a perfect world our hobby would have lots of stats and data to support any argument, but we're generally left with vague figures related to online downloads, the ICV2 report which is shaky at best and some occasional factoids from places like Roll20. Not easy to compile accurate stats from any of that. But since the hobby is small enough, talking to retailers locally can at least tell you what their perception of the market is....and it sounds like you're in a much nicer area with a more receptive audience to Kickstarted products than I am. [/QUOTE]
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I just don't see why they even bothered with the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.
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