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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="Alzrius" data-source="post: 6765489" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>The debate at hand was with regards to whether or not Kickstarters were directly competing with (and thus harming) brick-and-mortar stores. In regards to store owners "perceiving an impact and reacting to it," that's not really the same thing. Any particular market condition can be an impact, and it stands to reason that any impact would be reacted to. Whether it's a sudden upswing in popularity for a particular product line or the great economic downturn from a few years ago, almost anything is an impact. That's a distinct difference from the specific impact of a new kid on the block selling the same products that you are - not just the same hobby but the exact same products - which is something else again. If the customers don't have interest in buying something at a store because they've given their money to <em>something else</em> online, then that's not quite in the same realm as spending money at store X instead of their local brick-and-mortar retailer.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm uncomfortable with the presumption of listing names and contact information online without explicit permission. I know that business outlets aren't the same as individuals (one could even argue that they'd want to exposure), but it still seems to move a little too close to the direction of doxing for me. I'd prefer that you not do so, and I'm certainly not going to do so myself.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I agree that he gives a lot of information, and opinions. Insofar as Kickstarter goes, I agree that it doesn't factor into his particular sales methodology at all, mostly because he says that he's been burned on some Kickstarters himself, and apparently sponsored one that - after it was created - hasn't sold very well. These are certainly commentaries about the nature of Kickstarter in and of itself, and even with regards to the relationship between retailers and Kickstarter, but doesn't seem to touch on the issue of direct competition.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>To summarize, the first post talks about how publishers who are financing products on Kickstarter should work with retailers after the funding period has closed to get their newly-created book in front of people. The second post focuses on no longer wanting to stock products that were funded via Kickstarter, do to the perception of decreased demand for those products; he also notes (emphasis mine) "<strong>Unlike</strong> the PDF market, which sells a different product, or <strong>the direct sales competitor</strong>, who sells things at the same time as us, the Kickstarter product is sold to customers not only before we can get it, but with added benefits." Leaving aside the semantic use of the word "sold" there, this acknowledges that there isn't a competition for these products, since he couldn't sell them during a Kickstarter drive to begin with. The third post talks about Reaper Miniatures specifically, noting that their withdrawal from the game stores was largely Reaper's choice, and that this hasn't necessarily been bad for Black Diamond Games.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't disagree here, though I'd say that this is (slightly) more expansive than just niches. While some of those Kickstarter products could potentially end up on store shelves after the funding period has completed, the fact that the demand for them will necessarily be much lower than other products would isn't really something that can be helped...especially knowing that there might very well still be demand for them that wouldn't exist had the Kickstarter not funded them in the first place (e.g. demand for a product that isn't made can't be satisfied). As such, it would seem to behoove game stores not to bother with Kickstarter products in the first place, since there's likely to be more demand for non-Kickstarted books. In essence, they're carrying different materials from the get-go.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>More data is always nice, but at the same time there's compelling reasons for various business entities <em>not</em> to release said data, so I doubt we'll ever have anything that approaches hard evidence to the degree that would be required to end this debate once and for all. That's especially true if we try to measure the indirect competition as a metric, since that would mean figuring out what people <em>would</em> have bought if they hadn't spent their money on X, which is virtually impossible to do.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 6765489, member: 8461"] The debate at hand was with regards to whether or not Kickstarters were directly competing with (and thus harming) brick-and-mortar stores. In regards to store owners "perceiving an impact and reacting to it," that's not really the same thing. Any particular market condition can be an impact, and it stands to reason that any impact would be reacted to. Whether it's a sudden upswing in popularity for a particular product line or the great economic downturn from a few years ago, almost anything is an impact. That's a distinct difference from the specific impact of a new kid on the block selling the same products that you are - not just the same hobby but the exact same products - which is something else again. If the customers don't have interest in buying something at a store because they've given their money to [I]something else[/I] online, then that's not quite in the same realm as spending money at store X instead of their local brick-and-mortar retailer. I'm uncomfortable with the presumption of listing names and contact information online without explicit permission. I know that business outlets aren't the same as individuals (one could even argue that they'd want to exposure), but it still seems to move a little too close to the direction of doxing for me. I'd prefer that you not do so, and I'm certainly not going to do so myself. I agree that he gives a lot of information, and opinions. Insofar as Kickstarter goes, I agree that it doesn't factor into his particular sales methodology at all, mostly because he says that he's been burned on some Kickstarters himself, and apparently sponsored one that - after it was created - hasn't sold very well. These are certainly commentaries about the nature of Kickstarter in and of itself, and even with regards to the relationship between retailers and Kickstarter, but doesn't seem to touch on the issue of direct competition. To summarize, the first post talks about how publishers who are financing products on Kickstarter should work with retailers after the funding period has closed to get their newly-created book in front of people. The second post focuses on no longer wanting to stock products that were funded via Kickstarter, do to the perception of decreased demand for those products; he also notes (emphasis mine) "[b]Unlike[/b] the PDF market, which sells a different product, or [b]the direct sales competitor[/b], who sells things at the same time as us, the Kickstarter product is sold to customers not only before we can get it, but with added benefits." Leaving aside the semantic use of the word "sold" there, this acknowledges that there isn't a competition for these products, since he couldn't sell them during a Kickstarter drive to begin with. The third post talks about Reaper Miniatures specifically, noting that their withdrawal from the game stores was largely Reaper's choice, and that this hasn't necessarily been bad for Black Diamond Games. I don't disagree here, though I'd say that this is (slightly) more expansive than just niches. While some of those Kickstarter products could potentially end up on store shelves after the funding period has completed, the fact that the demand for them will necessarily be much lower than other products would isn't really something that can be helped...especially knowing that there might very well still be demand for them that wouldn't exist had the Kickstarter not funded them in the first place (e.g. demand for a product that isn't made can't be satisfied). As such, it would seem to behoove game stores not to bother with Kickstarter products in the first place, since there's likely to be more demand for non-Kickstarted books. In essence, they're carrying different materials from the get-go. More data is always nice, but at the same time there's compelling reasons for various business entities [I]not[/I] to release said data, so I doubt we'll ever have anything that approaches hard evidence to the degree that would be required to end this debate once and for all. That's especially true if we try to measure the indirect competition as a metric, since that would mean figuring out what people [I]would[/I] have bought if they hadn't spent their money on X, which is virtually impossible to do. [/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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