Punch a Publisher - the troll lords

[Inzae]

Troll Lord Games is currently undergoing a MAJOR restructuring. We have actually acquired a business manager to help us sort out our office mess - none of us ever ran a business before, much less a publishing one so we have asked for help. AND got it.

Now, one suggestion he had on product management and production was the customer base. So he asked for demographics (age, education, access to computer, income, expected expenditures per bracket etc etc etc.) We laughed.

There are none - no really good ones anyway. Just a few spotty pieces here and there. So we gave him what little we could.

He also asked sales info. All we could supply are gross numbers to distributors - we do not know what leaves the shelves and what stays. Very problematic.

Finally he wanted to know feedback. from consumers. Well, there are reviews??? but those are scattered and often tend to offset one another (minus a few constant complaints - editing).

So I am coming to you guys for information, especially as it applys to the latter.

As we are again entering the breach of productio expansion we need to know generally what people want/need.

If any one would care to attack our products, please feel free to do so. Point out the weaknesses - editing, d20 mechanics, layout, art, appearance, plot etc. We also need to know our strengths - if any (LOL)
On the marketing end - what leaves the stores shelves and what does not. what do you think people are looking for. Whos spends the most money - and why for %$#%'s sake don't they go on a canoing trip instead.

i am not here to defend our products or offer retorts to your observations unless requested. just trying to 'get it together.'
davis
davis@trolllord.com

 

[Greatwyrm]

As far as your demographics go, you may just want to contact WotC. I know they did a rather extensive study a year (or two or so) ago. They may be willing to share some of that information, possibly for a fee. This is the U.S. after all--everything is for sale.

For your company strengths and weaknesses, take a good look at the reviews of your products here and elsewhere. With the staff reviews on ENworld, you should get a good idea of what you need to work on. Having pretty much the same people reviewing most of your body of work should provide the info you're looking for there. With basically the same people doing all the reviews, personal bias is evened out across the product lines and you should be able to pick up on more concrete complaints (editing, typeface, artwork, etc.).

With your sales figures, you could probably get a reasonable estimate based on the amount you ship to your distributor and their figures on shipping to retailers and returns from retailers. If you explain the situation to your distributor, they should be fairly cooperative. After all, better estimates on your part means less work for them. It's by no means fool-proof, but it should get you going in the right direction.

I know it looks like all I'm saying is "go ask somebody else", but I'd wager these three places could give you a farily good grip on the information you're looking for. Asking for feedback on a message board or website is good from a customer service standpoint, but for actual statistical purposes, it won't provide a very true sample to work with.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I'll give you some feedback, for what its worth.

Age - 29
Sex - M
Occupation - Freelance Game Designer
Marital Status - married

Product Feedback
I like the look of Codex of Erde and the fact that it features the adventure by E.G.G. I have not had a great opportunity to read through it yet, but what I have looked over seems interesting. I would have preferred that you included a full color foldout map. The cartography looked a little on the simple side, and I don't feel that the colors you chose lended themselves well to grayscale.

Wasn't crazy about the lack of Focus on Gaxmoore.

I chose not to buy The Canting Crew just because I leafed through it and didn't like the color scheme you chose for it, and I had a difficult time locating anything having to do with game mechanics.

I did buy the latest Gygax module you put out, but again, haven't had a great deal of time to look through it. I probably would prefer it to be straight d20 rather than dual stat. By sticking with one system more of the book's content is spent focusing on the adventure rather than just increasing the page count to accomodate more than 1 system.

I don't know if that was helpful or not, but in general, you are a publisher that I have been keeping my eye on.

 

[annadobritt]

Demographics

Age - 41
Gender - F
Occupation - Freelancer Cartographer, Freelancer Editor, Editor RPG Freelancers Guide.

I bought Canting Crew and have only had a chance to glance through it, due to no real spare time for fun stuff at the moment.

I have a copy fo The Hermit, but haven't had a chance to look at that at all.

I prefer buying resource type books - like the eagerly anticipated World Builder Guidebook, also books about individual races or classes. City books are a big hit with me as well, like Bluffside, Freeport and Skraag City of Orcs.

I find these types of books more useful than an adventure.

Just my two coppers worth.