Such Diversity

[Hippy]

I don't think that's the case for modules, or any other RPG product. I think we're too diverse a group with to many sub-demographics. I doubt there will ever, or could ever, be an RPG product published that will have 85% of the ENWorld members say "Holy Crap!!! That's one of the coolest things EVER!"

I disagree to a point. IMHO there are D&D modules that can be considered classic and widely popular i.e. the "Against the Giants series", "Tomb of Horrors", etc. Most D&D gamers I know (and I have been playing since 1978) remember these fondly. Where I do agree is in how these modules were played. I always enjoy hearing player and DM accounts of how their version of the module went. Often if the title was not the same, you would think they were not playinng the same module! But that is great! It shows the infinite number of ways to tell a story and have a great time doing it! The common thread in all these recalled classic module experiences is in essence..."holy crap that was one of the coolest things ever!"

Best Wishes,

Hippy

 

[MichaelSomething]

If you can't find the game you want, your not looking hard enough! Seriously, there are dozens and dozens of games out there waiting to be discovered. There has to be a game that's right for you.

 

[Umbran]

Tha being said, how does a game company develop a product with the goal of high sales in mind? Whats the middle-ground sweet spot in terms of style/approach they try to appeal to?

Ah, you see, there's a basic analogy with the toy business: Cabbage Patch Kids.

Every toy manufacturer wants to make the next Cabbage Patch Kids. But, it has been found that the public is not predictable. You cannot choose to make the next Cabbage Patch Kids. The public will choose which product out there is the next Big Thing, despite the best efforts of the developers and marketers.

Thus, the best way to develop with high sales in mind, to my way of thinking, is to develop without high sales in mind - because there are too many variables that effect sales to be able to predict that. So, develop with quality in mind. Develop with creativity in mind. Be refreshing and interesting.

A game of quality will sell well enough to pay for itself with some profit on its merits. That will buy you a ticket in the Next Big Thing lottery, and then you get to hope.

 

[justanobody]

Tha being said, how does a game company develop a product with the goal of high sales in mind? Whats the middle-ground sweet spot in terms of style/approach they try to appeal to?

Are there others not identified and not satisfied?

We are all just a big pile of mess of bits with no uniformity.

How does a game company go at it to make money? Mix a few hot fads together with something new so it doesn't look like the same old fad, and hope it catches on.

The middle ground would be do not try to make something to get rich off of, or make something that you intend to make all your money off of initial production runs and just little bits later.

Make something that is quality and low cost introduction into it, and then have all those add-ons be where you make back your money. For some reason impulse buying is more power than necessity buying even in hard times, so work with that and within a price range that allows for more people to do that impulse buying.

So do what the customer expects: higher quality, lower price. You will sell more that way.

 

[RFisher]

Every toy manufacturer wants to make the next Cabbage Patch Kids. But, it has been found that the public is not predictable. You cannot choose to make the next Cabbage Patch Kids. The public will choose which product out there is the next Big Thing, despite the best efforts of the developers and marketers.

I think Google had the right idea. Hire smart people and require that they spend 20% of their time working on personal projects.

Unfortunately, I don’t think it translates to the RPG business except—maybe—if you’re Wizards.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I don't drink soda.

I sometimes eat chips though, so I guess there is that...

I am not smarter then the average!

Spoiler

Pah, as if I would believe that! But doesn't everyone believe he's smarter then the average person? Is it natural hybris or are we just underestimating the average person?

 

[JDJblatherings]

S The only thing I think most of us have in common, is that we eat chips and drink soda when playing. That, and we tend to be, on average, smarter than most people.

Don't eat chips while playing, might drink soda and as for being smarter then most people...well, let's say you have not met all the guys in my regular gaming group.

My play group currently contains 2 middle school kids, a concept-artist/animator who works in defense (me actually), an instructional designer, a retired cartographer, a heating and cooling guy and a landscaper who moonlights as a bouncer. Our education is all over the board. We all like fantasy games.

 

[Pseudopsyche]

But the OGL makes it so that people don't have to wait 8 years to find a D&D-like game that appeals to them. Chances are, an RPG ideally suited to them already exists.

Not everyone is as willing to experiment with other systems. We still have threads that ask what edition of D&D best fits a given playing style. Perhaps one benefit of edition change is that over time, more and more playing styles will have their eight years in the sun, receiving the benefit of WotC's development and marketing muscle. Whatever game mechanics they create remain available to the community even after they move on the creating the next edition. In this sense, I agree with Fallen Seraph that I would rather WotC develop a new game once in a while instead of supporting the same one in perpetuity.

 

[el-remmen]

I am not smarter then the average!

Maybe. Maybe not.

I don't think gamers are any more or less intelligent than any other cross-section of people. It is just something we like to think about ourselves.

Two and a half decades of playing in different groups, going to cons, meeting other gamers, participating on (and moderating) gaming messageboards, has demonstrated this to me.

 

[Fifth Element]

I don't drink soda.

Neither do I. But that's probably because what you call soda, around here we call carbonated water or mineral water. It's pretty disgusting by itself.

We drink pop in my neck of the woods.

And we consume a lot of it when we game.

And the Doritos. Bags of them.