What would WotC need to do to win back the disenchanted?

[Reynard]

Why does Aerosmith keep selling their old albums?

"You must spread some XP around..."

 

[Reynard]

For about the same reason game authors don't do concert tours - because listening to music is not very analogous to playing RPGs, so the business issues aren't the same.

Exept authors do do concert tours. they are called conventions. And at least on some level the business issues are the same, because the record company is putting out money to print the old stuff knowing they will bring in more than the printing costs, and not hurt the sales of the current stuff, because people that like Aerosmith like Aerosmith.

Of course, there are differences. Edition incompatibility is a major problem. Editions copete against one another in ways that records by a given band don't. this problem is intentional, of course, so that customers have to buy the same books over and over again. Perhaps it is a mistake. Perhaps D&D would have been better off with a Call of Cthulu like approach instead.

 

[Umbran]

Exept authors do do concert tours.

Oh, really? When Aerosmith does a concert tour, they get on stage and play instruments, doing roughly the same thing live as you buy recorded.

When an game designer does a convention, does he get up on stage and design a game for you? Build a new D&D class on the spot for your amusement?

No, the convention thing is a publicity tour (bands also do publicity appearances without performing), not a concert tour. Different beast.

 

[renau1g]

And another point is that the market for music is huge, the market for D&D is small. If even a small amount of the potential customers buy older Aerosmith albums that's way more people than would be in the tiny subset of RPG gamers who'd buy the older editions.

Also, the printing cost of a cd is far less than the printing cost of a book. Try getting a small print run even at a small print shop and be blown away by the costs. I used to be in procurement and was stupified by costs of a small print run (despite working at one of the largest players in our market segment, the segment was small, therefore, our orders were small). Set-up fees, etc. are very, very costly.

 

[Raven Crowking]

I have been to hear authors' readings. The last one I went to was Guy Kay.

EDIT: I also went to see Stephen King speak about writing when he was last in Toronto. It was quite interesting, and sold out.


RC

 

[renau1g]

I would love to see Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and/or James Wyatt sit down to read us the PHB for 4e ... I love the book, but that may be more boring than watching paint dry.

 

[Diamond Cross]

Ooooooh!

Monopoly and Risk D&D!

 

[ST]

People have hit some fundamental "truths" of marketing in the last few pages.

Selling to teens and young adults is the right move in a capitalist system. You hook them early, get them devoted to spending on your product over their lifetime.

The folks going "well I've been buying older edition stuff since the '70s" sort of proves that point. From the perspective of a capitalist system, those consumers are used-up, and it's time to make new 30-year value propositions with the young and malleable. Losing some older customers to get new, 'fresh' ones is just triage.

If you're older, they don't need you to spend your money. They can go for other parents your age, and spend their money, through their kids. And they don't have to convince those parents of anything. That's just how the numbers break down.

Blame capitalism as it's currently practiced if you don't like it. But the very fact that some of the former consumers feel so strongly about the product sort of shows that it does indeed work. These products people are clamouring to have Wizards sell as PDFs are often available used online; but several people have put Wizards selling them again as something that would validate this relationship they have with the company. But consumers' only relationship with a company is to be exploited, to spend money on product. No company cares about you, personally, or ever did. The feeling that they did was just the result of marketing to your demographic.

 

[ggroy]

People have hit some fundamental "truths" of marketing in the last few pages.

Selling to teens and young adults is the right move in a capitalist system. You hook them early, get them devoted to spending on your product over their lifetime.

The folks going "well I've been buying older edition stuff since the '70s" sort of proves that point. From the perspective of a capitalist system, those consumers are used-up, and it's time to make new 30-year value propositions with the young and malleable. Losing some older customers to get new, 'fresh' ones is just triage.

If you're older, they don't need you to spend your money. They can go for other parents your age, and spend their money, through their kids. And they don't have to convince those parents of anything. That's just how the numbers break down.

Blame capitalism as it's currently practiced if you don't like it. But the very fact that some of the former consumers feel so strongly about the product sort of shows that it does indeed work. These products people are clamouring to have Wizards sell as PDFs are often available used online; but several people have put Wizards selling them again as something that would validate this relationship they have with the company. But consumers' only relationship with a company is to be exploited, to spend money on product. No company cares about you, personally, or ever did. The feeling that they did was just the result of marketing to your demographic.

Would something like this still happen in a communist country and/or a totalitarian state?

 

[Reynard]

Blame capitalism as it's currently practiced if you don't like it. But the very fact that some of the former consumers feel so strongly about the product sort of shows that it does indeed work. These products people are clamouring to have Wizards sell as PDFs are often available used online; but several people have put Wizards selling them again as something that would validate this relationship they have with the company. But consumers' only relationship with a company is to be exploited, to spend money on product. No company cares about you, personally, or ever did. The feeling that they did was just the result of marketing to your demographic.

I am not particularly well versed in marketting or business strategies, but it has the ring of truth -- if a hard one. On the upside, though, us geezers and nostalgiacs *are* a source of revenue for other companies that have to risk less. Goblinoid Games, for example, has gotten more of my money this past year than WotC.