Store owner complains about Kickstarter and Twitter and D&D

[CleverNickName]

I understand the OP's sentiment, but I don't see it happening. I've never seen a crowdfunded title offered for sale at a brick-and-mortar bookstore or game shop, and I spend a good amount of time shopping around in gaming stores. I don't think the two groups of products are in competition with each other.

Come to think of it, I've never seen more than one or two indie games on the shelf at all, crowdfunded or otherwise. Dungeons & Dragons, obviously. Pathfinder, sure. Call of Cthulhu or Numenera, maybe, if it's a really big store. But Wanderhome? Humblewood? Dread? I've never seen them. The only time I've ever seen an indie RPG of any kind on the shelf of a gaming store was when I found a copy of Mouseguard at Guardian Games, and that was more than a decade ago.

 

[Zaukrie]

I understand the OP's sentiment, but I don't see it happening. I've never seen a crowdfunded title offered for sale at a brick-and-mortar bookstore or game shop, and I spend a good amount of time shopping around in gaming stores. I don't think the two groups of products are in competition with each other.

Come to think of it, I've never seen more than one or two indie games on the shelf at all, crowdfunded or otherwise. Dungeons & Dragons, obviously. Pathfinder, sure. Call of Cthulhu or Numenera, maybe, if it's a really big store. But Wanderhome? Humblewood? Dread? I've never seen them. The only time I've ever seen an indie RPG of any kind on the shelf of a gaming store was when I found a copy of Mouseguard at Guardian Games, and that was more than a decade ago.

Your game stores don't carry Kobold Press or Monte Cook games at all? bummer.
Wait, you live in Portland and are saying you've never seen a crowdfunded game (or is that not the Guardian in Portland)? Because I have in Portland for sure.

 

[Jer]

Come to think of it, I've never seen more than one or two indie games on the shelf at all, crowdfunded or otherwise. Dungeons & Dragons, obviously. Pathfinder, sure. Call of Cthulhu or Numenera, maybe, if it's a really big store. But Wanderhome? Humblewood? Dread? I've never seen them. The only time I've ever seen an indie RPG of any kind on the shelf of a gaming store was when I found a copy of Mouseguard at Guardian Games, and that was more than a decade ago.

To be fair to the OP he's not talking about indie games at all - the companies he name drops specifically are Chaosium, Pinnacle, ArcDream and Modiphius. All of which have had strong kickstarter strategies, all of which are perceived as "big companies" in the RPG business, and all of which are probably operated on much more of a shoestring and move fewer units overall than we might all think they do.

 

[Baron Opal II]

There are a number of excellent game stores that have been able to branch out into RPGs, Board Games, snacks & soda, food & beer, comics, gaming space, and collectables. Having the multiple revenue streams I can only guess greatly increases overhead but allows for a more stable, predictable income. Guardian Games in Portland and Mox Cafe in Seattle come to mind as examples. I've seen both have Kickstarted product, although I must admit that I haven't been to either in some time.

 

[Zaukrie]

There are a number of excellent game stores that have been able to branch out into RPGs, Board Games, snacks & soda, food & beer, comics, gaming space, and collectables. Having the multiple revenue streams I can only guess greatly increases overhead but allows for a more stable, predictable income. Guardian Games in Portland and Mox Cafe in Seattle come to mind as examples. I've seen both have Kickstarted product, although I must admit that I haven't been to either in some time.

Guardian has plenty of KS games in stock.

Not every city allows stores to sell food or beer, especially beer....

 

[payn]

There are a number of excellent game stores that have been able to branch out into RPGs, Board Games, snacks & soda, food & beer, comics, gaming space, and collectables. Having the multiple revenue streams I can only guess greatly increases overhead but allows for a more stable, predictable income. Guardian Games in Portland and Mox Cafe in Seattle come to mind as examples. I've seen both have Kickstarted product, although I must admit that I haven't been to either in some time.

Having as diverse and disparate a product selection as possible seems to be a key to success for stores in my area.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

To be fair to the OP he's not talking about indie games at all - the companies he name drops specifically are Chaosium, Pinnacle, ArcDream and Modiphius. All of which have had strong kickstarter strategies, all of which are perceived as "big companies" in the RPG business, and all of which are probably operated on much more of a shoestring and move fewer units overall than we might all think they do.

My perception is that in the RPG market; D&D is Coke and Pepsi, Pathfinder is RC, and the rest of the publishers are any other type of cola.

 

[cavetroll]

So if I finish a product, can I bring it to all the game stores and they will pop it on their shelves?

Or do I need to sell 100,000 copies first ?

 

[Baron Opal II]

So if I finish a product, can I bring it to all the game stores and they will pop it on their shelves?

Or do I need to sell 100,000 copies first ?

If you have 100 copies of professional looking product, I think you have a decent chance of driving around to 20 stores and getting 5 copies on their shelves, each. It will take a little wheeling and dealing, negotiating on what the retailer's cut is, and when you will come back to collect unsold copies. It would behoove you to be well dressed and groomed, smiling, with a gracious presentation. Doing a little research with some retailers ahead of time to give you reasonable expectations would be helpful as well.

There are a lot of boxes to check in the previous paragraph, which is strangely difficult for many people to perform.

 

[cavetroll]

If you have 100 copies of professional looking product, I think you have a decent chance of driving around to 20 stores and getting 5 copies on their shelves, each. It will take a little wheeling and dealing, negotiating on what the retailer's cut is, and when you will come back to collect unsold copies. It would behoove you to be well dressed and groomed, smiling, with a gracious presentation. Doing a little research with some retailers ahead of time to give you reasonable expectations would be helpful as well.

There are a lot of boxes to check in the previous paragraph, which is strangely difficult for many people to perform.

Really, I had no idea it worked that way, for some reason I assumed most stores only work with specific (big) publishers.