Onyx Path Cancels LegendLore Kickstarter Partway Through Citing COVID-19

EthanSental said:

Just saw Diamond comic distributors aren’t shipping new comics around the first of April here in the states....

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And that is a good thing! Such small stores a germ breeding ground in the best of times, now they should be labeled as deathtraps!

As for side jobs needed to do X digitally, very little compared to regular distribution. That's nothing new, the same has been true for RPGs after the introduction of RPGnow. The issue previously was a matter of sales volume compared to some regular product channels. This situation might change that drastically.

But if a product isn't drastically cheaper someone is earning a lot more from it and it isn't the exploiter of the digital store platform... I got the impression that individual comics weren't cheaper then physical comics, the same is true for many novels. So if that doesn't change in this climate, the publishers get way more money and that often doesn't mean that the people actually making stuff get more money. The money isn't spread over more people like in the traditional model, that isn't a huge issue when that change happens gradually as it has the last two decades. People phase out of those businesses naturally (old age > retirement, for example) and new blood flows into the new positions that open up (young folks getting out of school) in the new way of working.

If a consumer pays $60 for a physical book and $30 for a pdf of the same book, when he buys the $30 pdf it means he can spend another $30 he would normally spend on the physical book on something else. The issue starts when consumers have more money then they have to spend on consumer items. If I can read 5 such books a month max and had a budget of $180/month to spend on it, that means I could only buy 3 physical books a month max. With digital, I can spend $150 on those 5 books, but there's $30 I'm not spending. This is of course an over simplification of what happens, but it does illustrate the issue. Now look at two such persons, one owns a physical comic store and the other owns a publisher. The first now has $0 to spend on consumer products and the second has $360 to spend on consumer products, but after the first $150 he has all he can consume and there's $210 left that isn't spend. That is not only bad for the first person, it's bad for everyone eventually because less money goes into the economy, so eventually the second person also has less and less to spend.

We're now in crisis mode, everything is a mess, when things stabilize and people (who can) find new niches, things will go back to normal.

Thanks for this. I added Legendlore to the
"The world's most complete directory of tabletop RPG depictions of fictive worlds which originated in other media"

For a long time I've asked for a D&D Cartoon Show worldbook from WotC. I asked back in 3E and 4E era too. I wrote big write-ups on how cool it would be to translate yourself into The Realm, with your own weapon of power, etc. It could've even been an ideal way of introducing the game.

Looks like Oynx Path is taking up the idea first.

Dungeonosophy said:

Thanks for this. I added Legendlore to the
"The world's most complete directory of tabletop RPG depictions of fictive worlds which originated in other media"

For a long time I've asked for a D&D Cartoon Show worldbook from WotC. I asked back in 3E and 4E era too. I wrote big write-ups on how cool it would be to translate yourself into The Realm, with your own weapon of power, etc. It could've even been an ideal way of introducing the game.

Looks like Oynx Path is taking up the idea first.

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I believe at least one version of the cartoon's DVD boxed sets came with a book of 3e stats, but I couldn't say how extensive that was.

The video game industry is doing just fine... in fact it is flourishing right now. This is no surprise as we saw a similar situation during the 2008 recession. Gaming Usage Up 75 Percent Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
As for the Onyx Path thing... I agree with what others have stated that this particular KS campaign had issues even before the pandemic hit.

Birmy said:

I believe at least one version of the cartoon's DVD boxed sets came with a book of 3e stats, but I couldn't say how extensive that was.

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Yes it was for D&D 3.5 Link

Expect a lot more of this. People aren't going to be spending because many are losing or going to be losing their jobs, which means no disposable income. The next 12 months are going to definitely be interesting, frustrating and scary at times.

Interestingly a few Kickstarters launched today and yesterday and are doing great!

Morrus said:

Interestingly a few Kickstarters launched today and yesterday and are doing great!

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I noted quite a few in the recent Monte Cook Games Ptolus Kickstarter canceling their pledges, apologizing for the need to do so, but it was because of the virus. :/ A worldwide economic downturn is here, now to see whether or not a true depression hits. I'm hoping all the countries of the world get their act together and do what needs to be done in order to nip this epidemic in the bud.

Sadly my own country appears to be doubling down on stupid, so if I were a betting person I'd not bet for the best/fastest outcome. As it is they want to drop the very piecemeal measures that we've seen here in the USA by Easter. More stupid around here than I thought possible. ((sigh))

Morrus said:

Interestingly a few Kickstarters launched today and yesterday and are doing great!

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I've seen a few and what's great depends on who and what it is. AEG launched another boardgame yesterday. And when you look at Kicktraq for their previous KS, they are under-performing quite a lot. 1/4th to 1/3rd of what they claimed with a previous KS (Valley of the Kings). Now, this game feels a bit more family oriented then the others, so that might be why it is still attractive, people can play it at home with the family when they're in lockdown.

RPGs are less a family thing and more of a group thing, so that might be the difference. But the Fading Suns KS is doing quite well, the question is, would it have done way better if not for the current situation? I don't know...

Many of these Kickstarters will also depend on how printing in China is going, since a large portion of bookprinting was outsourced there years ago, to save money. (Remember how tariffs impacted prices and the bottom lines for companies?)

Even if Onyx Path had a successful campaign and got everything together digitally, until companies know they can print their products, it might be wise to wait. For every backer who's fine with getting a PDF now and waiting on the print version, there's always two or three who howl about any delay, in my experience.