$5 4E PHB @ GenCon!
- Thread starter Rokes
- Start date
WotC_Trevor
First Post
This...
...and this. While 4E may be my current rpg favorite, I have a lot of love for many table top RPGs, and as Scott, Erik, and many of us on the sidelines here have said - sales/promotions like this are good for the industry and good for us. And I know most of us who run/play in games have a player who borrows our books, and $5 is an easy price to pay to get a core book into his hands.
Obryn
Hero
arscott
First Post
This. Your 40% figure is right on for the publisher's cut, So Wotc is indeed making $8.99 more that it would if someone bought the same two books through normal channels. (And even more than that if someone bought one of the higher-priced hardcovers instead).
Of course a little bit of that is taken up by the cost of getting the product to Gencon and running the booth, but they're still making a nice chunk of change.
TheAuldGrump
First Post
Hmmm, my own paranoid suspicions:
1. This is mostly so the focus at Gen Con is on WotC and 4e rather than Pathfinder - not to disrupt sales of Pathfinder (I am fairly certain that Paizo will run out early on during the con), but trying to remain the ones in the limelight.
2. Sales of RPGs in general (and 4e in particular) has been lackluster - this will attract attention, and maybe get some new folks playing 4e.
3. WotC is trying to get some good publicity - making up for some of the not so good publicity that has become a fixture of 4e and WotC in general of late.
4. All told, selling a $5 PHB with a full price book at Gen Con to pretty much everyone there is going to make a bunch of money for them. A big chunk of their overhead for the con will be taken care of.
5. And compared to the regular book sales channels selling a book to everyone at Gen Con is still not all that many books out of their total sales - it is just all happening at once, rather than spread out across the country and calendar.
6. As noted, it gets copies of the PHB into people's hands. And since a majority of the convention goers already have their own copies it is likely that these will be gifted to folks, putting them into fresh hands.
7. It disrupts sales of Fantasycraft.
So, yeah I see a touch of desperation, but not necessarily a whole lot of bullying here.
The Auld Grump
1. This is mostly so the focus at Gen Con is on WotC and 4e rather than Pathfinder - not to disrupt sales of Pathfinder (I am fairly certain that Paizo will run out early on during the con), but trying to remain the ones in the limelight.
2. Sales of RPGs in general (and 4e in particular) has been lackluster - this will attract attention, and maybe get some new folks playing 4e.
3. WotC is trying to get some good publicity - making up for some of the not so good publicity that has become a fixture of 4e and WotC in general of late.
4. All told, selling a $5 PHB with a full price book at Gen Con to pretty much everyone there is going to make a bunch of money for them. A big chunk of their overhead for the con will be taken care of.
5. And compared to the regular book sales channels selling a book to everyone at Gen Con is still not all that many books out of their total sales - it is just all happening at once, rather than spread out across the country and calendar.
6. As noted, it gets copies of the PHB into people's hands. And since a majority of the convention goers already have their own copies it is likely that these will be gifted to folks, putting them into fresh hands.
So, yeah I see a touch of desperation, but not necessarily a whole lot of bullying here.
The Auld Grump
Just like the same people who always constantly "see" a new great depression around the corner.
Not really. Its all a matter of timing. It smacks of Pathfinder being the bizz of the ball, and then not having something that powerful marketing wise.
*shrug* But thats just my reading of it. I dont think it'll have any effect on Pathfinder at all, but thats how it has the appearance at a glance.
Olaf the Stout
Legend
I don't see how this is any different from Paizo putting their PDF's on sale in response to WotC removing their PDF's from sale. Business try to outmanoeuvre their competition all the time.
I guess some people may see it differently though since it is kind of like the big bully of the playground trying to pick on the new upstart who has been getting a bit of attention from the rest of the kids. People tend to side with the little guy, which is understandable.
Olaf the Stout
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Pfft. Saying this is about Pathfinder is like saying Geist is about Pathfinder.
It's like that guy at the party who is convinced that you were talking about him, and if you say you're not, you're trying tho hide the fact that you were talking about him.
Those are the only two options. The thought never occurs that perhaps no one was talking about him.
[ sarcasm]
A company doing some sort of promo deal for the big industry convention? I, for one, am shocked and appalled that they would use this great gathering of fans and publishers as some sort of crass marketing opportunity.
[ /sarcasm]
It's like that guy at the party who is convinced that you were talking about him, and if you say you're not, you're trying tho hide the fact that you were talking about him.
Those are the only two options. The thought never occurs that perhaps no one was talking about him.
[ sarcasm]
A company doing some sort of promo deal for the big industry convention? I, for one, am shocked and appalled that they would use this great gathering of fans and publishers as some sort of crass marketing opportunity.
[ /sarcasm]
