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Adventures don't Sell? Do you agree? Redman Article
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<blockquote data-quote="tzor" data-source="post: 1116568" data-attributes="member: 12826"><p><strong>Old generic adventures did sell ... in the old days</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>First of all, it's been several years since the fall of TSR but I thought that part of the fall of TSR was through the paperback division. This was the area where retailers could get most of their money back for unsold product by simply sending back the cover of the unsold book.</p><p></p><p>Secondly, I think we need to distinguish TSR during the 80's and TSR during the last years. In the last years TSR changed its model, developing specific scenarios starting with Dark Sun and then Birthright. Dark Sun adventures were campaign specific, and Birthright was done through the supplement model, producing a plethora of player's guides to all the regions in birthright.</p><p></p><p>So let's take the way back machine all the way back to 1st edtion. Modules were generic in the truest sense, even when they were tied to specific campaigns. (It is a very easy process to take all the Lankhmar adventures and port them almost to any published scenario.) Now while I cannot give exact numbers on adventure module sales, I can't seem to recall them flowing on the shelves. I do recall taking my time searching through the small stack to see if there were any new adventure modules that I hadn't gotten yet.</p><p></p><p>Speaking of "generic" one good example was a Lankhmar supplement that got a "Forgotten Realms" logo plastered on the cover. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p>One of the problems with adventure modules is that it doesn't really follow the same economic model as the rulebook, or scenario book, or game supplement. It really follows the comic book module. Bought on impulse, the issue also provides the impluse to get the next issue in the series when the next issue comes out. All the good 1E AD&D adventures were in series, typically prefixed with the series identifier. Even when lankhmar adventures or supplements came out twice a year I still looked forward to it.</p><p></p><p>Personally I think the adventure module is still a viable product. But, in order to make it a viable product you have to think outside the box. The world has changed since 1E, and the needs of the DM and players are vastly different. If you provide what the DM and the players need, in a format they can appreciate, at a price that is reasonable (and above cost so as to make it profitable) then they will buy.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tzor, post: 1116568, member: 12826"] [b]Old generic adventures did sell ... in the old days[/b] First of all, it's been several years since the fall of TSR but I thought that part of the fall of TSR was through the paperback division. This was the area where retailers could get most of their money back for unsold product by simply sending back the cover of the unsold book. Secondly, I think we need to distinguish TSR during the 80's and TSR during the last years. In the last years TSR changed its model, developing specific scenarios starting with Dark Sun and then Birthright. Dark Sun adventures were campaign specific, and Birthright was done through the supplement model, producing a plethora of player's guides to all the regions in birthright. So let's take the way back machine all the way back to 1st edtion. Modules were generic in the truest sense, even when they were tied to specific campaigns. (It is a very easy process to take all the Lankhmar adventures and port them almost to any published scenario.) Now while I cannot give exact numbers on adventure module sales, I can't seem to recall them flowing on the shelves. I do recall taking my time searching through the small stack to see if there were any new adventure modules that I hadn't gotten yet. Speaking of "generic" one good example was a Lankhmar supplement that got a "Forgotten Realms" logo plastered on the cover. :D One of the problems with adventure modules is that it doesn't really follow the same economic model as the rulebook, or scenario book, or game supplement. It really follows the comic book module. Bought on impulse, the issue also provides the impluse to get the next issue in the series when the next issue comes out. All the good 1E AD&D adventures were in series, typically prefixed with the series identifier. Even when lankhmar adventures or supplements came out twice a year I still looked forward to it. Personally I think the adventure module is still a viable product. But, in order to make it a viable product you have to think outside the box. The world has changed since 1E, and the needs of the DM and players are vastly different. If you provide what the DM and the players need, in a format they can appreciate, at a price that is reasonable (and above cost so as to make it profitable) then they will buy. [/QUOTE]
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