Another RPG company with financial difficulties

[Belen]

I wonder how well Decipher's LotR RPG has sold as they did pay to have art from the movies and that big opportunity to live off someone elses publicity and marketing.

It sold like crap. The game was bad. Really bad. Decipher, in general, does not sell. My friends at the game store have not been able to give the mess away.

 

[eyebeams]

It sold like crap. The game was bad. Really bad. Decipher, in general, does not sell. My friends at the game store have not been able to give the mess away.

Uh, not quite. I'm given to understand that LotR's absolute sales were respectable compared to virtually every other RPG (which admiottedly, ain't saying much), but were not profitable when other factors come in. Keep in mind that once a book appears in a game store, it's sold, as far as a game company is concerned. I'm curious about how book trade sales went, because they tend to be a double-edged sword.

 

[eyebeams]

(people with inside contacts at WotC, etc.)

ENWorld should have Red Alert style klaxons go off in a .wav file any time anybody says this kind of thing.

Incidentally, I'm not making any accusations (and don't think it's the case) here, but these statements are *exactly* the kind of things that some companies have been saying to massage opinions about the hobby, here and elsewhere. Basically, take this kind of stuff with a grain of salt.

 

[Nikchick]

My guess (based on many many conversations over the past year) is that most game companies are 1 or 2 flops away from being completely out of business.

- James

Ha, if we only had that to worry about! It's hurting all over; I've heard of several retailers who had to close their stores in 2004. Distributors are saying they're owed a bunch of money from retailers who were waiting for Q4/Christmas sales to see if they could pay their bills or if they should close shop. Distributors themselves are hurting; chatter among publishers is that some are seriously late-paying, some are cutting lines and orders, I know a couple regional distributors have gone out of business completely. That puts publishers potentially in the situation of having releases that actually "sell" fine but that they don't get paid for. I saw this happen to dozens of companies in the 90s and I've seen every sign that the cycle is continuing out there today.

 

[Nathal]

That's frickin' brilliant.

I think the single biggest barrier to new players joining the game is the complexity of character generation. If D&D was sold as a game where you take on one of, say, forty pre-defined characters, but then also gave you the tools to develop or tweak characters on your own, I think it would be a lot less intimidating to non-players.

How many have introduced the game to a younger audiance using the new Basic Game by WOTC? I know some people who have had success with that.

I sometimes wonder if I would have played D&D as long as I did if there had been no red-box "basic set" for me to pick up in 1983. That little box with the spectacular Elmore cover was extremely well done, and dividing the complexity of the game itself into levels---basic, expert, companion, and masters---was a great way to learn the game piecemeal. It was never as intimidating as a single tome filled with more information than most college textbooks.

 

[MonsterMash]

For long term survival I think companies like Necromancer Games which has no full time employees, uses restricted print runs, and where the owners only expect a minimal return from will have good survival prospects. By minimal return it has been stated by Orcus that its been about $4/hour for the work he and Tsthaggua put in on the gaming stuff which is a lot lower than they'd get from their real jobs.

Some authors who self publish via PDF might be able to make a bit of money, but would really need a day job as well or a partner with a decent income (and in the US a medical plan).

I do wonder if Hasbro will cut WotC loose at some point as the returns are low for a large corporates requirements.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

For long term survival I think companies like Necromancer Games which has no full time employees, uses restricted print runs, and where the owners only expect a minimal return from will have good survival prospects. By minimal return it has been stated by Orcus that its been about $4/hour for the work he and Tsthaggua put in on the gaming stuff which is a lot lower than they'd get from their real jobs.

The only problem with that is that production values can suffer as this essentially turns the publishing company into a hobby. That's fine and all! Don't get me wrong. But I've seen a lot to indicate that people do appriciate nice art and nice layout.

I do wonder if Hasbro will cut WotC loose at some point as the returns are low for a large corporates requirements.

So hard to say. They may want to keep the D&D license just in case it explodes again. I doubt this is something Hasbro gives much thought to though.

And as a general comment to the above: Building on the basic set is something I think is overwhelmingly required.

 

[Nikchick]

If you go through a fulfillment house (as I do) you're also paying a percentage of your net for that, as well as shipping on top of that.

True enough, but even companies that don't go through fulfillment houses are faced with similar costs of business. Unless you're a one-man-show and your warehouse is your garage (and this shouldn't be taken as a knock on those operations, I've used that model myself before) once your company is a certain size with a certain volume of sales, the company will need to have shipping staff (even if it's only one other person) and warehouse space.

 

[Kanegrundar]

Nik, how is GR doing overall? I would assume pretty well in relation to the rest of the industry, but I'd just like to hear it from someone in the know. Plus, it would also let everyone know that there are companies that aren't one of the "big dogs" that are still doing well in a market that appears to be flagging.

Thanks,
Kane

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Nik, how is GR doing overall? I would assume pretty well in relation to the rest of the industry, but I'd just like to hear it from someone in the know. Plus, it would also let everyone know that there are companies that aren't one of the "big dogs" that are still doing well in a market that appears to be flagging.

I do consider GR to be one of the big dogs. Just exactly how high do you set that bar?