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another rpg industry doomsday article (merged: all 3 "Mishler Rant" threads)
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<blockquote data-quote="Erik Mona" data-source="post: 4867601" data-attributes="member: 2174"><p>I object to three things, in the main, and they are responsible for me getting snarky and a bit defensive in my responses to James yesterday.</p><p></p><p>1) I have tons of evidence in the form of sales data, trending, and current business relationships with current buyers and distributors in the industry, and I can say FOR SURE that the "industry" is not dying. The fact that his misguided rant came in on the same day when we received final orders for the Pathfinder RPG from all channels--orders higher than for any other product we have ever published. Faced with so much real evidence to the contrary, his original rant struck me as ill-timed and ill-informed.</p><p></p><p>2) I REALLY don't appreciate an armchair quarterback with a bunch of outdated data points and myopic, 20th century ideas of business models and new technology trying to coin a term (i.e. "The Pathfinder Effect") to blame his own economic woes on a product that:</p><p> 1) Is associated with a one-off discount aimed at increasing the player base for the game, which is good for all channels because more players = more potential customers.</p><p> 2) Is an affordable electronic version of a very expensive book that is priced outside the affordability of many gamers.</p><p> 3) Is not even out yet.</p><p> 4) Is not distributed at RPG Now or DriveThru, and hence isn't even on the radar of the bulk of PDF customers and has no influence on the industry's major PDF marketplaces outside Paizo.com.</p><p> 5) Is based on an open system anyway, and will be available FOR FREE from several different sites a la d20srd.org within days of it coming out.</p><p></p><p>3) His calling the decision to price the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook PDF at $10.00 "the final nail in the coffin of the RPG industry" really raised my hackles. The only segment of the RPG industry that I know of that has publicly admitted abject failure (or at least abject frustration at an inability to make ends meet) is Mr. James Mishler. One one-man operation on the brink of failure does not a failing industry make.</p><p></p><p>So that's my take. James is free to have his own opinions, and there are a lot of things about his essay that make sense and that I agree with. But his ridiculous claims about Paizo and its influence on the industry, though flattering in their misguided audacity, are flat out wrong, and deserve to be challenged head on lest they become part of some sort of conventional wisdom among pundits and customers in the industry.</p><p></p><p>--Erik</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Erik Mona, post: 4867601, member: 2174"] I object to three things, in the main, and they are responsible for me getting snarky and a bit defensive in my responses to James yesterday. 1) I have tons of evidence in the form of sales data, trending, and current business relationships with current buyers and distributors in the industry, and I can say FOR SURE that the "industry" is not dying. The fact that his misguided rant came in on the same day when we received final orders for the Pathfinder RPG from all channels--orders higher than for any other product we have ever published. Faced with so much real evidence to the contrary, his original rant struck me as ill-timed and ill-informed. 2) I REALLY don't appreciate an armchair quarterback with a bunch of outdated data points and myopic, 20th century ideas of business models and new technology trying to coin a term (i.e. "The Pathfinder Effect") to blame his own economic woes on a product that: 1) Is associated with a one-off discount aimed at increasing the player base for the game, which is good for all channels because more players = more potential customers. 2) Is an affordable electronic version of a very expensive book that is priced outside the affordability of many gamers. 3) Is not even out yet. 4) Is not distributed at RPG Now or DriveThru, and hence isn't even on the radar of the bulk of PDF customers and has no influence on the industry's major PDF marketplaces outside Paizo.com. 5) Is based on an open system anyway, and will be available FOR FREE from several different sites a la d20srd.org within days of it coming out. 3) His calling the decision to price the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook PDF at $10.00 "the final nail in the coffin of the RPG industry" really raised my hackles. The only segment of the RPG industry that I know of that has publicly admitted abject failure (or at least abject frustration at an inability to make ends meet) is Mr. James Mishler. One one-man operation on the brink of failure does not a failing industry make. So that's my take. James is free to have his own opinions, and there are a lot of things about his essay that make sense and that I agree with. But his ridiculous claims about Paizo and its influence on the industry, though flattering in their misguided audacity, are flat out wrong, and deserve to be challenged head on lest they become part of some sort of conventional wisdom among pundits and customers in the industry. --Erik [/QUOTE]
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another rpg industry doomsday article (merged: all 3 "Mishler Rant" threads)
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