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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 7660011" data-attributes="member: 3586">One of the chief differences between Paizo and Wizards is that Paizo came up through magazines, then an online subscription program, and finally into the big time with brick'n'mortar stores. Meanwhile, Wizards started with brick'n'mortar, and then went into online & magazines. They're very different models.And although you might initially assume that Wizards' concerns with brick'n'mortar are RPG-based, this isn't the case. Instead, Wizards begin and end with where they actually make their money: Magic: the Gathering. While we grouse and grumble about how they run D&D, on the other side of the building they run one of the most successful game products in decades. Magic is *huge*. And it's getting bigger. Mark Rosewater said in his review of 2014 that the Theros set was the biggest selling set of all time (that's the 2014 big set). It's generally believed that the current set - Khans of Tarkhir - has sold even more.One of the reasons Wizards does so well with Magic is that they understand very well how to design sets, but - even more - they understand how to support the game. And Magic lives and dies by how many people are playing it. I have seen CCG after CCG wither and die, because people weren't playing it any more. For a CCG to be successful, it needs a lot of people playing it, and it needs them to be able to find each other. And Wizards identified, entirely correctly, that the brick'n'mortar game store was the place where most Magic players would be able to meet up. And so they support them - significantly.The other side of this is that a lot of game stores wouldn't be open today if it weren't for Magic and the two or three other CCGs that have done well. The income from CCGs tends to be more reliable and more significant that most other gaming products (well, at least the ones you can buy in a game store... computer games are a different kettle of fish!)So, Wizards - just through Magic - has a very strong desire to see brick'n'mortar stores do well. And it goes into their handling of D&D as well. Their support of Organised Play has moved more and more towards supporting stores.And that's where we are at the moment.Cheers!</blockquote>

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