Charles Ryan (and others) out at WotC?

[mhacdebhandia]

Malkovich Press

I'm sure Manty Coke will be delighted to hear you like his company.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Now playing: "Being Monte Cook"

 

[William Ronald]

Now playing: "Being Monte Cook"

Is Cameron Diaz in that film?

I am surprised to hear about the rates that freelancers are paid, even though I have heard that it is hard to make a living in the RPG industry.

I imagine there may be some consolidation in the industry if sales reach a point where some companies may exit the market. However, I think PDF based companies may be fairly robust. Many are small companies where sales supplement the owners main sources of income.

=Fighter1Think about it; even if Hasbro nixed WoTC someone would pop in and take hold of the industry and make a living at it. There are MILLIONS of gamers worldwide.

I agree that someone would buy WoTC and/or the D&D license if Hasbro ever decided that WoTC was not something it was interested in owning any longer. Mind you, I see no hard evidence that Hasbro is interested in selling the Dungeons and Dragons license or WoTC, despite occasional reports of a possible sale.

I suppose one thing we can do as consumers is to buy products that appeal to us and let different companies know what we want as gamers.

I think

 

[MongooseMatt]

Good writers are worth their weight. They not only write to spec but hit their deadlines and have a proven track record of quality. Of all of the designers that have leaped into the d20 field since 3rd edition first came out, the number of writers that fit into this criteria is less than two dozen.

Amen to that. There is far more to being a good writer than just turning in decent text. . .

 

[eyebeams]

I can understand how writers leaving the industry would be a bad thing (e.g., I used to read John Tynes blog pertty regularly; sad to see that he's all about video games now). But how does a writer starting their own company have a "retarding" effect? They're still working in the hobby and their work is available to us, right?

I mean the former circumstance more than the latter. Striking out on your own can be better or worse depending on your plan and partners. If you don't have any money and are holding down a full time job, it means you can't write that epic campaign you thought of or go for radical (and expensive, when using certain software and/or people) innovations in design and presentation. If you have money and time, though, you can do a great job. All the same, there's something to be said about developing your craft within the strictures provided by a client.

 

[eyebeams]

folks ranting about "quality" and publishers "that care" should chill.

Uh, no. The "Hire a fan," effect is pretty significant if you're writing something other than self-published stuff. It also means that lots of books suck and sell badly after the first buyers get stung.

Prices you can pay a writer are related to how many copies of a work you are going to sell as a publsiher.
Rpg products don't sell in very high volumes on the average.

RPG authors get sci-fi magazine writers rates. 10 cents a word and much much less, often 5 cents or less.

If a magazine or book is only going to sell 4,000 copies one could hardly pay $1.00 per word, it'd be impossible actually, but if it was to sell 300,000 or more copies the rate could indeed be higher then 5 cents a word.

One real problem is that companies are pricing low to meet sell despite demand, instead of high to court a specialty market. What's really needed, though, is a split between high-selling, cheap games (for recuitment) and low-selling, pricey ones (for established game buyers).

I believe, but can't prove, that people who buy RPG products regularly will usually keep doing it even when they cost more, and those who are marginal buyers cannot be enticed by low prices. The former group buys games as artifacts in of themselves, regardless of play value, and the latter have no use for anything beyond core releases.

 

[Tharian]

One real problem is that companies are pricing low to meet sell despite demand, instead of high to court a specialty market. What's really needed, though, is a split between high-selling, cheap games (for recuitment) and low-selling, pricey ones (for established game buyers).

I believe, but can't prove, that people who buy RPG products regularly will usually keep doing it even when they cost more, and those who are marginal buyers cannot be enticed by low prices. The former group buys games as artifacts in of themselves, regardless of play value, and the latter have no use for anything beyond core releases.

Wait. You mean that the current slew of products that are selling for $40 or more are low priced? I think you already have your prefered model of lower-priced and higher-priced RPG products. The catch is that there is no real source of information as to what may be causing the slump. Instead there has been only supposition and conjecture.

Once the real reason has been discovered, then possible alternatives can be hammered out.

 

[eyebeams]

Wait. You mean that the current slew of products that are selling for $40 or more are low priced?

No, I mean that they need to be either cheaper or more expensive.

I think you already have your prefered model of lower-priced and higher-priced RPG products.

No, not really. There are a couple of high-priced products that are specific exceptions to the norm, that people complain about because they aren't used to them. A low-run RPG is a specialty item.

The catch is that there is no real source of information as to what may be causing the slump. Instead there has been only supposition and conjecture.

No, it is rather than there is no real source of information avaliable to the public. This is why the public's perception of the fortunes of the hobby are so off base. When I say I believe but cannot prove what I said, I'm talking specifically about how people would react to split pricing.

 

[Erik Mona]

the highest quality guys in my limited experience are WoTC, Malkovich Press and Mongoose.

Malkovich! Malkovich!

--Erik

 

[Fighter1]

I agree that someone would buy WoTC and/or the D&D license if Hasbro ever decided that WoTC was not something it was interested in owning any longer. Mind you, I see no hard evidence that Hasbro is interested in selling the Dungeons and Dragons license or WoTC, despite occasional reports of a possible sale.

I suppose one thing we can do as consumers is to buy products that appeal to us and let different companies know what we want as gamers. I think

Even if the D&D Brand went away – others would take up the slack. I would bet Monte Cooks system would be the next thing (as after DnD I think it is the best; though I have not tried them all myself).

However I don’t think Hasbro would sell the DnD license; they would keep it in their back pocket in case they wanted it again. If they sell it off then it would make the news and the company that bought it would get big time public kudos (at least from the gaming world) for “saving” the name of DnD. Plus if Hasbro did nix it – they would get bad press for eliminating a legacy much like TSR did for nearly destroying it.