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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shaman" data-source="post: 2635673" data-attributes="member: 26473">It's called "creating demand."Any damn fool can sell ice in Arabia, but it takes talent to sell it in Siberia.Awhile back Mr. Dancey weighed in with the opinion, echoed here by Mr. Mearls, that publishers "split the market" by offering alternatives to, instead of support for, Dungeons and Dragons. It appears to me that the other companies are saying, "Splitting the market is how we sell books and meet the needs of gamers that you've ignored or turned off. Moreover, we're going to offer something that gamers didn't know they wanted in the first place and make it so cool that they can't resist picking it up." Apprently this strategy is successful enough for the companies publishing these alternative fantasy games to keep doing it.As a business strategy, going straight at your competitors instead of nibbling around the edges can be a good idea. Not everyone wants to buy the same thing, and these other publishers are going after that market, exploiting the wedge of gamers who want something other than Dungeons and Dragons and creating buzz around their product that entices folks to check it out.Will D&D always be the largest selling name in the business? Probably. Does that mean that the only successful business strategy is to sell product in support of it? I don't think so.Now if you'll excuse me, I have to see a guy in Irkutsk about some ice...</blockquote>