D20 Glut Bubble Bursts

[Crothian]

What I think hew should be saying is he has a great chance to get some great deals on some great books. Heck, for 5 bucks there are some mediocre books that are still a deal at that price.

 

[Bleys]

I guess it is entirely possible that in some locations this particular phenomenon is just now hitting, but where I am we had the boxes and shelves full of discounted D20 stuff two to three years ago, and it just keeps growing

Not that I'll complain too much, mind you. It's nice to pick up $30 books for $7 or less, sometimes

 

[BryonD]

Wait... what he's saying is... the d20 Market went way up after 3E... and then it came down some.

Wow. What a shock. Someone call Adam Smith.
Chuck

That is certainly how I see it. We have come down from unbelievable to simply very good.
Unfortunately, people get accustumed to unbelievable very quickly and never recall what used to be "acceptable".


OTOH, I was quite suprised to see the this year's plans for some companies that I really like (specifically Green Ronin and Fiery Dragon) and see very few things that interest me. (A few from GR and ZERO from FD). Now, I know both these companies produce very high quality stuff. So I don't think anything will change there. But the niche segmenting of the market seems to be becoming much more pronounced.

And then Creative Mountain goes and puts Evil Warren from Buffy in their banner ads. Not certain what that has to do with anything, but it must be a serious omen.

 

[Nightfall]

The bubble might have burst but the stuff and companies I support, still roll on. Well most of them.

Long live the Scarred Lands! (Even if they are no longer supported, they still thrive for me, the Sage!)

 

[Crothian]

And then Creative Mountain goes and puts Evil Warren from Buffy in their banner ads. Not certain what that has to do with anything, but it must be a serious omen.

now that's funny!!! I hope Mark's at least seen this.

 

[Mark]

And then Creative Mountain goes and puts Evil Warren from Buffy in their banner ads. Not certain what that has to do with anything, but it must be a serious omen.

Clever way of saying I look merely 26 years old? You're very kind...

 

[Vigilance]

Why dont we see this in other businesses I wonder?

What is it about gamers that make them hopeful that small businesses will fail, and happy if they do?

The emotion I sense from the original post is "look at those companies... they failed... good!"

Who walks by a restaurant that closes (most restaurants fail btw) and says "man I knew that place would close... good"

When asked if they ate there and had a bad experience... "well no... but there's too many restaurants around anyway! some of them need to go!"

When asked if the person knows someone who owns a restaurant or has stock in a restaurant "nope. its just bad for the industry!"

What is the deal with this phenomenon?

It seems like for every three gamers rooting for 3rd party companies to make it... there's one just waiting for them to fail.

Chuck

 

[Akrasia]

...
... everytime I went to my FLGS, I was surrounded by a bunch of 3rd party d20 "stuff" that seemed to me be all fluff and no substance.

As opposed to the '1st party d20 "stuff"'? I'd take FF's Midnight over any of WotC's 'race' or 'class' books anyday (or MMIII, or...)

The only exception to this rule IMO, are NECROMANCER GAMES/SWORD AND SORCERY STUDIOS, AEG (esp. "Toolbox"), and AVALANCHE PRESS. Yet each of these companies sell stuff besides d20 materials.

Necro's stuff is generally quite good. And AEG's "Toolbox" does what the DMG should have done (and what the 1E DMG did do) -- viz. give the DM the 'stuff' and help she really needs. (I also think you are wrong not to include Green Ronin in the list of good 3rd party companies, and unfairly dismiss Fantasy Flight -- FF has produced by far the best 3e campaign world to date, IMO.)

But Avalanche Press!? You've gotta be kidding. Their stuff is awful (IMO). Generally bad history, and bad gaming products, with soft-porn-ish covers to boot.

In anycase, I'm glad the bubble burst. Now is the time to buy...its like the Stock Market, or the seasons. yeah.

At least the few companies that do seem to be thriving are doing so because they generally produce quality stuff.

 

[arwink]

It seems like for every three gamers rooting for 3rd party companies to make it... there's one just waiting for them to fail.

It could be a fundamental flaw in the gamer mindset: First you kill the company, *then* you take its stuff.

I mean, who loots the bodies of the living?

 

[mearls]

I'm not surprised that stores are discounting d20 stuff at wildly different times. The d20 explosion taught retailers that they have to make an effort to manage their RPG stock.

For instance, my FLGS only orders a few d20 lines, but they had to go through a process of ordering stuff and seeing what moved, and what didn't. When I lived in NYC, the FLGS I frequented there went through the same thing.

A lot of game stores have a shelf or so of Fast Forward stuff, and maybe another shelf or two, of books that are essentially dead stock. Luckily, RPGs are a much smaller investment than CCGs. I doubt many stores, if any, were in danger of going under because of it. The smart retailers figured out pretty quickly which companies failed to make sellable stuff and which ones made stuff that people wanted to buy.