Decline of RPG sales

[CharlesRyan]

Hi, everybody.

This is largely a repeat of what I posted on the "Charles Ryan laid off?" thread, but I though it was worth reposting here since it bears on the topic of this thread.

Today was my last day with Wizards of the Coast. Although I will still be active on these boards and in the D&D community, I am no longer a spokesman for D&D or WotC.

Don't be too hasty to draw conclusions about the health of D&D from this turn of events. Wizards of the Coast is a large company with a dozen or so brands and major business operations on every continent. The company operates very much as a team, and in that environment, a single brand can be affected by the fortunes of other brands, even when it's doing well. As Monte has already pointed out, there's a precedent at WotC for D&D's success not protecting it from hardships that affect other segments of the company. (And I'm not singling WotC out here; this sort of situation is common in businesses large and small.)

I'm very proud of my accomplishments during my tenure as Brand Manager. The last two years have been very exciting and successful for the D&D brand, and I'm honored to have had the opportunity that I did to lead D&D's fortunes during two very exciting years. Nothing that happened today invalidates that.

I'm sad to see the end of my professional association with D&D, but I'm no less enthusiastic about the future for the brand and game that we love. With my wife and I expecting our second child soon, I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time with my family over the next few weeks. I don't yet know where I'll go from there, but I can tell you this: I will always be a diehard gamer and an outspoken fan of D&D!

 

[Seravin]

Charles,
Thank you for posting and good luck in your future endeavors - and luck to your family too.
From the testaments of people who have worked with you, it sounds like you have the skill department covered.

I also wanted to say how impressed I am with the amount of character it takes to watch over a thread where your credibility is called into question and somehow resist the temptation to interject or defend. Instead you provided us a with a final, relevent link.

Thank you.

 

[WizarDru]

Charles, a tip of the hat in you direction, sir.

Thank you for the things you've done for the D&D brand in the past two years, and my condolences on this turn of events. This strikes me as amazingly short-sighted of WotC, but that wouldn't be a first. I hope you find something shortly and in due course...and good luck to you and your wife on number two.

 

[diaglo]

This strikes me as amazingly short-sighted of WotC, but that wouldn't be a first.

to keep it on topic... i'll add like selling the rights to Gen Con?

which to me just made a whole lot of people nervous of what it meant to the game and brand. i'm glad they sold to the former head of WotC and i'm glad he has done well with it. but still it did seem short sighted on Hasbro/WotC's part at the time

 

[Belen]

Actually, I think Hecatomb had a major negative impact at Wizards. I have at least two stores that are literally giving it away as prizes because no one will buy it. Wizards made a huge push with this "adult" game and I do not think it has done too well. The game play really stinks and the cards are very difficult to shuffle.

The stores in my area are having the same problem with the Axis and Allies minis game. I know at least one store that has given away an entire case of starters and boosters because no one wants it. Wizards made a huge mistake in not making it to the same scale as the DDM and SWM lines. A lot of people would have loved to use the figs for a modern game.

 

[SBMC]

With all due respect, John Nephew is one of the sharpest, shrewdest, and most well-respected businessmen in gaming. I realize you feel he's treading on your personal area of expertise, but that does not discount the fact that he is indeed an expert businessman with a firm understanding of what he's posting about here. Trying to take him to task because he didn't note exactly what the fucntion of of a REIT is when he mentions REIT as a tangental example, or because he hasn't listed his entire personal investment history is silly and doesn't contribute to the discussion at hand whatsoever.

1. I assume John Nephew is an adult and can take care of himself?

2. I don't concede based upon someone's resume'.

3. It turns out that he and I actually agree on many things here in this thread.

4. I have no idea who this fellow actually is - I am not privy to his resume'.

I stated the fact about a REIT as he used that as an example in fault; if he is a solid businessman he will have another example readily at hand to back up what he stated - I could think of a couple myself that would make his case and turn the discussion into a more conceptual one (motivational factors for different methods of measure). Nowhere did I insult or discount his abilities except where it was very clear he was wrong, mislead, misspoke or I totally did not get what he was saying and thought it said something it did not (I have no idea which one of these or combination thereof it is).

He utilized two specific examples to backup his own expertise and give his subsequent statements weight; which is quite normal and there is nothing wrong with that. My statements regarding investments was simple - the examples he chose, to another professional such as myself are not all that impressive. It shows he has skill but not expertise. To less experienced folks I am sure it is impressive. Just as he stated his case for being qualified to make the statements he did I countered them for essentially the same purpose. I thought that my comments about that were light enough to make that point? if not I apologize to him (not you) if he found them insulting.

I don't expect anyone to post their resume' here; but had he said "I have been in the RPG business for X number of years and am a high level Exec" or something to that effect; that would have said far more than any statement about investments could. I would have simply ignored the investments portions, knowing that they are most likely a small fraction of his accomplishments and focused elswhere in the conversation.

 

[SBMC]

A weapon? An armor? The moving part of an electric device or a machine? Interesting metamorphosis !

??????

 

[diaglo]

3. I have no idea who this fellow actually is - I am not privy to his resume'.

it is not to hard to do a search of his experience in the RPG industry.

off the top of my head, i'll give you a few of his credits: he has adventures published in Dungeon 1, 4, 8 , 10. and sadly contributed to WG7 Castle Greyhawk

Psion recently posted a thread on this forum about John giving away products on his 40th birthday. edit: it was Monte Cook not Psion who posted this thread. here's the link: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=156263

 

[Kanegrundar]

Actually, I think Hecatomb had a major negative impact at Wizards. I have at least two stores that are literally giving it away as prizes because no one will buy it. Wizards made a huge push with this "adult" game and I do not think it has done too well. The game play really stinks and the cards are very difficult to shuffle.

The stores in my area are having the same problem with the Axis and Allies minis game. I know at least one store that has given away an entire case of starters and boosters because no one wants it. Wizards made a huge mistake in not making it to the same scale as the DDM and SWM lines. A lot of people would have loved to use the figs for a modern game.

You may have something here. My local FLGS carries only a single case of Hecatomb since there are only about 3-4 guys that play it, everyone else that bought starters at luanch and thereafter thought it pretty much sucked.

Axis and Allies Minis appears to be doing alright in my area, but nothing like DDM and SWM. My interest dwindled when I saw the figures were too small of a scale to be useful to me for anything other than A&AM.

 

[Maggan]

it is not to hard to do a search of his experience in the RPG industry.

off the top of my head, i'll give you a few of his credits: he has adventures published in Dungeon 1, 4, 8 , 10. and sadly contributed to WG7 Castle Greyhawk

Psion recently posted a thread on this forum about John giving away products on his 40th birthday.

Just to add to this, John Nephew is also one of the friendliest industry figures online, sharing information and experiences and hard data about how his business is doing (eg the costs of producing rpgs broken down in detail).

His presence online, and with it the insight he provides, and the level of caring about helping us get a larger part of the picture, is one of the best things with the Internet, in my book.

Thanks, John.

/Maggan