Decline of RPG sales

[Warbringer]

The 4.6 million figure has been specifically stated by Ryan to be players of the RPG, not RPG+Minis.

I missed that.

 

[SBMC]

I never seen anywhere him exclude the minis. I know that from an accounting perspective the mini sales are hitting the D+D cost center.

You would seem to be working for Hasbro/WoTC; question out of curiosity; do the Mini's line have their own management (per se' or official)? Or is that product line (all lines) managed as one?

 

[MerricB]

Do the Mini's line have their own management (per se' or official)? Or is that product line (all lines) managed as one?

Charles Ryan is the Brand Manager of the D&D RPG.
Mary Elizabeth Allen is the Brand Manager of the D&D Miniatures Game.

(At least, I'm pretty sure that's how it works).

Cheers!

 

[Belen]

Charles Ryan is the Brand Manager of the D&D RPG.
Mary Elizabeth Allen is the Brand Manager of the D&D Miniatures Game.

(At least, I'm pretty sure that's how it works).

Cheers!

You would be correct, sir. The DDM line is separate from the RPG sales figures. In fact, I have been begging Wizards to send some minis in their demo packs so that I have some cool giveaways. We are just now starting to see a cross-marketing of the game, such as fantastic locations etc.

 

[Zerovoid]

SBMC,

Per my understanding, companies can make silly claims in advertising like, "Pizza Hut is America's Best Tasting Pizza" or whatever, without having to prove these facts, or be liable to shareholders if it isn't really the best tasing pizza.

At the same time, I know that coporations and their officers can get in big trouble for lying to shareholders in their financial reports, as you have pointed out.

Now, I thought a casual statement like "DnD is having its best year ever!" would fall into the first catagory as meaningless PR speak, and not into the second catagory of serious financial data. Especially since DnD might be selling well, but margins could have been reduced causing profits to go down. Since you seem very confident in that this falls into the second catagory, could you explain why you think this? It certainly doesn't seem obvious to me, and its not what I would have guessed, though I admit to not being an expert on such matters.

 

[johnsemlak]

You would be correct, sir. The DDM line is separate from the RPG sales figures. In fact, I have been begging Wizards to send some minis in their demo packs so that I have some cool giveaways. We are just now starting to see a cross-marketing of the game, such as fantastic locations etc.

I think there's been cross marketing from the very beginning, though now it may be getting a bit more complex. Plus, they're called D&D Miniatures, the cards have D&D stats, and the boxes have the D&D logo. The DDM line started with teh coinciding release of the Miniatures Handbook. There's also been lots of crose-over promotion on the website.

The Fantastic Locations product marks an increase in integratign D&D and DDM gameplay using a single product. But I think crossover marketing has always been pretty heavy.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Close.

What we have seen in some areas (Canada is good for this) is that a distributor will not order certain items automatically, unless a retailer puts in an order.

months ago, when I'd gone in to the store to get something, they had 2-3 copies of the recent WotC product, but 12 copies of Werewolf (just having released). I said "is it selling that well?" They said something to the effect of the distributor had just sent them, they only ordered 4.

However, when a retailer puts in an order, it is reported as being out of stock - and so gets ignored! As a Catch-22 goes, this one is up there.

We had a manufacturer announce a new product, publicize it, but they don't take preorders because they weren't sure when it would be released.
Months later, when I asked about it, they said it had been canceled for lack of orders.

 

[helium3]

months ago, when I'd gone in to the store to get something, they had 2-3 copies of the recent WotC product, but 12 copies of Werewolf (just having released). I said "is it selling that well?" They said something to the effect of the distributor had just sent them, they only ordered 4.


We had a manufacturer announce a new product, publicize it, but they don't take preorders because they weren't sure when it would be released.
Months later, when I asked about it, they said it had been canceled for lack of orders.

Heh. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot. Also, if I order four copies of something and a distributor sends me 12, do I have to pay them for all 12 or just the four I ordered? Is there some reason a store owner wouldn't send back the other eight copies other than sheer laziness?

 

[Old Fezziwig]

The only reason I can think of that a store owner wouldn't send back the other eight (aside from sheer laziness) would be the distributor's returns policy. If he's not going to get close to full credit for them, it might be in his interests to hold onto them and see if he can sell them for a while, rather than eat the costs of returning all of them. Just a guess based on having worked in a few different bookstores over the last six years.

Nick

 

[tylerthehobo]

My experience as a WOTC delegate has fewer kids entering the hobby. It has been months since I introduced someone new.

Not disputing you, Belen - especially since you're a delegate and probably spend more times in games shops than I do - but anecdotally speaking (As I think almost all of us are in this thread), of the 3 tables that I ran on D&D Game Day this year, the ages spread from about 10-60. Kids are still in it - I probably had more folks at the tables who were under 21 than over.

It, like many folks have said, is a matter of marketing. The marketing for d&d isn't all that different from when I was a kid in the early 80s - riding the coattails of Conan and the like. ("Hey, like warriors? You'll love this...") I know that Eberron was a stab at attracting Gen Y, and it is groovy, but it's really not accessible to a kid - it's accessible to a young teen who's into anime or someone older - not to a kid who is just trying to get a hang of the gaming system without having to learn what dragon shards and warforged are. I really wish Wizards was pushing a more generic setting like Greyhawk or Mystara - or even FR just so long as the sourcebooks didn't make you have to relearn the past 30 DR years of history to play.

Just my $0.02.