Not really. There's not much money in it, and little opportunity to break into the Seattle network (where a large percentage of business is done), but other than that it's a small and very friendly business. I've never felt it was harsh in any way.
D&D 5E Dmsguild and known rpg companies
- Thread starter gweinel
- Start date
Not really. There's not much money in it, and little opportunity to break into the Seattle network (where a large percentage of business is done), but other than that it's a small and very friendly business. I've never felt it was harsh in any way.
There's a saying that the best way to get a small fortune via the gaming business is to start with a large one.
Lehrbuch
First Post
Yeah, but such catastrophes in the RPG industry are not substantially due to deliberate hostile actions by competitors.
Beleriphon
Totally Awesome Pirate Brain
I don't think we're ever going to see a major release from say Green Ronin on the DMs Guild. But my gaming buddies and I might put together an adventure and get that published. If its good we make a bit of cash for not doing too much work other than maybe not playing D&D once a month and instead working on that. So its a great resource for entry level players to get their foot in the door, make a bit of money (maybe) and maybe get some recognition.
I was thinking though since it doesn't require the stuff to actually contain game rules, one could use it as a way to get straight fiction out into the wilds at a lower cost than self publishing. And it lets you publish your terrible Forgotten Realms fan-fiction for cash.
I was thinking though since it doesn't require the stuff to actually contain game rules, one could use it as a way to get straight fiction out into the wilds at a lower cost than self publishing. And it lets you publish your terrible Forgotten Realms fan-fiction for cash.
Kickstarters typically work with the premise "Give me your money and if enough people give me their money I will give them X, Y and Z." For RPG products typically one of the things backer's get is the product they are funding. DM's Guild material cannot be disseminated outside of the DM's Guild. I doubt very much someone can say "Give me money on this third party website and I will give you a $0 version of the backed content on DM's Guild." So for a kickstarter to be successful for DM's Guild content, what is a kickstarter going to reward it's backers with?
Patreon on the other hand works differently. Many (though not all of course) patreons are a case of "I'm producing this content. If you give me money I will be able to produce more of it/make it better quality/continue doing this indefinitely because you're now paying my weekly rent." It can be used to fund DM's Guild content is, so long as the person puts it up on DM's Guild for free (or at least free for a certain period of time). Now all members of the public benefit from the discounted content on DM's Guild, but that's often okay (look at Dyson's Maps), because Patreon can be used as little more than a tip jar.
Sure you can. In fact, that's actually a very common way RPG Kickstarters distribute digital product. They put it up on DTRPG or wherever, and then send all their backers a $0 coupon link. Works perfectly.
Tell that to Kobold Press and Frog God Games.
They're not big companies.
Well, I didn't say "big", I said "bigger". As in, "bigger than the people/companies that will post things on DM's Guild." My point was that companies like Kobold and Frog God and Evil Hat and Monte Cook (and EN World for that matter) don't need to use DM's Guild because they already have the cache to use crowdfunding and get the money up front from the patrons who already trust them and the quality of their work.
Sir Brennen
Legend
But again, even those companies (well, not Monte.. I doubt we'll see any 5E material from his company) can use the DMGuild to put up small supplements to increase market awareness. It may not be a significant (or any) part of their revenue stream, but it can be another advertising vector. And some are indeed already doing this.
Wasn't my point. My point was in response to the person that said "big companies don't use crowdsourcing" (who misinterpreted my original phrasing of "bigger companies" in relation to the regular folks who were posting on DMGU. IE - actually established companies like Frog God and Kobold Press.)
My point's not really all that outlandish here. Established companies do not HAVE to use DMGU if they don't want to... because they have the name recognition that allows them to run Kickstarters for OGL products instead and get the money up front. That's it. That's my entire point.
Sir Brennen
Legend
Well, yeah, that's true. No company, regardless of size, or individual for that matter, HAS to use DMGuild if they don't want. And for certain products, you absolutely CAN'T. There's lots of ways to get the word out about products, some more effective than others. DMGuild seems to be an effective one, if it fits into a company's marketing strategy. I can't think of any RPG company that wouldn't welcome a little more exposure, regardless of name recognition they may already have within the community.
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