Does EN World favor pdf publishers?

[Nellisir]

But as the d20 market grew over time, things expanded. No longer could your product announcement on ENWorld draw the attention it used to since there were now so many product announcements. Publishers started creating their own message boards. ...because fans wanted a place to discuss the publsher's products. Our boards are a good example. Our boards are huge. ... It takes all my time time monitor our own boards. I try to drop by here as often as possible, but as our boards have expanded and our product list and business have exanded, my ability to monitor our growing boards and be as active here as I once was has certainly diminieshed.
Similarly, I will observe that I have seen (maybe I am wrong or mispercieving) a shift in ENWorld to be a stronger haven for pdf publishers and less so for print publishers. Not so much taht print products are disliked. Thats not what I am saying at all. But the pdf side of the biz seems to dominate the discussion here. And that makes sense since ENWorld is linked with EN Publishing, etc.

Happy to hear you guys are that busy, Orcus!

As someone who reads the Publisher forums first, and all the other ENW forums second, I've noticed a general decline in print publisher participation. I assumed it was mostly due to reason #1 above -- publishers were establishing their own boards and spending time managing their own traffic on a site dedicated to them.

Reason #2, though, was something I hadn't thought about. EN Publishing itself doesn't create a favorable environment here for pdf publishers, at least in my view -- ENP has actually has its own board, and I see alot less of Hellhound and Dextra around the general publisher boards than I used to . But the virtue and hallmark of pdf publishing is its low-cost of entry, and that allows people like me to participate in the conversation in a whole new way - as publishers and writers, rather than just as consumers and readers. Furthermore, we can have a more immediate influence on products and publishers that are of interest to us -- Necromancer's product line is probably set for 2005, but if I'm really vocal about how cool feats are, I'll bet Ronin Arts can slide another 10 or 20 pages into their schedule over the next month or two.

Man. I just love ALL of you guys.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[Morrus]

I don't think it does. At least I hope not.

I think that the PDF publishers do outnumber the big guys quite significantly, and that probably shows; that's due to the low barrier to entry into the PDF market. Plus, as you point out, over the years some of the larger publishers have managed to create their own communities - which is to be commended, because that's not easy to do these days.

As far as news reporting goes - it's scoop driven. The news that ends up on the front page is pretty much what is submitted, with some exceptions (the newshounds go out of their way to check out WotC, for example). So if there is more PDF news there than print news (again, I don't think that's the case, though), it's because more PDF news is reported.

With the massive number of publishers out there, the days when a site like this could proactively track all of the developments are long gone. EN World is, certainly, more of a passive receptacle of news than a roving seeker of news.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

On the news -- I agree with Morrus. I think if the numbers seem skewed, it's mostly because of the sheer amount of PDF publishers as opposed to print publishers (and also because, I think, PDF publishers tend to release more products more quickly (more often?) than print publishers do). From my experience looking at the queue of scoops, the numbers are usually roughly even.

Best,
Nick

 

[Crothian]

Well, in the review section PDF reviews are closing in on print reviews, I think in August we had only 10 more print reviews then PDF. Usually print reviews are much, much greater.

 

[Krug]

Plus PDF publishers are coming up with more product more often. Print publishers just don't have the luxury of volume.

 

[jmucchiello]

Actually, I'd say ENWorld helps PDF publishers more. But only because we share the same medium: computers. Someone reading a review of a product can click through to the publisher's webpage and read more about it. With a PDF they are only 2 clicks away from buying the product and receiving it within a few minutes. With a print product they are 2 clicks away from buying the product and receiving it in a few days. This instant gratification I think benefits PDF publishers more than print publishers and thus the answer to the topic at hand is basically yes.

I don't think that this has anything to do with editorial bias though. Just platform synergy.

 

[Fate Lawson]

Favor? No, not particularly. The number of threads discussing the actual play and use of print products *far* outweighs the number of threads about the use and play of PDF products. Have more impact? Most definatly! The synergy of ENworld has been a major contribution to the whole PDF publishing movement.

But it is a double-edged sword. A couple of bad reviews or threads about a print product doesn't have the same effect as one for a PDF.

A huge outcry or bad reviews about editorial mistakes and inconsistencies in a large print companys products doesn't seem to effect their sales much (they still sellout and have to re-print).

But if that same outcry or bad review comes out about the quality and editing of a PDF, you can bet your sweet bippee sales will tank.

 

[jgbrowning]

In comparison with the market share of print vrs. pdf, any mention of any pdf product is vastly more representitive.

Example: 100 mentions of a WoTC product that sells 10,000 copies = 1 to 100 metion to sales ratio.

10 mentions of a PDF product that sells 300 copies (that's really good btw)= 1 to 30 mention to sales ratio

I think ENworld favors PDF publishers, but only because of the the way that the market exists. To make the mentions equal, there would have to be almost NO discussion of PDF products.

joe b.

 

[Cergorach]

*chuckles*
I was just complaining in the other thread that certain publishers (especially Orcus) had 'abandoned' the ENworld boards in favor of their own. Well, guess what, the reason there's less discussion of Necromancer products here is because there's a Necromancer board and because the Necromancer representatives have left ENworld for their own pastures. I find that a real shame, I always found the discussions involving Orcus highly informative, i kind of miss it.

Why don't i hang out at the Necromancer boards? The same reason i don't regulary hang out at the WotC boards or the Green Ronin, Malhavoc, AEG, FFG, or a dozen other great company boards. The reason is called time and of course the increadible amount of logins i would have to create and keep track of.

I find ENworld useful because it's a central hub of information and tends to be neutral ground. I don't see ENPublishing as a real competitor to anyone, but that could be just me...

[edit]
I just found the post Orcus made that is quoted above, let me further comment by saying that instead of using EzBoards Necromancer might look at using board space at ENworld for the Necromancer boards. This would help both ENworld and Necromancer (imho)...
[/edit]

 

[Orcus]

I never said ENW "favors" pdf publishers. I just said that it seems to be a strong haven for pdf discussion. Here is my quote:

I will observe that I have seen (maybe I am wrong or mispercieving) a shift in ENWorld to be a stronger haven for pdf publishers and less so for print publishers. Not so much taht print products are disliked. Thats not what I am saying at all. But the pdf side of the biz seems to dominate the discussion here.

So lets not make more of my quote than it is--an observation on the development of the site from hard core WotC/d20 news about 3E to a more expanded focus and to a very large pdf contingent that have different issues.

And I dont have any problem with that.

I was just trying to connect why this "disconnect" between ENWorld and the d20 Print Publishers might have come to pass. And, frankly, I might not even be right. Just an observation. And I think it is true that the pdf stuff does seem to dominate the discussion of late. But maybe that is just me.

Clark