Does Enworld have a major impact in the D20 market?

[JoeGKushner]

Well, Alliance consistently fails in getting Necromancer books to my area. It normally takes them a month or more after release for Alliance to get them into the hands of the gamestore owners. Because of this, the game stores I visit on a regular basis have scaled back on d20 orders because they cannot beat Amazon on price or availability. It is a huge scandal and really hurting a lot of store heres.

And I am pretty well versed here because I have to write montly reports on game/ hobby stores in my area.

Almost sounds like two different things. If the publisher is saying Alliance has them and gets them into the hands of game store owners, as I know they do say by me, and the game stores there are scaling back because they cannot beat Amazon price... perhaps it's not availability, just price?

 

[Sunderstone]

Enworld probably makes or breaks 80% of my RPG purchases, while I still buy mostly WotC books, I have picked up a few independent gems due to the buzz and reviews here.
It is lovely to hear from the designers directly.

Ditto.

I also read alot of story hours when possible. Especially if someones group is doing something I am considering buying.

 

[Belen]

Almost sounds like two different things. If the publisher is saying Alliance has them and gets them into the hands of game store owners, as I know they do say by me, and the game stores there are scaling back because they cannot beat Amazon price... perhaps it's not availability, just price?

Not really. Price is not an issue if they get them at the release date. They can compete with Amazon if they get the books first. If someone has to wait, then Amazon becomes more attractive as it is cheaper and just as fast.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Not really. Price is not an issue if they get them at the release date. They can compete with Amazon if they get the books first. If someone has to wait, then Amazon becomes more attractive as it is cheaper and just as fast.

I'm just saying that if most people can get their alliance orders in a timely fashion (i.e. day of release) and those bookstores claim they cannot, perhaps they simply aren't ordering in a timely fashion and using the whole Amazon thing as a smokescreen? There are various Gamer's Paradises in the Chicago land area, not to mention Games Plus in Mt. Prospect, and it's no coincidence that they get their stuff almost always on the day of release.

I suspect that some have instead gone with the steady sellers and claimed that distribution is a problem. It would not be the first time. I've recalled several threads where a game store claimed that a product wasn't in print, that it was out of print, that it was a special order and would cost more.

Then again, it could just be alliance.

 

[KB9JMQ]

Well everything I have bought to game (easily $1k+ annually) with (books, pdfs, mini's, tactiles) since 3E began has been influenced by ENWorld.
My fellow gamers who do not come here are influenced by me.
So we may have more impact than what we directly do ourselves.
I know I would have purchased nothing if Eric hadn't have started this place.

 

[Belen]

I'm just saying that if most people can get their alliance orders in a timely fashion (i.e. day of release) and those bookstores claim they cannot, perhaps they simply aren't ordering in a timely fashion and using the whole Amazon thing as a smokescreen? There are various Gamer's Paradises in the Chicago land area, not to mention Games Plus in Mt. Prospect, and it's no coincidence that they get their stuff almost always on the day of release.

I suspect that some have instead gone with the steady sellers and claimed that distribution is a problem. It would not be the first time. I've recalled several threads where a game store claimed that a product wasn't in print, that it was out of print, that it was a special order and would cost more.

Then again, it could just be alliance.

In this case, I know it is Alliance. I have visited their site and done searcehed for products that they have listed as out of stock. For instance, "The Book of Roguish Luck" was not listed as "in stock" on their page until 5 months after release.

 

[Mark CMG]

Does Enworld have a major impact in the D20 market?

Yes. Beyond measure. And it only grows more and more as people allow being online to become an increasing part of their everyday lives, and as the number of people who purchase online grows. When they are looking for a wide array of opinion on d20 related topics and on other RPG games, and as they avoid individual publisher sites where they will hear mostly biased opinions from employees and fanboys, they will go to EN World, RPG.net, and other so-called "Neutral Ground Sites". Obviously, it is huge for PDF publishers even now but it is becoming increasingly important for print publishers, as well. And as the line between print and electronic publishers fades further and further, sites like EN World will become invaluable to ALL publishers. It's simply inevitible.

 

[Aaron L]

And then we will take over the world!


MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[MongooseMatt]

In fact, Alliance just told my friends that own a game store that they are no longer stocking non-WOTC d20 books unless that receive pre-orders for them.

Not strictly true.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Not to give away trade secrets or anything, but even the "big" little guys arent doing 10,000 units anymore. Except WotC.

And that's not true either.