EN World GameStore Closing

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

How this all turns out very much depends on what OBS does with the extra cash. If they reinvest it, the publishers may well see a return larger than what they put in. But nobody here knows what they plan to do. Everyone speculates, nobody knows...

Kind of like the assumption that this move is going to expand the market and improve everyone's sales through the act of the merger itself, you mean?

Anyone in the PDF market knows it grows every year, but many of us have already taken advantage of that by making our products available in the companies affected by the merger. There's absolutely no evidence that the merger is going to suddenly cause a sales increase through this action. Indeed, what do you think is most likely going to happend when there's a sudden increase in the number of publishers on a single site? It's going to dilute the opportunities for individual exposure through the site and is likely going to shaft the smaller publishers who have to compete with those publishers who work primarily in the book trade because the latter will likely be seen as the priority--this is indeed one of the main reasons why the small publishers through RPGnow was such a valuable resource. There's a distinct possibility that the merger will damage the bottom tiers of the PDF industry that has essentially been acting as a guerrilla marketing tool for the top publishers and market at large.

 

[Urizen]

There has been much discussion about how BAD this is going to get.

While that is healthy discussion and it's good to be concerned about the post apocalyptic nature of a possible monopoly and speculate on how the Black hat villians with the handlebar moustaches (DTRPG and RPGNOW) are plotting to swindle all of the vendors out of their hard-earned money, I'm curious about the potential GOOD that can come from this.

Anyone up for a shift to the light side of the Force?

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

There has been much discussion about how BAD this is going to get.

While that is healthy discussion and it's good to be concerned about the post apocalyptic nature of a possible monopoly and speculate on how the Black hat villians with the handlebar moustaches (DTRPG and RPGNOW) are plotting to swindle all of the vendors out of their hard-earned money, I'm curious about the potential GOOD that can come from this.

Anyone up for a shift to the light side of the Force?

That's what I keep asking.

What's this 10% gonna do for ME since it's coming out of my pocket.

 

[Mark CMG]

Something just occurred to me...

The big to-do in here is that OBS is taking a larger cut off the top from the publishers.

The assumption

Nope. That's far enough. Just the fact that there's a cut off the top is enough to bother me. What might or might not get done has no bearing on why I dislike paying more.

 

[Justin Bacon]

It's actually more along the lines of:
The owners of DTRPG can change what they're asking to what RPGNOW is asking, thus loosing a lot of money.
The owner of RPGNOW can change what they're asking to what DTRPG is asking, thus gaining a lot of money.
I highly doubt that the owners of DTRPG want to see profits decline, and i asume that the owner of RPGNOW wants to see profits increase.
Add to that, that they now control around 90% of the RPG pdf sales, they can afford to be less nice to publishers, it's not asif the big sellers can afford to walk away...

Ah. I see. They're not screwing publishers, they're just being "less nice" to them.

Hmm... That distinction seems completely irrelevant to me. Perhaps you could explain the significance that you're assigning to it.

 

[Bardsandsages]

You know, the more this thread goes on, the happier I am. It seems some vendors were getting better gold vendor pricing than me (20-25% as opposed to 30%), allowing them to price more competitively and make a greater profit per sale. Now everyone will be on the same level playing field, thus making thing more fair.

And since I intend to sign the exclusivity deal, my rates won't change at all. (actually, while my rate from sales generated via ENWorld will go up, my rate for sales generated by Drivethru will go down, washing out).

So those of you going to go raise your prices go right ahead. I'm off to plan a nice sale for December.

 

[Urizen]

That's what I keep asking.

What's this 10% gonna do for ME since it's coming out of my pocket.

Let's assume for a moment that everything is on the up-and-up, that this merger is being enacted with the ebst interests of everyone in mind.

If there is an increase in traffic, that means more exposure which will likely result in larger sales which means more money for everyone.

That IS the goal, isn't it? to make things easier and better for everyone involved?

Maybe I'm just too optimistic for my own good.

 

[Umbran]

I've asked twice...

Has it occurred to you that this forum isn't the place you need to ask the question in order to get a response? I would think the folks involved with the merger would be rather busily merging at this point, rather than lurking around on internet message boards.

If you want information from your business partner, ask them directly! Don't ask the air in here, and then get upset when it doesn't respond.

Perhaps you, Mr. Browning, and the other publishers should be considering a united front and a letter to OBS, asking about their intended policies from this time forward. Surely, that'd be more constuctive than shaking your fists in frustration in here, hm?

Yes, if I were them, I'd have written a letter to my current publishers, expalinging such. But, lacking that, it does make sense to go looking for the information, no?

 

[Justin Bacon]

If you're going to continue putting words into peoples' mouths (first OBS and the mine), you will be required to leave this thread.

Perhaps you could quote me doing that.

No? Then perhaps you should stop hypocritically putting words into my mouth.

As per ENW policy, if you have a problem with moderation, take it up privately.

No problem at all. I strongly agree that anyone putting words into other people's mouths should leave this thread.

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

Has it occurred to you that this forum isn't the place you need to ask the question in order to get a response? I would think the folks involved with the merger would be rather busily merging at this point, rather than lurking around on internet message boards.

If you want information from your business partner, ask them directly! Don't ask the air in here, and then get upset when it doesn't respond.

Perhaps you, Mr. Browning, and the other publishers should be considering a united front and a letter to OBS, asking about their intended policies from this time forward. Surely, that'd be more constuctive than shaking your fists in frustration in here, hm?

Trust me, I'm not upset or shaking my fists.

I've noticed that people involved have posted since I asked the original question.

I'm not upset, shaking my fists, claiming the sky is falling, or any of that. I'm reading the multitude of threads that this merger has caused, and weighing in what all sides are saying.

Trust me, I get upset, I get banned. Plain and simple.