Personally I think part of it boils down to having two "castes" within the hobby. They aren't firm castes, but they're there. The Dungeon Masters and the Players. They don't want the same thing, and by the nature of the game (one DM to 4-8 Players) that which pleases the DMs sells much less than that which pleases the Players.
Of course there is crossover ... the Player who is DM, the DM who is Player, but for the large part it'll stay true ... you have one DM in the group that runs an FR campaign, the other is running his home brew.
Crunchiness sells to Players. They want good Crunch, especially Crunch that will give them more cool powers. Mmmmm. Crunchy Powers. DMs also like Crunch because much Crunch is DMCrunch. (We must admit, though, that most Crunch is for the Players).
Fluff, however, is all for the DMs. Dungeon Masters like Fluff, because Fluff is Recipies of Rum. For the DM who has no time to distill his own Rum, or who likes the elves' flavor of Rum, these Fluffy bits are great. Unfortunately, even within the DM caste, many of them do not want the Fluff the elves produce, because they like picking the Fluff from their own navels. (This DM being one. My ego demands that I think my Fluff is the best Fluff of all.) Few few Players who do not also belong to the DM caste enjoy Fluff. Indeed, some Fluff should not be consumed by Players, for it is the Poison Metagame. (Many of us build up a tolerance to Poison Metagame, since it is an ingredient in so many things.)
So, when you get right down to it, the market for pure Fluff is probably 1/2 or 1/3 that of Crunchy. That's why even books of Fluff have Crunchy within.
Fluff, though, is integral to the hobby. Without Fluff we're soon out of business, because Crunchy has little nutritional value alone. And, I must admit, I'm a little stumped ... because I don't buy much in the way of Fluff, myself. I don't play in the Realms, only have a handful of times by Player demand and stopped when interest ran out. I didn't try to stir up interest. I haven't bought any 3E Realms stuff, and I won't buy Silver Marches ... I have no reason to. I really wish I did, because I know how evil Bean Counters are, and that arcane tests are wicked things.
The Bean Counters are right, in their way, but Bean Counters of Corporate America have a way of not seeing the long game. Of course, to Bean Counters, if the little elves no longer sell any Crunchy Donut Cores or Crunchy Forgotten Rums they can get rid of the elves and buy new elves that make something else. You play the best Elf Product any elf has that will draw the most beans from the gnomes, and keep playing it, untill it doesn't get any more beans. Then you throw that elf away and buy a new one, with new Elf Product.
Because, I'm sure, it's cheaper for the Bean Counters that way somehow. Or else Bean Counters wouldn't do it. You can be absolutely sure, in any situation, that Bean Counters will find the one way of doing things that get them the most beans in the shortest amount of time. It's like putting a lazy person on a job. You can be sure that within short order, a lazy person will find the fastest and most efficient way of doing something that has to get done.
That's become the flagship of the American Way Of Doing Things. And, in the end, you know whose fault it is? The Gnomes. Yup. Because each Gnome is thinking only of himself in any particular situation. We're all a bunch of little Ayn Rands wandering around saying, largely, "It's each gnome for himself!!". America doesn't have a feeling of Pride in Product that some other countries do. It's how we are. Why pay three times as much for a hand crafted Whoosit when we can get a shoddy Whoosit for 1/3 the price. Sure, it breaks a year later, and sure, it doesn't look as nice as the Handcrafted Whoosit, but what the heck, right?
I've worn the same pair of boots (steel toe, American made) every day for the last four years. I get my boots repaired down town by a little elf that repairs shoes, I don't throw my boots out when something is wrong. I paid a lot for these boots, mostly because I liked the idea of wearing them every day and having an elf repair them if they needed it. I like things that contain Craft more than I like things with only Utility ... I'm head and shoulders bigger than your average gnome, so most of my stuff costs more anyway. I hate when expensive things break, so I'll pay a little more for the Craft within.
And, really, Fluff takes more in the way of Craft than Crunchy does. Crunchy, when you get right down to it, is the manipulation of numbers. That's the core of any game. Crunchy means "I can do this with the numbers, I couldn't before." Fluff is in the stories around the Crunchy. Fluff takes Craft, and since most of the little Gnomes playing the game have some Elf blood in them, alot of them make their own Fluff. Crunchy is very Utility because you get the most mile from it ... more gnomes can use any particular Crunch and can put their own Fluff around it.
If no Gnomes buy the Fluff, though, the elves that make Fluff get no beans. Without beans the elves that make Fluff eventually starve to death or, worse, turn into kobolds and start working at McDonalds. This is pretty much true for any Craft.
I'm not saying the American Way Of Doing Things is wholley wrong, mind you. I love living in America, and without our way of doing things we wouldn't have probably the best standard of living in any nation. But we have to admit that there are problems with our way of doing things, and we should aknowledge them. By being aware of our actions we can keep beautiful things in the world like elves that fix shoes and elves that distill Forgotten Rums. We need elves that write poetry and elves that perform plays.
As far as Gnomes go, American Gnomes work the most hours. We're hard working Gnomes, and we really enjoy all the options we have to spend our beans on. But maybe instead of 50 extra channels of cable or that ten drinks at the bar we can spend our beans to show the Bean Counters that we really do enjoy things that take Craft and don't offer immediate Utility. It's one thing to say: "I really like poetry." and another to lay down 12 beans for a book of modern poetry. It's one thing to say "I appreciate theater." and another to miss two cruddy-but-flashy movies and go see a play.
Our beans is what makes the world go 'round. We can't really bitch and moan about the evil Bean Counters taking away the fluffy nice things in life if we refuse to spend our beans on them in favor of the fast and immediate pleasures. I could have bought two pair of snazzy popular sneakers for what I've paid for my boots and their repair, but snazzy sneakers are usually pieces of crap that wear out in a year or less. And man, don't nothing on earth fit like leather you've worn every day for four years ... I can sleep standing up in those boots.
Now, if somebody will produce some Fluff Books that catch my eye so I can buy them. (Or, if I win that contest, I can write my Fluffy Books and, darnit, buy them you silly gnomes.)
--HT
