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<blockquote data-quote="Hard8Staff" data-source="post: 167750" data-attributes="member: 1386">My 2 cents:1)&nbsp; You guys are consumers.&nbsp; Your job is to consume what you feel like consuming and let the non-worthy die on the vine.&nbsp; Those that remain (that you bought from) will continue to make product that you'll probably like (since you bought from the before).&nbsp; If you buy a product and you think it stinks, don't buy from that company anymore and buy from another company instead.&nbsp; 2)&nbsp; The &quot;average&quot; game designer (outside WOTC) probably works part-time in game design and makes (clears) $5000 per year on games.&nbsp; The &quot;average&quot; full-time designer probably makes more like $15000-20000 per year.&nbsp; $30k is extraordinary in our industry.&nbsp; 2001 salaries were bloated by the ease of selling d20, but competition and a general downturn will cause a decrease in salries in 2002.3)&nbsp; Buying at Amazon doesn't hurt the manufacturer.&nbsp;&nbsp; it hurts the games retailer and distributor.4)&nbsp; The current pricing of RPGs is too low for the designers to do anything but eek out a living.&nbsp; Most game designers are educated enough to make double to five times what they make making games.&nbsp; But they do it anyway because they love games, are young, don't realize they'll never make much more except in extraordinary circumstance (e.g., working at wotc), are not married, are marrried to a spouse that has a great job and hasn't yet left them, or have no kids or most of the above.&nbsp; The problem with the low salaries ISN'T getting people to do the work...that's obviously not an issue as evidenced by the plethoras of product on the shelves now.&nbsp; The problem is keeping the talent.&nbsp; Most designers can't make it past a few years before they realize their lives are going nowhere, their children need college funds, they need to save for retirement, etc. etc.&nbsp; Honestly, most secretaries make far more than game designers.&nbsp; Think about that!&nbsp; Finally, the average salary of game designers hasn't seemed to have changed over the last 5-10 years!&nbsp; SO there's really not much hope inimproving.&nbsp; Thus, rather than retaining the best talent, our industry loses it to other industries (typically average boring office jobs).5)&nbsp; Our gamble has been to price higher across the board, but pack in the quality/quantity to make the purchase worthwhile.&nbsp; Another method of increasing margin pursued by several companies has been to go light on word count (aka development time) and page count and keep the price average or even low (but costs are even lower).&nbsp; I think you'll see more of each of these as outside (real life) pressures force designers to take a long hard look at their 92 tempo, non-existant 401k, complete lack of savings, etc.&nbsp; So, bottom line, expect higher prices, lower quality or inconsistent product value (and a revolving door of authors).Again, just my 2 cents.David Kenzer</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hard8Staff, post: 167750, member: 1386"] My 2 cents: 1) You guys are consumers. Your job is to consume what you feel like consuming and let the non-worthy die on the vine. Those that remain (that you bought from) will continue to make product that you'll probably like (since you bought from the before). If you buy a product and you think it stinks, don't buy from that company anymore and buy from another company instead. 2) The "average" game designer (outside WOTC) probably works part-time in game design and makes (clears) $5000 per year on games. The "average" full-time designer probably makes more like $15000-20000 per year. $30k is extraordinary in our industry. 2001 salaries were bloated by the ease of selling d20, but competition and a general downturn will cause a decrease in salries in 2002. 3) Buying at Amazon doesn't hurt the manufacturer. it hurts the games retailer and distributor. 4) The current pricing of RPGs is too low for the designers to do anything but eek out a living. Most game designers are educated enough to make double to five times what they make making games. But they do it anyway because they love games, are young, don't realize they'll never make much more except in extraordinary circumstance (e.g., working at wotc), are not married, are marrried to a spouse that has a great job and hasn't yet left them, or have no kids or most of the above. The problem with the low salaries ISN'T getting people to do the work...that's obviously not an issue as evidenced by the plethoras of product on the shelves now. The problem is keeping the talent. Most designers can't make it past a few years before they realize their lives are going nowhere, their children need college funds, they need to save for retirement, etc. etc. Honestly, most secretaries make far more than game designers. Think about that! Finally, the average salary of game designers hasn't seemed to have changed over the last 5-10 years! SO there's really not much hope inimproving. Thus, rather than retaining the best talent, our industry loses it to other industries (typically average boring office jobs). 5) Our gamble has been to price higher across the board, but pack in the quality/quantity to make the purchase worthwhile. Another method of increasing margin pursued by several companies has been to go light on word count (aka development time) and page count and keep the price average or even low (but costs are even lower). I think you'll see more of each of these as outside (real life) pressures force designers to take a long hard look at their 92 tempo, non-existant 401k, complete lack of savings, etc. So, bottom line, expect higher prices, lower quality or inconsistent product value (and a revolving door of authors). Again, just my 2 cents. David Kenzer [/QUOTE]

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