Hits and Misses (or, Striking a Nerve)
- Thread starter The Sigil
- Start date
Terraism
Explorer
Seconded, in all cases. I've always been a D&D/d20 gamer - years now, though I've looked at other systems - and the class/level system is been getting under my skin enough lately that I've seriously thought of converting my game directly over to 4E GURPS when that comes out. (Haven't had a chance to look at Buy the Numbers yet, though. Just ordered it this morning, and after this, I'm gonna settle down and read.)madelf said:
That and the fact that I hadn't seen it anywhere - I'd seen the Mystic Music, and the Enchiridion of Objects d'Arte (or however it's titled,) more than once while browsing around RPGNow - and they were generally linked to one another. OGL Lite Fantasy came up, too - but never the EEEE (too much alliteration for me, by the way.) Still, it looks interesting, and it's now sitting in that neat "as soon as I make a deposit" basket.Bloodstone Press said:
Similarly, I think some is just no recognition. I consider myself pretty aware of the d20 market - gods know I buy enough books - and I know I'm better informed than the people at my local FLGS (any of the three, depending on which area I'm considering "local" at any given time,) but I'd not stumbled across it before. That said, at $3.33, I couldn't *not* buy it this morning...Bloodstone Press said:
Something occurs to me regarding sales of adventures/settings/etc vs. rules books.
Take a good long look at the forums under RPG Forums. We've got:
General Discussion
D&D Rules
House Rules
D20 Modern, D20 System, & OGL Games
Rogues Gallery
D20 & Open Gaming Publishers
Of note: there are no setting-specific forums, but there are two that are rules-specific.
Now look at the topics in General RPG Discussion. As I type this, the first page of topics has two, maybe three threads that are setting-specific.
(The d20/other forum seems to have the most setting-specific threads, but at a guess, that's because of the higher percentage of d20/other game books that are setting-specific vs. d20/d&d.)
Some perceptions I've run across:
For setting, what the GM says, goes.
If the GM can't come up with a decent setting -- either by using a published setting, mixing & matching from multiple published settings, or creating it from scratch -- someone else should be GMing.
Rules that players come up with are suspect.
Rules that have been published are potentially viable.
One GM quote I've heard, regarding rules: "If it's in print, you can use it." That went for classes, races, feats, whatever.
The same GM disallowed what seemed to me to be a somewhat-underpowered prestige class, because it had been created by a player. The player (not me, btw) had deliberately underpowered it in hopes of getting it approved.
So yeah, people are more likely to buy rules-related materials than settings.
Take a good long look at the forums under RPG Forums. We've got:
General Discussion
D&D Rules
House Rules
D20 Modern, D20 System, & OGL Games
Rogues Gallery
D20 & Open Gaming Publishers
Of note: there are no setting-specific forums, but there are two that are rules-specific.
Now look at the topics in General RPG Discussion. As I type this, the first page of topics has two, maybe three threads that are setting-specific.
(The d20/other forum seems to have the most setting-specific threads, but at a guess, that's because of the higher percentage of d20/other game books that are setting-specific vs. d20/d&d.)
Some perceptions I've run across:
For setting, what the GM says, goes.
If the GM can't come up with a decent setting -- either by using a published setting, mixing & matching from multiple published settings, or creating it from scratch -- someone else should be GMing.
Rules that players come up with are suspect.
Rules that have been published are potentially viable.
One GM quote I've heard, regarding rules: "If it's in print, you can use it." That went for classes, races, feats, whatever.
The same GM disallowed what seemed to me to be a somewhat-underpowered prestige class, because it had been created by a player. The player (not me, btw) had deliberately underpowered it in hopes of getting it approved.
So yeah, people are more likely to buy rules-related materials than settings.
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Amplifying what's been said before, a title should be evocative of the subject matter. The Lord of the Rings works because it tells the reader what the work is about. How the book is about the subject is another matter, but at least a prospective reader knows what the story will be about.
For a book on rangers a title like, "Guides to the Wilderness" might work better. Some might think "Guides" a mistake ("Shouldn't that be, 'Guide to the Wilderness?'"). But most should get what you're talking about.
And don't forget the power of an appropriate sub-title. Most books don't need a sub-title, some do. In some cases a sub-title can help clarify matters for the customers. Something like, "Guides to the Wilderness: Rangers in d20 Fantasy" for example.
Tooting my own horn I present a title and sub-title. Your task is to tell us what the following (unwritten) book is about.
The Kekihj Cabal: How Some Second Rate Illithid Stand-ins Shaped the Ki Setting and Became the "Close Personal Friends" of a Bunch of Nosy Dragons
For a book on rangers a title like, "Guides to the Wilderness" might work better. Some might think "Guides" a mistake ("Shouldn't that be, 'Guide to the Wilderness?'"). But most should get what you're talking about.
And don't forget the power of an appropriate sub-title. Most books don't need a sub-title, some do. In some cases a sub-title can help clarify matters for the customers. Something like, "Guides to the Wilderness: Rangers in d20 Fantasy" for example.
Tooting my own horn I present a title and sub-title. Your task is to tell us what the following (unwritten) book is about.
The Kekihj Cabal: How Some Second Rate Illithid Stand-ins Shaped the Ki Setting and Became the "Close Personal Friends" of a Bunch of Nosy Dragons
jmucchiello
Hero
It does? I thought it was about Frodo and Samwise, Gandalf, etc. The Lord of the Rings is Sauron and he doesn't really appear in the novel. Sauron is a cipher. He is evil for evil's sake. A one-dimensional parody of a good villain. No, the title Lord of the Rings does not tell you what the book is about. A story about landed gentry playing ring toss games is more appropriate to that title.mythusmage said:
Not that I disagree with your premise. A title should tell you what's in the book. Use subtitles for clarity. All good advice.
jmucchiello said:
On the contrary, the title tells what the book is about. A book (to paraphrase Roger Ebert) is not about its subject, a book is how it's about its subject. For all that Sauron does not appear he still has the greatest influence and impact upon events in the book. Yes, he is off stage, but like Robert Chambers fictional play, "The King in Yellow" he does not need to appear to play a role in events.
To put it another way, without the Lord of the Rings there would no need for the story.
BSF
Explorer
Sigil,
As a fan of your stuff, I have to say that your titles are undercutting you. The Enchiridion of Mystic Music is too obscure. It seems that few people realize it is a Bard style sourcebook. If they do a search on music, they might find it. I love the book, but I don't like the title because each person I tell about the book needs provided links just to be able to find it later.
Enchiridion of Elided Enduements of the Expanse is even worse. Heck, one of my friends plays a Ranger and while he is an engineer, he will never be able to spell that title. That one absolutely requires a link to get anyone I know to even look at it. My DM has it and he has never looked at it.
Your titles are cool, but they are not sellable. The word of mouth can't work on those because many people you meet won't be able to remember the title later on. They require word of mouth followed up by an email with a link.
As a fan of your stuff, I have to say that your titles are undercutting you. The Enchiridion of Mystic Music is too obscure. It seems that few people realize it is a Bard style sourcebook. If they do a search on music, they might find it. I love the book, but I don't like the title because each person I tell about the book needs provided links just to be able to find it later.
Enchiridion of Elided Enduements of the Expanse is even worse. Heck, one of my friends plays a Ranger and while he is an engineer, he will never be able to spell that title. That one absolutely requires a link to get anyone I know to even look at it. My DM has it and he has never looked at it.
Your titles are cool, but they are not sellable. The word of mouth can't work on those because many people you meet won't be able to remember the title later on. They require word of mouth followed up by an email with a link.
