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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SweeneyTodd" data-source="post: 2411457" data-attributes="member: 9391">So are the ground rules of the conversation that we're talking about RPGs that sell in large numbers? Basically, "stuff like D&D"?Is the purpose of the roleplaying hobby to provide a market for regular supplements? Are those people out there who play out of print RPGs not relevant either?Look, a fair number of people in this thread are here because RyanD showed a rather profound lack of understanding about what rules-light games can be. If we're only talking about how to sell game books to people in an existing gamer market, and maybe growing that market a bit, I'll bow out.But look at, to throw an example out, board games. Lots of people play board games, but if your friend owns the game, you don't need to spend any money on it. You don't buy quarterly supplements. You don't need extensive prep time to be ready to play. There's no "board game culture", in that lots of people play without identifying them as a focus in their lives. But there's a market for board games.The games I've been playing are like board games in terms of market, although they're still roleplaying games. You buy the rulebook, you get friends together, you play. Now we do extensive campaigns, and there's a lot of things going on in the games, but most of those things we're coming up with use the rules as a guideline. We're not mining supplements for ideas for things to add to the games. We don't need to, because the system is simple but comprehensive enough for our needs..These games are from small-press publishers, and while none of them support their designers full time, they do turn a profit. Commercially successful, I'd say.Maybe this is just pie-in-the-sky, but I think that the potential market for people who would play games about "Fictional characters dealing with compelling situations" is a lot larger than the market for games about "Party of adventurers dealing with conflicts, including tactical realistic combat, to grow in power". But people in the first category aren't going to be interested in complex mechanics or extensive prep time. If that potential market is as irrelevant to the roleplaying industry as people who can't read, then, okay, that tells me a lot. I grant you that they're irrelevant right now, but is there any value in trying to reach these people?</blockquote>

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