Is D&D recession proof?

[jdrakeh]

Gamers need quality gaming cards, which are expensive, and become nearly obsolete in a year or two. They need two of them in crossifre. They need high quality HDs with great response time. They need a gaming mouse with on the fly sensitivity, a good quality HD monitor, a gaming keyboard, and a box with sufficient power and cooling for those two video cards...

Gamers don't need any of that. There isn't a game on the market that requires it, really. But I'm sure that whoever you buy your parts from loves you

[Edit: A video card is about the only required purchase for most gaming PCs anymore, though you only have to step them up about once every three to four years now, and you can typically get a card capable of playing any game currently on the market at any given time for less than $100.]

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

Unless I quit my job the recession wont effect me. I get paid regardless.
Im so happy to not live on my own. . . with bills and crap.

 

[Nifft]

D&D is certainly a luxury, but it's far less expensive than my other two hobbies (skiing and dating).

I don't see this recession cutting down on my D&D purchases. Having less spare time due to more work? That's what will cut down on my D&D purchases.

Cheers, -- N

 

[ki11erDM]

What about CCGs? I am not 100% sure what the % of income still comes from that at WoTC but it has to be significant.
I have known people to sell plasma to buy cards so i know the die hards will.

And I do think Hasbro will be ok because parents will always buy toys for their kids... maybe not a huge amount but they will find a way to get them a new toy.

 

[Tetsubo]

I own some 60+ feet of RPG boxed sets and books. I could game for several lifetimes without ever spending another dime. I am still buying gaming books but only if I can get them at a steep discount. The money I am spending on new, undiscounted books has shrunk considerably. Next to zero really.

I just got an order from Green Ronin of 12 books for $48, great deal.

 

[Opus]

D&D was born during bad economic times--at least as bad as today--the 1970s. It's an inexpensive hobby and you can continue to play even if you stop buying new books. You don't even need to buy anything to join a game, just borrow or share. This is what makes the hobby recession proof. Sales will probably dip some and RPG publishers will have to adapt, but life and the hobby will go on.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think there is little doubt that we can call D&D books luxury items. And I think most people know that sales of luxuries go down in a rescission. And if you are not living in a fantasy world I think everyone is going to be at least somewhat hurt by the craziness.

So. Is D&D recession proof? It is for me for the most part, I might not buy every book but I am sure I will buy most. But my job is not going any were.

Is Hasbro highly leveraged? (I have no idea)

Will collectables (MtG) still sell?

Should I be up thinking about this at 12:14am? /sigh

As a product, D&D isn't recession proof. At some point, the economy could become so dour that you and others simply couldn't afford to buy new game product.

As a hobby, though, it probably is as recession proof as reading. Once you have free time, a few RPG books, some dice and a healthy imagination, you can play with them forever without requiring another purchase.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Gamers need quality gaming cards, which are expensive, and become nearly obsolete in a year or two. They need two of them in crossifre. They need high quality HDs with great response time. They need a gaming mouse with on the fly sensitivity, a good quality HD monitor, a gaming keyboard, and a box with sufficient power and cooling for those two video cards... And none of that helps you do your taxes any faster.

Just no, to most of that. OK, not just no. . .

I'm a pretty keen PC gamer, at least sometimes - I can play all the latest games, and on nowhere near the low settings, ever. My system: midrange CPU [OCd], fairly cheap motherboard, cheap ass RAM, midrange graphics card (*single*) [OCd], cheap ass HDDs, fairly cheap mouse, cheap LCD monitor, $5 keyboard, cheap ass box, fairly cheap PSU fo the *one* GPU. . . fast and stable, been going a while now, and as I said, runs everything perfectly.

Crossfire, most of the time, is a case of diminishing returns. But then that goes for really expensive single cards, as well. For that matter, crossfire is far less reliable for extra frames per second - across *all* games - than a more expensive single card, 9 times out of 10 (if not simply always, actually). These days, there are some seriously smokin' midrange graphics cards. In fact, ever since - notably - the 8800GT came out. Which would still be not *too* shoddy, incidentally.

And my system is not the cheapest gaming system money can buy, anyway. If you don't mind lower settings, less eye candy, a smaller monitor - but still perfectly fine, otherwise - you can do that for nearly half what I paid. . . and that was stuff all.

 

[Shemeska]

Depends on the target audience to some extent. Adults with good jobs and poor self-control when it comes to buying stuff will sustain a company through any recession. But a younger audience with equally poor self-control but potentially reliant on mom and dad's money in an economic downturn might bring trouble when the cash flow gets restricted.

Of course this assumes a ton of things about 4e's target audience as a whole, and its attempt to attract a newer and younger audience in the same way that 3e attracted its own generation of new players (like me and most of my group who got hooked in college). 4e may have been launched at a horrible time if the recession ends up killing the disposable income of its potential buyers.

 

[Jack the Red]

You are forggeting the international sales, with the crisis they will go down heavily.

In Brazil, one month ago the Real (brasilian coin) was at 1 dolar= 1,6 real, now it is 1 dolar= 2.25 real, this will refelct on rpg books, that are already expansive here.