Ken Hite Re: The RPG Industry

[Ceresco]

The fact that game lines cannot be published unto all eternity is sad, but true. There is a limit to what kinds of sales any single game line can achive. Even Scarred Lands had to go at one point...

Isn't this more a function of pace of releases and setting development?

Tha Arcanis line is developing at a good pace. It started with a specific story arc to take it through the first six years and has focused on costumer service. It's fan base is devoted and knows that their actions have consequences on the world. Arcanis will continue to grow and thrive because the setting is supported by about a hundred adventures available for free through the RPGA. I believe this is the key to the long term health of any single setting. How does the publisher support it.

Respectfully,

Edward Kopp: Arcaniac at Large

 

[The_Gneech]

Remember when gaming was a weird little cottage industry that operated out of tiny little shops on the fringe and you were lucky to see so much as a Monster Manual in a mainstream bookstore? Remember when gaming supplements were laid out by copy'n'paste and printed in two colors?

I'm always amused by these "sky's falling" posts about the RPG industry. The RPG industry is HUGE and FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH MONEY compared to when I first got into the hobby.

I wonder if people will somebody will someday bemoan the death of the webcomics industry...

-The Gneech

 

[Ceresco]

Pretty accurate.

--Erik

Says the man who puts out two periodicals a month and has published a hard cover Shackled City adventure path with the future of another with Age of Worms.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Says the man who puts out two periodicals a month and has published a hard cover Shackled City adventure path with the future of another with Age of Worms.

Well, those are 'official' books with the Dungeons & Dragons logo and WoTC bells and whistles.

 

[pogre]

The areas of tabletop games that seem to be doing well are CCG, board games, and miniatures. Given this I think the folks at WOTC are heading in the right direction to maintain a market. I know a lot of folks on ENWorld hate the wargaming aspects of D&D, but I think it needs to go further down this road.

I kind of wonder how successful Heroscape is? My son and I play it quite often, but I cannot guage whether it's a hit or not.

 

[Umbran]

How does a book club work and how would it be implemented for the rpg industry?

Book clubs could be a very interesting model. Essentially, a sort of subscription...

There may be a PR hurdle there, though. The best-known book clubs out there have horrid customer service and relations problems. I would not be surprised if a large portion of the audience has been burned in the past, and would thus be reluctant to join for fear of being bitten again.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Book clubs could be a very interesting model. Essentially, a sort of subscription...

There may be a PR hurdle there, though. The best-known book clubs out there have horrid customer service and relations problems. I would not be surprised if a large portion of the audience has been burned in the past, and would thus be reluctant to join for fear of being bitten again.

Especially given the wildly deceptive marketing practices of the Sci-Fi Book Club in particular, which is the one most of the D&D crowd is most likely familiar with.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Especially given the wildly deceptive marketing practices of the Sci-Fi Book Club in particular, which is the one most of the D&D crowd is most likely familiar with.

Eh?

I've been a member for years and years.

Enjoy many books that you can't find on the shelves like the various Kane books by Karl Edgar Wagner.

Are they known for doing something really poorly or ?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Eh?

I've been a member for years and years.

Enjoy many books that you can't find on the shelves like the various Kane books by Karl Edgar Wagner.

Are they known for doing something really poorly or ?

Try and quit.

Last time I did, they retroactively declared nearly all of my purchases since joining the club to not be elligible for paying off my commitment upon joining and presented me with a big bill and an e-mail threatening legal action, and this is after I'd purchased more than a dozen books through them.

It took me weeks of long distance phone calls before I could get it resolved, and it was made very clear to me that they felt they were doing me a favor by not taking me to court.

I thought this was an anomaly, since I used them with great satisfaction in the 1980s and 1990s, when I didn't have ready access to book stores (living overseas) and they were great. Now, I find out, that lots of people have stories like mine, with the SFBC claiming "members" owe them all sorts of things the members believed to have already been taken care of.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Wow. I've quit several times.

Heck, I've had my g/f and mom join and quit several times.

Quess I'm lucky.