D&D General Kobold Press Going Down a Dark Road

[ReshiIRE]

Consider the continuing popularity of high end / AAA video games, which can cost anywhere from 60 euro / dollars to 70 euro / dollars and the consoles to run them on, along with smaller games. Though the video game industry has changed a lot of the years, there are still a number of games where those over 13 would be a large demographic consideration you have to take account one - one generally assumed to have some way to purchase said games.

I would generally assume that the disposable income of people aged over 13 years would not be the biggest barrier to purchasing TTRPG books for that demographic - especially since material for a TTRPG can often be much less than 60 euro, and you can get potential dozens upon dozens of hours of playtime from one book purchase; this may not hold true for a number of AAA video games, depending on a player's individual interests (if you buy Call of Duty just for the campaign - which is a sizable part of the CoD community - and you buy at lunch - then depending on the game, you may be paying 10 euro for every hour you spend enjoying the game).

 

[teitan]

No. No he's not. When kids have literal crap tons that they want to buy and spend money on(like lunches and movies) each month and only $120 to do it, nearly two months of allowance(at the very highest end of the allowance range) is HUGE. Focusing on only D&D books like that is an attempt to distract from what is really happening in the lives of these teens.

For those who only get $30-$60 a month, that 200 is massive.

And yet they do spend it on D&D books, a lot on D&D books.

 

[Remathilis]

Consider the continuing popularity of high end / AAA video games, which can cost anywhere from 60 euro / dollars to 70 euro / dollars and the consoles to run them on, along with smaller games. Though the video game industry has changed a lot of the years, there are still a number of games where those over 13 would be a large demographic consideration you have to take account one - one generally assumed to have some way to purchase said games.

I would generally assume that the disposable income of people aged over 13 years would not be the biggest barrier to purchasing TTRPG books for that demographic - especially since material for a TTRPG can often be much less than 60 euro, and you can get potential dozens upon dozens of hours of playtime from one book purchase; this may not hold true for a number of AAA video games, depending on a player's individual interests (if you buy Call of Duty just for the campaign - which is a sizable part of the CoD community - and you buy at lunch - then depending on the game, you may be paying 10 euro for every hour you spend enjoying the game).

The video game comparison is apt. You need a $500 system, $60 for the base game, plus all the extras (DLCs, cosmetics, season passes, and whatever other microtransactions they add). Wanna play online? Tack on the cost of subscription for that too.

Comparatively, a DM can start with $120 investment and a player on a measly $30. Tack on a few rules expansions or adventures and you're still coming out cheaper.

 

[Hussar]

Put it it this way.

When you (reading this) were 16, who bought your books?

 

[mamba]

Put it it this way.

When you (reading this) were 16, who bought your books?

I did, had enough 'disposable income'

 

[teitan]

Put it it this way.

When you (reading this) were 16, who bought your books?

I did. I did chores for money. I spent way more than $200 a year on it too. In 1990-1994 money. I mowed lawns and worked in a fabric shop doing the cleaning like vacuuming, dusting, windows etc for $20 a week. Every day after school for 2 hours. Spent about $40 or more a month AD&D and the rest on comics.

 

[Iosue]

Put it it this way.

When you (reading this) were 16, who bought your books?

I did. I had a crap part-time job paying $5 an hour, but since my food, room, and board were already taken care of, all of it was disposable income.

 

[Audiomancer]

Even if the assumption that “teens have no money to spend on D&D” were indisputably true, there would still be a compelling reason for WOTC to pursue the 12-24 demographic:

Those “broke” 12-24 year-olds will eventually be 30-40 year-olds with much more disposable income. And if they become D&D fans at a young age, WOTC can potentially break off a chunk of that disposable income for decades.

 

[Parmandur]

They don't have any way to know that, though. People don't input an age before buying D&D stuff. Any company can make a claim. Unless they can back it up I'm not just going to take their word for it.

And yet when I go to conventions, it's primarily the older folks who I see fielding armies of figures for Warhammer, Battletech and other miniature wargames.

There are millions of people playing the game. Most have never been to a tabletop gaming convention, just by the numbers: the biggest cons don't even get a fraction of a oercent of people playing, and only the really dedicated.

 

[Parmandur]

Even if the assumption that “teens have no money to spend on D&D” were indisputably true, there would still be a compelling reason for WOTC to pursue the 12-24 demographic:

Those “broke” 12-24 year-olds will eventually be 30-40 year-olds with much more disposable income. And if they become D&D fans at a young age, WOTC can potentially break off a chunk of that disposable income for decades.

Just the t-shirt money is enormous: look at how many officially licensed D&D shirts are out there, it's crazy.