KQ interview with J. Goodman

[Jack99]

Link

Goodman explains some of the recent comments he has made regarding 4e sales, which caused a decent amount of debate on our little site.

An interesting read for sure.

Cheers

 

[dmccoy1693]

Thank you Mr. Goodman. I really do appreciate all your insight.

 

[vagabundo]

Lot's of interesting information for the sales-agers out there. Good interview.

I'm still absorbing it. Nom nom nom..

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The interview was a very good read and informative, too. Good find Jack99.

 

[Shemeska]

Though he claims the 4e base is several orders of magnitude larger than the 3.x base, which, well, I don't believe. There was still some spin going on, and a number of things from his personal experience that don't mesh with mine (internet negativity on 4e not being present in game stores, etc).

 

[Cadfan]

I think that's a casually phrased sentence, not one he intends to be read as a specific statement of mathematical fact. I suspect that he's also equating "still play 3e" with "still play 3e and still regularly or semi-regularly purchase 3e products." I would not be surprised if the purchasing market for 4e were several orders of magnitude larger for the purchasing market of 3e. Its only anecdotal, but I've met a fair amount of 3e fans who are sticking with 3e because they feel like they already have all the gaming material they need, and don't see the point in buying more.

 

[carmachu]

Yeah, I'm kinda having a hard time believingthat 4e is several orders of maganitude bigger than 3.x was. That seems to be a stretch without some real numbers.

That and the neagtivity on the net, and not the game store- that MIGHT be because those of us that arent going 4e stop going to game stores since they have nothing to offer us anymore? So obviously you arent going to get ANY bad feedback on 4e from folks that arent there....I mean, you cant get a contrary opinion of foks that arent at the shop anymore....


(not that the ones near me ever in teh last 5-10 years had anything to offer, wargaming or RPG's, but thats another story).

Honestly his "going to gamestores because their fun" when teh example that the minis cheaper at the book store, and because they have a sea of product to look at- I can shop even better in my slippers in the confort of my computer. Doesnt quite wash.

Overall better than the first one.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Yeah, I'm kinda having a hard time believingthat 4e is several orders of maganitude bigger than 3.x was. That seems to be a stretch without some real numbers.

I am pretty sure he is talking about how the numbers are now, not what they were. Especially since he notes that the 2000/2001 figures are way beyond everything after that, including the 2008/2009 figures for 4E.

 

[Mark]

Obviously there's a huge split in gamestore customers. My own group plays both but there's plenty of groups that won't touch the new edition for whatever reasons.

Regarding sales, he's talking about current 3.XE vs. 4E.

Over the past several years, as many of the d20 publishers with brand recognition from the 2000-2001 period slowly went extinct, I offered to buy their companies and/or brands, solely because those brands would have value again when 4E relaunched. Without “kissing and telling,” I can tell you that there were several such deals under negotiation, and in every case the owners valued their companies based on their 2000-2001 sales figures, not a more reasonable time period. As a result, I considered the asking prices too high, and none of these deals went through. One of the companies simply disappeared, another transferred its IP then faded away, and a third still “exists” but hasn’t released a product in years.

Does at least one of these seem obvious?

 

[Mark]

D&D was shelved next to the yarn!

Does this make D&D a storyteller game?