New D&D Spinner Rack

[dpetroc]

I was having this conversation yesterday with a friend about the state of RPGs. With no data to back it up, I think Erik is most likely right. CCGs, Minis and even board games seem ascendant. The basic rules of most rpgs are daunting for younger players, and there is still a stigma associated with role-playing. Why play pen-and-paper when you can play with 10,000 of your closest friends online? Plus, the sticker price for even the core D&D books being well over $100 at retail, it's an expensive hobby to boot.

The market is also flooded with so many supplements and add-ons. It's overwhelming to newbs.

 

[RFisher]

I think this is a great idea. I still remember this kind of display with the Basic/Expert stuff in a store when I was a kid. I don't know if it was merely the store's doing or if TSR was involved, but I think it did help draw attention to the game. I've noticed the same thing with comic books & manga in the bookstores today. A couple of the game stores near me have spinners that seem to be dominated by Goodman's DCCs, which seem to help draw attention to them--which particularly get kind of lost on the shelves.

I'm sorry to say that a "fancy" rack is not going to make me want to buy more gaming material. Good material makes me want to buy more. I'm sure the spin rack, if placed properly in the stores, will draw more people's attention to the books and may even entice a few people ont eh fence about getting into gaming to pick up a book, but for established gamers I don't see this as having any effect at all.

Yeah. Of course, I'm sure I'm not the target market.

What bothers me is that I still don't think D&D3e or it's "basic set" serve as a good introduction to the hobby. Raising visibility isn't going to help too much if it isn't the right product.

I suppose it might help sales among the "already play 3e but don't keep up with what's new" set. & maybe that's what their marketing needs to be doing. But it's not what I'd like to see them doing.

If the books aren't in the stores at all, then no one can buy them.

That's clearly not true. I've been special ordering books that they'd never stock from bookstores since...well, practically since I had an allowance. Amazon's been making a profit since...what...2003? You can't really make fun of their business plan anymore.

& I'm still finding myself special ordering through the brick & mortars since running "the tightest ship in the shipping business" these days appearantly means you don't have to bother with...you know...delivering packages. (>_<)

 

[erikdenizen]

The Barnes and Noble in my area had a spinner along with a full shelf of other RPG books from other companies but they have recently removed the spinner and all of the other RPG books. I guess this would backup the claim that RPG sales are down or maybe it was a local decision by the manager.

 

[dpetroc]

The Barnes and Noble in my area had a spinner along with a full shelf of other RPG books from other companies but they have recently removed the spinner and all of the other RPG books. I guess this would backup the claim that RPG sales are down or maybe it was a local decision by the manager.

My local B&N still has the spinner, but its so far back away from the Sci-fi/fantasy/graphic novels/rpg section it looks like something they keep meaning to remove from the floor but haven't gotten around to yet.

A spinner is only good if you can see it and browse it. If it isn't near its other kin, then its wasted floorspace. I also noticed the books on the spinner haven't been updated in a long time - which leads me to believe they aren't really a) selling from the spinner and b) caring enough to update the stock.

The spinner is a great idea -- maybe in a mom & pop bookstore, a FLGS, or other small venue. It gets lost in the B&N/Borders/Waldenbooks.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Also, note the mention products. We have the core books, some of the "Complete" series, the "Extended Core" books (the Compendiums) and the Eberron campaign setting. I'd wager the Forgotten Realms would be included if they had a current campaign book. As it is, the Player's Guide might be part of the "and more."

I'm pretty impressed by the books on that list. Those are exactly the ones I'd have picked for such a program, down to which two Completes I'd have included.

I think this is a solid idea, and I hope to see comic shops, "hobby" shops and bookstores all trying this out.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I will take your word for it. I just assumed, because I can get a couch for $350, and a book shelf for $30 that the price was a tad off.

Your $30 bookshelf would not stand up to several hundred people a day touching it.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Your $30 bookshelf would not stand up to several hundred people a day touching it.

Heck. It wouldn't stand up to the weight of those books.

Plus, if you can get a $350 couch that isn't covered in beer and bodily fluids, and isn't half sprung.... you sure don't live anywhere near me.

 

[Dyne]

I've seen the rack at Barnes & Noble, and at a local book chain. The local book chain [a full service bookstore], uses it to stock only WotC new releases, and has since removed all back catalog and all third party publishers. When they got the rack, they wiped out the old RPG section. The B&N has also removed most third party books. I was there yesterday, and the only RPG publishers they now stock are WotC and White Wolf. They used to have quite the range, and recently at that.

It seems to me that the motivation for using the rack is to ensure that only WotC books are prominently marketed.

If that's the case, this certainly can't be good for the hobby.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Barnes & Noble, Borders and the like are all run by individual managers. "The hobby" is not impacted greatly by what a single manager at a single bookstore does, nor does it reflect what other stores are doing, typically.

 

[Dyne]

Barnes & Noble, Borders and the like are all run by individual managers. "The hobby" is not impacted greatly by what a single manager at a single bookstore does, nor does it reflect what other stores are doing, typically.

Obviously. However, if it becomes a trend to eliminate RPG sections of shelves in favor of a WotC spinner, non-WotC games will obviously suffer. A big "if", though. I just hope nothing like that ever happens.