Proof (to me) that En-World is the cornerstone of the RPG Internet.

[FoolishFrost]

Proof (to me) that En-World is the cornerstone of the RPG Internet.

Before I start, I want it clear that this is not a rant, accusation, or complaint. It's an observation. Period.

Are we clear? Good.

I've been watching the donation drive with some interest, and am gladdened by how the En-World comes forward to help when help is needed. I have seen it with the Paladins, the server hosting issues of 2003, and now the new server call.

It warms my heart.

I finally have the proof I need to say this place is also central to my business: As of the opening of the recent donation drive, My sales dropped to nearly zero.

Some might still try and take that as a complaint, but hear me out...

The only sale I made, seemed to come from somebody who came in to RPGNow directly instead of through EN-World. All other activity stopped. What does this mean?

It means that over 90% of my sales seem to come directly from people who know me at EN-World. Not my banner ads, not my blurbs at other websites, not even people who come by MY website.

Everything I have is due to EN-World...

Kinda scary, in a way... It was never made this clear to me before.

Anyway, I wish to stand up and offer a thanks to the site that makes my business even possible. To a site that has always been willing to send business my way.

And if you're a PDF publisher, then you should too.

Thanks En-World Guys! And here's to another year of fun!

Later,

 

[KingOfChaos]

I love EN World, but I wouldn't call it a 'cornerstone'. If EN World went down for some reason, the RPG community would continue to thrive like it did before EN World came around. It's definately a major hub, though, along with RPG.Net and maybe 3rdedition.org

Definately a cornerstone for the D20 industry. Even WOTC realizes that.

 

[trancejeremy]

Well, if you like d20 and PDFs, then chances are good you visit ENWorld regularly.

I'm not actually sure how much of RPG.net is about RPGs. Most of their traffic is in tangecy, and that's mostly about flaming each other. And of course, there is a lot of cross traffic between sites.

 

[Clint]

I'm not actually sure how much of RPG.net is about RPGs. Most of their traffic is in tangecy, and that's mostly about flaming each other. And of course, there is a lot of cross traffic between sites.

ENWorld's strength is d20 and pdfs, while rpg.net's is all the other RPGs. There is some overlap, but that's how it plays out.

rpg.net's Roleplaying Open forum is great for discussion of non-d20 games. If you want to learn about anything from a mainstream game (as mainstream as the industry gets) down to a quirky small-press game, somebody there has probably played it and could at least offer an opinion.

Within the last two weeks, the small-press RPG game Riddle of Steel was mentioned as the subject both here and at rpg.net. Compare ENWorld's result with rpg.net's result. The result would likely be inverted if one were to post a query about any d20 product. Hence, both are great at what they do.

 

[dsfriii]

Not it is the cornerstone of D20 RPG PDF world. If ENWorld disappeared tomorrow, the print publisher would not notice. The PDF publishers would. And EnWorld is leaning more towards PDFs, than print.

 

[Treebore]

Its a cornerstone for me, I spend at least 40% of my on-line RPG related time on this site. It not only has turned me on to the few pdf's I have bought, but has also helped me decide to buy a lot of print product as well. More because of the "discussions" than because of the reviews, reviews help when I come across an old product that I missed and am interested in buying.

 

[Crothian]

Not it is the cornerstone of D20 RPG PDF world. If ENWorld disappeared tomorrow, the print publisher would not notice. The PDF publishers would. And EnWorld is leaning more towards PDFs, than print.

Yes, I think EN Eorld does do more for the PDF publishers then the print ones. But EN World is still way more focused on the print publishers. Few PDFs ever really get talked about.

 

[Morrus]

Yes, I think EN Eorld does do more for the PDF publishers then the print ones. But EN World is still way more focused on the print publishers. Few PDFs ever really get talked about.

I'd agree with that. 95% of everything on EN World is D&D - certainly a print product. Without D&D, there'd be very little going on here.

 

[FoolishFrost]

I think that I failed to make my point clear:

I'm not interested in semantics of RPG, d20, or Cornerstone... Yes, I used those words, and yes, they may have been mis-discriptive...

But the point is, without En-World, would we sell even a small percentage of the PDF products we have?

Really?

I've heard a lot of people saying "We'd just go someplace else..."

Ok, but in the time, probably around a year. Longer if you consider that if enough of us wander into another site from here, we'd crash their bandwidth in just days. Longer as the users of this site argued over who the successor would be. Longer still as some of the sites that that are chosen turn out not to be high-enough quality to support a community of this size and shape.

And during this time, sales would take a frightening drop. I would bet money on it.

As it is, this nasty little possibility is not going to happen anytime soon. I was just pointing out that as d20 publishers, ENWorld is not just a convenent spot to blather on about our wares. It's a community that the owners have allowed us into as a service to their users.

See how long our practices would last at wizard's boards...

That was my point, and that's why I offer thanks to not only the people at ENW, but also the people who come here looking for news and comradery. It's the whole that makes this place worthwhile.

Later,
John Bowden

 

[scourger]

my cornerstone

It's a cornerstone for me, too. That's why I donated to the server drive. I get almost all my news here. I don't think I would know about most things in gaming if not for this resource. There may be others, but I don't use them.