Publishers Action Plans to d20 Slump?

[JoeGKushner]

There has been a lot of talk about the slump of the d20 material.

Just as a fan, I'd like to know what companies have been doing to fight it? In some cases, I'm not naming anyone, it certainly hasn't been to improve editing, art, layout, pricing or timely updates to the websites.

Another problem is that there is too much of the same. How many books on ships, pirates, spells, priest, and other things do we need? We do not need definitive versions of these core ideas from several different publishers. At first, it was almost humrousous. Oh gee, three books on dwarves. Ah well, get 'em all. After the cute phase, people realized that there were all optional, they often clashed, and the quality varied, even within the same company because a lot of the material was freelance written. Now fans know better and want more previews, reviews and support before laying out those same dollars.


I can see 3.5 having an impact on companies as I see a huge backlog of material that looks tempting, but now have no desire to grab. My friends are worse than I am and some have stopped buying anything that wasn't in their 'genre' like Spycraft, Everquest, Arcana Unearthed, or just official like Wizards of the Coast who may not always have perfect editing and proofreading but are 'official', have full color art in most products and are, compared to other d20 books, priced to move.

I see some companies like Mystic Eye trying to make sure that they've got a solid footing not only with standard d20 material, but with a lot of brand name recognition through Dragonstar, Arcana Unearthed and Armagedon. I see them making d20 material and going on to OGL with the Fall of Man, and trying to help the community via their consolidation of other companies.

I see Green Ronin doing Mutants & Masterminds and building brand loyalty to the M&M Superlink as well as moving into other directions like Spaceship Zero and maintining some top quality in thier d20 product line.

I see Malhavok creating a brand that others jump on immediatly, and take advantage of 3.5 to update, revise, and collec their material as well as continue to expand and explore their own alternative engine.

Atlas to me, as a reader, is an interesting company. They were around before the d20 fad kicked in with some great books and series like Ars Magica, Feng SHui and Unknown Armies, and have time and time again taken chances not only with Ars Magica as a free PDF, but as Nyambe and other products hit the shelves. I suspect that they are in a great position to either continue d20 support or drop it with little loss in steam.

These are just my observations as a fan of the industry and I hope that the d20 slump isn't something that's going to hammer good talent like Mike Mearls and others away from the industry, but at the same time, can't help but wonder if it shouldn't so that other games like Savage Worlds and Exalted can face some new, non-d20 competition that makes some real waves in the industry.

 

[Napftor]

Just off the cuff here, but maybe publishers should focus on really digging down deep into the niches they've already carved. Bastion is doing this with continued Oathbound support. This is what draws me, as a consumer, to a setting (or alternative rule system, or whatever)--continued support of the "niche." Again using Oathbound as an example (because it's the first thing I thought of), I was hesitant to lay down $40 for a new setting no matter the praise of reviewers. But when supplemental materials starting to appear then I was hooked. It's a chance, to be sure, to flesh out one's niche without having initial concrete $$ support from consumers but I think publishers need to take a leap of faith. Once consumers see that they do not have to flesh out a world only glossed over in a core worldbook, then they are more eager to jump on the bandwagon. Publishers with such a niche can continue to develop it to their heart's content.

Is this an answer to the problem? Couldn't hurt! And then there's still a market for the budding d20 freelancers.

 

[Psion]

I see companies withdrawing from areas they aren't successful in (Monkeygod), and I see companies outsourcing and shifting some of their jobs (Necro publishing through troll lord.)

Another problem is that there is too much of the same. How many books on ships, pirates, spells, priest, and other things do we need?

But the thing is, how do you expect publishers to negotiate of territory that they both think will be profitable for them. A proven desirable but contested subject might be more profitable than one that nobody is interested in.

The best thing to do here is to try to come up with something nobody else is doing that you think the audience will like. That's tricky, because you never know when going away from the norms, what the audience is going to like.

 

[Pramas]

We have many plans, some of which I can't yet reveal. Our basic d20 strategy though is to consistently provide books of higher quality than our competition.

Last week Mike Mearls was positing over on Nutkinland that the "quantity over quality" strategy was a dead end and that more publishers needed to make a sustained effort to put out quality books. Rather than say the same thing over, I'm just going to repost my reply here.

<<As I hope Green Ronin's record proves, I agree with you, Mike. We use professional designers, editors, and artists, and try to provide RPG books with the total package. We also try to compensate our talent fairly and pay them on time. I'm sure we spend more money putting together a typical book than most of our competition because we have always put quality first.

I don't regret the way we do business one bit and I wouldn't change it. However, it does get frustrating to see our name routinely mentioned in the same breath as companies who have manifestly shown that quality is not (by a long shot) their first concern. It is frustrating to see products with dodgy design, terrible editing, mediocre art, and no graphic design to speak of get rated the same as our books. It is frustrating to see companies who should have gone out of business two years ago still filling the channel with crap.

I'm not sure how many people realize how buying a book is like casting a vote. If you continue to buy mediocre books, you are telling those companies to make more mediocre books. If you buy a book full of sloppy rules that are unuseable without being tweaked and then defend the book because "it had some good ideas", you are only encouraging more of the same.

The d20 market these days is fierce. Every dollar is hotly contested. If you want quality books, you need to support the companies you think are doing the quality stuff. Otherwise, you may see the companies that do care leave the market to the crap merchants.>>

 

[jgbrowning]

We have many plans, some of which I can't yet reveal. Our basic d20 strategy though is to consistently provide books of higher quality than our competition.

When did we start working for Green Ronin? That's pretty much our goal at Expeditious Retreat Press!

Unlike most other publishers we have the luxury of only putting out one perhaps two products a year. This really allows us to focus on that subject and hopefully create a book that is leaps and bounds above what is typically published. We don't have to worry about cash flow, deadlines, and paying employees (the things that tend to lead more to a shotgun approach than a quality approach). We're also not terribly interested in "growing" our company to where it can support us independantly of all other sources.

What we're interested in is damn good books: books that simply can't be written to the needed detail due to either economic, time, or knowledge synthesis restraints. What we're aiming for is to create customers who buy our books when they come out "sight unseen" because they know they're damn good books. Even if they're not necessarily "into" the subject matter.

Joseph Browning
Expeditious Retreat Press

 

[Psion]

Last week Mike Mearls was positing over on Nutkinland that the "quantity over quality" strategy was a dead end and that more publishers needed to make a sustained effort to put out quality books.

I hope he is right. I fear that some publishers will see it as a viable strategy, and seeing that win out would be bad for the industry in the long run.

 

[V_Shane]

Heathen Oracle produced a PDF adventure "Bane of the Salt Fen Lich" that met with mixed reviews (reviewed here, GameWyrd and RPGnow). That was a year ago this month. Since then we haven't put out anything, for a whole year! We feel if we can't put out the absolute best (Chris Heath has edited for quite a number of prof. projects) Chris will slow things down and rewrite over and over and over. He has been working relentlessly on his Azieran world and map, and the novel trilogy that is now complete. With the assitance of 4 other artists (myself and other AEG/WOTC/StarWarsRPG artists) we are ready to put out the class book for his world. It was alot of hard work and fully in color. We feel it meets or exceeds the new standards set by WOTC for the d20 material.

Point:We took our time to give the best out-and-out effort we could. Chris wouldn't allow "straggling" world addendums to his concept, and encouraged us in our best efforts as well. Sometimes its jsut best to plant one big tree, than to jsut spread yourself thin with seeds.



Click on the Picture of the book

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Rather than say the same thing over, I'm just going to repost my reply here.

SNIP

I couldn't agree more. For a couple of years, folks have rewarded the crap-peddlars with their dollars. I suppose that was fine when demand outstripped the supply of good stuff. Now, if you want quality, don't buy the crap that clogs the pipeline for everyone else-- and don't mistake quantity for quality.

At any rate, I'll continue to publish when I'm ready and the product meets my standards.

Wulf

 

[trancejeremy]

When I go to buy a d20 book, the main factor is the subject. For instance, if someone puts out a d20 book about vampires, I will buy it sooner or later (probably sooner).

Then comes price (or value). For instance, at one time, there were 3 Witch books on the market at the same time (within months). I bought the Mongoose one simply because it was a better value in terms of what you get. ($20 for 128 pages vs $15 for 64 pages vs $25 for $112 pages).

Those two are actually the biggest factors. There's a lot of books I want but I can't justify buying due to the price, and there are books I've bought simply because they were incredibly cheap.

Then comes author. There are certain authors I really like. There are certain authors that I really hate. I also don't like books that have a lot of authors, as the end results tend to be disjointed.

Lastly comes company. While it's important for editing and layout, many times authors work for several companies. So a company brand is meaningless, because they will sometimes publish a terrible author just because they can finish a manuscript on time.

Is company quality important? Yes, but only a little. I've basically stopped buying from FFG, Mongoose & AEG because of poor quality products (IMHO). But despite that, I bought the Stargate RPG from AEG simply because I liked Stargate. I recently bought the Encyclopedia of Angels from Fast Forward because it was the only book of its type available.


Anyway, I can see companies concentrating on the more profitable subjects (splatbooks presumably), while books on more niche subjects are abandoned. Which is a shame, but on the other hand, I do wonder how some books make money.

For instance, Bastion Press's "Into The Green". It's a book about green ecosystems. It's actually a very good book, and enjoyable to read. But the only reason I have it was that I was fortunate to get a review copy. I simply never would have bought it, just because of the subject. I really can't think many people would ever want to buy the book, because it's not something that is terribly exciting or "cool".

 

[Ed Cha]

I'm sorry to say this, but there's a lot of junk sitting on the shelves of gaming stores right now. It hurts the business overall, especially when it discourages retailers from buying new stuff.

Both retailers and consumers today are more selective about their purchases which is a good thing. However, this can also lead some to ignore a lot of good products coming out from newer companies.

I'm confident though that the market will eventually sort itself out though. Those companies with the "right" organization, product, exposure, and financing should succeed while others fail. Sometimes though good companies with good products may fall to the wayside which is very unfortunate.