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Question for the Paizo folks regarding D&D's state of today
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<blockquote data-quote="SiderisAnon" data-source="post: 5430923" data-attributes="member: 44949"><p>One thing I think you're forgetting when saying that Wizards may take D&D digital rather than print is that they would face the same lack of new audience that the smaller game companies would face. Right now, the print D&D book in the stores draw people into the hobby. If a lack of print books would mean a lack of new audience, that is also a lack of new customers for the digital products from Wizards. The way to grow and maintain a solid business is to bring in new customers. While there might be a lower profit margin on the paper copies due to printing, shipping, and other costs, if those books are drawing in new people to the high profit products, you keep making those books.</p><p></p><p>Bigger companies will even sell gateway products at a loss in order to get you into their products. Some printers are sold at a loss because the profit on the cartridges more than make up for it, but you don't get any cartridge sales unless they have a printer. Cell phones are sold at a loss because the profit is in the phone service plan. You can see this in gaming too where Goodman Games has a couple of modules that are $2 to get you to try their products.</p><p></p><p>While I can't claim that all corporations do only things which make sense to outsiders (or even insiders), I think that it boils down to the fact that the reason Pathfinder and other companies need D&D books in bookstores is the same reason Wizards needs those books in there.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>However I will also say that I would love to see a really good online tabletop system and I would use it. Right now, it is rather difficult for me to meet new gamers. I've tried several times over the past few years and have yet to get a new group going. Life and other draws on the time have peeled away most of the gamers I've known, to the point where there are just four of us in the group now and we still can't hit every session. My work schedule makes it even more difficult because I do not have evenings free. Being able to get on and play when I want, to find other people on my schedule, to even be able to form a regular group of that, would be fantastic. If the technology can be put in to reliably support it, with the tools I need to overcome the fact that we're not all sitting around the same table, I'd rather give them my $15 per month that World of Warcraft.</p><p></p><p>There's also the opportunity to find people who play the same niche games. I have dozens of systems that I own and have never run or play in because I cannot get three people around a table to play. With a better virtual option, those 100 who bought that indie game that no one they know will play have a chance to put together a game and maybe even a campaign.</p><p></p><p>Frankly, I'd love to be running a D&D or Savage Worlds campaign right now, but I don't have the players and I don't own the tools to make it happen online. Give me those tools and access to some players, and I'll be there. I've been waiting for good online gaming tools since the days when we tried to figure out how to run a D&D session within the MUD we were all playing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SiderisAnon, post: 5430923, member: 44949"] One thing I think you're forgetting when saying that Wizards may take D&D digital rather than print is that they would face the same lack of new audience that the smaller game companies would face. Right now, the print D&D book in the stores draw people into the hobby. If a lack of print books would mean a lack of new audience, that is also a lack of new customers for the digital products from Wizards. The way to grow and maintain a solid business is to bring in new customers. While there might be a lower profit margin on the paper copies due to printing, shipping, and other costs, if those books are drawing in new people to the high profit products, you keep making those books. Bigger companies will even sell gateway products at a loss in order to get you into their products. Some printers are sold at a loss because the profit on the cartridges more than make up for it, but you don't get any cartridge sales unless they have a printer. Cell phones are sold at a loss because the profit is in the phone service plan. You can see this in gaming too where Goodman Games has a couple of modules that are $2 to get you to try their products. While I can't claim that all corporations do only things which make sense to outsiders (or even insiders), I think that it boils down to the fact that the reason Pathfinder and other companies need D&D books in bookstores is the same reason Wizards needs those books in there. However I will also say that I would love to see a really good online tabletop system and I would use it. Right now, it is rather difficult for me to meet new gamers. I've tried several times over the past few years and have yet to get a new group going. Life and other draws on the time have peeled away most of the gamers I've known, to the point where there are just four of us in the group now and we still can't hit every session. My work schedule makes it even more difficult because I do not have evenings free. Being able to get on and play when I want, to find other people on my schedule, to even be able to form a regular group of that, would be fantastic. If the technology can be put in to reliably support it, with the tools I need to overcome the fact that we're not all sitting around the same table, I'd rather give them my $15 per month that World of Warcraft. There's also the opportunity to find people who play the same niche games. I have dozens of systems that I own and have never run or play in because I cannot get three people around a table to play. With a better virtual option, those 100 who bought that indie game that no one they know will play have a chance to put together a game and maybe even a campaign. Frankly, I'd love to be running a D&D or Savage Worlds campaign right now, but I don't have the players and I don't own the tools to make it happen online. Give me those tools and access to some players, and I'll be there. I've been waiting for good online gaming tools since the days when we tried to figure out how to run a D&D session within the MUD we were all playing. [/QUOTE]
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