GreyLord
Legend
Warning, this is lengthy and long winded.
A thought here in comparisons between PC gaming and Roleplaying games...more specifically Dungeons and Dragons. Many see both of these as dying out, aka...having a lower market share and lower sales. Some do NOT see this as happening, instead claiming the opposite is occurring and that a mere transition of how the medium is transferred is being accomplished.
In PC games, retail sales are lower than a half (some say a third to a quarter) of what it was a mere five years ago. That's a HUGE drop in sales, at least on the retail side.
The counter to this is that PC gaming has gone online. Sales are now handled directly via direct downloads. Most of those who do NOT use direct downloads for their PC gaming probably will scoff at the idea that these direct downloads are even close in sales to what retail was...but for the STEAM users, and those who use other direct downloads, they will say this is the future and the direct download market is booming (though a recent study I read actually only placed these sales as 6% of what the total sales were in relation...which indicates the opposite).
For Dungeons and Dragons, the movement to 4e has made some interesting changes as well. One could say that 3e sold a million books it's first year, and 800,000 books the next (and that's just core books) while 4e probably did not hit those goals. In fact, one could say that now, a mere 2 years later after 4e's release, that it's not even a competition between how many books 4e is selling, and how many 3e was selling at that point. Many point to a recent release of sales numbers (an incomplete collection of information to say the least as it didn't include the biggest sellers of D&D 4e...BUT it could be an indication of things nevertheless) that actually had the Pathfinder RPG beating out D&D 4e in sales.
The counterpoint, similar to the direct download idea, is that RPG's have gone online. D&D has it's DDi program with direct downloads of it's material, and support via online with a character builder, compendium, and other assets. WotC makes money off of this, and though the estimated numbers as seen via accounts number somewhere between 40K to 80K (more like around 50K is we include all those adding and dropping monthly, along with steady subscriptions), they may say that month to month, WotC is actually making MORE money now than they did in the past with the book releases of 3e. Just like those who are NOT into the direct download market of PC gaming would scoff at that idea of direct download sales showing strength of the PC gaming world...most who are NOT on DDi probably would scoff at the idea that DDi subscriptions in anyway show how well the RPG market is...in fact since it only numbers in the tens of thousands many would say it shows directly how POORLY it is doing). Those who are subscribers could say that the numbers of registered users are actually only a small portion of the real users, and the real users number much higher (I've heard some say in the hundreds of thousands).
Though some of you have already read quite a bit...those who are positive towards direct downloads for PC gaming and STEAM, and those who are positive towards the Online initiatives for DDi...the rest of this is NOT for you. You believe that the markets are doing well. This post accepts that the markets are actually dying...hence are NOT doing well. You will probably disagree with the rest of the post (I put above the defense that you have towards these items...but I personally disagree with those defenses, along with much of what else you may put down) that follows.
The main point of my post is the striking similarity of what drove the market to DRM, Direct Download, and STEAM and the directives of the current DDi makeup.
It's one thing. Piracy. This is the big similarity that I see between the PC market and the D&D market currently. They both feel they are fighting Piracy...but it's THIS that killed the market instead.
Piracy of games, books, etc. are not really lost sales in my book. Well, yes, some of those who would have gotten the books didn't because they downloaded them instead, and the same applies for computer games. However, I feel a MAJORITY of those games and books would NOT have been sold to those who pirated overall. To count pirated games or books as lost sales is actually counter intuitive.
For comparison, for pirated items, consoles are considered to be on the rise and selling better then ever. I can find clean pirated console games a THOUSAND TIMES easier than I can find pirated PC games (sure I can download games...and over 50% of the times they'll contain trojans, worms, and viruses as a nice present to my PC as well), and reading books via a computer can be a pain. I'd rather have a printed product where I can turn to the page pretty quick instead of doing a search or scrolling to the item.
So, I'd say the first fallacy both of these groups are making (PC games and D&D) is that pirates are a group to counter. I'd say if consoles are their indication, pirates actually may be helping promote sales (I dont' really buy that in the console market though...I'd say those who buy pirated sales would never buy the real stuff anyways, so it's a moot point, they neither contribute nor hurt the bottom line). They are fighting an illusionary enemy.
These groups had REAL customers. These customers BOUGHT their products. They paid REAL money for the items that were presented. There was NOTHING illusionary about these customers. The number of these customers have decreased.
Why?
I feel it's because both groups have focused on fighting an illusionary enemy to the detriment of their customer viability...instead of focusing on what really matters, gameplay and game experience as well as quality and providing what those customers they do have...want.
Nothing they've done has hurt the pirate market. I could go download Starcraft II the day it was released (instead I bought 2 copies of SCII). I can even now, download all the essentials releases by WotC. It seems regardless of their battling pirates...it really hasn't made a dent in the pirates abilities.
On the otherhand, they HAVE hurt their paying customers. For PC gaming, DRM has turned away many from buying games in the store. Furthermore, many want to have an actual physical copy independant of the internet to play. Instead of catering to this audience, PC game companies require internet connections to play, or to even start the games. Many PC gamers want to be able to install their games multiple times in event of a hard drive crash...whilst the makers of games have decided limited installations is the word of the day. This creates more obstacles for legitimate gamers.
What they've done is create more obstacles for paying customers, whilst not really doing anything to the pirate market.
D&D has a similar record recently. They did have a business of catering to those who wanted items online via PDF's. They had a way of having people use character builders and other items via a downloadable program. Luckily they still are releasing books which do NOT require an online activation or something stupid like that. However, they have made magazines which were previously hard copies into online entities only. It would not be hard to foresee them trying to go completely online in the future.
Instead of continuing to present these downloadable options, they killed them. First the PDF's, then the downloadable character builder. In addition the movement of much of their material to online only (such as the aforementioned magazines) shows the similarities to that of their PC counterparts. They use the excuses that pirates are affecting their bottom line...but in reality...I already stated anything they've released I can pirate easily if I wanted to (but don't).
Instead, they've created obstacles for otherwise paying customers. Those who would have bought the old PDF's of older D&D editions have NO WAY of buying a new legit version of these games (they can buy used books however), and those who do not use their credit cards online, or otherwise use items in that fashion...are out of luck with any of the Dragon or Dungeon articles, or other items that are supposedly core to the game.
Both use Pirates as an excuse to create more obstacles to the customer. I can see both of these excuses as useless. Pirates have NOT been affected.
It's not rocket science to know the more obstacles someone has to go through to get to a goal...the less likely they will be to accomplish that goal. In otherwords, the more obstacles they put down for a customer to buy a product, the less likely a customer will be to buy that product.
The less likely it is for a customer to buy a product, means that less customers WILL buy that product.
People will say all sorts of things, but the truth is that both these markets are shrinking, and I see direct parallels between them. I can't beleive how much these markets are burying their heads in the sand.
I think this trend can be reversed. Two examples.
Stardock games took a stance against DRM. They release full games without protection. They let the QUALITY of the games stand for themselves. They had outstanding quality on Galactic Civilizations II, and Sins of a Solar Empire. These games sold mucho mundo amounts. They made tons of money.
Some will point out that Stardock has had a turn of fates and actually had to lay off people recently. This is NOT due to pirating, but due to the fact that two of their three most recent releases were NOT quality. Quality speaks for itself. The quality releases they've done allowed them to expand and increase. If you dont' release quality games, by default...your sales decrease.
If you add obstacles to that, you end up not even having a market...like many PC game makers have discovered. Without a market, you end up having to create games for another market (consoles) and then perhaps porting it over to PC computers for a quick buck on the few that still might be willing to waste money on your products after going through the obstacles that you've created yourself to prevent their money from being spent on you.
Paizo would be a good example of the RPG market in direct contrast to WotC. They've continued on a printed product. They have a magazine like item (adventure paths) which they continued to print (and that I've bought quite a few of). In addition, they have (or have had at least) where if you buy their books, you can also have a PDF of the book. One for the hardcopy, one for the computer if you buy from them. They put effort into their books, and listen to what their customers want. Hence they are releasing what their customers desire, and putting quality first. They are looking to create LESS obstacles rather then creating more. From all indications, Paizo is doing well, and have actually increased the market share for their core game(s).
I find it annoying that all this blame of pirates and piracy by people who don't want to accept the responsibility that their own actions killed their audience. I hate it that instead of listening to their customers, they bury their heads in the sand and hence put more barriers up to sales, while letting quality of products go down.
In some ways, this is a rant (imagine going to a board meeting, but your other board members have their heads so far up their between their legs that they are convinced that it has to be someway, despite commonsense saying everything exactly the opposite...but you don't have the votes to over ride them all...sooo...basically you end up powerless) about the way the market is going in both these areas. I'd MUCH prefer a return to quality rather than draconian measures to prevent sales.
I recently played a Game on my PS3 (yes, I know, not a TTRPG...sorry, sometimes I do other things) called Mass Effect 2. THAT is a quality game. That's the type of game that people should work on. I really enjoyed it. Despite the publisher wanting to create more DRM idiocy, the developer convinced them to release it without DRM (and I think sales for them have been better because of it). The focus was on quality over anti-piracy...as it should be. I even went out and got the PC version of Mass Effect 2 since I won't have to worry about the DRM on it (though haven't tested it out yet...hopefully it came DRM free, my gaming rig isn't connected to the internet).
In like note...
I recently got the hardback version of Eclipse Phase. I don't like some of the language...but THAT is a quality RPG. I'm impressed with everything from the system to the atmosphere and game world. That's the type of stuff people shoudl focus on. I really enjoyed it (except for said language as I already stated). They actually worked on creating less barriers for people to access it (I believe people could share the PDF with anyone they felt like if they wanted, which is how I first heard about it and then put it on my to buy list). The focus was on quality over anti-piracy...as it should be. I plan on buying all the rest of the Eclipse Phase books in the future.
And that, I think is the point. Reduce the obstacles for my interest and focus on quality. That's how to make a sale to me...and I'm almost positive I'm not alone in that market.
What other RPG's (and or PC Games, but more RPGs) do you feel have this focus. I think it's still a pretty good market for RPG makers and hasn't reached the hysteria or counter-customer arenas the PC market has, so it should be easier for us to list those who are more attentive to customers and quality rather than paranoia over imaginary customers who wouldn't buy their products anyways.
A thought here in comparisons between PC gaming and Roleplaying games...more specifically Dungeons and Dragons. Many see both of these as dying out, aka...having a lower market share and lower sales. Some do NOT see this as happening, instead claiming the opposite is occurring and that a mere transition of how the medium is transferred is being accomplished.
In PC games, retail sales are lower than a half (some say a third to a quarter) of what it was a mere five years ago. That's a HUGE drop in sales, at least on the retail side.
The counter to this is that PC gaming has gone online. Sales are now handled directly via direct downloads. Most of those who do NOT use direct downloads for their PC gaming probably will scoff at the idea that these direct downloads are even close in sales to what retail was...but for the STEAM users, and those who use other direct downloads, they will say this is the future and the direct download market is booming (though a recent study I read actually only placed these sales as 6% of what the total sales were in relation...which indicates the opposite).
For Dungeons and Dragons, the movement to 4e has made some interesting changes as well. One could say that 3e sold a million books it's first year, and 800,000 books the next (and that's just core books) while 4e probably did not hit those goals. In fact, one could say that now, a mere 2 years later after 4e's release, that it's not even a competition between how many books 4e is selling, and how many 3e was selling at that point. Many point to a recent release of sales numbers (an incomplete collection of information to say the least as it didn't include the biggest sellers of D&D 4e...BUT it could be an indication of things nevertheless) that actually had the Pathfinder RPG beating out D&D 4e in sales.
The counterpoint, similar to the direct download idea, is that RPG's have gone online. D&D has it's DDi program with direct downloads of it's material, and support via online with a character builder, compendium, and other assets. WotC makes money off of this, and though the estimated numbers as seen via accounts number somewhere between 40K to 80K (more like around 50K is we include all those adding and dropping monthly, along with steady subscriptions), they may say that month to month, WotC is actually making MORE money now than they did in the past with the book releases of 3e. Just like those who are NOT into the direct download market of PC gaming would scoff at that idea of direct download sales showing strength of the PC gaming world...most who are NOT on DDi probably would scoff at the idea that DDi subscriptions in anyway show how well the RPG market is...in fact since it only numbers in the tens of thousands many would say it shows directly how POORLY it is doing). Those who are subscribers could say that the numbers of registered users are actually only a small portion of the real users, and the real users number much higher (I've heard some say in the hundreds of thousands).
Though some of you have already read quite a bit...those who are positive towards direct downloads for PC gaming and STEAM, and those who are positive towards the Online initiatives for DDi...the rest of this is NOT for you. You believe that the markets are doing well. This post accepts that the markets are actually dying...hence are NOT doing well. You will probably disagree with the rest of the post (I put above the defense that you have towards these items...but I personally disagree with those defenses, along with much of what else you may put down) that follows.
The main point of my post is the striking similarity of what drove the market to DRM, Direct Download, and STEAM and the directives of the current DDi makeup.
It's one thing. Piracy. This is the big similarity that I see between the PC market and the D&D market currently. They both feel they are fighting Piracy...but it's THIS that killed the market instead.
Piracy of games, books, etc. are not really lost sales in my book. Well, yes, some of those who would have gotten the books didn't because they downloaded them instead, and the same applies for computer games. However, I feel a MAJORITY of those games and books would NOT have been sold to those who pirated overall. To count pirated games or books as lost sales is actually counter intuitive.
For comparison, for pirated items, consoles are considered to be on the rise and selling better then ever. I can find clean pirated console games a THOUSAND TIMES easier than I can find pirated PC games (sure I can download games...and over 50% of the times they'll contain trojans, worms, and viruses as a nice present to my PC as well), and reading books via a computer can be a pain. I'd rather have a printed product where I can turn to the page pretty quick instead of doing a search or scrolling to the item.
So, I'd say the first fallacy both of these groups are making (PC games and D&D) is that pirates are a group to counter. I'd say if consoles are their indication, pirates actually may be helping promote sales (I dont' really buy that in the console market though...I'd say those who buy pirated sales would never buy the real stuff anyways, so it's a moot point, they neither contribute nor hurt the bottom line). They are fighting an illusionary enemy.
These groups had REAL customers. These customers BOUGHT their products. They paid REAL money for the items that were presented. There was NOTHING illusionary about these customers. The number of these customers have decreased.
Why?
I feel it's because both groups have focused on fighting an illusionary enemy to the detriment of their customer viability...instead of focusing on what really matters, gameplay and game experience as well as quality and providing what those customers they do have...want.
Nothing they've done has hurt the pirate market. I could go download Starcraft II the day it was released (instead I bought 2 copies of SCII). I can even now, download all the essentials releases by WotC. It seems regardless of their battling pirates...it really hasn't made a dent in the pirates abilities.
On the otherhand, they HAVE hurt their paying customers. For PC gaming, DRM has turned away many from buying games in the store. Furthermore, many want to have an actual physical copy independant of the internet to play. Instead of catering to this audience, PC game companies require internet connections to play, or to even start the games. Many PC gamers want to be able to install their games multiple times in event of a hard drive crash...whilst the makers of games have decided limited installations is the word of the day. This creates more obstacles for legitimate gamers.
What they've done is create more obstacles for paying customers, whilst not really doing anything to the pirate market.
D&D has a similar record recently. They did have a business of catering to those who wanted items online via PDF's. They had a way of having people use character builders and other items via a downloadable program. Luckily they still are releasing books which do NOT require an online activation or something stupid like that. However, they have made magazines which were previously hard copies into online entities only. It would not be hard to foresee them trying to go completely online in the future.
Instead of continuing to present these downloadable options, they killed them. First the PDF's, then the downloadable character builder. In addition the movement of much of their material to online only (such as the aforementioned magazines) shows the similarities to that of their PC counterparts. They use the excuses that pirates are affecting their bottom line...but in reality...I already stated anything they've released I can pirate easily if I wanted to (but don't).
Instead, they've created obstacles for otherwise paying customers. Those who would have bought the old PDF's of older D&D editions have NO WAY of buying a new legit version of these games (they can buy used books however), and those who do not use their credit cards online, or otherwise use items in that fashion...are out of luck with any of the Dragon or Dungeon articles, or other items that are supposedly core to the game.
Both use Pirates as an excuse to create more obstacles to the customer. I can see both of these excuses as useless. Pirates have NOT been affected.
It's not rocket science to know the more obstacles someone has to go through to get to a goal...the less likely they will be to accomplish that goal. In otherwords, the more obstacles they put down for a customer to buy a product, the less likely a customer will be to buy that product.
The less likely it is for a customer to buy a product, means that less customers WILL buy that product.
People will say all sorts of things, but the truth is that both these markets are shrinking, and I see direct parallels between them. I can't beleive how much these markets are burying their heads in the sand.
I think this trend can be reversed. Two examples.
Stardock games took a stance against DRM. They release full games without protection. They let the QUALITY of the games stand for themselves. They had outstanding quality on Galactic Civilizations II, and Sins of a Solar Empire. These games sold mucho mundo amounts. They made tons of money.
Some will point out that Stardock has had a turn of fates and actually had to lay off people recently. This is NOT due to pirating, but due to the fact that two of their three most recent releases were NOT quality. Quality speaks for itself. The quality releases they've done allowed them to expand and increase. If you dont' release quality games, by default...your sales decrease.
If you add obstacles to that, you end up not even having a market...like many PC game makers have discovered. Without a market, you end up having to create games for another market (consoles) and then perhaps porting it over to PC computers for a quick buck on the few that still might be willing to waste money on your products after going through the obstacles that you've created yourself to prevent their money from being spent on you.
Paizo would be a good example of the RPG market in direct contrast to WotC. They've continued on a printed product. They have a magazine like item (adventure paths) which they continued to print (and that I've bought quite a few of). In addition, they have (or have had at least) where if you buy their books, you can also have a PDF of the book. One for the hardcopy, one for the computer if you buy from them. They put effort into their books, and listen to what their customers want. Hence they are releasing what their customers desire, and putting quality first. They are looking to create LESS obstacles rather then creating more. From all indications, Paizo is doing well, and have actually increased the market share for their core game(s).
I find it annoying that all this blame of pirates and piracy by people who don't want to accept the responsibility that their own actions killed their audience. I hate it that instead of listening to their customers, they bury their heads in the sand and hence put more barriers up to sales, while letting quality of products go down.
In some ways, this is a rant (imagine going to a board meeting, but your other board members have their heads so far up their between their legs that they are convinced that it has to be someway, despite commonsense saying everything exactly the opposite...but you don't have the votes to over ride them all...sooo...basically you end up powerless) about the way the market is going in both these areas. I'd MUCH prefer a return to quality rather than draconian measures to prevent sales.
I recently played a Game on my PS3 (yes, I know, not a TTRPG...sorry, sometimes I do other things) called Mass Effect 2. THAT is a quality game. That's the type of game that people should work on. I really enjoyed it. Despite the publisher wanting to create more DRM idiocy, the developer convinced them to release it without DRM (and I think sales for them have been better because of it). The focus was on quality over anti-piracy...as it should be. I even went out and got the PC version of Mass Effect 2 since I won't have to worry about the DRM on it (though haven't tested it out yet...hopefully it came DRM free, my gaming rig isn't connected to the internet).
In like note...
I recently got the hardback version of Eclipse Phase. I don't like some of the language...but THAT is a quality RPG. I'm impressed with everything from the system to the atmosphere and game world. That's the type of stuff people shoudl focus on. I really enjoyed it (except for said language as I already stated). They actually worked on creating less barriers for people to access it (I believe people could share the PDF with anyone they felt like if they wanted, which is how I first heard about it and then put it on my to buy list). The focus was on quality over anti-piracy...as it should be. I plan on buying all the rest of the Eclipse Phase books in the future.
And that, I think is the point. Reduce the obstacles for my interest and focus on quality. That's how to make a sale to me...and I'm almost positive I'm not alone in that market.
What other RPG's (and or PC Games, but more RPGs) do you feel have this focus. I think it's still a pretty good market for RPG makers and hasn't reached the hysteria or counter-customer arenas the PC market has, so it should be easier for us to list those who are more attentive to customers and quality rather than paranoia over imaginary customers who wouldn't buy their products anyways.
