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<blockquote data-quote="ArchfiendBobbie" data-source="post: 7714522" data-attributes="member: 6867728">I don't think this actually holds out anymore.Paizo, which pretty much is one of the complex system kings, repeatedly indicated even during their best years that they were not making that much profit for their game. They were trapped in having to rely on the more-expensive books to keep their profits up enough to stay in business; the guy in charge indicated repeatedly this was exactly why their subscription services don't offer PDF-only options, despite the fact they offer pretty much everything as a PDF. And keep in mind this was back when Pathfinder was the dominant tabletop; I have no clue what financial shape they're in now, but I seriously doubt it improved.WotC, on the other hand, has made it a point to use a slow release schedule with a, for DnD, massively simplified system... and they've shown profit repeatedly ever since 5E came out. Even Hasbro has mentioned them positively in a few shareholder reports, which is quite rare for WotC.Pinnacle Entertainment, on the other hand, makes most of their money not through selling a load of books, but by leveraging Kickstarter to fund their projects so that all income they get after the books release is profit. They also advertise the Kickstarters of other companies using their ruleset, guaranteeing those companies will do the same for them when they decide to do a project.Pretty much, the two companies doing well are not doing so through complex systems; neither 5E nor Savage Worlds are actually complex. And the one big-name that did rely on a complex system wasn't doing that well even at their height.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ArchfiendBobbie, post: 7714522, member: 6867728"] I don't think this actually holds out anymore. Paizo, which pretty much is one of the complex system kings, repeatedly indicated even during their best years that they were not making that much profit for their game. They were trapped in having to rely on the more-expensive books to keep their profits up enough to stay in business; the guy in charge indicated repeatedly this was exactly why their subscription services don't offer PDF-only options, despite the fact they offer pretty much everything as a PDF. And keep in mind this was back when Pathfinder was the dominant tabletop; I have no clue what financial shape they're in now, but I seriously doubt it improved. WotC, on the other hand, has made it a point to use a slow release schedule with a, for DnD, massively simplified system... and they've shown profit repeatedly ever since 5E came out. Even Hasbro has mentioned them positively in a few shareholder reports, which is quite rare for WotC. Pinnacle Entertainment, on the other hand, makes most of their money not through selling a load of books, but by leveraging Kickstarter to fund their projects so that all income they get after the books release is profit. They also advertise the Kickstarters of other companies using their ruleset, guaranteeing those companies will do the same for them when they decide to do a project. Pretty much, the two companies doing well are not doing so through complex systems; neither 5E nor Savage Worlds are actually complex. And the one big-name that did rely on a complex system wasn't doing that well even at their height. [/QUOTE]

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