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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5762732" data-attributes="member: 22779">However, I do think you're missing my point.  Less distributors can easily mean a more mature distribution system.  As time goes along, the more successful distributors buy out the less successful ones, while the least successful ones go out of business.  After enough time, you're left with a lot fewer distribution companies that, collectively, are still larger than what you started with.Much like how the car distribution industry matured.  Or really, any distribution system evolves.  In the early 80's, we had a glut of gaming shops.  People who really shouldn't be opening businesses were sinking the money into opening game shops.  Distribution companies sprouted up to take advantage of these small stores.However, many of these small stores had the business sense of concussed badgers and folded when the fad phase of gaming faded in the mid-80's.  A few more managed to limp along for the next ten years, gradually dying out as well.  Does this mean that the total number of gamers was continually shrinking?  I'm not so sure.  A lot of it had to do with very, very poor business sense.  The stores with smart owners stayed in business and thrived.  And continue to thrive to this day.  But, as the stores folded, the distributors had to change as well.It's called, I believe, consolodation.The whole thing is interconnected, and it's very difficult, I think, to point to any one thing and say, "Hey, this is what's going on."  You have massive changes in the price of printing, changes in distribution model and methods, changes in the market, changes in technology and so on and so forth.While a shrinking gamer base is possible, we're still not seeing any real evidence that that is true.  Even the idea that Pathfinder is stealing 4e consumers isn't really provable.  I'm sure that to some extent it's true.  But, how many Pathfinder gamers would not have bought anything from WOTC anyway?  How many people are spending money on the hobby now because they have products that actually directly cater to their taste instead of vanilla products that didn't specifically target anyone?</blockquote>

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