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<blockquote data-quote="Staffan" data-source="post: 7777686" data-attributes="member: 907"><p>I'll agree that that's what struck the killing blow, but there were numerous decisions that lead them a position where that could happen. As best as I can tell, these were the main things that killed TSR:</p><p></p><p>1. Poor, and in some cases dubiously ethical, management decisions. For example, TSR kept doing Buck Rogers RPGs, and the CEO/owner just happened to also be one of the beneficiaries of the trust that held the copyright. They also tried doing two different trading card games (Blood Wars and Spellfire) as well as a Collectible Dice Game called Dragon Dice. These experiments did not work out well.</p><p></p><p>2. Selling things too cheaply/paying too much to print them. I recall seeing reports from the takeover that apparently there were some things that cost more to print than TSR got from the distributor when selling them (e.g. the Encyclopedia Magica books, which is why the printings after Wizards took over had regular paperback covers instead of faux leather). If you're losing money on each copy, you can't make that up with volume.</p><p></p><p>3. Over-extension. TSR had something like a dozen settings - not all supported at once, but I think they were supporting six settings toward the end, in addition to setting-agnostic material. Each of these had numerous products coming out each year, some even multiples per month. Birthright, for example, saw 24 RPG products released in 1995 and 1996. Even if half of these were 32 page "Player's Secrets of ______" regional sourcebooks, that's still a <strong>crazy</strong> release rate.</p><p></p><p>4. Overproduction of novels. Back in the mid-80s, TSR had had a previous bout with bad finances, and was saved by the Dragonlance novels. So by the mid-90s, they were cranking them out by the bushel. The problem with novels, and the thing you allude to that eventually did them in, is that they're commonly sold via mass-market book stores instead of game stores.</p><p></p><p>See, when TSR sells a copy of the Ariya Domain Sourcebook to a game store, that sale is final. If the game store can't sell it to a customer, they just have to suck it up, or try putting it on sale, or something. Either way, TSR already got their money. But when they sell the novel The Hag's Contract to Barnes & Noble, and B&N can't sell it, B&N will just tear the cover off, send most of the book off to be pulped, and turn the cover in and demand their money back. This was going on via their book publisher, Random House, for a while, and TSR paid Random House back with more books. Eventually, Random House told TSR "No, your shlocky books aren't moving. Pay us back in money instead."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Staffan, post: 7777686, member: 907"] I'll agree that that's what struck the killing blow, but there were numerous decisions that lead them a position where that could happen. As best as I can tell, these were the main things that killed TSR: 1. Poor, and in some cases dubiously ethical, management decisions. For example, TSR kept doing Buck Rogers RPGs, and the CEO/owner just happened to also be one of the beneficiaries of the trust that held the copyright. They also tried doing two different trading card games (Blood Wars and Spellfire) as well as a Collectible Dice Game called Dragon Dice. These experiments did not work out well. 2. Selling things too cheaply/paying too much to print them. I recall seeing reports from the takeover that apparently there were some things that cost more to print than TSR got from the distributor when selling them (e.g. the Encyclopedia Magica books, which is why the printings after Wizards took over had regular paperback covers instead of faux leather). If you're losing money on each copy, you can't make that up with volume. 3. Over-extension. TSR had something like a dozen settings - not all supported at once, but I think they were supporting six settings toward the end, in addition to setting-agnostic material. Each of these had numerous products coming out each year, some even multiples per month. Birthright, for example, saw 24 RPG products released in 1995 and 1996. Even if half of these were 32 page "Player's Secrets of ______" regional sourcebooks, that's still a [B]crazy[/B] release rate. 4. Overproduction of novels. Back in the mid-80s, TSR had had a previous bout with bad finances, and was saved by the Dragonlance novels. So by the mid-90s, they were cranking them out by the bushel. The problem with novels, and the thing you allude to that eventually did them in, is that they're commonly sold via mass-market book stores instead of game stores. See, when TSR sells a copy of the Ariya Domain Sourcebook to a game store, that sale is final. If the game store can't sell it to a customer, they just have to suck it up, or try putting it on sale, or something. Either way, TSR already got their money. But when they sell the novel The Hag's Contract to Barnes & Noble, and B&N can't sell it, B&N will just tear the cover off, send most of the book off to be pulped, and turn the cover in and demand their money back. This was going on via their book publisher, Random House, for a while, and TSR paid Random House back with more books. Eventually, Random House told TSR "No, your shlocky books aren't moving. Pay us back in money instead." [/QUOTE]
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