Well, I might as well ask for some advice.

[Fester]

Well, I don't know where you looked, but a glimpse at the site of a not completely unknown online vendor yields this. Only 2 left in stock...

Yay

Not being from the US, I always forget amazon.com (and my local amazon has no knowledge of it).

It still doesn't take away from the fact that if nobody has heard of it, they can hardly go along to amazon and find it. I mean, why would they want to, since they don't know it exists?

 

[Nellisir]

Well, Halloween references are indeed dated. However, that's what Dragon put in ... Instead of returning to the Acrohelion one... And good luck getting it changed once the magazine is printed .

Did Dragon write the ad or did you? I'm saying, avoid calender references at all when writing ads. They're only relevant for 1 month out of 12, at best. Now that it's November, your ad seems dated.

It also sounds like you might have some issues to sort out with the salesperson at Dragon, if you don't know what ad you're paying for.

Point #2 .... how the heck much information can I get into one 1/3 page ad? I mean, I'd include a full chapter-by-chapter rundown if I could, and if you know some way, please share it with me.

Well, you spent two paragraphs describing an adventure that apparently isn't an adventure. I think you need to tighten up and refocus your advertising text. It doesn't clearly convey what you're selling, and if people aren't clear what you're selling, they aren't going to buy it.

Anyways, I think Fester's kinda on the right track. You're $12,000 in, and seem to have very little idea where you're going or how to get there. Time to figure that out.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[Great Mastiff Games]

Yes, I agree with you completely. And I do know exactly where I'm going, now.

Many thanks!

 

[Fester]

Yes, I agree with you completely. And I do know exactly where I'm going, now.

Many thanks!

Well, good luck to you Great Mastiff! I hope it all works out for you and that you find a way to make your product a success

 

[trancejeremy]

Don't feel bad, it's a hard industry to make money in, even for long time professionals. And you seemed to have picked the worse time to enter the d20 market.

 

[Great Mastiff Games]

Thanks for those kind words, too. Yes, I gather now that this is a nearly impossible market to enter (for some reasons that I don't want to express verbally here, either) and that it's currently at an extreme low point. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if anime and video games aren't going to polish off regular RPGs totally, combined with the fact that the economy is a bloodless corpse, of course.

That's why I have a very clear idea of where I'm going with this idea...

 

[Nellisir]

In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if anime and video games aren't going to polish off regular RPGs totally, combined with the fact that the economy is a bloodless corpse, of course.

That's why I have a very clear idea of where I'm going with this idea...

I think anime might have an effect in the long run, but anime is a genre or style, not an RPG, and there's room for alot of styles. Traditional Tolkein fantasy, space fantasy, cyberpunk, space opera, fantasy horror, pulp, and yes, even anime.

Video games, on the other hand...I expect to see D&D 6.0 on CD or DVD, with full functionality, and probably preference, for running games online. 15 years. Maybe 10. No more than 20.

;-)
Nell.

 

[froggie]

Amazon and $$$

We sell maybe 30-50 copies through Am,azon, sometimes more (like CSIO), but it clearly is no indication of success. If you are actually in this for money, as FD James already said, you are in the wrong business. I am willing to bet no more than 5-6 folks in the d20 industry actually work it as a full time job and are able to afford not to eat cat food. We make (as a whole enterprise) maybe a half what I do at my day job each year, and I bet we outsell almost everyone (well, Monte, Chris and Matt likely beat us) in the d20 arena.

If you need 16 grand to get hitched, you would be a lot better off gettinmg a second job and bagging this. If you want to publish cool stuff and have a presence in the gamer world (that's why we do it...Clark and I are geeks to the core!), then d20 is for you.

The lack of profit in this industry is beyond belief. Too many cooks in the kitchen, too many distributors and overstocked retaliers, and not nearly enough gamers who buy things. Its a fun hobby job, but I have definitely gotten more free books, dungeon sets and buildings than i have paychecks after almost 5 years.

Good, lucky (emphasis on lucky) writers MIGHT make 3 grand on a huge book. Someone w/ a huge name (like Monter) might do a little better. In general, unless you are part of a big publishing house, like WW, GR or Mongoose, your books will almost never hit the shelves in most stores. Four years ago was a bit different, but sadly thats the way it is now.

Bill Webb
Necromancer games

 

[drnuncheon]

pimping help

Here's what I wonder:

What makes Acrohelion unique? Why would I want to use this over any other campaign setting?

Midnight's got the Tolkien feel with the twist of the bad guys winning. Freeport has pirates (and what more do you need?) Iron Kingdoms has steampunk, FR has 'traditional D&D', AU has almost a 'D&D from an alternate universe' feel, Eberron has the 'won a huge contest' distinction.

So...pimp. What's so great about this setting that it should get my vastly diminished discretionary spending money?

J

 

[Turjan]

So...pimp. What's so great about this setting that it should get my vastly diminished discretionary spending money?

Shhh....! He's to shy to talk about it in public .

Anyway, there is this link to a rpg.net review further up in this thread. The most interesting stuff, at least as I thought, is buried in the comments to this review here .