When did I stop being WotC's target audience?

[Jeff Wilder]

Since the release of 4E, and most recently in some threads about the upcoming change in the D&D miniatures lines, I've read many times (not always in direct response to me) that "you aren't WotC's target audience, so they don't really care what you think."

I bought every 3.5 book WotC ever released. I bought multiple cases of most of the miniatures sets. I bought the dungeon tiles.

Now I buy almost nothing from WotC. I'm not interested in 4E. The 4E cross-pollination with DDM means I dropped the skirmish game and cut way, way back on buying the minis. (I am still buying the dungeon tiles.)

When did I stop being WotC's target audience? And why? Why did WotC decide to forego the money I was giving them? Are people like me so rare that WotC actually can't make a profit from us? Considering how much I spent on a monthly basis, I find that difficult to believe, but I guess maybe ...

It seems very, very, very (yes, three verys) odd to me that I was a WotC completist for eight years, and then -- bam! -- I'm no longer their target audience. How can it be that the division between "consumer" and "irrelevant" is so sharp? Is it because I turned 40 in May?

It really seems to me that "you aren't WotC's target audience, so they don't care what you think" has the cause and effect backward. I stopped buying WotC's stuff because it became clear that they didn't care what I think. So why and when did they stop caring?

 

[DaveMage]

It seems very, very, very (yes, three verys) odd to me that I was a WotC completist for eight years, and then -- bam! -- I'm no longer their target audience. How can it be that the division between "consumer" and "irrelevant" is so sharp? Is it because I turned 40 in May?

I can't answer your question, Jeff, since I'm sitting in the same boat with you. (Although I'm much younger than you at 38. )

 

[Crothian]

I'm not interested in 4E.

I stopped buying WotC's stuff because it became clear that they didn't care what I think.

Which is it? Are you not interested in the game or are you not buying because you think they aren't listening to you?

 

[avin]

What has really changed?

Time flows, new editions will come, 4e will be past...

 

[Snoweel]

I didn't buy much in the way of 3.5 stuff - the Core books, FRCS, Manual of the Planes, Oriental Adventures, Eberron... I steered away from mindless splatbooks and bought a few things from 3rd party publishers.

I enjoyed 3.5 but never felt the need to buy everything.

And now I love 4e. But no way am I going to buy everything. I have the Core books and I bought that piece of crap Keep on the Shadowfell but the next book I'm going to buy will be Manual of the Planes. Maybe Draconomicon if I like it after I've flicked through it.

Am I WotC's target audience? Who cares. I'll buy what appeals and use the internet for (free) inspiration.

 

[Sunderstone]

When did I stop being WotC's target audience?

When Hasbro started dreaming they could tap into the WoW market.





edit* fwiw, they lost me when they made all these crazy splats (imho, the early attempts at WoW- type munchkinism). My WotC buying dropped sharply, but 3rd party publishers picked up more of my money.
To everyone, try not to take my post as flame bait. Its my opinion.

2nd edit* Im 39 as well in case anyone is keeping track.

 

[Serendipity]

The bottom line, really, is this - if you aren't buying 4e then, no, you aren't WotCs target audience. Not slinging mud but that's pretty much the facts of it IMHO. It's naught to do with age or other possible demographics.
Of course, it's also 5 in the morning here and I might well be missing the point of your post.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

Which is it? Are you not interested in the game or are you not buying because you think they aren't listening to you?

Why do you assume they're mutually exclusive, when -- since I wrote both of them -- you should be assuming they're not?

I'm not interested in 4E, because 4E was designed by people who weren't listening to me (or people like me). I am not saying 4E was designed while listening to nobody ... I'm saying 4E was designed without listening to me. And I'm wondering why, and when, WotC decided to stop listening to people like me.

Why, and when, did WotC decide I wasn't their target audience?

 

[megamania]

I remember when 3x came out the people playing before (long time veterans) felt they were ignored as a "new" audience was targeted. They went on about the armor becoming more sci-fi and pictures having pierced noses and eye brows.

The game evolves.

That said.... going ditital instead of having magazines I still consider an afront to me but that is another subject.

What I found interesting is I kinda feel the same way and I'm 39. Is it just a generation thing?

 

[CharlesRyan]

The reasons each of us enjoy D&D are many and complex. The "target customer" isn't a discreet profile; rather, its a spectrum with very fuzzy edges. As WotC makes adjustments to D&D--and hence, to what makes D&D appealing--it's inevitable that that fuzzy zone wiggles one way or the other. Before, you were within that zone; now you seem to have fallen out of it. That's disappointing to you, and, I'm sure, to WotC, but it's inevitable that it will happen as the game evolves.

In other words, it's not that WotC said, "forget those completists who buy every book--there's no money in them!" It's that, for presumably a variety of reasons, they felt the game had to change. And that meant that some customers would inevitably fall away. Presumably it also meant even more would be picked up.

[And as for the "I bought everything--surely people like me are valuable?" viewpoint: Every RPG ever published has had some number of fans who bought everything ever made for it. The question isn't whether those fans are valuable--they clearly are!--but whether they are sufficient to sustain and grow the business. One certainly hopes that in D&D's case the answer is Yes, but hundreds of games have died and left behind fans bewildered by the fact that their loyalty wasn't enough to keep the game going.]