Why do we dig the marketing and sales?

[Dykstrav]

Recent threads have made me wonder why so many D&D players these days are focused on the marketing and sales of the game. Suggestions that 4E model Descent or other board game formats (or attempt to go for the MMORPG dollar) are topics of lively debate.

I don't mean to sound indelicate or rude about it... But why do we care about WotC's sales or marketing approach?

I can go see a movie without worrying about the ad campaign for it on national TV reaching other consumers. I can eat at a fast food restaurant without worrying that their sales may dip if no one else orders the cheeseburger that I do. I don't go around evangelizing about my cell phone service to people that I think might be interested in it.

So why do we debate so fiercely about the direction of WotC? What I mean by this... Is why do we discuss the future products and the target audience for these products when we have very little say in how they'll turn out? (I know we have the power of the pocketbook once a product comes out, but that's reactive, not production-input based.) The people in charge of these things spend lots of time figuring these things out and discussing them and doing research and all that. And quite frankly, when I sit down to play D&D, I don't care about the interior art on the books or the ages of the players or any of that- it's time to start rolling 20's and taking names.

So why are we interested in the business end?

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

So why are we interested in the business end?

We includes a very broad cross section of the people actually in the industry. ENWorld actually has its own online RPG store and some of the folks who are on these boards run that store.

There are a lot more people who have put themselves into the industry thanks to the OGL. Plus, some people just like keeping a pulse on all the inside baseball of their favorite hobby.

 

[Frostmarrow]

So why are we interested in the business end?

Fot it's own sake. at least that's true with me.

 

[Dykstrav]

ENWorld actually has its own online RPG store and some of the folks who are on these boards run that store.

Yeah... This is a valid point. I guess I should have phrased it slightly differently. But the phenomenon isn't limited to the boards; I meet several folks at the FLGS who talk constantly about it, and speculation about marketing usually comes up at least once a session in the groups I play with. I don't mean to step on toes, I'm just curious and asking directly seemed to be the best way to get information.

Part of my motivation for asking this is actually sort of a mini-rant: I've seen DMs flatly refuse material into their campaigns because they are of the opinion that the recent splatbooks are (paraphrasing for brevity and content) "just a marketing ploy to make us buy more books." Complete Mage and Complete Scoundrel being the cases in point. These DMs never even cracked the books, they were apparently upset that one of these darned 'Evil Corporations' actually wants to turn a profit by offering new products- which makes very little sense to me.

So to clarify- the inquiry isn't directed specifically at professionals within the industry who happen to read the boards (although I'm certainly interested in the responses), but those who are consumers. Those who play but don't publish. Those who gripe about another character resource coming down the pipeline, but somehow don't get upset at any other company in the world that rolls out new products.

 

[Tarek]

Also, the way a product is marketed, and its actual sales figures, have a very strong impact on whether that product will be continued.

For instance, in the realm of food products, there have been a number of snack foods that I really, really enjoyed that were discontinued because not enough people bought them. Either at the producer's level or at the distributor's level.... and if the stores don't buy from their distributors, the distributors don't order from the producer, and the line gets shut down.

Doritos original Taco flavored chips.
Utz puffed corn chips.
Lays "Taste Sensations" line, particularily the red chili and lime flavor. I bought every bag I could get my hands on, but the line disappeared from the stores around here after six months.

So looking at the way something is marketed and finding out what its sales figures are projected to be is a very good indicator of whether or not the producer is going to make more of whatever it is or not.

 

[Li Shenron]

Maybe we're just teached by the television that economy is the single most important thing in our lives...

Personally I do not really care at all about WotC marketing and business. Even if D&D was completely discontinued, which obviously I hope not, I would still play it all my life.

 

[Drawmack]

As was pointed out, in a very round about way, the marketing and target age group effects future material. I would like future material to be beneficial to my games. Therefor I care about marketing and target age group.

For example:
High powered items deeply rooted in magic sell better then anything else. WotC pours a majority of their development dollars into this area in order to maximize their ROI, as any company would. I end up with a bunch of products that do not fit well into my Thieves world/political intrigue style games. So I'm forced to third party, not a bad thing in and of itself. These third party products usually have very little support beyond an initial release and suffer from the disapearing publisher problem. So I'm left hobling together a setting and player options from dispirate sources. Some sources are 3e and some are 3.5 so I either play a mesh of the two or I update the stuff myself.


All in all it would be better for me if WotC poured a little more money into the type of products I'm interested in, therefore I care about where WotC is spending their money and advertising.

 

[Psion]

I'm not. I imagine most people aren't. But all it takes is two or three people at the core of a discussion interested it to keep it on the front page.

Frankly, I miss actually talking about cool things about the game.

 

[Rothe]

Years ago I could have cared less. Now I run a business and such topics garner a whole new level of interest. Although my business is not in any way related to games, I find it fun now to read about such things in the game context and thank my lucky stars I'm not in the game business. It sounds like a low margin, low revenue one.
I'm also interested in RPGs doing well as a business to increase the stock of players. I think it would be a very good thing if RPGs could have a more mainstream audience, even if it is board gameish. If people can approach and enjoy a low complexity, low RPG game they may be more open to the more fully free-form RPG. Get 'em comfortable with the shallow end before you ask them to jump in the deep end IMHO.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

I always look at D&D from a "gamer" perspective, rather than the business angle. To me, it's just a hobby (although it's been a life-long one). I'm not at all concerned with increasing the market penetration, expanding the market, making it more mainstream, et cetera. I've never had a problem finding players (I've recruited quite a few non-gamers over the years), so that's not really a concern, either.

I wouldn't want the hobby to die off, because I like having some new material to draw on. However, I don't have a problem with "the market" staying at it's current level, or even contracting. As long as there are a few of us out there, D&D will live on, no matter what happens to the current players in the market.