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Old 02-13-2018, 07:09 PM   #1131
DouglasCole
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If the Boardgame subreddit is anything to go by, the market these days is so chocked full of new games that people are more focused on collecting "the newest shiniest" game that they will probably play once, then getting anything thats been out for a while.
And the implications of this are rather horrid. It means that if you don’t make your entire target profitability on the kick starter and first printing of the game, that’s all there’s going to be. Sure, there might be rare exceptions, but the market seems to be one and done. At least for the time being.
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Old 02-13-2018, 07:14 PM   #1132
Andrew Hackard
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Sure, there might be rare exceptions, but the market seems to be one and done. At least for the time being.
Yup. We've canceled a couple of planned reprints because the sales curve looked like Half Dome -- big sales early and then right off the cliff.
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Old 02-13-2018, 08:05 PM   #1133
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Sort of like video games, with Call of Duty is a good example, they sell on release riding on that hype factor, then see a massive drop off in sales from that. Then work is all focused on building the hype for the next Call of Duty release next year to make more money.

I dont think its anything like video games. Other than they are both games and both sold.


I look at video games from five years ago and there's the actual same games being played today like League of Legends, World Of Warcraft, DoTA and so on that rely on subscriptions or micro transactions.


No equivalent in modern boardgames. (Not to mention people play these games for thousands of hours vs maybe a dozen for a successful boardgame)

Then there's the Call of Duty types games like Battlefront that rely on loot boxes. Their economic model isn't based on the hype building up all year for the next shiny game its based on mico transactions often labelled as gambling.

There is no equivalent in boardgames.

Also Counterstrike has been updated a couple of times but it's the same game people are playing over and over again every day for hours and hours without buying a newer and shinier game at all.

There is no boardgame today that has that sort of longevity.



Then there's Steam games that have a tremendous long tail of sales as I amd other discover new games every year from years ago.

Still some long tail in some boardgames, but sounds like its alive and well in computer games.


That's leaving aside that with digital distribution computer games look more like Drive Thru RPG and W23 digital than they do conventional retail.



Also leaves aside that the cost to produce a CoD is massive as compared to say the cost of producing a blockbuster board game (about the same as any other boardgame).

Not to mention the rise of esports which is bigger than anything in board and card games (even Magic) in terms of viewership.


So no I think that it is nothing at all like video games.

Last edited by lachimba; 02-14-2018 at 04:10 AM.
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Old 02-13-2018, 10:56 PM   #1134
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I cannot help but wonder if publishing DFRPG adventures wouldn't increase rule set sales. If people like the "fluff" then they will buy the "crunch"?

Just my two cents.
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Old 02-14-2018, 12:12 AM   #1135
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I cannot help but wonder if publishing DFRPG adventures wouldn't increase rule set sales. If people like the "fluff" then they will buy the "crunch"?

Just my two cents.
There is a published DFRPG adventure in the companion.
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Old 02-14-2018, 04:05 AM   #1136
philreed
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Default Re: Report To The Stakeholders

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Originally Posted by Ballistica View Post
If the Boardgame subreddit is anything to go by, the market these days is so chocked full of new games that people are more focused on collecting "the newest shiniest" game that they will probably play once, then getting anything thats been out for a while.
Exactly. A game is either a hit on Day One, or it swiftly moves to the "I don't want any part of this" pile. Several highly anticipated games from the last few years are now 40%, 50%, or even 60% off these days. And a game that doesn't maintain demand and value is one that isn't worth reprinting.

As mentioned, this is a periodicals market.
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Old 02-14-2018, 04:08 AM   #1137
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The people who like it, like it fine, but there are not enough of you.
Yeah, the lack of sustainable demand for Dungeon Fantasy has _nothing_ to do with the quality of the game. Dungeon Fantasy is an attractive and well-produced box that is loaded with potential for fun. There just aren't thousands of players walking into game stores each week and demanding: "Get me some Dungeon Fantasy!"

This goes back to why preorders -- specifically, preorders in local game shops -- is so very important these days. A game where players are telling the stores "I want this" before release has a higher chance at success than one where the world decides that "I'll get this when I see it."

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Old 02-14-2018, 05:31 AM   #1138
afschell
 
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There is a published DFRPG adventure in the companion.
That's my point. One in the companion, one in the boxed set, one DF adventure that I know of and maybe a handful in Pyramid issues. And they are good, don't get me wrong. But in comparison to the thousands (or so it seems) of adventures for other systems this is minuscule offering. Get people reading some interesting scenarios and maybe they'll buy the rules.
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Old 02-14-2018, 08:14 AM   #1139
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It sounds like the current market for games is more like a collectibles market.
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Old 02-14-2018, 12:52 PM   #1140
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Adventures were never especially relevant to GURPS, as far as I can tell. They get a lot of convention play, but I haven’t heard of much else: The sort of GMs who are into GURPS like to run their own adventures. Random dungeon, treasure and encounter tables seem more likely to be of use.

What I do see is that people *are* running RAW DF. That is a market which exists. If DFRPG is going to work out, this is whom new products need to target.

The draw of DFRPG, compared to GURPS is threefold: a small number of books containing all relevant material; a common set of rules and options for every grioup; and almost all design decisions already made (the optional rule for training costs is a painful outlier). Gotta-catch-em-all mini-supplements don’t seem to see much adoption, the way they work for GURPS. People are using the boxed set. The idea is that someone can say “These books here are what we’re playing.”

1. Making player books available as PDFs separate from the GM books sounds like a good idea, allowing recruiting new players.
2. Compiling stuff into larger “Adventurers II” and “Monsters II” sounds like it *would* get adopted by the community, and become required purchases for players.
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