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Kickstarter/Pathfinder/Paizo/In-store RPG players/Free RPG
Day
None of these things generate any direct revenue at all, and
effectively skip retailers like us. Printed RPG's are dead here in [REDACTED].
Digital downloads killed it. We accept that as retailers, and we have moved on.
It is an old story. RPG players take up a ton of space, make
a huge mess. They sneak in bags of groceries, 2 liter bottles of soda and
destroy our bathrooms. Any retailer will tell you that happens/will happen, or
they have to constantly police that crowd with rules. They don't spend money anymore
in our stores. As a group, they are gamer hobo's.
The smart retailer will be pushing Warmachine/Hordes, Magic,
Yugioh, Cardfight, and Super Dungeon Explore. These publishers want us to sell
there stuff with a good margin and don't compete with us.
RPG's used to be my #2 line, and now I am loathe to
carrying. I play RPG's and so does my son and brother. From a player's
perspective, it has never been better. Beautiful art, awesome content. From a
retail side, it is over.
Pathfinder minis WERE going to be fantastic, until Paizo
started selling them direct to players. That's like Wizards selling Magic
singles on their own eCommerce website. Do you think that would fly?
From a business perspective, I think Paizo is brilliant.
Skip the distributor, skip the retailer. What a huge margin. How about Fantasy
Flight selling direct to Amazon this past holiday season? Like selling
Netrunner at my cost with free shipping, gads. Paizo is no different.
Warhammer 40k can be purchased online from Paizo with a
discount. Still trying to tell me you are not competing with me, and we should
be pals?
Does Paizo want to have their own retail stores too like
Games Workshop, and offer us a 35% discount on an over-priced line? "These
are really neat things we are coming out with, get them direct from us, and
wave them in front of everyone at your local hobby shop."
You want me to support Kickstarter? Come on, that is just
silly. "Hey gamers! Go to Kickstarter, give us your limited amount of
money, and spend nothing at your local hobby shop when it comes out. They won't
mind if you play it in their game store and grow their brand, instead of what
they are trying to sell you." I do mind, quite a bit.
Paizo is not on our side at all, and Free RPG day does not
make money directly or in-directly to cover any of the lost money making
opportunities of hosting it. Please take me off of your email list.
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Once again, I find this WHOLE situation silly. Our kickstarter
specifically focuses on getting players into his store to get people excited
about playing games, which in turn get the retailer excited about selling
products. I have heard so many retailers
complain that 3PP for Pathfinder does not sell in their store because there is
no interest. I handle that by giving free product on Free RPG Day and offering
them a retail starter kit and a VERY reasonable price (only $25) so if the
people who like the Free RPG Day offering they can sell them product AT THAT
MOMENT. I am offering you the free product to get them interested AND the
actual product line that will generate money for your store, and STILL you don’t
think you can support this Kickstarter? Really?
I was looking at Fred Hicks Fate Kickstarter and I noticed
that only 43 retail store had signed up for his kickstarter. We currently have
11 retail stores. Good products with good
support with good margins and still some retailer cannot be bothered because,
using this retailer’s words, “As a group, they are gamer hobo's.” When you think about your customers as hobos,
what must they think about you? Better yet, I have the feeling they have said a
lot about you by purchasing this products in other locations than yours.
There is no longer a “hostage economy” in the world. You are now competing with everyone in the work who sells what you sell. What are you going to do to make your store unique and different to stand out? Here is an opportunity to do just that thing with and investment on only $25. To bad that retailer didn't see it for what it was. Talk to you later…
There is no longer a “hostage economy” in the world. You are now competing with everyone in the work who sells what you sell. What are you going to do to make your store unique and different to stand out? Here is an opportunity to do just that thing with and investment on only $25. To bad that retailer didn't see it for what it was. Talk to you later…
I know FreeRPGDay at Pair-A-Dice games in Vista is one of his biggest days.
ReplyDeleteKickstarter is the way many small publishers gauge interest in something. When Numenera made over 500k, it set the bar for RPGs, Traveller 5 made almost 300k. Neither of those two lines would be made if it weren't for KS. Same goes for Deadlands Noir, and the Interface Zero 2.0 KS.
Some retailers need to evolve or become extinct.
Would it make sense to have retailer reward tiers on Kickstarter pitches? Donate $20, get extra promotional materials to post in the store? Donate $100, get retailer-exclusive products or addons or collectibles to sell? Donate $1,000, get a book signing? Is that gauging interest or asking for a rebellion by prompting retailers to optionally pay more to have more to sell?
ReplyDeleteI am sure the guy selling buggies said the same thing about the automobile.
ReplyDeleteThat guy's problem isn't with kickstarters, it's with RPGs and his own personal attitude towards the RPG clientele local to his area. The "slurs" he uses to refer to them are similar to how some retailers or gamers refer to CCG crowds in other areas, so really, this is how someone with no tact talks about customers he doesn't want.
ReplyDeleteThe statement "Any retailer will tell you that happens/will happen, or they have to constantly police that crowd with rules." is basically code for "I have my head deeply ensconced within my ass and have no idea what it's like for other retailers, I just assume that my experience is universal."
Setting that aside:
RPGs are a hard, hard product to sell. They require a very high level of understanding to be able to explain to J. Random Impatient Customer Off The Street, their sales volume is usually not high, and their margins are not great once you factor in the time it takes to sell one copy after a retailer puts it on his shelf. It's only by maintaining a positive relationship with local gaming folk and working with them to build a community that a retailer can really provide a sustainable environment for RPG sales.
43 retailers on Fate Core isn't an "only"; it's a huge victory. Retail tiers typically only see a fraction of that. Because the number of retailers that sit in that Venn diagram overlap of "positive towards kickstarter" and "positive towards RPGs" is that small.
I do think Free RPG day as it is currently structured does not really serve its ostensible purpose, but that's neither here nor there. :)
Dear retailer,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the 21st century, you think it's bad now, you haven't seen anything yet. Your store, just like all pretty much ever other bricks and mortar store in the world. Welcome to slow burning obsolescence.
Before I get into the rest, let me just say, your attitude to RPG's is pretty terrible, your might want to look into your prejudice.
Your feeling the sting at the RPG end of the market first, because RPGs have gotten out ahead on this. The internet means that we, the consumers, no longer "need" your services as retailers, neither do producers. Direct sale of goods makes more sense for both us the consumers and for the producers. As digital only book technologies improve and become more common, and print on demand services improve, it is very likely that this bit of the market is going to entirely dry up for stores.
But you've given up on RPG's so why do you care?
You should care, because it looks like the problems are going to start hitting the rest of your business. The general underlying issue of direct producer sale is universal. The RPG industry picked up on it early, but others are catching up. In an industry where no one by wizards get rich, it is a requirement that producers adapt.
Then you have the disruptive technologies. Maker tool are starting to hit the main stream, slowly but surely. I can right now build an exact replica of any championship grade Magic the Gathering deck, in the world, without either purchasing boosters, or the singles market, at potentially a lower cost. Better still to my mind, I can build the deck, but with a custom art set. This is possible using standard printing services already out their. It is still expensive, but it reaches the same production quality and is less hassle, it also allows for customisation of art assets, which is nice.
Five years from now, if the maker movement goes the way it looks like its going, it will almost certainly be possible for me to do the same may self, locally, for a fraction of the cost. If CCG producers have any sense they are going to start getting out of the physical card sales business over the next few years. Sale of individual digital cards, licences to a specific player makes far more sense in a world where piracy is likely to be rife. Wizards and others can simply say, if you want to play in Tournament or Ladder play, you need a card licence for each card you play(checked by QR reader on your phone/glasses) . Sale of art assets, card template themes and other card moding materials could all be huge business for companies like WotC, while continuing to sell randomised booster packs is likely only to increase the levels of piracy they will experience.
Then there is 3d printing and laser cutting, These technologies are really starting to take off. How does a business with a focus on war gaming survive by selling models, when people turn up with armies of unique models, the designs for each of which have been purchased direct from the sculptor, gotten from creative commons, or designed on a sculpting program by the player, then printed down at the local maker lab for a fraction of the price you can charge for a generic model?
The Bricks and mortar stores need to find new ways to make their keep, or they arn't going to survive. Your service providers now guys, not retailers.
I know this sounds nuts but is there any reason a merchant couldn't be the local POD site? Need 50 character sheets, need 2, don't want to use your printer, want them 2 sided, want your campaign docs spiral bound..go on down to the game store and get them printed up.
ReplyDeleteI know it's possibly expensive but it's adaptive and meeting the needs of the market.
Retailers are really going to have to shift their focus and starting thinking outside the box, literally, about what customers want. Besides the local competition, there are online stores that make it a breeze to get what you want. It is going to take some effort and actual customer service to stay competitive.
ReplyDelete