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Some Stuff about Digital RPGs

Wed, 02/17/2010 - 04:26 — harloon

 The last couple of days I have been embroiled in a discussion about PDF sales and the current trends of the RPG industry.  What got me started on this was a blog post by Fred Hicks, a writer/publisher of RPGs.  He essentially said that for small publishers, it is almost always less profitable for publishers to make the effort to get a print book into Brick and Mortar retail stores.  I think that his reasoning and numbers are sound and so I agree with him.  This also coincided with a conversation on a Industry Forum on the same topic. 

There are a couple of topics I want to address with this.  The first is that I am working from the premise that B&M stores provide a vital and valuable service to the roleplaying community.  This is the first point that I would like some feedback on.  Do retail stores actually provide a valuable service?  Can you bypass B&M stores and use other social media to find players and setup games?  I would really like to hear feedback on this. 

The second component of the RPG conundrum is the need for me personally to make a living.  The space that people play in costs money.  Normally, in the case of RPGs, that money is provided by people buying physical books.  When people start to turn to PDFs there begins to be a problem.  I want to support my customers and give them a place to play the games they want; but if they are spending money away from my store it is very hard for me to provide the play space for them. 

This leads me to one conclusion.  If my store is valuable to the RPG community, and people start to buy a lot of PDF RPGs then I need to somehow get some money out of that.  I can’t provide play space for free.  If I did that I would be out of business.  I want to say one thing at this point.  This is much more of a thought about the future than anything going on now.  I like our RP community and am very happy about how they are supporting Rook’s.  However, I do see a trend towards digital RP products.

I think the answer to this question is pretty obvious.  I need to be rewarded for PDF products that are bought by players in my community.  That way I can continue to support the community and continue to invest in ways to help them out.  I feel like there are a number of ways to do this.

1)I could somehow sell PDFs at Rook’s.  This could be a Kiosk or maybe just a retailer portal on a publisher’s web site.

2) I also think that incremental digital sales could be really cool.  Anybody familiar with XBOX 360 knows what I am talking about.  A customer might not want to purchase a whole book but might want to purchase just specific parts of it. 

The benefit of all this to the publisher is increased sales.  If I am actively promoting their products in my store then sales of that game should go up.  Hopefully sales would go up so that both myself and the publisher were making enough money to continue business. 

 

Comments

Wed, 02/17/2010 - 22:33 — Anonymous

Reply

I, having both run and owned a B&M store, and being an avid gamer in a town where there is no B&M store, hope i can add to this conversation.

Friendly Local Game Stores are a NECESSITY to an avid gaming population. Some games can be played in one of the players homes, but in the end, you're stuck with the same 5 people. The community that a B&M store brings is invaluable to groing the gaming population in your area.

That being said, when the touchy issue of internet purchases is added into the mix, it gets a bit murkey. Since I can only speak for myself, I'll say my piece.

I buy online. In fact I do most of my purchasing online because of 2 diferent but equally important things:
1) Cost. Most retailers charge MSRP. Online you can generally find 20% off.
2) Convenice. I can do it from home, or work as the case may be.

Now and here is a very important fact that I do realize and adhere to:
YOUR LOCAL RETAILER NEEDS THE SUPPORT TO STAY IN BUSINESS.
I have no local retailer, but Each and Every time I travel to Bozeman, I make purchases. I'll Gladly pay MSRP. There is a very important reason that most people that buy online don't seem to get is that the fact that you can get discount online makes does not mean you are helping anyone but the person you are buying from.

When you buy from your FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) you are supporting everyone in your gaming community. You're keeping yourself in your "Fix" whether it be miniatures, RPG books, Dice, Magic Cards, etc. You are keeping your community supported by keeping your FLGS supported and open, thus keeping your playing area alive.

In the end the best thing that I found was that allowing people to play usually means that they will be loyal to the store. I've yet to find ANY gamer who is exclusive to a single game. My self included, it's part of our nature to try new things, and the best way to do that? Why visit your local game store of course.

I've seen stores come and go because of different policies they institute to try and force their customers to give them more money, when the basic fact of the matter is that, in the end we're gamers. we'll pick something up for a while, and we'll support those around us that do the same thing.

Having a FLGS is an integral part of this lifestyle.

Sometimes we need to just think of paying MSRP as paying rent. Do we want our local store to be there next time we want to play a game? If the answer is yes, then while you're there, pick up a soda or two and maybe a pack of dice. Is it worth it to you to save 20% off of MSRP and have no where to play your games? It is not to me.

Also, The ability to buy PDF copies of certain books at the LGS would be an amazing thing. I would certainly participate. Not completely certain how it would work, but I'd be willing to bet that once set up it would be a pain to keep up to date. Though perhaps with the right tracking software, it would not be bad at all.

Anyhow, I guess the point of my reply is this:

If you fail to support your FLGS, it will fail. Then you will have no place to play besides your parent's basement.
I'm 30 and completely unwilling to suffer that dreaded fate.

Stephen

Tue, 02/23/2010 - 18:34 — Lincoln

Online vs FLGS purchases

This topic is very interesting. For me it all comes down to the perception of value. If your perception of value is strictly price then a purchase at a FLGS will almost never be of greater value than an online retailer. However, most people seem to understand that a FLGS offers more value than just a price of a product. In your example, you said most online stores discount 20% off MSRP. If Rook's can offer greater than 20% MSRP in other value than making a purchase from us is a smart choice. I think your purchasing example reflects this idea too. When you are at home, Rook's can't really give you any value so it makes sense to buy things online. However, when you come here for a tournament or whatever you recognize that we are giving you a little more than just your purchase. That value add is one of my main ideals when thinking about Rook's. I appreciate that some people like Stephen really understand the need to support a FLGS. However, I think it is very important to make sure that everyone is getting more than just a product. I need to hold up my end of the deal as well. I want to make sure that all of the peripheral value of Rook's compels people to shop with me. That way the customer is getting both the best value for their money and the feel good notion that they are helping their FLGS stay in business.

Thanks for the great comment,
Lincoln

Wed, 02/24/2010 - 22:07 — Anonymous

FLGS FTW

Being relatively new to gaming I can say that Rooks has made it easy for me to get into gaming. The atmosphere is about as good as I could wish for. With one exception: Beer and wine...but that's another topic altogether...Rook's Brewery....think about all the beers you could make:

THACO Pale Ale
Box Cars Porter
Snake Eyes Lager
Healing Surge IPA

Oh the possibilities....but I digress.

I don't buy any game related products online because Rooks continues to earn my business. My reasoning is in line with the idea of "perceived value."

The ~20% (excluding shipping) I "save" online is never really worth it, because even though I save a few bucks the *value* of the online purchase is far less in the end. I don't think I'm the only one who sees tremendous value in being able to talk to whoever is in the shop about what I'm interested in playing.

And I agree with the first response, playing any game with the same couple of dudes all the time gets old (except Malifaux, those games are crazy fun every time). Thankfully I live in a town with a game shop owned by people who care about cultivating a vibrant local gaming community.