A brief prose on returning to the world a dying art of Game Mastery...
The Author of Eon Legacy, Mobile Suit Gundam: New Age, and Nightmare Factor Project gives us a look at how he intends to bring "Role Playing Games" into a new golden age.
First off I'd like to say "I've been playing Role Playing Games since I was almost eleven." and with that being said I can say I've owned many games with different systems. All the D2 through D20, Card Play, Live Action, Numbertable, and Dungeons and Dragon's clones you can sink your teeth into. I've gone from Apex System to Zero Die Rollers and I've even made a few systems. The problem many have is the "Endless Cycle of Expansion" or the "One's not a hit but the next may be." in the "Table Top/Mixed Platform Genre" without making profit or even taking off.
This is basically what happens when you aptly trip into one of the traps called the Five Pitfalls:
- Have a devoted following and moderate Fanbase without a strong Base/Core/Flagship Rulebook that leaves an open end for TONS of Gimmick expansion content*.
- Narrowed Marketing.
- Small Target Audience.
- Consider a "Alternative" to other games**.
- Multiple or ALL of the above.
Let's explain "1" by saying the following "When a customer has a specific desire to play something they do NOT want to by "Parts of a game as a whole" as opposed to "The whole thing". They get that ENOUGH of that with Video Games that come with game finishing/breaking/making DLC/Seasonal Passes/Subscriptions. When someone goes to buy a book (E-Book or Hardcopy) they are intending to get the game rolling. If you HAVE to do "Expansion Modules" make them companions to the "Base/Core/Flagship" that cost a fraction. Thematic works are fine but when you have to introduce revisions of game mechanics you're basically negating the work from prior installments." that being said we have seen a format set by the BIG Companies (Wizards of the Coast, Palladium, White Wolf) that toss out a base Sourcebook then a Players Guide, a Monster Encyclopedia, and half a dozen or so Special Rules Expansions. If you start with a solid and complete Soucebook you can offer a fair price, include content for Players and Storytellers, and have the Players get the ball rolling RIGHT off the bat.
Secondly, 2, is pretty self explained. If all you do is a single pronged approach you will not get sales. You need to be out there. Social. Seen. You need to show people that you are a human being with something to give to them. In the end you don't have to but if you want to move forward in an industry dominated by companies that can throw adverts up on Youtube, Buzzfeed, tumblr, and ALL those sites along with canvas conventions you better be ready to NOT get anywhere.
Third but not lastly , 3, that stands to reason that if your entire game is sexy ninja catgirls fighting giant robots in bikinis (the robots are wearing the bikinis) then you're only targeting that niche demographic. I am sorry to say this but the next "Fantasy Incarnation" of your own spin on an "Age of Magic" type world may not be ideal. It's like a pot luck where you HAVE to remember that if someone is bringing hot dogs and hamburgers someone should bring the buns and someone else should bring the trimmings. Saying you're game is a "New spin on an old idea" may be great but in many cases it may not float and neither will the robots with bikinis.
Next let me cover "4" by saying "Other games/publishers are not your competition. They are SOURCE content. They are your BROTHERS AT ARMS. Competition is OTHER entertainment media. Video Games, Card Games, Board Games, Television shows, Movies, Novels... though those can be great materials for inspiration they are what you want to take attention from. You want to offer a product at a fraction of what a Digital Media Game equivalent that can give more play time, interaction, and a feeling of continuity than say "Beat the game in 5 hours on hard". As a storyteller having a TON of books for resources are GREAT and everyone SHOULD make their own House Rules but there are many "By the book" who will "Buy EVERY Book" but what happens when the whole world costs... well:
Core Sourcebook: $26.oo-35.oo (150-200pgs)*
Player Book: $23-30 (80pgs)
Monster Book: $23-35 (60-120pgs)
Expansions: $15-25 (20pgs)
Revisions 1-3x: $23-30 (100pgs)
Gimmick Tools: $10-20 ea (Maps, Minitures, Templates, Dice, ect)
* Rates considered an adjusted standard for most games.
So what we have for MOST games out there is JUST to get started:
$89.oo (Not including tax/shipping)
Next let me cover "4" by saying "Other games/publishers are not your competition. They are SOURCE content. They are your BROTHERS AT ARMS. Competition is OTHER entertainment media. Video Games, Card Games, Board Games, Television shows, Movies, Novels... though those can be great materials for inspiration they are what you want to take attention from. You want to offer a product at a fraction of what a Digital Media Game equivalent that can give more play time, interaction, and a feeling of continuity than say "Beat the game in 5 hours on hard". As a storyteller having a TON of books for resources are GREAT and everyone SHOULD make their own House Rules but there are many "By the book" who will "Buy EVERY Book" but what happens when the whole world costs... well:
Core Sourcebook: $26.oo-35.oo (150-200pgs)*
Player Book: $23-30 (80pgs)
Monster Book: $23-35 (60-120pgs)
Expansions: $15-25 (20pgs)
Revisions 1-3x: $23-30 (100pgs)
Gimmick Tools: $10-20 ea (Maps, Minitures, Templates, Dice, ect)
* Rates considered an adjusted standard for most games.
So what we have for MOST games out there is JUST to get started:
$89.oo (Not including tax/shipping)
That's for the Player Book, Monster book, GM Core Rulebook, Dice and a few Minis (At the MINIMUM PRICE). That's JUST to get started. Now to some people "Well, it's a 100 bucks just to get started..cheaper than a Mini Combat game and easier to get started than some LARPs. but what they are missing out on is the fact that everyone that plays should probably get a copy..and those WITH money will buy EVERYTHING they can to "Buffalo the GM" by "Metagaming" which leads to a whole other can of wyrms.
So all of this comes down to "What do we do?" and the solution comes easier said than done:
Consolidate, Design, Market, Sell, Expand, Profit.
All the while avoiding the Five Pitfalls.
Some people have told me "You can't make money without spending money." and to that I say "Don't quit your day job." because no matter how many books you crank out and how many "New Games" you make you want to have something to fall back on until you can pull 10x your day-job income and get expansion sales rolling into NEW hands for months at a time.
Imagination is fading at a rapid rate. 7 year-olds are playing Black Ops and never hearing about "Where the Wild things are" or "Goosebumps" or "Scary Stories". It is OUR jobs as writers to bring focus on innovation and the imagination back. It's ALWAYS been that way. Gorge Orwell, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and so on all did what WE intend to do with our games. Inspire, give hope, give an escape, give awe and wonder... together we can do this by beating out the big companies and establishing our prices to be both fair for our readers and for us without having to "Bread Crumb" bait people like so many struggle to do!
So all of this comes down to "What do we do?" and the solution comes easier said than done:
Consolidate, Design, Market, Sell, Expand, Profit.
All the while avoiding the Five Pitfalls.
Some people have told me "You can't make money without spending money." and to that I say "Don't quit your day job." because no matter how many books you crank out and how many "New Games" you make you want to have something to fall back on until you can pull 10x your day-job income and get expansion sales rolling into NEW hands for months at a time.
Imagination is fading at a rapid rate. 7 year-olds are playing Black Ops and never hearing about "Where the Wild things are" or "Goosebumps" or "Scary Stories". It is OUR jobs as writers to bring focus on innovation and the imagination back. It's ALWAYS been that way. Gorge Orwell, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and so on all did what WE intend to do with our games. Inspire, give hope, give an escape, give awe and wonder... together we can do this by beating out the big companies and establishing our prices to be both fair for our readers and for us without having to "Bread Crumb" bait people like so many struggle to do!
