Re: [DL] Several topics

[Allan Seyberth <darious@darious.com>]

 >SOme folks were saying that they liked the listserv better than a website
 >devoted to DL because it seems to attract more attention from the creators
 >of the game.  That reminds me..... Shane, I have often wondered why PEG
 >haven't come up with a collection of "Gamer aides" for the game.  Like
 >instead of marketing the DL poker cards, why not market a set of cards that
 >reference all the Huckster's hexes?  Each card gives the bare bones for each
 >hex, & a player could at a glance, know what the hex does, what amount of
 >power each hand does, etc.  Also, how about a DL die modifier calculator? A
 >little device that helps players keep track of what their "To Hit" TN is
 >when adding all the mods in.  Needless to say, this comes from 'field
 >experience' in my own game.  I've made up a set of index cards that list my
 >Hexslinger's hexes with important info on the bulk of the card & a Poker
 >Hand Effect Chart down the side.  Next, because I figured out that at any
 >given time, I could have like somewhere around ten modifiers to my shootin'
 >skill, I had to invent a complex slide rule just so I could keep track of
 >them all.  Surely other folks have their own gaming aides that I haven't
 >thought up.  SURELY folks would be willing to pay money for such things.  I
 >know I would dearly love a set of hex cards, & a deck of blessing cards.
 >(already have the modifier slide rule :D)

I think I might be able to answer this one.

Sure - some people will buy it, but will 7000+ people buy it?

Actually, I /think/ that break-even point for small-press rpg companies is 
around 5000, but I'm not certain.

There are other factors besides volume involved as well -
Time:  Is the time spent developing this product worth taking time away 
from other products.  Both in the author/development side and in the 
advertising/administrative side.
Speed:  It's not enough to just sell 7000 units, but you have to sell them 
fast enough that any profits aren't eaten up the costs of warehousing and 
taxes.  AEG recently pulped their stock of Brave New World books because it 
wasn't moving fast enough to warrant paying taxes on for another year.

And a couple of subsets
         Reputation:  Will the item detract from the company's product line.
         Manufacturing:  Can your standard printers handle this kind of item?
         Self-competition:  Will the product actually decrease the value 
(and therefore sales) of other products.

To actually have a company put out a product is incredibly complex.  That's 
why cafepress is such a great idea - it allows small companies to offer 
merchandise that they couldn't offer themselves. Admittedly for a far 
smaller profit margin then if they put it out themselves, but the loss of 
profit is, in most cases, well worth the lack of risk of being stuck with a 
huge pile of non-sells.

I also think that the RPG industry has a history of trying all sorts of 
cool rpg-aids, and I do not know of a single success story. (Fair warning - 
my knowledge of companies product profitablity statements is limited.  I'm 
basing my statement on the fairly supported belief that if gaming aids were 
more profitable, there would be more of them in the stores.  :)

Now - if you wanted to see these cool items, you might want to contact 
Shane and see if he will grant you a license to create and sell them.  Just 
be prepared to use your own money because I doubt that any bank will offer 
a business loan for an item that targets a subset of a niche market in a 
market that does not have a proven track record for such items.

Though I would like to see a hex deck of my own.  I wonder if we can come 
up with 54 hexes so it could be a combo hex deck and playing card deck.





-------------------
Allan Seyberth
darious@darious.com
Deadlands fan site - http://www.darious.com/

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
            -Edmund Burke