Is it really any wonder that the Pathfinder RPG is supposedly outselling the D&D brand? Speculation about our hobby as well as the future of popular game systems has for a while now been a second hobby to many gamers online, even well before the so called "edition wars" broke out. All that uninformed speculation and wasted energy used to irritate me some, enough to want to stay completely out of it. I felt that way mostly because the bulk of us aren't the marketing geniuses we claim to be and we have our own biases getting in the way of seeing clearly what's really going on. Marketing is a cold, calculating, unfeeling business and doesn't care what your favorite thing is; just ask anyone who's had a favorite TV show canceled.
I've come to realize since then that it's only natural to fret, guess or ponder what will happen to our favorite game systems not to mention the hobby in general. But I'm not asking the question to spark any of that sort of debate or anything. The question is entirely rhetorical.
I just don't think it's all that surprising though that, if true, the Pathfinder RPG is outselling the current incarnation of D&D. After all, 3.5 was already the world's most popular game system when it was essentially tossed in the dumper for a total reinvention. That was clearly a bad decision and only the first in a line of bad decisions. It was also based on the most innovative piece of licencing the hobby has ever known: the OGL.
When 4E came out the new license, right or wrong, got a bad wrap from all quarters. That makes for some bad blood--hurts the hobby, shuts down little producers and most of all alienates your customer base. I know I felt alienated. I myself was prepared to entrench myself and play my game regardless of it's abandonment. Here was clearly another bad business decision as far as I was concerned. It even took me a while to look at the Pathfinder RPG, I was so furious. Of course there was all this rhetoric about bringing younger gamers to the table--a noble goal. What was forgotten is that it's the older gamers who are the hobby's best marketing force--the parents, the teachers and the big brothers. To abandon them like that was just pure folly. We're up to three bad decisions right in a row now, not that I'm counting.
I've yet to see the surprising part in all this. It just stands to reason that an update, retooled and intelligently crafted, with love, would sell at least as well as it's former self, particularly if marketed with equal intelligence, diplomacy and saavy--and based on a very popular OGL--let's not forget that. Again, what was forgotten was the "with love" part. Originally born from a simple, genuine love for mythology, pulp fantasy and wargames, roleplaying games took a long time to become a business. Even then, the business wasn't that well managed. Forgetting the original passions and letting dollar signs take over--another bad decision, though not fatal, thankfully.
I think it's the "made with love" part that a lot of folks have trouble seeing or are cynical about because they only see how things are now. That's okay, I'm cynical a lot myself. But I've come not to care much about what happens to the D&D brand at all. Yeah, I've seen recent (controversial) announcements that Wizards of the Coast is pulling back on new releases, especially it's miniature line. Every year they have layoffs and those are usually bandied about too. (I lament for the families those cold layoffs affect and can likewise never bring myself to comment.)
Ultimatelty, I have no concern what happens to the D&D brand, anymore than I care what happens with Coke or Pepsi. I just want to drink and enjoy my fill and that's what I'm content to do. The gaming days ahead are good. Even if the D&D brand tanks entirely, as is still frequently speculated on, it's more likely to be acquired by another company, presumably one that loves the hobby and would pump some life back in. No, I don't mean Paizo. That ship has sailed and that would bad. They already have a huge hit on their hands, not only with the Pathfinder RPG but in many areas, carefully grown, nurtured, like plants in a green house. Why risk opening the door to a bunch of smog?
0 comments:
Post a Comment