>Good luck on your startup,
>If you look at the numbers that have been quoted about RPG sales, I think
>you'll
>find that very few Systems maybe 3 or 4 have the lion's share of the
>market. For
>a small startup, attaching yourself to number one, while diluting identity
>has
>the potential of increasing sales and while the core books are the cash
>cows,
>they also require the most investment. A one off adventure, or whole
>Setting
>using D20 will have shorter lead times and lower initial costs and have a
>more
>dependable initial sales number.
I contend that if I am just one of a hoard producing d20 modules I won't be
distinguishable in the marketplace. I might place some faith in it if 3
days to kill outsells UA.
D&D is a whole seperate tier from many small press games. You can get all
of your D&D stuff without stepping in a place smaller than Barnes & Noble.
If d20 liscencing can't get me into the chain stores I don't have an
incentive to hop aboard.
>Supplements are commodity. Low margins and a whole lot of competition. The
>Key
>is added value.
>Core books are dominated by a few companies.
Production costs aren't that much higher. Without strong branding of your
product to make it stand apart from other d20 stuff I'll need marketing of
the sort I'd need for a core book, only without the sort of branding of a
line (in this case d20) being equated with your company you'll have to
market like this on every product.
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
http://profiles.msn.com.
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
