> From: Clark Peterson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Even in a > > "cottage industry", Customer service and support are > > still the # 1 things that drive new sales. > That just is not true. In a marketspace comprised of numerous competitive networks, the larger, more valuable networks have an intrinsic advantage vs. the competition. >Within< one of those networks (i.e., D20) though, the network externality is negated - all competitors share the network as a common resource. Within the network, we should be able to differentiate product offerings along classic economic lines. In general, there are three things that a product can offer to a consumer: 1) Lowest cost 2) Highest utility 3) Best support It is possible that a product could combine two or even all three of these features, though studies have shown that doing so is hard to maintain consistently over time. Right now, we have a number of companies who are competing for the "Highest Utility" market (some who are succeeding and some who are not.) We have a handful who are competing on the issue of "Lowest Cost" - although many of those are people who think they're competing on Utility. The only non-WotC company who has actively tried to compete on the basis of "Best Support" is Paradigm Concepts, who have created an entire RPGA-sanctioned Living Campaign around their core brand "Arcanus". AEG is also spinning up similar efforts for Spycraft and L5R, but neither have moved front-and-center as >the< definitive difference in the products vs. the competition. Ryan _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
