RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
|
Last week on our website we posted up a very ambitious release schedule for Legendary Games from now through GenCon, and judging by how things are moving behind the scenes we have every confidence we'll meet or exceed that schedule. (Yes, we have a few MORE products percolating that haven't been revealed yet.) The question is: How much is enough, and how much is too much?
We love making great products, and we always aim for the very highest quality, and the support from our fans has been great, but is there a point at which it's just too much stuff to keep up with? What do YOU think is the right number of products for a 3PP to produce? Does the balance of what kinds of products (adventures vs. systems vs. characters vs. monsters vs. magic, etc.) matter?
Share your thoughts below!
|
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
|
I would like to see more compilations. I tend not to buy bits and pieces. I prefer things collected in a relatively decent size tome. Would be awesome if you took all your non-mythic monsters and collected them in one book. Preference being a printed one.
That is something we've thought about. Probably need some more monsters to fill out the ranks, but it's definitely something we've considered.
My approach is generally to buy "everything" - often every book a publisher puts out, but sometimes limited to every book within a specific line.
As such, your approach of lots of little releases doesn't really suit me (at least without a complete subscription model) as its too hard to stay on top of everything. On the other hand, your clearly delineated product lines makes it easy for me to get "all the mythic stuff" (or whatever), so that's a plus.
In my perfect world you'd put out one or two books a month, probably larger than your current products.
I don't think the type of book affects my ideal release rate - other than player options being irrelevant to me and DM options being always useful.
I'm pretty much with Steve, I think.
I have a budget for gaming. Not a particularly generous one, but enough that I know I can buy what I want, when I want, with the occasional impulse purchase.
I'm currently subscribed to the Pathfinder RPG line, here at Paizo, and I'm a voracious purchaser of kingdom-building supplements, with a side-plate of mythic. I can confidently say that I won't buy everything (even from an awesome publisher like Legendary Games) simply because I can't afford to, but when I see something that suits my needs, I will buy it.
The fact that LG put out a wide variety of product types for a wide variety of genre-styles means that I have to be picky, because I want all the things, I just have to prioritise.
As a gamer on a budget, I like the steady flow of product, because it means there's always something I want available, and when circumstances allow I can grab something.
There is, though, the risk of option paralysis: if I can afford two things, and there are three things I want, I'll put off purchasing any of them until I can decide on my top two (which might take a month or so, and if something else comes out that I want...)
I don't have much more to offer, other than to say that to me the worst thing that could happen is a number of same-genre products getting released simultaneously or in quick succession (for example, Mythic Monsters: I only own two of those right now. Don't get me wrong, I love them and want them all, but option paralysis has set in, because they are so damn awesome and I want them and I can't afford all of them in one hit, and...). I appreciate the break given by other product lines for which I have zero interest, because it lets me build my budget up a little more to be able to afford multiple purchases and get closer to having everything I want (and means I throw money at you).
You've pretty much got the right balance: you know that you can't please all of the people all of the time, so you're trying to please some of the people all of the time. I don't know whether it's better for you to have more products available than people want, or just the right amount, but I can only imagine that if I don't purchase something, someone else will, which has pretty much got to be better than nobody purchasing anything at all.
As such, your approach of lots of little releases doesn't really suit me (at least without a complete subscription model) as its too hard to stay on top of everything.
Yea, JBE talked to a number of people 6-ish months ago and came to a similar conclusion. This is why we decided to go with the Book of Heroic Races: Advanced Compendium being a subscription.
|
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
|
As such, your approach of lots of little releases doesn't really suit me (at least without a complete subscription model) as its too hard to stay on top of everything.Yea, JBE talked to a number of people 6-ish months ago and came to a similar conclusion. This is why we decided to go with the Book of Heroic Races: Advanced Compendium being a subscription.
I haven't found a subscription tool that I really liked. Did you use any kind of special WordPress plug-in for managing that, or just have people sign up by email or on your site and as people bought the subscription you added them to a mailing list/dropbox?
I haven't found a subscription tool that I really liked. Did you use any kind of special WordPress plug-in for managing that, or just have people sign up by email or on your site and as people bought the subscription you added them to a mailing list/dropbox?
I only sell through DriveThru/Paizo/d20pfsrd and I use their systems. i.e. email Liz for Paizo. I don't sell through my own website.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Whatever the release schedule is...be consistent about it. :)