Almost anything is better bang for a publisher's buck than an RPGElmoth wrote:Considering Francesco said explicitly in an interview that tabletop games are better bang for the buck than RPGs, well, I guess that Cubicle 7 would say that Hobbit tales gets preference here.
The rpgamers want a continual drip of product or they don't feel that they are able to use the core rule book that they spent 40 or 50 bucks on. RPGamers are notorious for demanding hefty full colour volumes that compare to coffee table books rather than a useful reference work for the game, see the RQ6 KS for an example of a fanbase that throws money at the chance to have a slipcased hard back with a cotton bookmark and fresh/new art. The envy apparent when a European game book with it's accent on design and good illustration is seen on US gaming sites is positively tangible. The US-based gamers want such a product themselves but usually fail to understand for European companies this is a prestige product at a commensurate price and 40-60 bucks just doesn't cut it for quality production. They want the caviar at fish roe prices and for many the economics of running a company seems beyond their comprehension.Part of the problem is an aging gamer base that has family and other mid-life obligations and a little more money but still hankers after the days they spent as a student playing RPG's for days at a time. Without the time to research and write their own adventures and worlds they demand, and pay for, glossy tomes from the likes of Paizo to use at their weekly or monthly three hour game.
Paizo has, by dint of their relationship with WotC, a subscriber base that is used to paying a monthly fee for shiny new products every thirty days. Leveraging this into a successful business that effectively crushed DnD 4e was a master stroke. I doubt that a company starting out with that strategy today could develop into a successful company without extremely deep pockets to fund the months of development work needed to bring product to market. When you think that designing and developing a product based on a well-known IP takes two years or more from concept to launch that's a whole bunch of money. A group with a history of producing good material might use KS to get the funding, but several bad apples who have taken largish sums of money and failed to deliver on promises has soured that route for many supporters.
Do I have an answer, no but then if I did I'd be rich and famous
