RPGs: How to Sour People on an Industry

So…it’s been 25 months since my credit card was hit for my support of the Kickstarter for Revelations of Mars, and according to Backerkit, my order still hasn’t shipped. Yes, I’ve got the pdf copy, but all the physical stuff promised? Nope. I understand that producing a thing takes some time, but I suspect a lot of the product was on the floor at GenCon, not in the mail. It was a sore disappointment after how well Modiphius did with their Transhuman and Mindjammer Kickstarts.

Next up, a classic “what not to do” in business — take pre-orders on a product you lose the license to distribute and not tell your customers. This little beauty come from Chronicle City, which was advertising the English version of the new Space: 1889…only they’re not doing it. It’s Modiphius (see above) according to the folks at Clockwork in Germany. It looks like I’m going to have to reverse the charges on that one.

This is after having been asked to write a book for a certain publisher, only to have them not bother to send me out a contract — but, hey, if you could get to work on that stuff… This is the second time that this group has shafted me, but they did pay me the back pay they owed me when I wrote the rules for their inventions guide for one of their lines. I wasn’t paid for a bunch of material when the guy running Chronicle City was in charge at the publisher in question.

Watching the situation in the RPG industry is like watching a really amped-up version of the publishing industry, and all the foibles of that collective group. Underpaid (if at all) talent, under-projecting costs or demand (which Kickstarter is supposed to mitigate somewhat), half-assed production leadership, terrible editing, and late product (if it shows up at all.)

It was enough that I walked away from a couple of books at few years ago, and now I find myself thinking that all the old, dead systems I prefer could save me a lot of money on new product that may or may not show up on my doorstep.

Kurt Feltenberger Says:

9 August, 2015 at 12:37

I think a big part of the gaming industry’s problem is that many of the people involved aren’t businesspeople nor do they have much business sense. In some cases, I’m looking at you Morrow Project 4e, I don’t think there’s much creativity either beyond just updating and writing expansive chapters about personally known subject matter.

Another issue, and this is something that plagues both those with and without business sense, is that they want to over promise – i.e. they get caught up in the hype and tell the consumers what they think they want to hear. “The Kickstarter will end in thirty days and the product will be shipped three months later!” and then you wind up waiting a year and even then the product looks rushed and the error corrections that were submitted from the pre-release PDF were never included.

The whole crowdfunding thing helps get products made, but I think the consumer has to get smart and not be swayed by a slick video or emotion over the product and think about whether he trusts those putting it out. In many cases that’s a really difficult decision because they’re new entities in the game.

blackcampbell Says:

9 August, 2015 at 18:29
I think waiting two years before you finally get sick of waiting shows an understanding of the limits of crowdfunding… I don’t have much of a rheostat. I’ll be patient for a LONG time. Then I’m done.

1. Kurt Feltenberger Says:
  
  9 August, 2015 at 19:07
  That’s excessive. A lot of folks don’t have that level of patience and the more these designers pretty much use the fans as a zero interest bank where they can delay delivering the “payment” as long as they want, the more fans are going to start getting skeptical and not backing what might be a legitimate and ready to go “cause”.
2. blackcampbell Says:
  
  10 August, 2015 at 11:11
  Even better, my patience has cost me. I am now the proud owner of a $50 Space: 1889 pdf (and no physical book) because i waited over 180 days to contest.
  
  I don’t like naming names, but avoid all contact with Angus Abramson.
  
  Top it off, the Backerkit for Revelation of Mars is still showing me “Ready to Ship”…just fucking ship my stuff. You have had my money for two years.
  
  I’m pretty over the RPG industry now. I think I’ll stick to stuff I have on the shelves.