High Level Games
High Level Games
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Store
    • Storytellers Vault Products
    • Fantasy One-Page Adventures
    • DMs Guild Products
  • Podcasts
  • Video
  • Trusted Resources
  • Join The Team
  • About
  • Contact
    • Star Trek Adventures
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Store
    • Storytellers Vault Products
    • Fantasy One-Page Adventures
    • DMs Guild Products
  • Podcasts
  • Video
  • Trusted Resources
  • Join The Team
  • About
  • Contact
    • Star Trek Adventures

Welcome to the High Level Games Blog, News, and other stuff to take your games to the next level!

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com

4 Reasons to Fear An RPG Industry Extinction

21/5/2019

14 Comments

 
Picture


​The title of this article is intentionally inflammatory, because there is honestly only one big reason we are going to hit another RPG Industry extinction event. In Designers and Dragons, Shannon Appelcline lays out the major developments in the RPG industry, and the one recurring rockslide is a series of what I’m going to call extinction level events. These are crises that cause the industry to implode and cause us to lose company after company that has built up during boom times in the industry. The last one of these happened at the end of the 90s into the early 2000s, which coincided with the d20 boom and bust, with the bust being caused by two things: a glut of product serving one dominant game system and an increase in the cost of paper. The paper cost increase made printing costs a major factor and since this industry is already built on small margins, small adjustments to production costs have a devastating impact. We’re about to head into another of these moments unless, you, the creators, and you, the consumers, help us do something about it.

How is this about to happen?

1) Tariffs
While this blog is Canadian, the integration between Canada’s and the United State’s economic systems is strong and this means that actions by one government have major economic effects on the other country. President Donald Trump, and the United States Trade Representative are calling for a 25% tariff on toys, games, and dice, as well as on paper printed products, like books. Hearings begin on June 17th to discuss this issue. I encourage you to tweet to https://twitter.com/USTradeRep to let them know about how this will impact you. I’m going to lay out a few of the reasons this is going to have a major, harmful impact to our industry below. If you live in the US, like I do, I also encourage you to contact your Representatives and Senators expressing your frustration about these tariffs. What am I talking about? Here’s an article on the topic.

Why is this about to happen?

2) Production Costs
You might think I’m engaging in hyperbole. But here’s the thing: RPGs are a very low margin industry. If you go on DriveThruRPG or look through a FLGS you’ll notice that most books cost between $20-50, with small press books usually being on the lower end of that scale. Having been involved with the creation of 70 products over the last three years, I can tell you that making a profit on these books is very hard. With most $20 books you are lucky to have net margin between $6-8, if you’re lucky. That’s not profit, that’s money that you get in hand after publication and marketing efforts. With the costs of writers, art, layout, etc, you’re lucky to make a profit at all, and usually only do so with sales exceeding 100 individual products. If you increase the cost of making physical copies of these books? You’ve wiped out the profit margin for nearly all small to medium publishers.

3) Digital Will Save Us?!
Digital/PDF options will mitigate this issue to some degree. The increase in PDF production happened when the cost of paper increased during the D20 Bust era. That’s something, and it does provide hope. However, it will not totally prevent this from being an issue. Most companies that are mid-sized have just begun pushing back into selling their books to stores, and pushing for regular bookstores to carry their games again. Many have been tentative about this move because it is fiscally risky and it has only just become profitable enough to do this again. Guess what? These tariffs will ruin that margin and will make a lot of companies step back and end distribution to FLGS and bookstores. This limits the industry, it limits the market, and it will hurt gamers.

4) Accessories
The way this proposed tariff is currently being floated, it will have the biggest impact on game accessories like dice, miniatures, etc. While 3D printing will help to some degree it will not mitigate this issue completely. Manufacturing in China is so much cheaper, and it is still expensive to make quality board games that require a lot of miniatures. While I’m all for moving industrial production, it will cost more and it will not be a quick process to develop the infrastructure to do this in different places. While we don’t HAVE to have these things, a lot of gamers find them incredibly useful, and this will increase the cost of entry into our hobby, which is already perceived to have a high barrier to entry by new folks that don’t know if they want to invest in all the books and accessories to play these games. Do they need them? No, but it is the perception of cost that will push people away.


These proposed tariffs will reduce the ability of new talented and creative folks to publish products and kill the renaissance of gaming that we are experiencing right now. . While this will not destroy High Level Games right now, it makes it much harder for us to move from very small press to small press as we’ve planned over the next 2-3 years. We won’t be able to produce traditional print runs in the way we hoped. We are hardly the only company that will find this to be a major issue.

Please contact the USTR: https://twitter.com/USTradeRep

There are many issues for us to fight in today’s world, but this one is deeply personal and we need to strike now or watch our industry burn again.

Josh is the intrepid Chief Operations Officer of High Level Games and he organized the first HLG Con. With 20 years of playing rpgs, Josh started with Mind's Eye Theater LARPs and loves the World of Darkness. He runs, www.keepontheheathlands.com to support his gaming projects. Josh is the administrator of the Inclusive Gaming Network on Facebook. He’s a serious advocate for inclusive gaming spaces, a father, and a graduate from the International Peace and Conflict Resolution graduate program at American University in Washington, D.C. You can also find Josh’s other published adventures here and here.

Savage Worlds: Fast, Furious, and Fun! - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
14 Comments
Eric A. Smith link
21/5/2019 07:36:46 am

I'd say that if anything's going to lead to the demise of the RPG industry it's the ridiculously, disgustingly overinflated current prices.

$100 for a hardbound campaign book; $100 for a single plastic miniature under three inches. Greed is killing the planet.

Reply
Nat
21/5/2019 08:24:27 am

Dunno about the minis, but $100 for a several-hundred-page campaign book? That's cheap! Consider all of the art and design that goes into that—not just to make it pretty, but to make it well-organized and easy to reference, to create maps, to help the GM keep track of everything. Then consider the amount of time it takes for someone to invent all of the events and characters, and to write them all down. And then there's editing and, we hope, playtesting.

So you have a book that has to be as well-organized as any technical manual, as easy to access as any reference book, as compelling as a novel, and as visually complex as a magazine. That's a lot of different talents being brought to bear, and a lot of hours of work. The only other genre I can think of that is comparable is a Photoshop tutorial book. Which probably costs $100 for half the pagecount, doesn't need a creative writer, and has sales volumes a couple orders of magnitude larger (and therefore better economies of scale).

RPG books, even the $100 ones, are significantly underpriced. And have been at least as far back as the original AD&D books.

Reply
Eric A. Smith
21/5/2019 09:02:08 am

<cough>bullshot<cough>

I've written six books. Two of them are on evolutionary neuroscience and took four years to research and write.

They're for sale at under twenty bucks a copy.

Don't even get me started on the 40 dollar PDFs.

David Jarvis
21/5/2019 08:31:05 am

$100 dollars? Who's charging that?

Reply
Eric A. Smith
21/5/2019 08:59:15 am

Frog God games

Douglas DeMers link
21/5/2019 08:32:04 am

Although I am a career Architectural Designer, I am trying to switch into the world of games, because I’ve developed a knack for creating them. This article puts this objecting into sharp focus as a difficult or perhaps impossible task.

Reply
Eric A. Smith
21/5/2019 08:59:55 am

Good for you! Lots of companies succeed at it on an almost daily basis.

Reply
Pokeweed Mitogen
21/5/2019 12:53:51 pm

Would love to know which books are yours. I'm in complete agreement re. over-priced RPG books, but in my experience publishers of academic texts charge quite a premium.

Eric A. Smith
21/5/2019 02:11:34 pm

The Path Book I:Origins https://www.amazon.com/dp/0983443408/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_vPf5Cb4YDBBFE

You can get the free, updated Pdf here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1sjbav82wxzpe8g/The%20Path%20-%20Origins.pdf?dl=1

Rob link
21/5/2019 09:26:01 am

My sympathies! As a convinced free-trader, you got me with Point 1)!

Besides: How about discovering Europe as market? We do have a trade agreement after all. There'd be the issue of multiple new languages, which you are currently not serving yet. But you Canadians have a huge advantage in a native french-speaking population of writers, that's awesome! In many clubs and societies such as mine in germany you meet up and game as well.

Reply
Kris Faller link
21/5/2019 04:52:33 pm

I produce game related specialty items including leather bound books like the Tal'dorie guide from Critical role (https://www.facebook.com/pg/OmnivoreArts-103014223071309/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2250973611608682) and having cut them up you need to understand that they are bound differently than common hard cover books. They are sewn for long lasting durability which makes them far more expensive to produce. Normal hard covers are bound in the same manner as a magazine as they are only intended to be read once and then shelved. When you fork out $25-$35 on a game book you are getting a very different object than a crappy hard cover novel. Add to that the amount of art involved and that price is nothing frankly. Most artists in this field make next to nothing (less than minimum wage) so take away anything and we go away. An increase in cost due to this tariff would be devastating.

Reply
Eric A. Smith
21/5/2019 09:02:13 pm

Yes. 35 bucks is reasonable. 50 bucks is reasonable. Even 75 for something super special. 100? Starting to get in ridiculous territory.

Maybe justifiable for the hand sewn leather bound specialty books you're talking about, but not for mass-produced clothbound.

Here's an idea: why not sell your stuff for affordable prices and MORE PEOPLE WILL BUY IT so YOU'RE NOT THREATENED BY ECONOMIC EXTINCTION.

Reply
Wikan
22/5/2019 04:18:47 am

The tariffs were not intended to be a permanent thing, as should be obvious as they were just negotiated away between US and Canada. They were a lever to adjust the balance of trade, as Canada had been using tariffs for decades.

Sorry, but it's a silly article.

Reply
Jeff Miller
22/5/2019 05:42:54 am

Spot on a silly article indeed, motivated by self interest.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    All blog materials created and developed by the staff here at High Level Games 

    ​

    Picture
    Click here to support our community for as a little as $1.00 for exclusive content, free downloadable stuff, and even discounts on role-playing game items.

    Archives

    February 2021
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    13th Age
    2d20
    2nd Edition
    3.5 Edition
    3Deep
    4th Edition
    5th Edition
    7th Sea
    Acquisitions Inc
    Actual Play
    AD&D
    AdventureLookUp.com
    Adventurers!
    Aether Sea
    A+ Fantasy
    After Collapse
    Alignment
    Amazing Tales
    Amazon
    Anima: Beyond Fantasy
    Anime
    Apocalypse World
    Atomic Robo
    Australian
    Award Winning
    Basic Fantasy
    Belly Of The Beast
    Big Eyes Small Mouth
    Black Lives Matter
    Black Void
    Blades In The Dark
    Blood Pangea
    Board Games
    Book Of Exalted Darkness
    BrigadeCon
    Burning Wheel RPG
    Call Of Cthulhu
    Capers RPG
    Casual Roleplaying
    Changeling: The Dreaming
    Chaosium
    Character Arcs
    Character Creation
    Chris Spivey
    Cinematic RP
    Classics
    Comic-books
    Conventions
    Corvus Belli: Infinity
    Crawl
    Creators
    Critical Role
    Cthulhutech
    D100 Dungeon
    D20
    D&D
    D&D Beyond
    Deadlands
    Defenders Of Tokyo
    Degenesis
    Detako Saga
    Discord
    DMsGuild.com
    Dnd
    Dndbeyond
    Doctor-who
    Double-cross
    Dread
    Dresden-files
    DriveThruRPG.com
    Dr. Who
    Dungeon Crawl Classics
    Dungeons
    Dungeons And Dragons
    Dungeon Slayers
    Dungeon World
    Dystopia Rising
    Encounters
    Era: The Consortium
    Era: The Empowered
    Esper Genesis
    Evil Hat
    Exalted
    Faith RPG
    Fandom
    Fantasy-age
    Fantasy-flight
    Fantasy Grounds
    FATE
    Fate Accelerated Edition
    Fate Core
    Fate Rpg
    Fate-rpg
    Final Fantasy
    Forgotten Realms
    Fragged Empire
    Free League Publishing
    Furries
    Game Design
    Game Lore
    Gencon
    Ghosts Of NPCs Past
    GMTips
    Golden-sky-stories
    GoodmanGames.com
    Grognards
    GUMSHOE
    GURPS
    GURPS Lite
    Halloween
    Harlem Unbound
    Harry-potter
    Hero Builder
    Heroes Against Darkness
    Heroes-unlimited
    HERO System
    High Level Games
    Historical Fantasy
    HLG Con 2018
    HLG Reviews
    Homebrew
    Humble Bundle
    Indie
    Interface Zero 2.0
    Interview
    Invisible Suns
    Japanese RPGs
    JRR Tolkien
    Kickstarter
    KoboldPress.com
    KULT
    L5R
    Lankhmar
    LARP
    Lasers And Feelings
    Legendlore
    Legend Of The Five Rings
    LexOccultum
    LOTR
    Low Magic
    Mage
    Mage: The Awakening
    Magic And Steel
    MAID
    Mayhem
    Mazes And Minotaurs
    Meikyuu Kingdom
    Mekton Zero
    Mental Health
    Middle Earth
    Mighty Narwhal
    Mini Six
    Modern Adventures RPG
    Modiphius
    Monarchies Of Mau
    Monsterhearts
    Monte Cook Games
    Morra
    Mummy: The Curse
    Mutants And Masterminds
    Mythender
    Narrative Games
    Nechronica
    Night's Black Agents
    Novel
    NPC
    Numenara
    Odyssey Of The Dragonlords
    One Shot
    Online Gaming
    Orun
    OSCRIC
    Osr
    OVA
    Palladium
    Pathfinder
    Pathfinder 2.0
    PbtA
    PDQ
    Pire: The Masquerade 5th Edition
    Play By Post
    Player Tips
    Podcast
    Powered By Apocalypse
    Power Outage RPG
    Preview
    Promethean: The Created
    Pugmire
    Pulp
    Puzzles
    Questlings
    Ravenloft
    Ravnica
    Red Markets: A Game Of Economic Horror
    Research
    Review
    Review Article
    Rifts
    Risus
    Role Play
    Roll20
    Romance Of The Perilous Land
    Ryuutama
    Satanic Panic
    Savage Rifts
    Savage Tokusatsu
    Savage Worlds
    Seeds Of Wars
    Setting
    Settings
    Settlement Building
    Shadowrun
    SIGMATA
    Snowhaven
    Social Combat
    Social Systems
    Solo Play
    Standard Roleplay System
    Star Trek Adventures
    Star Wars
    Storytellers Vault
    Suited RPG
    Summerland
    Supplements
    System Design
    Table Top
    Tabletop Simulator
    Tales From The Loop
    Tales Of Equestria
    Talislanta
    Tariffs
    Teenagers From Outerspace
    Ten Candles
    Tenra Bansho Zero
    The Dark Eye
    The End Of The World RPG
    The Great Long Dark
    The One Ring
    The Very Important Task
    Titan Effect
    To The Temple Of Doom
    Trial Of Cthulhu
    Trinity Continuum
    TSR Marvel Super Heroes
    Ttrpg
    Twitch
    USTR
    Va
    Valiant Rpg
    Vampire: The Masquerade
    Video Games
    Villian
    Volo
    Vs Ghosts
    Warhammer
    Warhammer 40K
    Werewolf: The Apocalypse
    Westbound RPG
    Wild West
    World Building
    World Of Darkness
    Writing Tips
    Year Zero
    Zweihander

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly