Zeitgeist

[42]

Okay so, roughly, we are looking at selling 500-1000 per state. Of course, some states are a lot higher, and other a lot lower, but it averages out. Now from my experience, I would wager that maybe a 100-200 of those are steampunk fans. There will also be some that buy simply because they are RPG fans, not because the like steampunk. I'm would be one of those since I don't usely buy RPG books to play, but rather just to steal ideas from them. So the RPG buyers are maybe 100-200 also. Of course there are those who know nothing about the books, but plan to give it to someone as a gift. We'll say that there are maybe 50 of those. That leaves about half who just have a passing interest but are intrigued by such things as the back teaser and cover illustrations or a recommendation from a friend or other acquantance such as a good store clerk. As you can see there are a lot of casual shopper in the equation which is how a lot of merchandises gets perchased.

Course, the flaw with this thinking is that it assumes RPG buyers are more like regular book buyers. I couldn't say if the typical RPG steampunk buyer puts more research into their purchase than a normal book buyer, but it still supports my basis that perhaps having a breakthrough product is not necessarily the most crucial thing. A mediocre product will likely fare as well as anything else on the shelves simply by getting the casual shopper.

Course, a bad/good economy will also alter the equations. Fads also make a big difference. So the question really is: "Will steampunk be the next big thing in RPG?"

[Fellfrosch]

Now that's a point I feel interested enough to answer: yes, I think it will be. 42 probably wasn't posing it as a direct question, but there's my answer.

[Spriggan]

I'd also like to point out that with the exception of D&D most RPG books have very small runs.  As 42 said Palladium only sells several thousand of each book a year and they waver back and fourth with White Wolf for the #2 spot for RPG sells.  Wizards sells about a million of each D&D book.  Most others (including Steve Jackson games) are lucky to sell a thousand or two of any given book.

And as for lack of numbers on how books decline in sales over time.  Anyone that has any grasp on economics knows that, baring some strang event (like being put on the Oprah Book club), any items sales decline over time.  When you look at any sales chart (like those in EW) you never see a CD, DVD, or book that's been out for a long time jump in sales without some big event.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

hmmm thats interesting, you would think fandom would play a larger part in the sales.

It seems like RPG buyers as a whole would be smarter book buyers though, if only to be able to afford to get the ones they want for the game they play.  At 30-50 dollars a pop it seems like cost would weed out younger and poorer gamers and discourage idle browsing.
An example when I first started buying RPG's with my allowence I had trouble justifying the expense of RPG's to my parents (who occasionally exercised veto power over my spending) I bought Palladium's Robotech because it was cheaper than D&D (and oddly also lacked the satanic stereotype) even though I wanted to play D&D.

[Spriggan]

I think that's why D&D does so well it it's name reconition.  It's got quality and support behind it, which not all names have.  A lot of hard core gammers may not care for, or like, D&D but there's no other gamming companie that supports their product line as well as Wizards are doing at the moment.  Palladium and WW do better then most becuase of their Fan base and quality of their settings (not systems).

I think the majority of people that buy the lesser quality books fall into two main catagories:
1) People like Jeffe or Kid that collect RPG books/systems
2)People that have only played one of the major systems before (D&D, WW, Palladium) and are looking for something else to try.  I'm not going to comment on why these people make the selections they do since that's something that's been coverd allready in this topic.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Well I dont do as much collecting anymore, but yeah... I like reading RPG books, and I've bought some lesser quality stuff in my day. I've also bought some better stuff that slipped under the Radar.