Quote:
Originally Posted by MNBlockHead
Nah. Not so gloomy as all that.
1) Many RW users bought it to build their own campaigns and are looking for drop-in content. RIGHT OFF THE BAT I'll get content that I can use, some of it for free.
2) LWD has an incredible community that is loyal and has greatly increased the value of other RW tools like Hero Lab with community-created content. I fully expect that one the CM is opened to the wider community that there will be a large amount a free content from this same community.
3) Once the CM is open and gets some press and folks see that Paizo is publishing content in it, they will take their material from Drive Thru RPG and publish in RW. Why wouldn't you take your material and make it available in another market. There is a bit of hurdle in that you can't just take your PDF and throw it in the CM, but I expect you'll soon see lots of inexpensive options in the CM from the 'might as well see if I can sell my adventure for $3' crowd.
4) Complaints about pricing policy do not necessarily translate into buying behavior. Lot's of people have complained about the cost of 5e books--but they are selling very well. Lots of people took umbrage at the cost of 5e material in Fantasy Grounds, but many people still bought it and SmiteWorks seems to be making money from the license. The one reaction to pricing that really is a threat to publishers is piracy, but that isn't such a threat with RW. I'm sure some people will find ways to steal content, but it is much more difficult than getting your hands on a pirated PDF.
I think the CM will do just fine.
The real challenge for LWD is convincing enough gamers of the benefits of a campaign-management system and an at-table application to run your games. RW fits in what appears to be small niche between traditional-pen-and-paper and VTTs.
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You are 100% correct. The moment this goes live I'll be buying The Emerald Spire and the .pdf even though I own the hardback and the flip map pack. I've been stalling my home game hoping that it would be part of the initial release. But none of that is going to stop me from grumbling about having to buy the .pdf
