RE: [OT] Paranoia (not the game...)

Well, maybe it's a function of location, but I have a pretty good game 
store here in Indianapolis, USA, and there are new wargames and RPGs
coming 
out at the rate of at least one a month - wargames more than RPG, if you

don't include supplements.  Admittedly, TSR/WotC makes up a lot of this,

but there are new wargames, usually battle-specific coming out quite
often, 
at least 4 a year, if not more.  Several new system-types have done well

lately, such as Easy Eight's Battleground WW2 miniatures rules - good
game 
(on advice of trusted friend), lousy cover art.  Command Decision 3, 
Harpoon 4, about 5 East Front games in the last 2 months (yay!). 
There's 
all sorts of stuff out there.  None of it ever garners a huge market 
(barring certain RPGs), but that's how it works.  People with 'the next 
Trivial Pursuit' are trying to create a product with enormous mass
appeal. 
 Wargame/RPG designers, OTOH, have a pretty well-defined market to deal 
with.

Noah

-----Original Message-----
From:	John Jeffery Shoemark [SMTP:shoemark@acay.com.au]
Sent:	Thursday, September 03, 1998 07:16 AM
To:	FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
Subject:	RE: [OT] Paranoia (not the game...)

> > Tell me GZG is doing well.
>
> GZG is considerably smaller than any of these outfits. Smaller means
> more survivable *if* the owner considers it a labor of love and hasn't
> quit his day job. I dare to guess that's the case with Jon.
>
> I run a (very) small business importing paintball equipment. The
profits
> are next to nothing, but I haven't borrowed any capital for it and my
day
> job provides my real income, so I can keep it running indefinitely.
>
> We had Ray Greer from Hero Games speaking at RoPeCon this year. He
came
> into the "industry" from the finance side, so to speak, and curiously
he
> was the first and so far only industry person I've to offer sane
advice 
to
> prospective game designers:
>
> DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB!
>
(Mikko Kurki-Suonio)

Having left the industry recently after many years (and taking a "lower"

job
to get paid heaps more money) I can relate the advice I always gave to
people who came to me with "the next Trivial Pursuit";-
1. Find a sheet metal worker toi make a large iron box.
2. Go to the nearest large body of water and rent a rowboat (I always
recommend Sydney Harbour here in Oz.)
3  Put everything to do with the game and $20,000.00 in the box and put
the
box in the boat.
4  Row to the deepest part of the water.
5  Throw the box overboard and forget all about it.

This is by far the cheapest option.

Cynical, yes. Realistic, yes.

The games industry is really a lot of small semi-professional companies
staggering from crisis to crisis. Some do well for a while but
eventually
they too fall prey to thinking there is a large market for this stuff
and
that everyone can make money producing games. The top ten selling games
for
at least the last ten years have always included Scrabble, Monopoly and
whatever the latest mainstream game from the
Kenner/Parker/Toltoys/Milton
Bradley was (Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit etc) I can't remember the last 
time
an RPG or wargame appeared.
Face it folks, we're in a hobby industry.

John Shoemark