tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post2246381721427563078..comments2024-02-28T02:44:24.479-08:00Comments on Goblinoid Games: Product vs. Service and Brand DilemmasDan of Earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04957424338566461756noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-43606732921006240632010-09-03T05:17:40.491-07:002010-09-03T05:17:40.491-07:00The cool thing about this model is that it also ex...The cool thing about this model is that it also explains the <a href="http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2010/09/one-hundred-and-seventeen-pages-of.html" rel="nofollow">one hundred and seventeen pages of Errata</a> because "this is only a problem for those who still don't use electronic aids." (First comment on Rob's post.)Alex Schroederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17104864340940538702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-26400183191230506822010-08-24T21:02:29.786-07:002010-08-24T21:02:29.786-07:00I think the general OS gaming community should sto...<i>I think the general OS gaming community should stop looking for an "authority figure publisher" and should be comfortable in themselves as an authority on the games they enjoy. We don't need a "steward."</i><br /><br>Not that you expected me to say otherwise, but "Amen."James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-9536324506715548672010-08-24T19:50:02.695-07:002010-08-24T19:50:02.695-07:00First, sorry for the delay in some of the last pos...First, sorry for the delay in some of the last posts appearing. I set the blog to require approval on posts older than 10 days (I think) to help wrangle in spammers.<br /><br />Frank, those are not easy questions and I'm not sure I would presume to have the answers. I'm not a customer of WotC, and the only way I would be is if they reprinted AD&D or something like that. I'm just not interested in their RPG. I'm sure that the Hasbro POV is to maximize profits, which is entirely understandable. I think the important thing I'm trying to say is that for those of us who prefer other editions it is important to separate brand loyalty from game loyalty. I think the general OS gaming community should stop looking for an "authority figure publisher" and should be comfortable in themselves as an authority on the games they enjoy. We don't need a "steward."Dan of Earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04957424338566461756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-85450044266201679962010-08-10T15:22:16.648-07:002010-08-10T15:22:16.648-07:00Fairly good business analysis.
So from the custom...Fairly good business analysis.<br /><br />So from the customer's perspective, what should WotC do?<br /><br />And from the Hasbro POV, what does poppa want WotC to do?<br /><br />And then how do you reconcile those (prolly diametrically opposed) viewpoints?<br /><br />-- FMFrank Mentzerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01175370701287858254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-67783397891260031842010-08-07T13:49:06.673-07:002010-08-07T13:49:06.673-07:00Must be something about the human psyche: want the...Must be something about the human psyche: want the old game, want the new shiny, and marketing learnt to exploit the difference.<br /><br />Also: linked to this post from http://wondrousimaginings.blogspot.com/2010/08/essentials-and-4e-based-on-what-im.htmlAlex Schroederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17104864340940538702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-40286862927474737582010-07-26T09:37:57.463-07:002010-07-26T09:37:57.463-07:00Part of the problem with Brands and Trademarks in ...Part of the problem with Brands and Trademarks in this day and age is the desire of people in charge to mold the brand into something that it is not. This happens a lot in the media. For instance, VH1 and MTV were primarilly music channels--even their names were abbreviations for "Video Hits One" and "Music TeleVision". But at some point in the early part of this decade, some executive decided to change MTV and VH1 to be clones of the E! network and/or be dominated by reality TV. And it even goes beyond the pale sometimes--Cartoon Network executives declare "Why does a Cartoon need to be animated"? <br /><br />Trademark Law is, in part, designed for consumer protection, and there are some cases where the consumer's view of the brand has overriden a company's desires--that usually has happened in cases involving music groups or bands where there there are real human beings involved and an audience that expects those people. Though it's rare for it to come in other cases, since people identify WoTC as the D&D maker (regardless of whether they like and hate it), I have a feeling at some point somebody may decide to change a trademark so much that they end up losing rights to it if it changes radically. <br /><br />So called "Brand Realignment" can really backfire if you are not careful. And a well-established brand should come with expectations. In many cases, I see brands being changed for one of two reasons--either the brand gains a negative connotation over time (due to poor quality--Schlitz and Packard Bell--and/or negative publicity--Philip Morris and BP), or you want to use it for something else. In many cases, I think starting a new brand or trademark for something new is better than a radical change.JRThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06028363896728357260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-10668074477524765852010-07-22T17:02:55.570-07:002010-07-22T17:02:55.570-07:00"It's a show about nothing!""It's a show about nothing!"E.G.Palmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10229893317543621720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-29536740953354221182010-07-21T22:45:33.719-07:002010-07-21T22:45:33.719-07:00"Is there really going to be a 10e? No, it ju..."Is there really going to be a 10e? No, it just won't work."<br /><br />Doesn't mean they won't try it. How many editions of Warhammer 40K are there? Six? Or have they issued a 7th? <br /><br />And of course we are talking about WotC, maker of many editions of Magic.<br /><br />But they'll probably put the whole thing on-line before too long, anyway and simply sell upgrades with new content while charging users a monthly subscription fee....JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-48118535046654452010-07-21T21:27:14.477-07:002010-07-21T21:27:14.477-07:00I call dibs on LL: Sword & Planet!I call dibs on LL: Sword & Planet!James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-1879036457740439842010-07-21T20:29:50.925-07:002010-07-21T20:29:50.925-07:00Look at Monopoly and Risk. The games have basicall...Look at Monopoly and Risk. The games have basically played the same for the past 50 years. But millions are sold because 1. the games are cheap and 2. they are fun.<br /><br />Then MB got smart and tied their games to other specific brands. Risk: Lord of the Rings, Monopoly: Star Wars.<br /><br />Look at taking LL and creating specific versions of it for different worlds but keep much of the core rules the same.<br /><br />LL: High Fantasy<br />LL: Swords and Sorcery<br />LL: Wizards Battling at School<br />LL: Dungeon Crawl<br />LL: Thieves Guild<br />LL: World of Midkemia (ok, dreaming here)Eric Nelsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12348937616065235517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-41157801064146610652010-07-21T12:47:56.015-07:002010-07-21T12:47:56.015-07:00It actually isn't a bad idea if you can do the...It actually isn't a bad idea if you can do the transformation without alienating your consumer base... Gamers are a finicky bunch.<br /><br />You can be damn well sure they did a lot of customer research on the manner, but it may not have been geared to their RPG base of customers... Porting over MtG's business style may not convert well to the d&d brand.<br /><br />Time will tell<br /><br />Oh, and Dan... You're a pisser!Tenkarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05159289652051155824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-25086750113968834202010-07-21T12:00:04.952-07:002010-07-21T12:00:04.952-07:00Brilliant.Brilliant.nextautumnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05201978755112508204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-30801609299208848642010-07-21T10:15:13.136-07:002010-07-21T10:15:13.136-07:00Great post.Great post.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-22377976359057374152010-07-21T09:19:40.173-07:002010-07-21T09:19:40.173-07:00I think rule changes are a major problem because t...I think rule changes are a major problem because they are essentially the physics of the game. Changing the rules might not always be for the better, and such changes force players to learn new laws of physics if they want to keep up to date. I think a better solution to keep individuals consuming would be to have updated editions that update the "feel" of the game by modifying art work and layout - or even doing limited editions that emphasize a particular artists work. Sure this is just "old wine in a new bottle", but the trick is to enhance the value of the item without necessarily modifying what made it great in the first place.K.R. Proctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04217707644715233872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-34616385329122477072010-07-21T08:40:30.455-07:002010-07-21T08:40:30.455-07:00This probably applies to Dragon magazine at least ...This probably applies to Dragon magazine at least as much as to Wizards of the Coast.anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-72195917801741689592010-07-21T08:39:10.125-07:002010-07-21T08:39:10.125-07:00@ Lord Kilgore: +1
When WotC originally released ...@ Lord Kilgore: +1<br /><br />When WotC originally released Magic, they hit on a way to consistently change the content of the game while maintaining a single brand. Since its inception, players have been loyal to the brand and continuously adapted their play to the new rules changes, they've frozen their play at some particular iteration of the game, or they've stopped playing. That model has worked successfully for them for over a decade. That they're applying the same thing to 4th edition shouldn't surprise anyone. They actually started it with 3rd edition, but they couldn't keep up with the changes in the game with the Core Rules application.<br /><br />What they've missed is that a lot of gamers want more content, but we like the rules to stay the same. Give us more adventures, monsters, spells, and so on, but don't change the mechanics of how our characters encounter or use that stuff.Robert Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03345468894311108269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-33905838483738180182010-07-21T08:31:43.608-07:002010-07-21T08:31:43.608-07:00I don't know, sounds like a pretty good idea t...<em>I don't know, sounds like a pretty good idea to me.</em><br /><br /><br /><strong>New products coming soon from Gobblekin Games:</strong><br /><br /><em>Mutant Future Reloaded</em>: includes bigger eyes, smaller mouths and ridiculously-sized weapons<br /><br /><em>Advanced Edition Companion III</em>, now sporting more Tiefling<br /><br /><em>Original Edition Characters 2e</em> featuring character classes not in the original edition!Restlesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04586442439173490257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-50271889193264153552010-07-21T08:05:06.481-07:002010-07-21T08:05:06.481-07:00D&D: The GatheringD&D: The GatheringLord Kilgorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08100447170529010062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-737080860119263961.post-67554303222553809982010-07-21T07:28:52.006-07:002010-07-21T07:28:52.006-07:00I don't know, sounds like a pretty good idea t...<i>I don't know, sounds like a pretty good idea to me.</i><br /><br />That's hilarious. :DAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457050225967190052noreply@blogger.com