The Gaming Den

This was such a brilliant idea that I have no idea why every game at least as mainstream as Mouseguard is not doing it. I personally find it extremely amazing that you can offer a SRD for free on the web and not only will people still buy your hardcover rulebooks but they'll also buy more than if you hadn't offered them at all.

Now that all said, one thing that really caught my interest is how Pathfinder's SRD is catching on with Japanese gamers. It seems as here it's actually (in a really, really small way) reducing sales. Not because of any cultural differences, mind you, but just because as far as I'm aware Pathfinder books are only in the English language.

I've been pushing heavily for the idea that D&D's next edition should definitely try to enter non-English markets, I'm just wondering how to go forward with this in conjunction with the SRD.

I am not aware on the data of SRD's effect on sales. But in the same post you say it improves sales, then briefly after that it is hurting sales. What's with that?

I think he means "Not releasing it in Japanese is hurting sales".

And the only Japanese Pathfinding I know of involves a Rouge of Harf Elf.

SRDs are good because they let people get a look at the rules before they shell out money for the actual book.

They are also pretty bad for most RPG systems for this very reason, because if the rule set is awful the audience will run away after taking a look at the SRD.

Zinegata wrote:SRDs are good because they let people get a look at the rules before they shell out money for the actual book.

They are also pretty bad for most RPG systems for this very reason, because if the rule set is awful the audience will run away after taking a look at the SRD.

A lot of people are really bad at judging rulesets. And the majority of SRD-players I am aware of look just at the rules and stuff immediately needed, nothing more. Unless they have some degree of system mastery, they can't tell you anything about the rule set.

I agree with Largo. SRDs in foreign languages should help to spread out the game. Speaking for Germany, a lot of gamers here are middle-aged and grew up with early installments of DSA. A good part of these gamers doesn't know any english beside the universal modern age vocabulary, and the rights for the german-translated SRD remain with the publisher that originally sold the books here. As a result of this, used copies of german D&D 3E books are amazingly expensive. As in 60€ and more for a PHB, 120€ and more for SC.

This doesn't really help gathering new players at all if you're using non-english books.

deanruel87 wrote:I am not aware on the data of SRD's effect on sales. But in the same post you say it improves sales, then briefly after that it is hurting sales. What's with that?

My understanding:

Sales of Pathfinder in Japan are pretty poor because the Pathfinder Core Rulebook is exorbitantly expensive compared to Japanese RPG rule books (it's imported, it's a glossy full-color hardcover instead of a less-glossy paperback, etc.) not to mention that it's in English. And yet people are still playing Pathfinder because they can using either the online PRD or a web site that some dude set up that translates it into Japanese.

Zinegata wrote: They are also pretty bad for most RPG systems for this very reason, because if the rule set is awful the audience will run away after taking a look at the SRD.

Well, the other side of this coin is that a lot of awful games have been rescued by awesome fluff/artwork. An Urban Arcana SRD is almost worse than useless done classic-style, but an Urban Arcana SRD that had some of the genuinely cool things in it like the Sons of Tyranny or the mind flayer mafioso could draw in the fans.

The thing I'm worried about though is that even though giving free samples helps sells your product if its good, there comes a point where you have to worry about whether giving people a full-course sausage dinner sample satiates people too much to buy a sample.