The Business: Gaming Is Driven By Network Effects- Grok It Or Get Out

This man is a retard. He asked a question answered 25 years ago when TSR got eaten by WOTC and D&D3e came around.

Quoting the Comment I left:

We had this discussion 25 years ago!

Ryan Dancey explained what's going on: NETWORK EFFECTS!

There's plenty of videos on it here on YouTube, so I'll link to the short one that gets to the point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoeal3ljnqw&pp=ygUPbmV0d29yayBlZmZlY3Rz

TLDR: The value of ANY game is directly proportional to the number of players, because games work just like telephones- their value is derived from the ability to use it.

THAT is why there is such a thing as "too many wargames". In any marketplace so driven, there is room for a Master and an Apprentice- no more. Everyone else is an also-ran/never-were that is wasting their time and would be better served supporting one of the two that matter (by default, the Master, but this is wargaming and GW is stupid).

Why two? It keeps the Master from being complacent, and there is one example to demonstrate that in action: EverQuest vs. World of Warcraft. The former WAS the Master of MMOs, but it got complacent and failed to keep its users happy; a small, organized minority got together, formed WOW, and OVERTOOK Everquest by providing that user network a competitor that did what EQ would not. Now EQ is a has-been with no route back to dominance, while WOW's ruled the roost in MMOs for 20 years (despite having a few Apprentices come along, currently FF14).

It is true for all forms of multi-player gaming. The vast majority of would-bees are better off shutting down and just supporting one of the two that matter.

(Link and Bolding is mine.)

The refusal to admit that Revealed Preferences exist (and are Revealed; most prospective players prefer Vidya for all the reasons I mentioned yesterday), Network Effects exist (and explain everything about why (X) is The Game That Matters), and that demographic change has turbo-fucked things so hard that Tabletop is reduced to having people e-begging for handouts instead of conducting business like they're supposed to, and you can see why Tabletop Minions is a paste-eating retard.

Alas, so many tabletop hobbyists aren't much better. The Soup Aisle has so many derelicts in them, and some pretend to be competent businessmen.

*Me not listen to customers and stock things no one care about.*

(months later)

"Why business fail?"

The C-Suite at WOTC and GW holds the common gamer in contempt for good reason, as man that thick-headed stupidity is all too common. A brilliant man showed up, solved a long-running problem, explained how and why it did so, and no sooner was he out of the picture than they immediately fuck it all up and the dysfunctions immediately return because bruised egos wouldn't admit they were wrong.

(Yes, that is also the real story of every Kitchen Nightmares episode.)

As in adventure games, so in wargames. Same medium, same solutions, same OH GOT IT BURNS levels of stupidity.

This is why I look forward to see you all fold like Superman on laundry day. When that happens:

Fuck. You.