The Business: The Cargo Cult of Conventional Play Sees The Colony Drop Coming At Last

The PDF Merchants are figuring out that they are not competing with Wizards of the Coast, but all forms of entertainment and they Just Can't Even.

Even after accounting for the fuckery that WOTC engages in to massage the numbers, things are in freefall for Conventional Play.

What did I say so often last year? That Tabletop was in a state of collapse. What did this PDF Merchant and his pals provide the receipts for? Proof that Tabletop is in a state of collapse. The commercial viability of this hobby is already in a state of absolute freefall, which is why damn near everyone other than WOTC has to beg on Kickstarter to put anything out.

"Games are not too expensive" bullshit being pushed is going end up with a massive uptick in piracy, and that includes Print On Demand piracy because that's been figured out now and all it will take is for someone to explain in a public-facting (but deniable) fashion how to do it successfully, coupled with a lot of non-commercial hobbyist publishing that sells at or just over costs and will be equal to or superior in terms of product quality.

Yes, including unfucked versions of The Game(s) That Matter. PDF Merchant Man has to confront that he's slaved to the Network Effect (and he does) and make his peace with it.

Why? Because Network Effects can work FOR you as well as AGAINST you. Being able to partake of the Network without giving money to people that hate you, or are just plain retards that should not be rewarded, is increasingly being realized as a viable path of action.

And if you can produce an unfucked rules manual for The Game(s) That Matters, you can partake of the Network without giving the Master any money- and that's the first step to becoming the Apprentice, gettng into position, shivving the Master and taking his place.

They can cope all they want, but what I said is still the case: follow WOTC to Vidya, stop commercial operations and just be a hobbyist outlet, or quit entirely.

And because so many of these slop merchants consistently prove themselves to be pants-on-head retards, I would rather that they be made to quit. The Hobby would be better for their passing.