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Emmett Plant Talks About the Paper-Based RPG Game Business (Video)
Emmett has a good rep as a video game music composer, and he's worked on a number of Star Trek-related projects, including the recently-released audio book, How to Speak Klingon: Essential Phrases for the Intergalactic Traveler. Emmett freely admits that he has no experience with RPG games. The closest he's come was running a major D&D meetup some years back. But he has experience and contacts developed from many years working online not only within the Star Trek community but (years ago) on Slashdot and as editor for Linux.com. And, he says, when he was a teenager he ran comic book stores. So is Emmett suited to run an RPG company? Possibly. He's actively looking for games to publish. Sales aren't going to start for six months or so, so there is no website for Arrakeen Tactical quite yet. Until there is one, you can contact Emmett about his game venture by emailing angelaATclockworkjetpack.com.
'nuff said
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
The article opens with a line explaining why we should ignore whatever this guy says in the video, as he has no useful experience.
I've never heard of an Emmett plant. Can it survive a cold winter?
Klingon is spoken on in the Milky Way and would be about as useful to an intergalactic traveler as a useless thing is to a utilitarian.
Where's the video? I haven't been to slashdot in a long time, and accidentally typed it by habit. I wanted to see the video, but I don't see it anywhere.
He is not. I see no mention of any business experience. Working in a comic book store clerk as a teen doesn't count. In running an RPG company, the emphasis is on "running" and "company". Just like every alcoholic dreams of owning a bar, every gamer and comic book nerd dreams of opening their own game or comic store. Just about every one is disastrously unqualified. If you've never worked in a responsible position on the business side of the game industry you have no idea what you're getting in to.
Seriously, get a new commercial... preferably one that isn't full of accents and boring numbers that nobody cares about.
He knows nothing about tabletop RPGs so he's going to publish tabletop RPGs. Seems legit.
The economy is shot, we got that. So people look for new opportunities, that's a given. If we now get a story every time someone does just that what pretty much everyone does who loses his job, I guess the "stuff that matters" part went out the door of /.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
..but he will totally show them how to do it right.
It sounds like his plan is to take indie games & make them more polished. Which might not be a bad idea in and of itself, but there are a bunch of folks at WOTC, Fantasy Flight, and a bunch of others that do this for a living. And they are plenty polished.
It sounds like he:
- Doesn't know anything about the industry.
- Doesn't know what the existing distribution channels are
- Doesn't have an idea how to build a new distribution channel (never mentions DriveThroughRPG.com)
- Doesn't really understand the economics of the industry
- Doesn't have any idea how his games are different from the ones out there.
- Doesn't know what games are out there other than D&D. (ever heard of Pathfinder? If not you are laughably unqualified to do this)
- Doesn't really know how his games will draw in new markets.
- Doesn't really know how his games will compete in existing markets.
His plan is literally that his employees think it would be fun to run an RPG company. Where do I invest?
I read the summary three times in disbelief that it is actually on the front page. Every so often something pops on on Slashdot's front page that doesn't belong, sometimes it really bad. This. takes. the. cake.
It reads like a quickly drafted, brief email where one associate is casually bouncing something off another, or even a scam email. We are not here to do market research for someone that can't do it themselves. Is this a personal favor for someone, Roblimo? Please don't abuse Slashdot like this in the future.
You all can mod me down all you want. This is bullshit.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
I run a profitable media production company called Clockwork Jetpack, and I've been on the business side of video games for more than the past decade. I understand your point-of-view completely, and I agree that working in a market is a hell of a lot different than *playing* in a market. For instance, working in video games makes it almost impossible for me to enjoy video games.
..but he will totally show them how to do it right.
It sounds like his plan is to take indie games & make them more polished. Which might not be a bad idea in and of itself, but there are a bunch of folks at WOTC, Fantasy Flight, and a bunch of others that do this for a living. And they are plenty polished.
It sounds like he:
- Doesn't know anything about the industry.
- Doesn't know what the existing distribution channels are
- Doesn't have an idea how to build a new distribution channel (never mentions DriveThroughRPG.com)
- Doesn't really understand the economics of the industry
- Doesn't have any idea how his games are different from the ones out there.
- Doesn't know what games are out there other than D&D. (ever heard of Pathfinder? If not you are laughably unqualified to do this)
- Doesn't really know how his games will draw in new markets.
- Doesn't really know how his games will compete in existing markets.
His plan is literally that his employees think it would be fun to run an RPG company. Where do I invest?
I'm confused as to how much the headline actually relates to the article...
"Emmett Plant Talks About the Paper-Based RPG Game Business"
In the summary, the only bit that's anything "paper-based" is a reference to the guy DM'ing (presumably?) D&D at some point...which I'm not convinced would qualify him to speak on "the paper-based RPG game business." And he's starting a company to make RPGs...are they paper-based RPGs?
And the first sentence starts with telling us he's a *musical composer* and references an audio book, which is the exact opposite of a paper-based anything!
Rather afraid that if I read the article, this'll turn out to be Bennett Haselton's cousin or something.
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
>> He's actively looking for games to publish.
I'd start by looking through http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/ - looks like there's plenty of off-brands that could use a push from a dedicated publisher.
>> Arrakeen Tactical
Always a good way to launch a for-profit brand: rip off a major desert+space+melee-combat science fiction franchise. Hope you cleared that with your attorney first...
I've done a lot of research in the market, and if I'd had a solid hour to talk about the industry (instead of about ten minutes in my backyard) I would have done so! We're planning to distribute via Drive-Thru RPG, and one of our authors (David Flor) is chomping at the bit to get something moving on a 13th Age adventure right now, because he's excited about that platform.
Tim Lord expressed an interest in talking about it, and I agreed to do it specifically *because* we don't have any games out at the moment -- Otherwise it would have been a goddamn commercial, and I wouldn't want to subject anyone to a hailstorm of 'former Slashdot and Linux.com guy wants you to buy his shit! Do it now!'
There are a lot of different systems that deserve attention beyond the d20 D&D stuff -- Hell, I'd love to go back and revisit d20 Modern at some point. I have an idea for a game that doesn't use any existing system, but we'll see how that goes. Ideas for games are a far cry from 'product.'
i like game, PES
The first purchase we made was of Darklight Interactive's work which was on Drive-Thru RPG. I think we're going to do a great job with that, and I hope that the final products are good enough to get the authors of other well-written adventures to sign with us.
...at how often people who work on 'Star Trek' take an extraordinarily dim view of some of the products that surround the franchise. You are not alone.
GUess your medling with slashdot again
I like RPGs, and I've played a lot of them. Ultimately, I try to hire people smarter than I am. This means that part of my job is hiring those people, but another part of my job is keeping them interested and excited about doing stuff. If they feel like they're wasting their time, they're going to haul ass and work somewhere else.
Starting this company was a really weird way to connect a lot of them together. They like new things, they like games, they share an interest. They enjoy open-ended problems. We bounced the idea around, and here we are.
Sometimes it's like watching a very old science fiction movie that has a fantastic story, but the effects are cringe-worthy. I hope that we're able to grab some more work by those authors, do a great job with it and really expand their vision by bringing in some of the other pieces of the puzzle.
Even at that, I still think that something like Drive-Thru RPG is a billion times better than waiting for an expensive 'module' at the local hobby shop. I just think we can add some juice, that's all.
Guy with NO EXPERIENCE in a field decides to run a company in that field.
Said field has been on the commercial denouement (at the very least) for 20+ years, with only a slight bump in the otherwise-downward curve for the last few years as small publishers are able to get into the market (I'm looking at Paizo, fr'instance).
I can see this ending in nothing but tears.
Why didn't he just start up a buggy whip company while he's at it?
-Styopa
Most companies in the RPG space are very poorly run, and many are hamstrung by preconceptions, their knowledge of how you "have to" do things. Being free from those bad ideas is probably a good head start.
The other, solitary thing I know about this guy is that he can get free advertising on slashdot without even a hint of an interesting story. That's worth something.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
As long as there are Amish, there will be a market for buggy-whips. And as long as there are people who like to get together with their friends instead of hunching in front of a computer, there will be a market for paper RPGs.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Henry Ford was an electrical engineer.
Steve Jobs was a circuit board technician.
Orville and Wilbur Wright ran a bicycle shop.
And so on, and so on, and so on.
I love reading about role-playing game games.
Let me get this straight - this is a video interviewing a guy about a business he's never been in, selling something he has no experience with... and his company not only doesn't have a product, it's not expected to for months? And we're supposed to think this is worth watching?
Christ, who set the wayback machine to 1998 and confused Slashdot with a bunch of vulture capitalists?
That was bloody amazing. Too bad such wonderful work got more or less lawyered out of existence. Yes, I understand that Paramount must enforce its trademarks but ...
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
Possibly.
Good luck with the spam.
Rock'nRoll Emmett Plant! This is exciting and wonderful news.
The traditional tabletop RPG market needs smart, fresh blood and new ideas. The explosion of popularity in board games and card games shows that people want face to face actual play experiences beyond their computers. RPGs offer a unique experience, one that comps can't currently duplicate. There is no reason to fear not having experience in the field. You can certainly learn about the RPG market, its past and present history and the current trends all very quickly. Anyone who wants to immerse themselves in the RPG community and learn about it can do so incredibly fast and easily today.
BTW, look up a company called Evil Hat Productions. They are hugely transparent about their business numbers and their years of growth and development. If I was starting a RPG company, I'd look there first and even contact them for advice.
I welcome you to come on by theRPGsite.com and chat with a bunch RPG players, but unlike most RPG forum ours is the most wretched hive of scum and villainy so you will get unfiltered discussions from veteran players, GMs and game designers. - Spinachcat
I miss Classic Traveller and my 3 little black books. Spent a huge chunk of my teens/twenties running games. That is all.
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
(Non Brits stop reading now, this won't make any sense) Back around 1980 a friend developed an RPG called Bank Holiday Monday where you could play a Mod, Rocker, Punk, New Waver etc and was based around the regular mass fights that featured heavily at seaside resorts back then between the various factions. He had maps of Southend, Brighton etc and you moved around, using weapons and vehicles etc to try and demolish the other faction. You could build your characters up with skills like 'Motor Cycle maintenance' if you were a mod or 'Chain attack' if you were a rocker. ISTR a 'More eyeliner' skill for New Wavers that made it likely an enemy would get scared and retreat. Was quite good fun in an English sort of way.
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
Look at Evil Hat. Fred Hicks is the most open I've seen of the RPG publishers. You see hard sales numbers quarter to quarter. Discussions on what makes a kickstarter work. Shipping costs. All sorts of useful stuff. Steve Jackson Games yearly reports are good too, but they are more summarized. SJG at this point is basically the Munchkin company with everything else as a sideline, so their information will be less relevant.
But this is a good time to be an RPG publisher, print runs and poor management crippled a lot of companies. One of those problems has been eliminated, and the other is easier due to the way the market has shifted.
Good luck.
"Sometimes it's hard to tell the dancer from the dance." --Corwin Of Amber in CoC
Wow he has no idea about RPGer's, "everyone who plays them is unwanted and a drunk or druggie"? what a dickhead.
Orville and Wilbur Wright ran a bicycle shop.
The Wrights were machinists who built and sold bicycles of their own --- recognizably --- modern design. Original St. Clair bicycle [1898]
In their view, dynamic control in three dimensions was essential to successful heavier-than-air flight. It's an insight that would come naturally to a cyclist.
Cool.
Were they airplane mechanics or were they not?