Weekender XLBS: Tabletop Industry Consolidation & A Look At The New BoW!
April 1, 2018 by warzan
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Happy Sunday
Morning mate! And happy Sunday to you and yours! 🙂
Happy Sunday
Happy Sunday!!!
Happy Sunday arvo from Oz
Good morning! Just leaving now to go be a wizard. Have a good Easter time everyone.
Happy Easter
Just woken up to the promise of mature content in the XLBS. Surely a typo.
Check the date 🙂
Happy Sunday Beasties
Sam, enjoy it, it is hilarious 😀
Happy Almost Sunday, in 29 minutes, from Northern California.
Happy Sunday everyone Tough topic up for discussion this week with lots of permutations and no one right answer. I think you broke the meat of it down well in the show. Large companies who are not reliant on small investments are more likely to drop a game system that is not providing them the margin they want. They will do this much sooner than a home grown company who will often make decisions with their heart rather than their head. Crowdfunding has allowed a lot of ideas to become reality that never would have in the old business molds.… Read more »
I’m really interested in the business talk here at BoW, and several other places.
Is there a particular forum here on BoW where those of us who want to talk about this can discuss it? If not can one be started?
Every now and again it comes up on either Weekender and there may be a bit of chatter, but the ongoing thread is lost.
news & rumors or the greenroom where those sorts of discussions usually reside
Happy Sunday!! Welcome to a sector (Industry is pushing it) that is reaching a scale where it is starting to attract some big money investment. These investors have little in the way of creativity and innovation, but they can spot the chance to make a buck a mile off. So in this kind of wild-west space the money men buy up a couple of established brands (Asmodee, FFG) and then go seeking out new talent to buy them out. At the other end, small niche businesses are constantly starting up, trying their luck (especially with KS funded projects) and gaining… Read more »
Peter Molyneux – don’t get me started… Brilliant mind that shouldn’t be left to run or decide anything. Still owes thousands of backers a Godus game!
MB:P teasing on facebook with KS on June 7th. Presuming it’s a reprint and rules plus scenarios upgrade etc
For the new BoW will we be able to add our own favourite games and rate them?
In a nutshell … Yes
There will be a form anyone can submit and it’s then checked and added by the duration team. At which point it’s ready for reviews and ratings and other community content.
Will this cover figure only ranges as well?
Yep we have a separate section called Ranges for that 🙂
I love the direction for the new site, here a few suggestions:
– auto play for when I check event that last a few days. I do not need to go back one webpage to start the next video.
– for the rating of games: you could had a star for how easy or hard is the rules book.
On the rating system, I like the approach that you’ve taken to rate individual aspects of the game, it makes you actually think about it. I think there is room for a wider spread in each aspect than you’ve allowed. In this system, I can say one of three things about playability. It’s either crap (0), ok (1), or excellent (2). A 1 star rating in your system equates to 5/10 on your chart. What If I think it’s worse than that but better than 0 or somewhere between ok and amazing? I’d be interested in hearing a bit more… Read more »
In a word … simplicity.
The silver and gold star model is a little easier to get across and also calculate (Not only for the system but for those using the system)
It may well evolve later but for now every decision is being weighed against simplicity to find a balance point:)
Have to say I really like the gold silver star selection it is simple and gives you a proper 0-10 rating.
Happy Sunday folks and a very happy easter one and all. Great xlbs today, really interesting chat. Hope you have a wicked time at Wizarding school Sam 😉
hey cool – found the millenium falcon legacy version from hasbro on ebay – only 529 € ………
Warren, no! We need to be paid this month, man cannot live on AT-AT’s alone… again.
I have one in my living room. I bought it new, and even then I think it was $120, though if I recall, the retail was $150. It is one of my favorites, and I won’t be going on Lyons on it. It shall remain pristine. I wouldn’t mind finding something that is more in scale and playable, but I don’t see that being realistically fiscally feasible.
The games you mention is the terms of consolidation is only really one part of the industry. There is another part that carries on selling its products and I presume making money that don’t often go to Kickstarter (and if they do they know they will succeed . For example Warmonger miniatures producing 10mm figures suitable for Warmaster have Kickstarters at around £500 and they always fund).You then have companies like Old Glory and Essex Miniatures and many others they have been around for decades still producing new ranges and I presume still selling or they wouldn’t be in business.Yes… Read more »
I tend to think for gamers our ‘responsibility’ doesn’t go much further than buying the stuff we like to buy.
And being nice to the people we game with?…
So no April Fools’ jokes ?
Why do cows wear bells? Because their horns don’t work.
On the rating system for the new site. I like you can rate individual aspects of a game but I feel that a rating of max two might be a bit low with all the games that are available to play. Maybe it should be a bit higher so you can rate in more detail. The problem and benefit of large companies is that when a game isn’t doing well anymore that they might let it die as it isn’t worth it or that they can do an investment to bring it up again maybe in some other form, where… Read more »
Research suggests (and we’ll be watching this closely in our own data in the future) that for the majority of users even with more choice the ratings still come down to a bit of a duality at the extremes so it may not actually improve the accuracy of the ratings in any meaningful way.
But like I said well be watching it closely 🙂
You are probably right, most people find something good or bad and mostly only judge on their personal likes/dislikes.
I could see a day when Asmodee /Hasbro or another big company outside of the hobby industry buys out or hostile take over of Kickstarter for a couple of reason. 1. Kickstarter is a platform which shows a huge amount of financial date on people their spending habits, what’s the most popular fab/game/product at that moment etc. etc. 2. It’s a gold mind for new Idea’s and as you guys have just talked about the bigger a company/organisation becomes the less original/new idea’s it has which is why most countries get there new ideas form university/think tanks and or recruiting… Read more »
“Beasts of War 2 – Everyone’s a Critic!”
You can have that one for free.
Smell a little like a upcoming Coleraine Analytics.
That’s a very good point that I hadn’t thought of…… Well done.
An Amazon Analytica would be worth heaps….
What novels sell the best, to whom, with what subject, setting, plot, etc….
Analyse all that and one would have the spec for a best seller.
Lol took me all day to get the reference lol.
Yes there is always that risk, we need to keep an eye on that.
But we are more interested in getting the data on games than on folks.
We have some extra privacy features in the new platform too though 🙂
If you haven’t already seen the Channel 4 programme “The Last Leg”‘s episode on the size of Facebook’s terms and conditions, it’s very funny and an eye opener.
Highly recommended.
To me, one of the things about reviews is forming a trust relationship with the reviewer… How mush does their taste fit with mine over time will give me a better idea of how much weight I give their review.
In board games I currently follow The Dice Tower and Shut Up and Sit Down.
It also helps that both crews are great at comedy.
Yes reviews has a qualative and quantative aspect.
If you grow to trust a reviewer they will carry a lot of sway with your decision. Equally if a game has a lot of reviewers saying the same thing, then for many that gives a bit of confidence to a buying decision.
I hope the platform can facilitate a bit of both to help us find great games.
The gaming equivalent of Rotten Tomatoes….?
I have a tricky test for the new review system.
The game “Fury of Dracula” will soon be on it’s 4th edition, from it’s 3rd publisher (GW, FFG and I forget the new one).
Is each edition treated as a new game?
Are they linked some how?
We are most likely going to tread each new edition as a new game with a method to browse through the previous editions. We haven’t exactly worked this out yet though.
And expansions with the same name of each addition eg 40K Codices would complicate matters.
BTW I’m an IT person with a 30 year background in systems and database design that currently has a lot of time on their hands (read not employed) so I’m already laying out some data structures in my head.
Those will probably have the edition appended on.
Please feel free to get involved as there are a ton of things we have yet to solve going forward, so all input is welcome 🙂
I will warn you in advance though some of our data structure choices will seem odd. Because we have learned that data normalisation is a killer for web platforms lol (the performance hit is enormous so we have to make quite a lot of sacrifices to keep performance up)
I’ve PMed you.
You bast**ds, I was watching the screen so intently to see what you are going to do with the new web page I drank some of my paint cleaning water instead of a sip of my coffee. This show needs a warning label!
Lol sorry mate. Hobby tip, wash your brushes in beer 😉
Will this be strictly games, where components are a part of the box. Or, is there thought of rating games which are strictly rule, e.g. Sharp Practice where the gamer collects models but not necessarily from the author(s). RPGs?
Or the converse, can we review a kit just by itself, which could be linked to the unboxing video.
The ranges section would likely cover induvidual model kits – but we are still mulling that over so it might be added during a phase after launch.
It would apply to sharp practice for sure. In that case the component part is the rulebook.
Just a question really. I know it’s kind of different for board games, which are slightly more self contained – it’s all in a box, and you can theoretically break it out and play it with anyone, including your gran at Christmas. But tabletop games still require a community to thrive. In any area, there need to be at least a small group of people collecting that range and playing that game, or the game will die in that area. It needs to be getting space at tables in stores and clubs. So there surely is a point at which… Read more »
Yes I agree mate