Dreams do come true (sometimes)
Hello, everyone! I just wanted to write a short post basically about how lucky I am to be able to write RPGs for a living. This is inspired by a post I read earlier today that said that RPG fans spend an average of $25 a YEAR on RPGs. Now setting aside the fact that I spend more than that on a week alone, this is absolutely brutal, considering D&D is 50% of the whole RPG market. So out of those $25 a year, WotC is getting half of it. After Call of Cthulhu, WFRP, Pathfinder, and all the others, I don't know how much it must be left for us in the indie RPG industry, but it can't be more than a buck or so.
Now I know that these are just statistics, and that a lot of you here probably don't spend a dime on anything WotC puts out, but still, it paints an interesting picture. Or rather, an overwhelming one, because I can't understand how is it possible that I've now been living exclusively of writing RPGs for the last 6 months. This is in great part thanks to the support of my wonderful Patreon members, since this is the closest I have to a "fixed salary". It allows me to pay the bills and to know that I'll at least have those basics covered.
On that same post about folks only spending $25 a year on RPGs, there were a lot of RPG designers saying that it was absolutely impossible to make it as an RPG designer, unless you lived on a very cheap country (which I don't, by the way, Madrid sucks and I don't know why I'm here but that's another story), so for a moment there I must admit I panicked. What if this is just a flux, what if suddenly next month, and the next one, and the next one, nobody buys my games? there's been a big spike in my game sales thanks to the success of Ker Nethalas, so it would be easy for me to think this is the new normal, but I realize it isn't.
So what can I do if sales start going down? I guess not much, but what I know I can do now is keep going, try to invest the money I'm making on hiring good folks (which I am, 80% of my bills this month have been payments towards artists and other collaborators), and keep listening to the good advice folks like Alan Bahr give me regarding of which steps to take next.
So I just wanted to thank you all for supporting me, and purchasing my games and books, since I know how tight money is and we usually need to choose between one book or a different one. I'll try to keep increasing the quality level of all my games, and keep releasing stuff that hopefully you will al love for years to come. So thank you!
Alex.
Comments (14)
Every time I heard about another great new game it turned out ti be Black Oath. I would have saved myself time if I had gone to your site right off the bat. Once I realized I was into like 4 of your games already I decided to support the effort.
haha thanks so much!
Life's a B and then you die. I'm a sucker for your roguelike hardcore books where this is the reality of the characters and where there is a lot of structure. I'm a Rougelike video gamer who is sick of video screens and I don't mind brain exercise (in fact I want it). Your books that I have so far scratch the itches I have for those tv games. (Under Ashen Skies, Ker Nethalas, ATDW) - and the add-ons are amazing!! I am satisfied with a bad ending (horror) for my character, I'm excited when I barely excape, and I'm way more excited if I actually achieve what feels impossible. You were my gateway to returning to analog games. I'm sure someday I may like more open RPGs but for now I'm really into the structure. So yeah DnD isn't interesting to me - Call of Cthulhu solo books are a little interesting. These get $0 of my money so far. I'm not sure if your RHBF is for me... but maybe it will be one day as I aquire more taste for analog games. That Arena game based on Ker Nethalas world seems perfect for me and I'll be getting it - I'm also probably getting Warlord Ascendant... and Broken Shores. My opinion is that's why Ker Nethalas was so popular. You are getting people who are interested in putting down the game controller and picking up a book. I hope your sales and our combined $5 ea, $1 ea, $10-20 each month from patrons helps you continue to not need to work for someone else - thus giving you time to find inspiration wherever it may be.
Thank you for your feedback! And you are totally right, there's a lot of people coming into KN from videogames, actually! A lot of folks who have never played a tabletop game, which is wild, haha. It's really humbling that they've chosen my little game as their intro to this vast hobby! It's been almost a year working exclusively on RPGs, and so far it's been really good, so I really appreciate all the support!
You've gotten me interested in rpg's again, to the point I am folding in my maker hobby with gaming. I'll continue to buy Blackoath games and Kickstarter your projects.
I truly appreciate the support!
I'm in the same boat as Ron Schachter, I don't spend a dime on WotC. And honestly the main reason is I don't have to because of your games. You are making, imo, some of the best content and games. And I think all the Ker Nethals did was bring light to how good of a designer you are. Also with your expansions making the games better every time, adding more content and modifications to the games that you make upon user feedback, it shows your not a 1 and done but will be here for a long time.
Thanks so much, Nick! you're the best!
Blackoath is at least 50% of the games I purchase and play. I purchase way more than $25 a month because I enjoy the hobby and I'm really happy I found your games. Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I wish I could put out games as fast as I can think of them, haha. I have so many ideas that I want to implement, as long as you guys want them they'll keep coming!
I’m here because it shows you put all your effort into this craft. Thank you. It’s kinda true though the pressure is on to keep putting out good products. Keep the faith brother, and congratulations on the success so far.
Thank you for your support and kind words!
Hey Alex T. happy to be here as a supporter. I do hav ena RPG budget and WOTC doesnt get a dime of it. As someone that supports here and backs Kickstarter for books, my recommendation is this - Keep doing what you are doing. Love Ker Nethalas and the new Valerion Codex. Love Across a Thousand Dead Worlds. Love Godshard / Broken Shores. Just keep the interesting ideas coming, so that even if I gut the system for one reason or another, I can take the bones of the game and build something new on it. Very much would love to see another Demonic, AATDW Vaults, and Codexes. Ruthless Heavens and Boundless Fates looks even more interesting. Agin, Happy to be here and lurk in Discord.
Thank you for your continued support! And yes, as you know I have lots of plans and things in the works for all my games! My head is always filled with ideas I want to implement, so I'm not going to run out of game material any time soon!