Quote from: Old GeezerSomething like 1/3 to 1/2 of all model railroad companies are part-time endeavors.  Especially the extreme specialty items.

I didn't know that. Now I'm wondering if doing some research into model railroad companies may provide some good analogies to running a part-time gaming business.

Quote from: John MorrowConsidering your comments in another related thread, do you consider model railroads a healthy hobby?

Define "healthy".

Good for me?

Financially viable?  In how long a horizon?  How large?

It almost seems like you mean "to be financially healthy, a hobby must be immune to lifecycle".  Ain't gonna happen.

Quote from: Old GeezerDefine "healthy".

I left that open because I'm also curious how you'd define it.

While I don't expect any hobby to be immune from changes over it's lifecycle, I do think that a trend line that points to becoming an ever smaller niche or niche with sub-niches would mean the eventually a social hobby like role-playing would be effectively dead.

From a pure individual level, especially for a person with a reliable group, it doesn't really matter if good RPG books are produced as free fan efforts, low-sales print-on-demand or PDF books, or by big companies like WotC except, maybe, for the art.  But from the perspective to finding other people to play with if a person doesn't have a group or would like the option of role-playing with new people, a shrinking fan base and players becoming interested in games that only make a small sub-niche of the hobby isn't good.

My main group used largely homebrew systems for years, so I'm fully aware that I can keep role-playing even if every commercial publisher dried up and the hobby officially died as a commercial endeavor tomorrow.  But I also do buy commercial role-playing books and have role-played with other people and I wouldn't be happy to lose the options of buying high-quality commercial books at a reasonable price or finding other people to add to my group or another group to play with.

From what I understand, there were people who made due with what they could get in the toy train hobby when it was having a lot of trouble, so hobbies like that rarely ever fully die, but it's a lot easier when there are people out there supporting the hobby and a significant market for commercial producers to make stuff for.

Quote from: John MorrowI left that open because I'm also curious how you'd define it.

While I don't expect any hobby to be immune from changes over it's lifecycle, I do think that a trend line that points to becoming an ever smaller niche or niche with sub-niches would mean the eventually a social hobby like role-playing would be effectively dead.

Shrug.

You can still buy Mah Jongg sets.  You have to dig, but you can find them.

Model railroading has always been a niche hobby.  Right now with the Baby Boomers being empty nesters, it is a wealthy niche hobby.

In twenty five years, it will be another niche hobby like stamp collecting.  Still out there, but pretty small.  But it will never go away.

Neither will RPGs.  But 1982 is gone forever, and it ain't coming back.  I don't know how to sustain RPGs' current size, but the hobby will never go away completely.

Quote from: Old GeezerShrug.

You can still buy Mah Jongg sets.  You have to dig, but you can find them.

No "Digging" locally - we sell 3 different styles of Mah Jongg sets. Tho, most of the time we just have two styles in. We've sold them ever since we opened in 2003. The new version of our store will continue to sell them.

Oh - and our nearest friendly competitor game store, over in Mt. Healthy, carries it as well - they're just sold out right now because of the holidays.


- Ed C.

Quote from: Old GeezerYou can still buy Mah Jongg sets.  You have to dig, but you can find them.

I guess that means there isn't a large Asian community near you?

Quote from: Old GeezerBut 1982 is gone forever, and it ain't coming back.  I don't know how to sustain RPGs' current size, but the hobby will never go away completely.

Well, the hobby can certainly be left to fade away.  I'd prefer that didn't happen which will require more from RPG publishers than passively accepting it's fate.

Quote from: John MorrowI guess that means there isn't a large Asian community near you?

John, Geezer... Its not asians or asian-Americans who are buying the game.
Mah Jongg is popular with many different subcultures and ethnic groups.

- Ed C.

Quote from: John MorrowI guess that means there isn't a large Asian community near you?

Yep; Vietmaneese and Hmong, primarily, with a high Chinese, Korean and Japanese student population in the local universities.

Quote from: John MorrowI guess that means there isn't a large Asian community near you?

Might be.

But it's not the national craze like it was back in the 30s.

Sort of proves my point, actually.

And as for Big K -- a game store sells Mah Jongg.  Imagine that!  Bet you won't find it at Kmart.

Quote from: KoltarJohn, Geezer... Its not asians or asian-Americans who are buying the game.
Mah Jongg is popular with many different subcultures and ethnic groups.

Yes, but if there is a large local East Asian community, Mah Jongg is usually not that difficult to find.