The original thread title; referred to 5E, and the state of the industry.

We can't resurrect the original TSR, no matter how much we would LOVE to.  I wasn't introduced to the hobby, until 1995 or so; so I almost completely missed the TSR days.  When I was introduced; it didn't make much sense, because there were too many products that included D&D or AD&D in the titles. 

What was the game, and what was optional fluff?  Why wasn't everything part of the same game?  You could very easily buy stuff that you didn't even need; for the game that you were either playing in, or else wanted to run.  It had a learning curve, that nobody could explain in 30 minutes; let alone 15 minutes.  That kept a lot of people from engaging with D&D.

Quote from: Shasarak on September 17, 2021, 08:41:20 PM

Quote from: Mithgarthr on September 17, 2021, 08:26:59 PM

Quote from: Shasarak on September 17, 2021, 08:23:42 PM

Quote from: Yeti Spaghetti on September 17, 2021, 08:13:20 PM
Do biographies of Gygax offer any clue as to what happened with his money?

I suspect just normal RPG expenses like Hookers and Blow.

Whew... That's sure reassuring to hear those are normal expenses.

Boy howdy.

I guess I forgot the small print (while trying to sell your movie in  Hollywood)

  Yes, because while trying to sell a movie, you have to bring enough hookers and blow for everyone.

Quote from: oggsmash on September 17, 2021, 10:17:46 PM

Quote from: Shasarak on September 17, 2021, 08:41:20 PM

Quote from: Mithgarthr on September 17, 2021, 08:26:59 PM

Quote from: Shasarak on September 17, 2021, 08:23:42 PM

Quote from: Yeti Spaghetti on September 17, 2021, 08:13:20 PM
Do biographies of Gygax offer any clue as to what happened with his money?

I suspect just normal RPG expenses like Hookers and Blow.

Whew... That's sure reassuring to hear those are normal expenses.

Boy howdy.

I guess I forgot the small print (while trying to sell your movie in  Hollywood)

  Yes, because while trying to sell a movie, you have to bring enough hookers and blow for everyone.

See, I feel like this is something they should have taught in business school.

Oh well. Better to learn late, than never.

Quote from: Jam The MF on September 17, 2021, 10:13:29 PM
The original thread title; referred to 5E, and the state of the industry.

We can't resurrect the original TSR, no matter how much we would LOVE to.  I wasn't introduced to the hobby, until 1995 or so; so I almost completely missed the TSR days.  When I was introduced; it didn't make much sense, because there were too many products that included D&D or AD&D in the titles. 

What was the game, and what was optional fluff?  Why wasn't everything part of the same game?  You could very easily buy stuff that you didn't even need; for the game that you were either playing in, or else wanted to run.  It had a learning curve, that nobody could explain in 30 minutes; let alone 15 minutes.  That kept a lot of people from engaging with D&D.

Yeah I apologize for putting this sub-topic under the 5e main topic. I didn't think it deserved it's own thread but I was probably wrong and I think it did. Ah well.

Quote from: Mistwell on September 16, 2021, 01:52:49 PM
Not sure this is the best thread for this, but it was the best I could find in paging through pages of topics. And I didn't think it deserved it's own thread, but was relevant to people's interests here.

This is from Jon Peterson, who said, "A look under the hood at the model of TSR's financials that underpins my new book "Game Wizards"":



And here is a link to his full article on this image.

So from '82 to '83 revenue went up $6M and expenses went up $8M.  Also the year they entered publishing, which suggests a connection.  An amateur might expense the cost of printing the books, which would explain it as a paper loss.  If not that, then they probably printed significantly more books than they could sell at the time.

In '83, per wikipedia,  the company was split into 4 separate entities, so subsequent figures are not really about the same entity.

I actually have the background to figure this out if the books are available, but without them (and with TSR being a private entity there's nil probability I'll ever see them) it's impossible to be sure.

Quote from: Mishihari on September 18, 2021, 08:22:36 AM
So from '82 to '83 profits went up $6M and expenses went up $8M.  Also the year they entered publishing, which suggests a connection.  An amateur might expense the cost of printing the books, which would explain it as a paper loss.  If not that, then they probably printed significantly more books than they could sell at the time.

*Revenue* went up $6M, expenses up $8M.

Quote from: Shasarak on September 17, 2021, 08:23:42 PM

Quote from: Yeti Spaghetti on September 17, 2021, 08:13:20 PM
Do biographies of Gygax offer any clue as to what happened with his money?

I suspect just normal RPG expenses like Hookers and Blow.

It was the 80's whattya gonna do?

Quote from: Naburimannu on September 18, 2021, 09:50:39 AM

Quote from: Mishihari on September 18, 2021, 08:22:36 AM
So from '82 to '83 profits went up $6M and expenses went up $8M.  Also the year they entered publishing, which suggests a connection.  An amateur might expense the cost of printing the books, which would explain it as a paper loss.  If not that, then they probably printed significantly more books than they could sell at the time.

*Revenue* went up $6M, expenses up $8M.

Oops, darn it.  Fixed.  Karma for being disparaging of amateurs.  :-(