A Steam service for Tabletop games?

Dominicius · Post by **Dominicius** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:13 am

So it seems that with the trainwreck that 5e is shaping up to be, making your own fantasy heartbreaker is becoming all the rage nowadays.

However, since most of us do not actually have the money to do global distribution (or any kind of distribution really) so it seems that getting stuff out digitally would be the only viable alternative. The question is, if I were to put down money to make something like Steam for TTRPGs, would you be interested in using it?

The functionality would include:

* Buying cheap, digital copies of game systems.
* Buying cheap, digital copies of modules and other RPG related stuff.
* Finding players in your local area based on the systems you play.
* Support for play by post or chat based RP.
* Easy access to your library from your iphone or or other computers.
* Easy way for a small designer to get noticed.

The problem would be to get some of the big names on board like Piazo or WotC and figuring out the legal issues. Still, do you think that such a project would find demand?

Korwin · Post by **Korwin** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:47 am

Nothing really for me.
I want dead trees in my hand. (For Rulebooks, Fiction I prefer on my Kindle)

But if you combined it with PrintOnDemand and not too pricey in Europe it would be another thing...

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:09 pm

As of right now, about 90% of my collection is already in cyber form, because whenever I buy anything (or decide I want something out of print), I immediately track down a pirated .pdf which I can make backups of. And then I get careless with my physical copies 'cause they aren't worth so much, and so tend to get lost or ruined much faster. I can't actually say I'd likely use this service because I'm unlikely to buy any TTRPG for the foreseeable future (money is tight and I can't justify even $10 purchases right now), but if I had the money to be buying TTRPGs in the first place, I would definitely prefer to get them via any sort of Steam-like service so long as my collection will be safe in the likely event that the service goes down after a few years.

Fuchs · Post by **Fuchs** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:24 pm

Between Drive-through RPG and Play by post sites I am not sure this would work well, not without the big players focusing their business there.

Saxony · Post by **Saxony** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:56 pm

I am not seeing you offering a better deal than Steam does to existing game developers. You are simply beat.

Now, if you could somehow do everything you say you want to do (beating steam in the eyes of game developers), I am still not going to buy your product.

* Buying cheap, digital copies of game systems.
- I have enough system materials and have no intention to buy anything.

* Buying cheap, digital copies of modules and other RPG related stuff.
-Again, no intention to buy anything.

* Finding players in your local area based on the systems you play.
-No need.

* Support for play by post or chat based RP.
-I don't play by post.

* Easy access to your library from your iphone or or other computers.
-No need.

* Easy way for a small designer to get noticed.
-Doubt it. The RPG community works by word of mouth. Unless your thing becomes very popular this won't happen. Popularity is not a design feature.

I can see you working for points 3, 4, and 5. Make an app, see where it goes.

Dominicius · Post by **Dominicius** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:56 am

I would not be competing with Steam. Steam sells computer games, while this is meant to sell tabletop related pdfs. Besides, Drive Through RPG lacks the social/community building aspect that Steam has.

Still, this is precisely why I started this thread to see if such an idea is valid enough to stand on its own. Anyway, this is a busy week for me so I won't be able to do anything even if I wanted to.

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:34 am

I don't think throwing together a TTRPG equivalent for Steam would be a single week's worth of effort anyway. It sounds like a pretty major undertaking to me.

Saxony · Post by **Saxony** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:59 am

Steam can sell whatever they want. That is your major problem.

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:27 am

And yet they don't sell movies. Do you really think if they decide to expand into a new market, TTRPGs is going to be the lucrative industry they decide to break into?

Saxony · Post by **Saxony** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:58 am

They sell shit games all the time. They advertise shit games on their front page all the time.

I honestly don't think it's a stretch.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:55 am

It's called thepiratebay

Dominicius · Post by **Dominicius** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:56 am

OgreBattle wrote:It's called thepiratebay

Oh snap!

But anyway, I was thinking I would do away with selling the actual rules and instead focus on selling the pdfs. Since not having a srd for your system means financial suicide the thing to monetize would be the art, fluff and, of course, the prints.

A srd would include the bare rules and you could also browse a few pages from the pdf (up to the author which ones). Just from a mental standpoint it gives people like they are supporting the design team while still getting something for their money while the srd generates traction.

hogarth · Post by **hogarth** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:42 pm

Dominicius wrote:The question is, if I were to put down money to make something like Steam for TTRPGs, would you be interested in using it?

Not really. There just aren't enough interesting new TTRPGs coming out each year to make it worthwhile.

Krusk · Post by **Krusk** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:35 pm

I can see it doing OK if you focused on adventures instead of rules systems. Include rules, but I think the majority of why steam does well is its micro transactions and super cheap games.

Id consider buying stuff there if it were something like 5$ per core rule system, 2-3 for splatbooks and 1 for an adventure. It would also have to be delivered in a format as convenient as a PDF.

Dominicius · Post by **Dominicius** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:05 am

There is one more reason why I am considering this project: the success of Steam and it's community building aspect in how it has unified gamers. You can have people who played all sorts of games, all getting in touch via their Steam accounts.

Comparatively, our hobby has become incredibly fractured. Maybe it would be possible to reverse this momentum.

Stubbazubba · Post by **Stubbazubba** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:36 pm

I'm all for mixing the pot. And yes, if the price point for a pdf adventure was something like $.99 to maybe $1.99, I'd buy some, if they had good reviews. There you go, get a review culture going for small publishers, in a place that's better than drivethru or whatever, it might help. Won't be as big as Steam, but it might help.

Tycho · Post by **Tycho** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:53 pm

http://www.brettspielwelt.de

The Gaming Den

A Steam service for Tabletop games?

A Steam service for Tabletop games?

Re: A Steam service for Tabletop games?