PG product glut

[Shad]

glut (glt)
v. glut·ted, glut·ting, gluts
v.tr.
1. To fill beyond capacity, especially with food; satiate.
2. To flood (a market) with an excess of goods so that supply exceeds demand.

Am I the only person that has a bad feeling about releasing so much high-dollar PG product in so short a time?

I think a boxed game (let's say 4 maps) every six months is a reasonable volume. It allows for each title to be marketed, received, discussed, and enjoyed in turn.

I think this is too much stuff at once, and both sales and individual title visibility will suffer as a result.

[vince hughes]

But it is print on demand, so it shouldn't screw AP financially (I would think ??)

[larry marak]

We may also be seeing the release of a number of pent up products that have been waiting for years for release. Wait, that's the pre-ordered products. Actually its both. New titles generate new money that allows more of the older delayed games to see the light of day. I do think numbers are going to be slim in sales. Then again, I suspect Saipan has only sold a couple hundred copies, as it was boxed in the black boxes reserved for fresh orders of KSF that never materialized. It is very hard to grow the customer base, and that base eroded during the 3 years of decline. Vince is right that books with countersheets and or maps would be more economically viable for slow growth, but then you need submissions of the right size. Hopefully the company won't stumble on prodution delays. The next 4 boxed game set of releases is already known to gold clubbers. I don't think even the most dedicated gamer can afford to continue purchasing at this clip.

[campsawyer]

I think a boxed game (let's say 4 maps) every six months is a reasonable volume. It allows for each title to be marketed, received, discussed, and enjoyed in turn.

I believe this is a glut of sales, but given production and delivery capability, APL slows down the process so you only get a new game every six months. Case in point is SOI, it has only trickled out so far and still has counter issues that leaves many without the game, but there has been hype for this for the past six months. I have ordered Liberation, but I expect it will not be delivered before the new year, probably well into it given the production schedule of other games that have been slated to get done. That many be sooner if it gets more orders, but I believe the Mike B. is rethinking production and delivery each day he walks in the door of the office. So, I believe that through this odd business practices your six month window will come true.

[Hugmenot]

From my perspective, I now have mixed emotions about having purchased Sword of Israel and I have not even received a shipping notice yet. Maybe I should have saved that money for another PG product (I will definitely get Kursk: Burning Tigers and Conquest of Ethiopia) but I will think long and hard before I decide whether to shell out for the other 2 products. There is always the possibility that 2 new IA games will be printed soon after and if it was not for Matt and PG-HQ, that might have been my main series.

I do agree with you in part Shad; the products will not be well marketed and will compete against each other for consumer dollars. But it is a print on demand model so that should work out for AVP, as long as they do not maintain that pace. I suspect even the most ardent collector will have trouble to purchase everything f there is a new game published every two months.

There may be a strategy behind all these new box games in a short time, I suspect Mike will want to generate interest and build a marketing around the series, not individual games. Having 5 or 6 games covering several theaters and periods will help because the ad campaign is more likely to be relevant to a larger audience.

All speculations on my part, all before coffee.

[plloyd1010]

To Drew's question: Yes.

PG translated to WW1 with peculiar results. I expect projecting forward may be worse. With the PG world the way it is, perhaps Dr. Mike should be thinking of consolidating expansion modules, especially since reissue has also become a topic. Most of the big ticket, non-PG games seem to have a rather short life. I wonder if PG is starting down that road.

If print on demand is as fantastic as its billing, why does Valhalla not rise from the depths? I'd buy Red Parachutes and couple others.

[larry marak]

The Romanian series is a vert back burner project, with its own counter set and new and revised scenerios, It should be quite some time before its released. And I don't expect to see multiple boxed game projects to continue to stack up. This is more a matter of already accepted designs graduating to production.

[waynebaumber]

glut (glt)
v. glut·ted, glut·ting, gluts
v.tr.
1. To fill beyond capacity, especially with food; satiate.
2. To flood (a market) with an excess of goods so that supply exceeds demand.

Am I the only person that has a bad feeling about releasing so much high-dollar PG product in so short a time?

I think a boxed game (let's say 4 maps) every six months is a reasonable volume. It allows for each title to be marketed, received, discussed, and enjoyed in turn.

I think this is too much stuff at once, and both sales and individual title visibility will suffer as a result.

Hmm you may be right and a lot of products pushed out at once can be a sign of trouble in some companies.

[JayTownsend]

Print by demand will help to sell the right amount without over sending. 4 new games offered but it might take 4-5 months to get them all printed and shipped. The last new PG game was Saipan, last year! 1967 is not a PG game. So we really haven't seen too many PG boxed game released. 5 since 2009. 4 games coming out in a short period is a good thing to get revenue flowing again for AP. Buy what you want or don't! I am down for all four, as it seem like such a long time since the last PG game came out and who knows if this will every happen again, with so many products? Don't cry later if you missed out.

[larry marak]

I bit the bullet too...but its the next four games that scare me...3 of which are must haves, and one is a expanded redesign.