Plans for PDF ship packs on e23.

[JimDauphinais]

If you collect money up front, you have to keep account of it, and be able to refund it if nothing happens. That is actually much more expensive than you think. If no money is collected, then it is just a bunch of promises which, quite frankly, will have a very low hit rate.

Yes, your sales software has to be able to support it by taking credit card orders in advance without charging (and this may be a cost that ADB can't afford to incur right now). MMP does not charge the cards until the games ship. GMT Games does not charge until the games are printing (typically a month before the game ships). Neither has found the hit rate to be very low. This is why I suggested ADB approach them in regard to their experience. If ADB has approached them in the past, great. If not, it may be worth another look.

[Jean]

Hi guys,

A question ... I've been trying to learn more about my marketing duties and I wanted to float an idea here.

SVC is talking about doing a 12-pack of cards a week. That'd be a while before he got back to each empire.

What would happen if he did two 6-packs a week (at $5 for each pack), each of a different empire? What if I could sweet-talk him into including the counter images when the ships were uploaded (so you didn't have to depend on him finding free time to do them)? That would be less than you might spend on a fast-food meal and you'd cycle around to your favorite empire(s) faster. And you would have counters immediately.

Would you guys like that better than the 12-pack idea?

Jean (who is wearing her Director of Marketing hat today)

[djdood]

It would help focus the product as-sold to specific needs/wants. I don't know how SVC would feel about how some of the resulting smaller packs (with less desirable ships/empires) not selling as well. Since it's pdf (and I'm assuming the up-front costs are minimal) then maybe that's a non-issue.

I know I'd be even more prone to spring for it if it's more-tailored, like that. Especially if the counter graphics are in the mix. Not everyone will use them, but they're a nice extra and there are folks like me who absolutely will make our own counters. I love the laminated color cards and the chipboard counters, but I've certainly enjoyed at least having the option to make my own in color for Communique ships, etc. and have long wished for a similar option for ships from Captains Log.

[Bolo_MK_XL]

Upfront cost for this type item will always be the time put in to produce it --
Then the time to post it for sale ---

[djdood]

Understood. I was trying to note that breaking the packs up into smaller units means that some of them are bound to be poorer sellers (if it's anything like minis, Feds and Klingons will outsell all the others) and that may (or may not) be an issue.

[Shinanygnz]

Two six packs would be better I think.
Depends a bit on what's going to be in them, e.g. a run of NCA, CW, DW variants for each empire would mean everyone got theirs quicker, rather than the Feds get all theirs, then the Klingons, etc.
If it's a bunch of random ships, then either way is fine by me.

Personally, I'm not bothered by the presence or absence of counter stickers as I'm unlikely to print/stick them.

Stephen

[Steve Cole]

A pre-order system could be done (the software allows for it, with some changes we haven't had to use) but is unlikely to produce results. The highest mail order sales figure for any product in the history of the company is less than half of the amount of money we'd have to have, so you can do it, but it won't work.

[Steve Cole]

Jean has an idea that's worth some thought. The limit of one pack of 12 per week is the limit on how many cards can be done and checked (checking is about three times as much work as doing). That would mean, assuming that we do them in order, that it would be 11 weeks before we did a pack for Lyrans and 13 weeks before the ISC got a pack. Doing two packs of six would mean half as many weeks before YOUR empire got SOME ships, and half as many weeks before you got SOME MORE ships. Worth a thought. I wonder if it doesn't also improve sales because of the impulse value of a $5 item. I mean, if I did 120 ships in one pack for $100 it would be the same theoretical value but far fewer sales as it's a big chunk of change and would mean buying a lot of ships you may not want. I'd kind of mix things up, doing a regular pack for the Feds, a BoM pack for the Klingons, then an Early Years pack, then a... but we'd see how things go and respond to the market. If the BoM pack outsold the regular pack, we'd do more of those, but eventually, everybody would get something. My mind is rambling with thoughts of how this might work. Some have wanted the existing laminated cards as PDFs and we can do those easy without any real work so those wouldn't count against the one per week limit. As for varying rates of sales, we've had that in SFB for decades, lots more sales of Romulan stuff instead of, say, Hydran stuff, but everybody needs some love.

[JimDauphinais]

I tend to agree that the six pack for $5 idea would increase the number of impulse purchases and allow you to cycle through empires more quickly.

I think having the counters in those PDFs would help as well. For the folks who like the big counters, that is likely the only way they will get counters any time soon and the PDF counters will mount very well on the 1"x1"x1/8" wooden cutouts that you can buy at craft stores. For the folks who like the small counters (I am in this camp), it is a bit less of an issue because the extra space on the 1/2" part of the Attack module countersheets is allowing the smaller counters to be provided for ships that need counters.

[ericphillips]

I like the $5 idea as well. One reason is marketing. There seems to be a bit of resistance to the $10 for 12 packs, some think i is too expensive because it is the same price as a physical booster (even with double the cards). $5 for six cards will like a better deal, even if it is the same deal.

[pinecone]

I like the 5$ pack idea better too.

[Savedfromwhat]

Jean, the $5 dollar packs seem like a good idea to me too. I will be honest when the price was announced I was pretty adamanet that I would not be buying them (I figured I had already paid 20 dollars foe briefing 2 and now I am going to pay 5 times that for the color versions of ships I already own...?) But 5 bucks at a time seems way more doable to me and I will probably end up buying them all anyway...sigh.

SVC your marketing director is having an adverse effect on my wallet.

[Nerroth]

I heard Mike West talking a bit more about the idea for an Early Years intro module on the podcast. (I think the suggestion was to offer a range of sample early heavy cruisers, at least initially.)

Would the intent be for such a pack to also include the Paravians and Carnivons, alongside the pre-existing FC empires?

And would it have the ISC YCA, for that matter?


Also, would the Romulan ship be the Warbird, or might the Kingbird be a better (or rather, less worse) option for the RSE to get?

[mjwest]

The idea of an Early Years intro module is to use what we already have most efficiently. Right now, we have the rules and nine ships (four in CL, four in CLS, one in Comm). That would mean we need three more ships to make the magic twelve. Since we already have the rules, I would very much like to see the Paravian, Carnivon, and ISC. However, it is Steve's choice. (Though, I asked for the Paravian and ISC to be the YCL, rather than the YCA, to better match the Gorn.)

Anyway, this is all just "idea" stuff anyway. It still has to get scheduled and done, and that is always a limited resource.

[Nerroth]

If the current Gorn ship (I forget which one it is) can't handle Paravian or ISC YCAs, I'd sooner ask for a better one to be considered, as opposed to a pair of less powerful units added for the birdies and the Concordium.

You could say that would even further disadvantage the Romulans; but then, they'd likely need to bring twice as many ships to the party anyway.