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Post by Yasoda Dei Conti on Nov 21, 2017 4:33:11 GMT -5
Todd's open letter was/is great, but thought I'd try to see if we can hit them with the numbers. How many of us are going to stay with CnC if they keep this current trajectory?
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Post by squirrel on Nov 21, 2017 6:13:41 GMT -5
I might stick around for V5 chapter 1, but I'll stop if that's more of the same
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Post by wortelboer on Nov 21, 2017 6:28:46 GMT -5
I might stick around for V5 chapter 1, but I'll stop if that's more of the same Same here. |
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Post by squirrel on Nov 21, 2017 7:03:54 GMT -5
My assumption is that whatever happened earlier this year that caused the massive delay to Gods of madness has also affected the other volumes - at least by reducing the time they have to error check the puzzles before shipping. (but still, the wordsearch is inexcusably broken) If v5 doesn't go back to something more complex at least, then I'm done.
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Post by Todd on Nov 21, 2017 7:34:38 GMT -5
My boat as well is to let them finish off Volume 4, and depending on its resolution, see if things are different with Volume 5 number 1.
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Post by flightoffancy on Nov 21, 2017 7:58:10 GMT -5
My plan was to at least to see Vol 5, chapter 1. I'm an optimist.
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Post by thegingerbarrister on Nov 21, 2017 13:07:12 GMT -5
No choice for waiting until after Vol. 5, Chapter 1. Which would be my preferred vote. 'Course, I need to finish Vol. 4 first...
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Post by lucasscooter on Nov 21, 2017 14:33:31 GMT -5
I'm with all of the others above me. I will be sticking around to at least see what they do with V5.  If it's nothing good, then I will be cancelling. Provided they even make a V5, of course. |
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Post by neutronstar on Nov 21, 2017 18:47:04 GMT -5
I cancelled after Brain Butchers. Waiting to see if things change, and really enjoying content from a couple of other companies.
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Post by badwolf on Nov 22, 2017 2:58:04 GMT -5
To give them a chance to change direction: V5 Chapter 1.
But if they keep it up, I'm out.
There is so much other great stuff and my budget needs do make priorities.
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Post by Beckett on Nov 24, 2017 6:09:28 GMT -5
I'll have a look at that Volume 5 as well. If I will be allowed to subscribe to it at all, that is.
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Post by ww12345 on Nov 25, 2017 3:19:12 GMT -5
Looking at the first vol 5 installment, and if it’s not better, dropping out.
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Post by badwolf on Nov 25, 2017 9:05:54 GMT -5
So it seems, a lot of us will be here til 5.1 and then we will have this discussion again ;-)
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Post by verdantfruu on Dec 14, 2017 7:40:24 GMT -5
"Hit them with the numbers"? And the poll gets 34 votes?
Let's actually talk about numbers, and what they must mean to the MPC. How many people does it take to create Curios and Conundrums? My guess is that it's written by between 2-10 people, although it's hard to tell. Are those people full time? Let's say some are, and some are freelancers. But take the lowest possible estimate: that 2 people create the paper (1 writer and 1 art/layout person), full time. And let's go low-end again and suppose they make modest salaries at $40k/year. So $80k in labour every year, and we won't even consider what it takes to make the prestige artifact or the other elements of the newspaper.
34 people paying 30 dollars 4 times a year is just over 4000 dollars. And it costs a MINIMUM of $80k a year just to staff the paper, let alone make a profit. So we 34 survey respondents represent 5% of the barest minimum, most ridiculous calculation of the company's business model that I can imagine. In order to break even on $80k (and it's almost definitely WAY more than an $80k cost), the company needs 666 (heh) subscribers. Again, ridiculously modest estimates here.
If you were the MPC, how much heed would you pay to a very insistent, but dramatically small percentage of your subscribership? Hit them with numbers, sure... but 34 people aren't the numbers to hit them with.
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Post by Todd on Dec 14, 2017 9:28:23 GMT -5
"Hit them with the numbers"? And the poll gets 34 votes? Let's actually talk about numbers, and what they must mean to the MPC. How many people does it take to create Curios and Conundrums? My guess is that it's written by between 2-10 people, although it's hard to tell. Are those people full time? Let's say some are, and some are freelancers. But take the lowest possible estimate: that 2 people create the paper (1 writer and 1 art/layout person), full time. And let's go low-end again and suppose they make modest salaries at $40k/year. So $80k in labour every year, and we won't even consider what it takes to make the prestige artifact or the other elements of the newspaper. 34 people paying 30 dollars 4 times a year is just over 4000 dollars. And it costs a MINIMUM of $80k a year just to staff the paper, let alone make a profit. So we 34 survey respondents represent 5% of the barest minimum, most ridiculous calculation of the company's business model that I can imagine. In order to break even on $80k (and it's almost definitely WAY more than an $80k cost), the company needs 666 (heh) subscribers. Again, ridiculously modest estimates here. If you were the MPC, how much heed would you pay to a very insistent, but dramatically small percentage of your subscribership? Hit them with numbers, sure... but 34 people aren't the numbers to hit them with. While your model would be accurate if Curios & Conundrums was the only thing that MPC was producing, the same staff that is making C&C is most likely also designing the Experiences, so they are a fixed cost. Not acknowledging that unnecessarily inflates the cost of design and content. We're getting a 12 page tabloid with C&C. Not including the puzzle design, realistically that's 60-80 hours of content, design, and layout per issue, or a high estimate of 320 labor hours per year. That's only about 6.5% of a single full time position, or at your 40K/year estimate, about $3,500 per year including benefits. The trick is to maximize profitability in order to surpass your overhead. That's where the production costs and the subscription price come into play. If what MPC is looking at is a loss of revenue of about $4,000 a year, they are most likely seeing that they have sufficient fixed overhead to retain this customer base. Add to that some basic marketing theory, like the cost to acquire one new customer is 6 to 7 times the cost to retain an existing customer, and that increasing your customer retention rate by 5% increases profitability by as much as 80%, and an existing customer is 75% more likely to by a new product than a new customer, then I feel it would be foolhardy to not feel the need to address this dissatisfaction amongst what was once their core audience for Curios & Conundrums. And I have faith that they have noticed and have something up their sleeves for 2018. |
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Mar 1, 2020 11:20:08 GMT -5
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