Out of Apple’s Playbook

[yell0w_lantern]

I never thought Apple was going to survive the Pentium and always chuckled as I passed by the Macintosh lab at college. But that is kind of how they survived for a while - schools.

Fast-forward to today.

My daughter join the dungeons and dragons club at her high school this year. However, she and her friends ended up dropping out because there were a couple of knuckleheads. They all still wanted to play so my daughter has volunteered me to run a campaign. Of course, I’ve just dusted off my palladium fantasy role-playing game and will use that.

But this did get me thinking. I know of several schools that have dungeons and dragons clubs In my area and I’m sure there are many across the country. And I’ve heard a lot of rumblings against the 800 pound gorilla table top roll playing games. Palladium could certainly take advantage of that growing discontent and reach out to these clubs - Get a foot in the door with some discounted core books and build up a base like Apple did.

[Grazzik]

TLDR - Apple pivoted from a business with product to an industry disruptor based on making the consumer feel cool. To do the same, PF would need to be transformed into something small, simple and exclusive that meets a deep seated emotionality need.
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Great case study. Apple also rebranded quickly when new tech came available, bypassed school Mac labs (which were slowly being phased out 25 yrs ago for PC labs) and went direct to students and other young consumers with discretionary spending with the latest cool development (iMac, iPod, then iPhone). It wasn't about the product, it was all about the customer and their peer validation. So, what validation do players get from their peers by a) playing D&D or b) opting for an alternative like PF? Mainstream acceptance vs part of a counter culture minority.

Yes, the labs kept brand awareness in play when Apple had no game, and they still have less than 10% of the market today, but Apple pivoted radically and fast to devices that were small, simple, and exclusive in form and function that made Apple the definition of Cool.

PF could chart a similar course, but not as it is today.

Again, think small - books are big and heavy. Digital on demand is the future, AI is better. Reading - who has time to read? Voice driven interaction. Minimal rules. People want people... as an audience, so (like social media) roleplay may become truly performative, but may lose the social aspect.

Think simple - palladium mechanics can be a tad crunchy. Also attention spans are shrinking as players face competing demands on limited time. Can PF be done on a casual basis? Think what TikTok is to YouTube. We all know that scheduling is a pain... that is why TV lost out to on demand content streaming. Drop-in casual roleplaying?

Think exclusive - PF's been around a long time and, in fairness, could be argued to be a OSR clone. How can PF be evolved into something new... exclusive for the youth of today (who have had a pandemic fuelled by nostalgia marketing). Counter culture is a good start, but can fizzle into a fad. Apple is not a fad, it is a sustained set of values that define for the consumer what cool is. PF would have to shake off the biases of established roleplayers and understand the deep emotional needs of the younger set. This one is tough... Cater to the selfish need for attention? To belong to a group? To meaningfully contribute? To avoid responsibilities by fantastical escapism? Alignment check!

Can palladium do what it takes to disrupt an industry? ...

[hellbender]

My two cents from observing recent happenings and being in the OSR since before it was called that: I campaign that Palladium games are OSR, not clones; just because there are not a half a dozen editions, there is staying power over decades. Next, to move forward one has to look at the current D&D disruptor: ShadowDark, a short, concise game based on many smaller games and 5e (it really is a Frankenstein deal) that makes millions in kickstarters due to marketing. It is a small game, it is fun. Palladium can do this, not new edition, per se, yet a Palladium Fantasy Lite, keeping it in house as a sample of a more expanded game. And third, people need to promote and defend Palladium games more. What have I seen just this last week? 'Palladium games are dead, don't bother' on Reddit and 'Nothing can ever replace D&D' on the RPGPundit's forum. These are challenges put out there, not statements of truth. A Palladium Fantasy Lite type of game comes screaming out of nowhere and things can be shaken up.