Quote from: NYTFLYR;565156I swear, some people would rather see a company go belly up then change.

In this particular case, I'm afraid Chaosium might be more likely to go belly-up -- again -- if they change the system. If I was in charge, I'd invest on production values and aggressive marketing. I say this as someone who's just as attached to the old school layout and B&W illos as I am to the system: this book could use a facelift.

I mean, God damn it, Cthulhu is everywhere in pop culture nowadays. I don't think the system is what's keeping non-gamers from trying their hand at CoC; the rules are easy enough, task resolution a breeze, chargen isn't particularly involved, etc. I think a "flashier" book stands a decent chance of drawing more attention.

All speculation, of course. I wouldn't like to see any gaming company tank, let alone Chaosium. But they do have a track record of unfortunate business decisions and I'm afraid this might be one of them; after D&D 4e, I'm not sure this sort of change will succeed at drawing new players, or even at making old players spend more money.

Quote from: The Butcher;565231In this particular case, I'm afraid Chaosium might be more likely to go belly-up -- again -- if they change the system. If I was in charge, I'd invest on production values and aggressive marketing. I say this as someone who's just as attached to the old school layout and B&W illos as I am to the system: this book could use a facelift.

I mean, God damn it, Cthulhu is everywhere in pop culture nowadays. I don't think the system is what's keeping non-gamers from trying their hand at CoC; the rules are easy enough, task resolution a breeze, chargen isn't particularly involved, etc.

All speculaton, of course. I wouldn't like to see any gaming company tank (except Catalyst. Man, fuck those guys), let alone Chaosium. But they do have a track record of unfortunate business decisions and I'm afraid this might be one of them; after D&D 4e, I'm not sure this sort of change will succeed at drawing new players, or even at making old players spend more money.

I have to agree with butcher. I think most people on this site want to see Chaosium do well. Maybe they know something we don't but from my vantage point this looks like a bad idea. For me the strength pf the CoC brand has been its consistency over the years. Based on what little info I've seen so far it looks like they are trying to turn the game into something it is not. There are new mechanics out there, but I really have to ask whether stuff like luck or the proposed Push mechanic are a good fit for CoC (my initial reaction is they probably are not). Really you would be much better off keeping seven edition the same and maybe releasing an alternate version or a Savage Worlds edition. I just see this move as a big risk because the people who have been with CoC through 6 editions all seem pretty agitated by the proposed changes.

Quote from: Ladybird;565150I


I'm not keen on the luck mechanic, though. BRP already has a pretty good luck mechanic. It's called rolling the dice.

I have no issue with luck mechanics but they are setting dependant. Once you put a luck mechanic in the game, you are basically saying luck or karma is a thing in the setting. This can work for lots of games. But I don't think it is a good match for gritty settings. It certainly isn't something that I felt was missing from Cthulu.

Quote from: NYTFLYR;565156I swear, some people would rather see a company go belly up then change.

Unnecessary change is normally what leads to companies going belly up.

Quote from: Scott Dorward;564973I get the impression that you haven't quite got the right end of these rules from the summaries you've seen. I run games online every now and then. Would you be interested in a 7th ed game at some stage? It would be my pleasure.

I would be interested in running a playtest here in Boston if they are still in that phase of development or intending to launch a new round of playtests. We have lots of CoC fans here and I also have a new group of players who never heard of the game before.

CoC has already had stuff like that. What else is the Idea roll, but a fudge?

These changes are really not a big deal.

There's nothing to suggest it will fail flat on it's face other than the wishful thinking of one or two crybabies.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;565237Really you would be much better off keeping seven edition the same and maybe releasing an alternate version or a Savage Worlds edition. I just see this move as a big risk because the people who have been with CoC through 6 editions all seem pretty agitated by the proposed changes.

There are already ORE (Nemesis), Gumshoe (Trail of Cthulhu), Savage Worlds (Realms of Cthulhu) and True20 (Shadows of Cthulhu) versions out there, not to mention the OOP and generally very well-regarded WotC d20 Call of Cthulhu.

The point being, people who don't like classic CoC already have plenty of options to get their Lovecraftian horror fix. If Chaosium wants to reach out and expand their fanbase, I'm all for it, but they might also want to retain their solid old fanbase. Publishing an alternate game ("Call of Cthulhu Next"?) and keeping the old stuff in print, and/or dual-statting future stuff... all sound like safer bets.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;565245I would be interested in running a playtest here in Boston if they are still in that phase of development or intending to launch a new round of playtests.

That sounds great, but I have no authority to bring in new playtesters. I'd suggest contacting Chaosium directly, as they are probably looking for playtesters now.

Quote from: Scott Dorward;564973I get the impression that you haven't quite got the right end of these rules from the summaries you've seen. I run games online every now and then. Would you be interested in a 7th ed game at some stage? It would be my pleasure.

Wow, I somehow missed this.

If you're running it via post, I'm game! I want to see what the fuss is all about.

Quote from: Scott Dorward;564973I get the impression that you haven't quite got the right end of these rules from the summaries you've seen. I run games online every now and then. Would you be interested in a 7th ed game at some stage? It would be my pleasure.

I'd love to try it out.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;565246CoC has already had stuff like that. What else is the Idea roll, but a fudge?

For that matter, expressing the "core attributes" in the same scale as the "skills" is a mechanical concept in Pendragon, another descendent of the BRP system, and opens up the GM's options for task resolution.

(Mathematically, it's very similar to "attribute x 5" in BRP, but it's much faster to have the number right there on the sheet. The multiple success levels per skill sound like they'll make a cluttered character sheet, but we'll see.)

Pendragon also has the traits thing, but I'm not sure how well it would translate over.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;565246CoC has already had stuff like that. What else is the Idea roll, but a fudge?

These changes are really not a big deal.

There's nothing to suggest it will fail flat on it's face other than the wishful thinking of one or two crybabies.

I am certainly not wishing for it to fall flat on its face. I understand that Chaosium needs to make money and a revision like this is certainly one way to try to grow the base. Like Butcher I just question the wisdom of this move (especially since there alternatives available for people who want the kind of system they appear to be shooting for) and its ability to achieve what they want. Maybe things are bit different in the UK. Here I just don't see CoC fans being on board for this, and I am not sure they will lure the trail of cthulu or realms of cthulu folk away. Granted we only have a glimpse of the rules and there seems to be some question over what the Push mechanic actually does. But what I am seeing appears like an akward attempt to stay relevant by emulating newer systems. I could be wrong, and I certainly wont fault them if they decide this is the best way to go since it is their business.

As a player these changes just don't strike me as adding anything to my experience of the game. Luck seems quite out of place to me and Push seems like an akward fit. I could be wrong though. I imagine they are easy enough to ignore either way.

Quote from: The Butcher;565256If you're running it via post, I'm game! I want to see what the fuss is all about.

Quote from: Sigmund;565260I'd love to try it out.

My plan was to use something like a Google+ hangout with Tabletop Forge, or maybe Skype, and run a one-shot as a single session. Would that suit you?

I could take 4-6 players. I prefer smaller groups, as it gives everyone a bit more spotlight time.

I haven't seen the point in buying a new edition since 4th. This has at least gotten me a slight bit interested.

I agree with GW, and that leaves me feeling slightly soiled.
I predicted that this edition would have some major changes.
If you bitched at me about it, please punch yourself in the cock. Helpful tip: get somebody else to hold the up the flap of protective fat, or balance it on a shelf or something while doing so.
I look forward to scrolling past many, many filibusters of grognardly entitlement in the months to come. Hopefully these will written, as they often are, by the same people who like to bitch about the entitled youth of today.