I'm really looking forward to the Star Wars Saga game coming out, but, even so (as with many games), I'm not too thrilled about the releases after the core rulebook.  There must be business decisions I don't understand, but I don't understand why game companies never seem to want to follow what I think is a common sense route.

For example, with Saga, the most common sense first product to me would be a GM pack (a screen, good introductory adventure, and tips on running the game for newbies...but not too insulting to veteran gamers.  A 1" grid scale map to use with miniatures (because we know they want you to buy them!)).

Following that would be sourcebooks for each movie, detailing all the stuff we see in that particular flick (want the stats for Slave-1?  Pick up your ESB sourcebook, want the stats for General Grevious?  Pick up your RotS sourcebbok.).  Other than the core rules (which are all we need to make our own adventures), aren't' the things we saw in the movies the second most important thing?

Adventures adventures adventures!  I always hear the argument that adventures don't make a company much cash...who cares?  As long as they aren't loosing money, I can't think of anything that keeps the excitement level as high as adventures.  They inspire those who write their own adventures, and are awful handy for those who don't...or don't have time.  Downloads will never fill the gap, because those adventures seem disposable.  There's a reason why Star Frontiers adventures still sell for $10 on eBay, even though you can download them for free online.

WEG really did a good job with the SW RPG (at least in the beginning, and from a customer's point of view).  I don't see why WotC just doesn't follow the same plan of attack.  The argument that it has already been done doesn't hold water with me, since #1 D6 stuff has been out of circulation for, what, a decade...and not everyone wants to hunt eBay for what they want.  #2 converting sucks, especially if the two systems are vastly different.  #3 Hell, there is a completely new generation of gamers playing the CMG and RPG that probably don't even KNOW about the old WEG books...and if they did, wouldn't care.  They want new stuff for THEIR game and available on shelves at their FLGS.

Well, that's my rant.  Do you have a line that really pisses you off, despite your love for the game?  How about a company that does it just the way you like?

Re SW: I think that Wizards is assuming their audience is also minis players who have a grid and such.  IIRC the Rebellion starter has a grip that is just blank grey on one side.  That said, a GM Pack that integrated both the RPG and minis seems like it would be a really smart move.

I'm not sure WOTC intends to support the Star Wars RPG much.  They seem pretty focused on the minis and D&D books, and they already let the Revised product line die away.

Re other games:
d20 Future.  Why couldn't they resurrect Alternity's StarDrive in all its glory?  Incorporate material from the Tangents book and a few other supplements into a colossal setting book.  I would have bought this in a heart beat and I already own all those books...

Small Press: Why flee the supplement model?  I have a lot of one off games I'd love to have a oWoD style "Player's Guide" to just loaded with little mechanics, adversaries, hooks, and other such material.

Mutants & Masterminds does it just the way I like.  Every time I hear about a new release I say "Awesome, that'll rock!"  And it does.

Quote from: C.W.Richesond20 Future.  Why couldn't they resurrect Alternity's StarDrive in all its glory?  Incorporate material from the Tangents book and a few other supplements into a colossal setting book.  I would have bought this in a heart beat and I already own all those books...

I'd say the same about Star Frontiers (of course I rather see it as a stand alone game, but, beggers can't be choosers).  I'm guessing it still has something to do with the Star Wars liscense?

Eden Studios does things just about perfect for my tastes.  The only peccadillo I have with them is their glacial release schedule.  But considering how much they cater to me in every other conceivable way, I can put up with it.  

And yeah, adventures don't sell.  That's really what an organ like Star Wars Gamer magazine should be for.  Unfortunately, that doesn't exist anymore.  

Another company that bugs me in their product release (not anything else, as they are really a great bunch of guys) is Savage Worlds.  They created this great generic core system, and then followed up with a bunch of extreme niche supplemental books.  I'll never understand the choice to make the genre books (toolkits) only as (overpriced) PDFs.  IMHO those toolkits as deadtree books would have brought Savage Worlds into "mainstream" gaming as much as any other second tier game system.  There was always time later for those plot point books.  Savage World seems to be content with confining themselves to the niche audience.  It's a shame, because guys like me who like the system just get tired of trying to convince people to give it a shot.

Companies pretty much never do what I want (kill D&D, nothing else makes me happy), that's why I'm such a bitter dickhead.

Take Savage Worlds, it could have completely gotten me out of Warhammer.  It could have been the great universal alternative miniatures game.  But noooooo...it's just an rpg and really lacks structural support for miniatures gaming, not to mention the absence of decent morale rules and breaks down pretty badly by the time there's 50 figures on the table.

Sigh

I didn't need another rpg...I needed a flexible and fun miniatures game.

Yeah, if the Toolkits had been released as books I would have bought them.  They have so many it would be easy to group them up, too.

I guess they figure that stuff like Necessary Evil will sell better than a generic fantasy supplement.

Quote from: C.W.Richesond20 Future.  Why couldn't they resurrect Alternity's StarDrive in all its glory?  Incorporate material from the Tangents book and a few other supplements into a colossal setting book.  I would have bought this in a heart beat and I already own all those books...

I was hopeful after they released a d20 version of Dark*Matter that WotC would think about dusting off some of their older stuff like Star Drive or even do one-shot updates of old D&D campaign settings like Birthright or Al-Qadim. But they seem determined not to do so.

I think a lot of game companies - actually make that game designers - feel they have to re-invent the wheel when they do an update or expansion upon an older game or setting. In tandem with this is what seems to be a feeling on their part that they have to "improve" upon the original in some way, as though there was something fundamentally wrong with the original. Never mind that a lot of that stuff was pretty popular in its day, and still has a large following. Sure, some elements may need sprucing up - a revision of Twilight: 2000, for example, would have to alter the "future history" of the game, since a lot of it is now in our past, or at least explain that it is an "alternate history," since that seems to be a popular sub-genre of fiction nowadays. More often than not, though, it seems that this sprucing up involves elements I feel still work.

Quote from: RedFoxEden Studios does things just about perfect for my tastes.  The only peccadillo I have with them is their glacial release schedule.  But considering how much they cater to me in every other conceivable way, I can put up with it.  

And yeah, adventures don't sell.  That's really what an organ like Star Wars Gamer magazine should be for.  Unfortunately, that doesn't exist anymore.  

It's a chicken/egg scenario.

Hardcore gamers don't want adventures, they want to write their own, so they don't buy it.

Newbie gamers used to love them in the old days, and indeed, adventures helped bring folks into the hobby.  How many old school D&Der's like to go on about playing Hommlett or Borderlands when they were lads?  For, me, seeing a Ghostbusters adventure my bro had gotten hold of was one of the events that got me more intrigued by RPGs.

But, well, there aren't as many new gamers anymore, and even the new gamers are being told that "real GM's roll their own".

so they don't sell, even though if they did, it might bring in a lot of folks who'd like to be able to sit and go, instead of spending hours or days of prep for every game.

Anyone that sells only through IPR pisses me off.  IPR has a shipping model that is extremely hostile to foreign buyers and consequently IPR-only games are essentially inaccessible to me.  My favourite three brick and mortar stores won't deal with them any more either, so I'm out of luck.

So there are a number of games that interest me out there that the writers want to sell but the mechanical problem of taking my money and mailing me a book is somehow insurmountable.

Quote from: HalfjackAnyone that sells only through IPR pisses me off.  IPR has a shipping model that is extremely hostile to foreign buyers and consequently IPR-only games are essentially inaccessible to me.  My favourite three brick and mortar stores won't deal with them any more either, so I'm out of luck.

So there are a number of games that interest me out there that the writers want to sell but the mechanical problem of taking my money and mailing me a book is somehow insurmountable.

Most games I've seen have been available from the offers through Lulu as well.  Have you brought these concerns to the authors attention?  It's going to be a big deal for a lot of them.

Also, mentioning it in the IPR forums might be a good idea.

Quote from: C.W.RichesonMost games I've seen have been available from the offers through Lulu as well.  Have you brought these concerns to the authors attention?  It's going to be a big deal for a lot of them.

Also, mentioning it in the IPR forums might be a good idea.

Yeah I have been bringing it up with the authors and they are all very interested in it as a problem.  IPR rather less so.  I (and others) have brought it up on the forums there but I don't read regularly so I don't really know what got hashed out there if anything, but their shipping policies haven't changed to make it any easier and that's really all I need to know.

Lulu rocks for me, so if an author can get their product there as well (or instead -- like I say, IPR has no value to me at all so whatever works) then we're golden.

Quote from: HalfjackYeah I have been bringing it up with the authors and they are all very interested in it as a problem.  IPR rather less so.  I (and others) have brought it up on the forums there but I don't read regularly so I don't really know what got hashed out there if anything, but their shipping policies haven't changed to make it any easier and that's really all I need to know.

Lulu rocks for me, so if an author can get their product there as well (or instead -- like I say, IPR has no value to me at all so whatever works) then we're golden.

Some interesting criticisms of IPR in this Forge thread if you're interested: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=23797.0

Might be worth bringing it up.

Quote from: C.W.RichesonSome interesting criticisms of IPR in this Forge thread if you're interested: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=23797.0

Thanks, CW -- it's nice to see two people I have already talked to directly about this participating in that thread already, and one tangentially mentioning the international shipping issue.  I think serving the needs of individual purchasers is outside the scope of that thread, so I won't participate, but I can see that there are people there representing my interests.

Games that do it just the way I like it.  Currently Cubicle 7 has pulled Sla Industries out of oblivion and released two good books for it so far (although one is currently only a prerelease with a full release in a few months).  Cannibal Sector 1 and Hunter Sheets have been two of the best books for the line since Karma was released long and ago.  They aren't shoving stuff out as fast as possible either so it's nice on my pocketbook.

Companies that dropped the ball.  7th Circle with Kult, they dropped the ball and kicked it under a table somewhere and walked off.  They went through fulfillment houses for the only two release, each time the place went out of bussiness and they never got the cash for the books.  Seems like they would have wised up and went through the regular distribution chain after the first massive loss of cash.

Well that's my two examples that I can think of right now.