I've been told by business types (managers, sales, etc.) back when I was clmbing the corporate ladder that getting a new customer is far more expensive than maintaining an existing customer. Never was it used to say "don't go after new customers." But it was always used as a reminder to take existing customers seriously - to cater to them, to make sure you don't lose them.

So it would make perfect sense to produce things existing gamers say they want.  It's not like WOTC stopped putting out core rules and instead put out coffee table setting books. I'd be surprised if they, for example, thought the Core rules weren't the "hook" to get new.  All the rest is just to keep existing customers happy.

Other companies? Not familiar enough with them.

Quote from: James J SkachIt's not like WOTC stopped putting out core rules and instead put out coffee table setting books.

Coffee table setting books ? That sounds like a great idea ! Pages of beautiful artwork bringing your favourite RPG world to life : you could see what your character's hometown actually looked like , see the valley where you fought the minotaur , see the woods where the paladin got eaten by the Spider Queen and so on.

GW have already done something like this to a certain extent with ' Liber Chaotica ' for WFRP , its a large book ( supposedly the notes of a scholar ) with ' handwritten ' script and sketches of chaos demons and whatever. No rules , the same old background , but presented in a new way.

I really want Liber Chaotica, but can't justify the purchase. Looks nice, though.

Quote from: RPGObjects_chuckI dont think the Forge is any more (or less) focused on "actual play" than d20 publishers.

*Shrug*

I think that any movement in general among many game groups to brag about the game you played instead of the books you own is good for the hobby, and basically neutral for the industry.

Overall, I'm in favor of such.

In regard to splats , extra books and whatever - I think theres room for everything. Theres room for one-off books like ' Systems Failure ' and ' Recon '. Theres room for systems with lots of extra books and metaplot , like ' Vampire the Masquerade '. Theres room for indie B+W rpgs and theres room for everything else.

Roleplaying must be a broad church , because any scene is at its most vibrant and most creative when its at its most diverse :to borrow an example from the film industry , you need the big blockbusters and you need the little arthouse films as well. When you have a very diverse scene everyone can take inspiration from everyone else , it boosts creativity all over the shop.

If RPGs are in a bad slump , maybe its because D&D has become too prevalent and people , instead of writing their own games , are writing supplements for the OGL instead. And too many old games are being re-released. When Vampire hit the shops in the early 90s it was like a breath of fresh air , and a lot of those supplements are just absolutely fantastic e.g. ' Montreal by Night 'and ' Time of Thin Blood ' for example. We need something like that again to blow us all away.

In other words , maybe we don't need to kill the industry but to kill the current paradigm of the industry instead.

Well GURPS does have GURPS 4e Lite, though it's not as complete as the 3e one so not quite as useful.

The Powered by GURPS books were a good idea speaking as a gamer, bundle 3e Lite (sometimes customized), setting, and setting specific rules, in one book. GURPS Traveller done this way would have been great, but it was released before the concept. So far there's not been any for 4e and I've no idea how the concept worked for SJG.

As for the quality of 4e books, they're roughly twice the content as 3e books for twice the price, and better quality bookwise. I also noticed they stand out much more on a bookshelf than the 3e books. I can spot my GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars book instantly from across the room. Do have a soft spot for the softcover 3e books and art, though even the softcovers were ramping up in price by the end of 3e.