I know we often talk about "Flavors of the Week" or "_____ darlings" when it comes to RPGs. Often an RPG will get a ton of hype (pre-arranged or naturally occuring), garner a medium-to-huge amount of talk, then fade away.
So, what games that seemed to be all the rage earlier this year have you not heard much from lately? What was the big buzz that everyone seemed to be pimping that seems to have fallen off the radar? In the doldrums of the RPG year, what have you heard a lot of hype regarding lately from the different circles?
I think a lot of it is just naturally occuring--just like in music, a new album will see a lot of hype, just to fall out of the Top 100 in a few months. But with RPGs, we see a lot of games touted as Really Big Stuff, only to dwindle soon afterwards.
I'm kind of immune to that, because I don't visit RPG.net often enough to hear about that and people here at the RPGsite seem more level-headed (or maybe they're just less into new games?).
In my area of the country ?
SCION and Mutants and Masterminds.
LOTS of buzz and people seemingly going nuts about them earlier in the year. Now everyone seems to have gone back to whatever their favorite RPG system was before that.
Getting a lot more sales for supplements and additional materials for previously bought game systems.
- Ed C.
Quote from: Consonant DudeI'm kind of immune to that, because I don't visit RPG.net often enough to hear about that and people here at the RPGsite seem more level-headed (or maybe they're just less into new games?).
Really? I mean, I guess every community has its new hotness and darlings--I will agree I don't think we see as much of it as on Big Purp.
Over at rpgnet, the ridiculous enthusiasm for Wild Talents has dwindled to nothing (one of my favourite thread titles has to be "Wild Talents can do anything!" complete with exclamation mark). Reign is going the same way...and funnily enough, I don't hear nearly as much Exalted talk as I used to.
I'm imagining a VH1-style "Where Are They Now?" TV special for expired flavors of the month. :)
Quote from: Zachary The FirstI'm imagining a VH1-style "Where Are They Now?" TV special for expired flavors of the month. :)
Ha! That would be cool. Go mining the fora for the darlings of yesterday and see how they are doing.
I wonder though if it's just the buzz that dies. Isn't M&M still doing gangbusters for Green Ronin?
SAGA? Although... I think I know where that conversation went.
"Newish iteration of D20!"
"New edition of 4e?"
"Fucktards! 3.5 is teh roxxorz, they know better!"
"Hay yoo guys! 4e!"
*silence*
"4e's GONNA BE LIKE TOME OF BATTLE!"
"It's soooo world of warcraft..."
"*sob* my gnomes..."
"AGGRO! There's gonna be frickin' aggro... OMFG!"
Scion. Haven't heard a peep about it since it was launched. Also, I haven't heard or read anything about the new Traveller game since it was announced.
Scion is still getting a fair bit of attention over at RPGnet. The recent release of Demigod no doubt helped.
Quote from: DrewScion is still getting a fair bit of attention over at RPGnet. The recent release of Demigod no doubt helped.
Thats nice, but RPG.net is not the real world - as we've discussed many times on here before.
A new book is just a new book.
Actual groups playing it? Haven't seen much proof of that yet.
- Ed C.
M&M is a strong and steady player in my neck of the woods.
I'd say the norm (as Zach suggested) is that when a game comes out there will be a lot of excitement about it and then it will die down. Only a few games are going to be so succesful to remain at the top (M&M is probably one of these). So all this smarmy "darling" this and "favorite" that seems like misplaced resentment to me. I mean you could say the same thing about Wilderlands here.
Heard a lot about Reign a few months ago. Pretty quiet now. I wonder if it's another one of those games that people love to marvel over in it book form, but nobody actually follows through and plays for more than a one-off.
Quote from: HaffrungHeard a lot about Reign a few months ago. Pretty quiet now. I wonder if it's another one of those games that people love to marvel over in it book form, but nobody actually follows through and plays for more than a one-off.
I've been running a weekly REIGN campaign for a couple of months now and it's still going strong.
I think the notion of M&M as a "Flavour of the Week" is a bit ridiculous. It's more or less GR's bread and butter.
KoOS
Quote from: walkerpat the top (M&M is probably one of these).
It's pretty much what I meant about M&M.
Quote from: walkerpI mean you could say the same thing about Wilderlands here.
Note that I meant all fora, not just rpg.net. But I think that the specific example of Wilderlands is a bad example. Primarily because most of the hype seemed to come way after it's launch, and it really is hype about the KIND of thing Wilderlands is.
Quote from: KoltarThats nice, but RPG.net is not the real world - as we've discussed many times on here before.
Maybe you should try reading the OP again.
Quote from: DrewMaybe you should try reading the OP again.
not sure if he can since he got banned.:D
how about McWod?
lots of buzz about that for a while, then Gencon came and it was sort of a flop compared to all the hype.
Quote from: Mcrowhow about McWod?
lots of buzz about that for a while, then Gencon came and it was sort of a flop compared to all the hype.
I'm curious: What criteria do you use to call it a flop? Online buzz only?
Quote from: JongWKI'm curious: What criteria do you use to call it a flop? Online buzz only?
From what I've heard from Gencon and local retailers is that it didn't sell near as well as expected.
Quote from: McrowFrom what I've heard from Gencon and local retailers is that it didn't sell near as well as expected.
Ok, that's better than TBP buzz. :keke:
Quote from: JongWKOk, that's better than TBP buzz. :keke:
Even if it didn't out sell as much as expected, it would still be considered a success for most publishers.
To put in perspective:
Changeling sold 750 copies through Engrams
McWod sold 155
That's from Gencon to today.
Sure, Engrams isn't the best measure for RPGs since it's most just for books sold through book stores (Amazon as well), but it is an indicator.
Quote from: McrowFrom what I've heard from Gencon and local retailers is that it didn't sell near as well as expected.
I'll admit that the only reason I'm interested in it is for the setting. :)
Though they did get a couple of geographical details wrong.
Well, as far as SCION goes:
1. The books got systematically pushed back from their first dates to come out. That never helps, but it was expected.
2. White Wolf had more copies of SCION: Hero made. That's always a good sign.
3. Some time in December, we are expecting the "God" book. That should help keep the talk going.
4. Already we hear rumors that the books are successful and White Wolf is planning some more books for a line that was only supposed to have three books!
I'm looking forward to a game line that is just starting. Nothing much has been said online, because White Wolf likes to keep it hush-hush, and the players of that game only have two-thirds of the game to really talk about right now. :)
Out here the local shops seem to move D&D, d20, generic OGL d20-likes (M&M etc...), Gurps 4, and HERO 5.
I guess the best look into what the darlings were/are can be found by looking at the back shelves at Warp2 (Warp1 having gone out of business, Whyte Knight being eclectic older material, and the other stores not really carrying anything beyond d20 stuff). On those shelves it's mainly Exalted, Deadlands, Palladium/RIFTS, and OWoD books. I'd be curious about the SentryBox in Calgary as they carry a much wider range of non-mainstream stuff.
Online at the Edmonton Gamers Association message boards the current darling is, without a doubt, M&M. We're definitely happy with that game - to the point that there's a bunch of guys who are seriously considering using it as the base rules set for their gestalt setting project. We'll see how long that lasts. :D