I don't know if it's like this at every Barnes and Noble, but all the ones around here it's the same thing. I go to the RPG section and see Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, and...Zweihander?

How does Zweihander merit a place as the only other game alongside the two biggest games out there? There may be a random one off copy of some other game at a particular B&N location, but Zweihander is almost always right there next to the big two.

This is not a knock against it, I have no idea if it's a good game or not. But Zweihander is barely a blip on the RPG radar screen AFAIK. Even actual Warhammer usually isn't on the shelves of B&N. I would have though a company like Barnes and Noble (big box store, not specifically geared toward RPGs) would only give shelf space to the biggest names.

Is Zweihander actually super popular (moreso than a dozen other games I can think of off the top of my head that I thought were bigger) and I just haven't gotten the memo?  I mean, props to DF for getting on the shelf, I'm just wondering how it happened.

The publisher is actually a normal industry publisher so they have a bigger foothold in the market, and as such can get copies of Zweihander in normal bookstores. They publish all sorts of stuff, including IIRC Calvin and Hobbes. I believe that Fox worked there, and that was how he got them to publish his game, but I may not be recalling the entire story.

Fox is ...a piece of work.

Quote from: S'mon on June 20, 2023, 04:06:49 PM
Fox is ...a piece of work.

Yes, but a very effective one. There are not many companies that could achieve this.

More info:

Quote from: comicbook.comAndrews McMeel Publishing has reportedly shuttered its RPG division, canceling the contract of at least one upcoming project. Yesterday, Tanya DePass and B. Dave Walters announced that Andrews McMeel Publishing had cancelled its contract to publish Into the Mother Lands, an Afrofuturist RPG, and was closing its RPG division. "Despite keeping up our end of the bargain and doing all of our work in good faith to get [Andrews McMeel] a final manuscript by their deadline; they informed us they are no longer publishing RPG's despite having a contract with us; and terminated it during a meeting to inform us of shutting down the RPG division," DePass and Walters wrote. The pair added that they are meeting with another publisher this week in the hopes of moving their project, but were prepared for the possibility of self-publishing as well.

Andrews McMeel most notably publishes Zweihander, a "Grim and Perilous" fantasy RPG designed by Daniel Fox, who then joined Andrews McMeel as Executive Creator of Games in 2019. Several other RPG books that used the Zweihander game system were also published by Andrews McMeel, but the RPG division had branched out with campaign setting books based on OZ and Neverland and had publishing contacts for Into the Mother Lands and Swordsfall, although progress on that project went silent in 2021 after its creator became embroiled in controversy.

There were signs that a change in Andrews McMeel was coming - Fox announced that he would be leaving the company at the end of last year and Andrews McMeel subsequently shuttered a RPG-focused Twitter account for the company on January 3rd. However, Fox noted in his announcement that Andrews McMeel would continue to publish Zweihander and the publisher was still promoting various RPG projects as recently as this week, having retweeted a post from Blackbirds, another game published by Andrews McMeel. ComicBook.com confirmed that Andrews McMeel would continue to publish Zweihander for now, but creator Daniel Fox was looking for other publishing options moving forward.

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/andrews-mcmeel-shuts-down-rpg-division-zweihander-into-the-mother-lands/

Fox had connections that allowed him to get into bookstores.

Which was impossible for anyone doing an independent game not named Daniel Fox to replicate.

I have the scoop, but it's a little complicated.

You see, the books were originally put on shelves by accident, due to a shipping foul-up. So the local staff would have removed them when they realized this, but it turns out that due to union rules, there's actually a traveling member of staff that has to OK removal or any books that have been put on display already.

Now because it's current day and there are quotas, this traveling staff member only has one hand, and unfortunately, because it's a pretty substantial book, it takes two hands to pick up a Zweihander.

Quote from: Grognard GM on June 20, 2023, 08:43:54 PM...unfortunately, because it's a pretty substantial book, it takes two hands to pick up a Zweihander.

*ba-DUMP-kssshh!*

Same reason is seems to do well at DTRPG - it's inexplicably popular.

I have not really read it or anything. Isn't it basically a 2E retro clone?

Quote from: Exploderwizard on June 21, 2023, 08:53:13 AM
I have not really read it or anything. Isn't it basically a 2E retro clone?

Warhammer 2E I believe

Lets not forget that when B&N was purchased a few years ago, they moved away from the traditional methodology that big book chains had been using for years.  Among the tools they use to choose their book selections are BookTok, social media influencer sites, and giving local staffs a chance to have more input on the selection of what to stock.   Given the general leaning of all those, as well as Mr Fox's vocal support, I have never found it surprising that his products made it on the shelves.

Ugh... Zweihander. It's such a bloated system and the writing is so dry and uninspiring.

The only thing I like about that is the art.

Quote from: JeremyR on June 21, 2023, 01:40:09 AM
Same reason is seems to do well at DTRPG - it's inexplicably popular.

He shilled and spambotted it everywhere.

He also attacked competition and any detractor that called him out on his design theft.

Quote from: rkhigdon on June 21, 2023, 11:37:30 AM
Lets not forget that when B&N was purchased a few years ago, they moved away from the traditional methodology that big book chains had been using for years.  Among the tools they use to choose their book selections are BookTok, social media influencer sites, and giving local staffs a chance to have more input on the selection of what to stock.   Given the general leaning of all those, as well as Mr Fox's vocal support, I have never found it surprising that his products made it on the shelves.

They were doing this unofficially long before they quit hiding it.  They were hiring mostly left-wing staff (whether by design or just the nature of the position), who felt free to prominently push left-wing books and bury popular books that were in opposition.  Given that at the same time, ghost-written left-wing books were also being over-bought by publishers at a loss as a way to funnel money to left-wing causes, it's not surprising. 

Everything Fox did was done before outside of gaming.  He just copied it. Come to think of it, exactly like he did the contents of his game.