I offer a fond Merry Christmas to any readers out there (not a happy holidays, if you're offended- you're likely not a reader of this blog anyway). This is likely my last blog post until the new year.
I have a number of game related activities planned for my vacation from work this year. My son and his girlfriend will be visiting and we'll get in at least one (and likely more) Tomorrow's War battles. It's a fantastic game and will make a wonderful last minute gift for any wargamer one has forgotten about.
In our case, we'll be making up our own armies using all the 40K miniatures that my son bought over the years. For the first time ever he'll be able to use those Imperial Guard figures to represent something more than a semi-soviet style mob of cannon fodder. The whole character of the game will different.
System does matter, when you're actually playing it.
There is little doubt that we will be doing something on the RPG scene, but it's sort of a secondary concern this year. Likely Superhero or Shadowrun (using HERO System) or maybe something in Claymore (using Age of Heroes). I'm going to see what they're interested in this week and start making plans.
I hope everyone has a great time, see you in 2012.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
An Example of Lost Morality
Up for an example of muddle thinking, moral relativism, and inability to make a decent comparison if one's life depended upon it?
Here you go.
A terrorist could ask for no better ally and future victim. They'll side with them as long as they're alive and die without a whimper when it's their turn in the Terrorist target circle.
For my part, I'll point people towards the excellent Force on Force series of games from Ambush Alley Games. It doesn't have the cards that our muddled witch friend dislikes so much, but it's perhaps the best wargame I've encountered since the turn of the century.
And I'll certainly make up some cards for it. Some might even be terrorist witches, after all Paco Garcia Jaen can't seem to tell the difference.
Here you go.
A terrorist could ask for no better ally and future victim. They'll side with them as long as they're alive and die without a whimper when it's their turn in the Terrorist target circle.
For my part, I'll point people towards the excellent Force on Force series of games from Ambush Alley Games. It doesn't have the cards that our muddled witch friend dislikes so much, but it's perhaps the best wargame I've encountered since the turn of the century.
And I'll certainly make up some cards for it. Some might even be terrorist witches, after all Paco Garcia Jaen can't seem to tell the difference.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Play Test Update
The play test for the version 5.0 core rules of Age of Heroes continues. Some more typos corrected, interesting what people miss.
From a true rules perception, the only significant change requested was to the mounted combat rules. That sort of cascaded through the rulebook touching two of sections as well to keep things consistent.
Otherwise it's been typos, one request that I swap a bit of art, copying a table in one part of the rules to another and adding a modifier mentioned in the text to a table. All easy stuff.
I imagine this will continue for another couple months just to make sure it's the best it can be.
From a true rules perception, the only significant change requested was to the mounted combat rules. That sort of cascaded through the rulebook touching two of sections as well to keep things consistent.
Otherwise it's been typos, one request that I swap a bit of art, copying a table in one part of the rules to another and adding a modifier mentioned in the text to a table. All easy stuff.
I imagine this will continue for another couple months just to make sure it's the best it can be.
Friday, December 9, 2011
A Dustup over the State of the Hobby
It seems that Joseph over at Greyhawk Grognard has gone ballistic over a new blog written by someone going by the handle of fugaros that is taking wild swings at the RPG Industry as a whole and the OSR specifically.
Joseph comes off more poorly than he should with the sadly typical ad hominem attacks. I wish people realized how much weaker such things make them appear. Fugaros on the other hand is of the RPGPundit school of blogging, i.e. foul language and insults are more common than logic and good writing. In fact, Fugaros is similar enough to Pundit that I wonder if he's a sock puppet or just a student of his.
From where I sit, it's not worth the word count spent so far.
Joseph is right, people are free to do what they want and they answer to only two masters- the Market and their own desires. If they don't care about the former, they're free to do the latter in any way they wish. But that being the case, others may comment on their activities however they want, and it's not worth covering yourself in mud when someone like Fugaros does comment.
Fugaros on the other hand does have good points. The Market is fragmented, and the OSR is stagnant, unimaginative and so badly designed that the OSR actually claims it to be a feature in order to justify it.
Neither conditions are good for the Industry or for the quality of gaming as a whole. But there is little point in being a jerk about it. From what I can tell that's the hobby's natural state. Very few quality games were ever produced and when they were, the Market ignored them for lowest common denominator products.
When the hobby was large enough (early 80s), it could turn out some quality work for those able to make use of it. Take the automobile market as an example. Most will be buying boring and plain cars and trucks, but the Market is big enough to support high quality niche products for those with the money, skill, and need to make use of them.
RPGs aren't big enough for the automobile model. So all you got is the basics these days, and if you despair of that- you can design your own (and be the only one playing it given or take a handful)
Fugaros goes off the rails by thinking he can change this natural state. He can't. No one can. Rather than attacking the OSR guys, or any of the gaming companies- he should be spending his time working on his own stuff.
Yes, I know the OSR stuff is deadly dull, yes I want to see good games too. But one can't change the world, only your own little part of it. Take it from me (as someone who's spent too much time online in the past), doing your stuff is a lot more fun and more a worthwhile way to spend one's time
Joseph comes off more poorly than he should with the sadly typical ad hominem attacks. I wish people realized how much weaker such things make them appear. Fugaros on the other hand is of the RPGPundit school of blogging, i.e. foul language and insults are more common than logic and good writing. In fact, Fugaros is similar enough to Pundit that I wonder if he's a sock puppet or just a student of his.
From where I sit, it's not worth the word count spent so far.
Joseph is right, people are free to do what they want and they answer to only two masters- the Market and their own desires. If they don't care about the former, they're free to do the latter in any way they wish. But that being the case, others may comment on their activities however they want, and it's not worth covering yourself in mud when someone like Fugaros does comment.
Fugaros on the other hand does have good points. The Market is fragmented, and the OSR is stagnant, unimaginative and so badly designed that the OSR actually claims it to be a feature in order to justify it.
Neither conditions are good for the Industry or for the quality of gaming as a whole. But there is little point in being a jerk about it. From what I can tell that's the hobby's natural state. Very few quality games were ever produced and when they were, the Market ignored them for lowest common denominator products.
When the hobby was large enough (early 80s), it could turn out some quality work for those able to make use of it. Take the automobile market as an example. Most will be buying boring and plain cars and trucks, but the Market is big enough to support high quality niche products for those with the money, skill, and need to make use of them.
RPGs aren't big enough for the automobile model. So all you got is the basics these days, and if you despair of that- you can design your own (and be the only one playing it given or take a handful)
Fugaros goes off the rails by thinking he can change this natural state. He can't. No one can. Rather than attacking the OSR guys, or any of the gaming companies- he should be spending his time working on his own stuff.
Yes, I know the OSR stuff is deadly dull, yes I want to see good games too. But one can't change the world, only your own little part of it. Take it from me (as someone who's spent too much time online in the past), doing your stuff is a lot more fun and more a worthwhile way to spend one's time
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The Fading of HERO
Anyone who's followed this blog or my writings elsewhere know that I've always been a fan of Champions and the HERO System. IMO, the best published game system ever.
Most are also likely aware that I was of the opinion that sixth edition was a mistake. A trip down a rabbit hole to fix things only Steve Long (and his personal fan base- as opposed to fans of the game) thought needed fixing. Combined with the the lost of map and mini support, horrid art, and an ugly layout- the final result was far from appealing.
Looks like I wasn't the only one with a negative opinion.
Nov 28th saw the following appear on their Hero Games website (There seems to be no direct link to the article, so I'll repeat their announcement here):
__________________________
Hero Games has been around for 30 years with ups and downs. The economy's been pretty rough lately, as has the gaming market. With declining sales and fewer releases, Hero has reached the point where it's no longer possible to maintain a full time staff of three, so it's scaling back.
Darren and Steve will be departing December 2nd, with our thanks for a decade of hard work that gave us 108 books, and best wishes for their future endeavors, which may include producing new books under a Hero System license. We'll keep you posted on that.
Jason will remain to continue shipping books and handling day-to-day matters. Existing books will continue to be available for purchase, and the company will continue in business, just a bit more slowly. The online store remains open. Steve will continue to answer rules questions on the Hero boards as "the guy who wrote the rulebook."
We're looking into doing a Kickstarter to print Book of the Empress, since it's complete and ready to go.
For the near future Hero would appreciate your kind thoughts and your patience. Transition periods of this sort take time, and Jason has a lot of work cut out for him, so the support of our fans is much appreciated.
Jason Walters
General Manager
__________________________
In a way they so deserved this.
Long was both the best and worst thing that ever happened to HERO. He was a fine editor and a work horse that personally put the game back on the map after the original owners gave up on it. Fifth Edition had some problems due to small changes he made, but on the whole was wonderful. It won awards and fans. It became a significant player in the hobby.
Success breeds hubris, and Steve Long bred it well. He grew to feel that it was *his* ideas that made the game a success instead of the game making him one. He thought he could change whatever he liked and he'd only go on to greater glory. He thought he could focus on rule changes, not settings or adventures.
Now we see the result. HERO is barely alive, it's future dim indeed.
I don't believe it had to be this way.
Will luck someone else will take over the reins in the near future.
There's not much luck in the world. But HERO has my best wishes to find it. Without Long involved, there may be a chance it does just that. Success often breeds failure, but failure also often breeds success.
Most are also likely aware that I was of the opinion that sixth edition was a mistake. A trip down a rabbit hole to fix things only Steve Long (and his personal fan base- as opposed to fans of the game) thought needed fixing. Combined with the the lost of map and mini support, horrid art, and an ugly layout- the final result was far from appealing.
Looks like I wasn't the only one with a negative opinion.
Nov 28th saw the following appear on their Hero Games website (There seems to be no direct link to the article, so I'll repeat their announcement here):
__________________________
Hero Games has been around for 30 years with ups and downs. The economy's been pretty rough lately, as has the gaming market. With declining sales and fewer releases, Hero has reached the point where it's no longer possible to maintain a full time staff of three, so it's scaling back.
Darren and Steve will be departing December 2nd, with our thanks for a decade of hard work that gave us 108 books, and best wishes for their future endeavors, which may include producing new books under a Hero System license. We'll keep you posted on that.
Jason will remain to continue shipping books and handling day-to-day matters. Existing books will continue to be available for purchase, and the company will continue in business, just a bit more slowly. The online store remains open. Steve will continue to answer rules questions on the Hero boards as "the guy who wrote the rulebook."
We're looking into doing a Kickstarter to print Book of the Empress, since it's complete and ready to go.
For the near future Hero would appreciate your kind thoughts and your patience. Transition periods of this sort take time, and Jason has a lot of work cut out for him, so the support of our fans is much appreciated.
Jason Walters
General Manager
__________________________
In a way they so deserved this.
Long was both the best and worst thing that ever happened to HERO. He was a fine editor and a work horse that personally put the game back on the map after the original owners gave up on it. Fifth Edition had some problems due to small changes he made, but on the whole was wonderful. It won awards and fans. It became a significant player in the hobby.
Success breeds hubris, and Steve Long bred it well. He grew to feel that it was *his* ideas that made the game a success instead of the game making him one. He thought he could change whatever he liked and he'd only go on to greater glory. He thought he could focus on rule changes, not settings or adventures.
Now we see the result. HERO is barely alive, it's future dim indeed.
I don't believe it had to be this way.
Will luck someone else will take over the reins in the near future.
- Someone who will return the design to the map and mini focus it had in 5th edition and before.
- Someone who will clear away the ugly art and layout
- Someone who will drop the cardboard settings that have plague HERO from the start
- Someone who will create the background and supplements that actually take advantage of HERO's ability to create the best published RPG experience I've ever seen
There's not much luck in the world. But HERO has my best wishes to find it. Without Long involved, there may be a chance it does just that. Success often breeds failure, but failure also often breeds success.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
