Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Piratecat Kickass first post -- and welcome to the boards! |
Cheers.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Chainsaw Mage What kind of player base is there in North America? (I'm in Canada, FWIW).
I've heard it said that Warhammer FRP is popular in Britain, but almost totally under the radar here in North America (despite the wild popularity of the wargame) |
.
That's an interesting question and one that's hard to give a definitive answer to, given the absence of truly reliable long term sales statistics for games.
My take on it is coloured by my experiences, back when I was regularly going to the conventions here in Ireland (from maybe about 1989-1996). Then it was a massively popular game here, behind only DnD at least until Vampire came along. The gaming scene here was vibrant but very much influenced by our larger neighbour next door. I got the general impression that WFRP 1e was one of the most popular games in Britain too, and in parts of Continental Europe, but that it was lower profile in North America. It is often said that it was the most popular RPG published outside the USA, but although it did have a following in North America that popularity was concentrated outside of it.
After it's first wave of popularity the playing base everywhere probably suffered much the same long, slow decline. It had two long periods without a publisher, punctuated by the Hogshead years (where despite the good work done by the publishers I think the decline was more slowed than reversed). In Britain (and Ireland) the game had such a large and entrenched fan base that even after all those difficulties it maintained a solid core of interest, particularly with the miniatures games ensuring that the setting became more widely known. I would guess that the smaller starting base in North America means that the decline impacted more.
As far as WFRP 2e goes, I suspect that it is already one of the top three games in Britain or Ireland again. In North America it has a much smaller pre-existing base but it has apparently established itself as the third best selling game at the moment, behind DnD and World of Darkness which would mean it's growing rapidly. It will most likely continue to grow for a number of reasons including: (a) it's an excellent game, (b) it has a publisher with the muscle to get it into game stores and, importantly, places like Barnes and Noble outlets, (c) it is being very heavily supported with supplements, (d) it has the wildly popular wargame to act as a recruiting sergeant, as well as a novel line.
All of the above, I emphasise is just guesswork extrapolating from personal experience.
And yet another word from our sponsors
