Star Wars RPG--What Happened?

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Hello everyone! I was reading some different threads about WOTC recent problems, and in one such it was mentioned about Star Wars RPG not selling anywhere as well as WOTC projected.

I've heard good things about the new Star Wars RPG, but it makes me wonder--

What happened to it? Why isn't it popular? What did they do wrong to screw it up?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[DMaple]

The space combat rules were un-intuative they weren't actually anywhere near as bad as most people thought, they just didn't do what most people wanted.

There was no real balance between different scales, person, vehicle, space-figther, to star-destroyer. (IE: A Jedi could destroy a Star Destroyer with his lightsabre.)

The Defense and Armour rules were just silly.

It had a lot of style to it in my opinion and you could see the seed of a good game, but it was obviously rushed out as there were a load of errors in the rule book.

Even the later errata had more errors in it.

I could go on but its faults have been well documented in the past on these boards, hence a 2nd edition so soon.

But I think the main thing that might have killed its sales could just be the fact that Episode I - Phantom Menace sucked.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Well, there were several problems:
a) The combat rules did not work really well. DragonStar shows that it is okay to have Weapons inflicting 3d6 points of damage (and still being simple weapons, not exotic) - in StarWars, it just didn`t really work, even with the "extra" hit points from wound points (which, actually, I don`t think is a good D20 invention...)
b) The classes were not really well made. They were boring, and it seemed that soldier or Jedi with their special powers (Battlemind) were far to superior in combat to anyone else. (And, at least the Jedi could still make well in social settings...)
(It seemed to me as if the power level of all classes were really reduced - expect for the soldier, since he is - except for one feat - the same as the standard D&D Fighter)
c) The Space Combat system worked well. But only for the few pilots (the soldier being the best pilot at all) in a group, and if you only used one space ship.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

I disagree. I think the combat rules worked well, though I am glad that they are increasing the complexity to the rest of d20. There are many weapons that the players have access to that do a lot of damage, and that seems to work out fine. Yes, jedi are combat gods, but you need to have a lot more than jedi on hand to get anywhere in a good star wars scenario. (Or you need jedi with a lot of cross-class skills, and thus lesser force powers).

The classes aren't there to be ultra powerful, but to be roles. (Isn't this a role-playing game?) My players were wowed by the idea of playing "scoundrels", and the other classes are similarly evocative. We don't need super-flexible rules that can capture every campaign, we need ones that capture Star Wars.

 

[El_Gringo]

The combat rules were pretty good. Leaving out attacks of opportunity helped to make it feel more like Star Wars. However, the starship combat system left a lot to be desired. There were just too many things that you couldn't do, like make an attack run, fly into combat with two ships, or any sort of large space battle.

Also, the D20 version followed the highly successful WEG version. It seemed like everyone and their grandma had apprehensions about a new version of Star Wars.

 

[Tsyr]

Personaly...

I have the WEG version, and lots of sups for that, and I have the d20 version...

And I prefer the WEG immensly... it captures the feeling of "old starwars" more than "new starwars", to me.

 

[Corinth]

The revision of D20 Star Wars will fix a great many of these problems. Armor will now impart DR vs. Wound damage instead of adding to Defense (AC), the classes will receive a redesign to conform to the better customer feedback ideas (see the Noble at WotC's SWRPG site), Attacks of Opportunity will be included (at last!) and the starship combat rules will be rebuilt entirely.

 

[Shin Okada]

I want to believe it Corinth. I and some of my friends have been playing d6 Star Wars for years and when D20 SW have published, we just disappointed. One of my friends have clearly state that he will never ever play d20 SW (FYI, he really loves both SW trilogy and DnD 3e).

IMHO, there were 2 very big problems. Classes, and starship/vehicle combat.

Classes are not balanced at all. And for role playing purpose, old d6's templates were far much better. Also, I hate some very popular character concepts being prestige class (bounty hunter! starship pilot!). Also, I can't really understand why Soldier, expected to be a combat expert, have the worst defense value.

Starship/vehicle have fixed AC and skill of the pilot was almost irrelevant. It is definitely NOT Star Wars like. In d20 SW, Millennium Falcon cannot survive the attack of Star Destroyer Devastator.

And, why we cannot play droids in this edition? I must allowed to be a protocol droid!

Still, I think combat system itself is good. It is almost 3e indeed. So it is good for playing lightsaber combat.

By the way, one of my friends have mixed d20 SW with DnD3e and ran a fantasy/space opera campaign. And they were enjoying it. So, maybe d20 SW was just not SW-like and not so bad as a kind of space opera RPG.

 

[sfgiants]

The game isn't perfect, but I have played it a ton and all the issues I have had are being adressed by the new revisions. As for the above post: if you are looking for an exact simulation of the movies, use a vcr. A rpg isn't made for this purpose. It isn't made so the the falcon can survive fights with star destroyers. Also, read the rules please, you can play a droid. There is a chapter at the back of the book. Ch 9 I believe. The bashing of a decent game from a company that is trying to do right by responding to it's customer's complaints just bothers me.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I can't really understand why Soldier, expected to be a combat expert, have the worst defense value.

I think it is because the Soldier always adds his defensive value to his armor class while everyone else only adds the defensive value to their AC if they aren't wearing anything better.

Soldier AC = 10 + DEX bonus + armor rating + defensive bonus + whatever other stuff may apply

Everyone else AC = 10 + DEX bonus + (armor rating OR defensive bonus) + whatever stuff may apply



The d6 Star Wars was geared toward brand new players who didn't know a thing about gaming. d20 is a little more advanced. I think that's the big problem with d20 SW.