WFRP3 'suddenly' announced dead after 2 years of no production

Emirikol · Aug 13, 2014

FYI for those of you who pay attention to this sort of thing:
http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?showforum=134

This should solve the problem of all those pesky wfrp fans asking questions incessantly at gencon...

TrippyHippy · Aug 13, 2014

My feeling is that WFRP largely drew to a halt when they inherited 2nd Edition before announcing a new edition. The new 3rd edition was such a large departure from the previous ruleset, and if the creators are honest was largely used as a play test blueprint for other new titles, like Star Wars, rather than a viable new direction for the WFRP game.

The real cash cow in the Warhammer GW licence is in the 40K stuff, and the Fantasy RPG had largely run it’s course by the time the license was shifted, as far as FFG were concerned.

It’s also curious that RuneQuest tends to be in print when WFRP is out of print and vice versa. I actually think a number of gamers shifted from RQ to WFRP when it first came out, and a number may have gone back to RQ when RQ6 came out. No hard data, obviously.

Scorpio616 · Aug 13, 2014

WFRP3e had the same problem for me as D&D4E, to my eyes the rule set designed to be as incompatible as possible with previous material.

If they make a WFRP4, I hope they go back to using the wargame as a starting point as 1E and 2E did.

Vicar In A Tutu · Aug 13, 2014

Scorpio616 said:
WFRP3e had the same problem for me as D&D4E, to my eyes the rule set designed to be as incompatible as possible with previous material.

If they make a WFRP4, I hope they go back to using the wargame as a starting point as 1E and 2E did.

WFRP 2E is my alltime favourite RPG, even with its worts and blemishes. If they make a 5E, I hope they return to the roots and ignore the fiddly nonsense of 3E.

TrippyHippy · Aug 13, 2014

The problem as I see it is why would they?

To me, 2e was as good as it gets. People may talk about blemishes and issues, but what were they really? A few peripheral issues and tweaks maybe, depending on taste, but nothing fundamental enough that would warrant a new edition.

Moreover, would FFG actually make enough profit from a new edition to warrant the development cost? Like I say, I think their major target when buying the WH license from GW lay in the 40K games (of which there are five!), rather than the fantasy game.

And yes, it remains a favourite of mine too, lest anyone ask.

delericho · Aug 13, 2014

Scorpio616 said:
WFRP3e had the same problem for me as D&D4E, to my eyes the rule set designed to be as incompatible as possible with previous material.

Yep. And also like with 4e, they were up against a previous edition that a lot of the player base were very happy with.

(Which isn't to say it didn't have problems; nor that others weren't crying out for a new edition! Not trying to edition war here!)

Hand of Evil · Aug 13, 2014

WFRP was all about the setting, the rule set was setup to help that, the problem was support, stuff just took too long to come out. What would be interesting is to see the setting used in another system, say 13th Age, 5E or Pathfinder.

Celebrim · Aug 13, 2014

TrippyHippy said:
The problem as I see it is why would they?

To me, 2e was as good as it gets. People may talk about blemishes and issues, but what were they really? A few peripheral issues and tweaks maybe, depending on taste, but nothing fundamental enough that would warrant a new edition.

I think when discussing WFRP, 'taste' is the key word. If you liked the setting and you liked the setting flavor the rules heavily developed and supported, then WFRP was great. If you wanted to depart from that, then you were doing a) doing some more serious lifting and b) probably not particularly interested in WFRP in the first place. It's one of those things like a grilled blue cheese, green apple and toasted walnut sandwich. If you are into that sort of thing you are like, "This can't be beat!" But it's really a pretty niche market.

Moreover, would FFG actually make enough profit from a new edition to warrant the development cost?

No. I say the most reasonable route at this point is to keep 2e in print as a PDF and occasionally run a kickstarter to see if there is sufficient fan interest in paper reprints with errata and new formatting/art depending on the level of interest they see.

Similarly, there is a small loyal Blood Bowl fanbase out there (which includes me) where a kickstarter project once a decade or so similar to what SJG did with OGRE is probably the best way that the company can continue to keep the non-electronic version going.

delericho · Aug 13, 2014

Celebrim said:
No. I say the most reasonable route at this point is to keep 2e in print as a PDF and occasionally run a kickstarter to see if there is sufficient fan interest in paper reprints with errata and new formatting/art depending on the level of interest they see.

Can FFG even do that, given that 2nd was produced by Green Ronin under license?

Emirikol · Aug 13, 2014

I would recommend that FFG give up the license as soon as possible to a company that will actually nurture it and its fandom..and communicate with them directly, rather than on billboards bragging about how they ran a successful 25 year franchise into the ground.

I started enjoying this setting with 2e, then 3e..then suddenly nothing..and nothing for 3 years except for some token releases that were drug out to feign support.

I'm I the only one here bitter that they sat on the license for years until it lost its fan support?

WFRP3 'suddenly' announced dead after 2 years of no production

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