"Support", who needs it?

[wingsandsword]

I'm talking about "supported" games.

Today I was talking with a co-worker. I see him only rarely, but he's the only other guy at my regular job who I know is into gaming. He mentioned he was starting a Star Wars: Edge of Empire campaign. He asked if I was familiar with it.

I told him I'd not looked at or had anything to do with Edge of Empire. I had almost everything ever published for d6, had run d6 Star Wars for years, had every single book ever published for d20 Star Wars (all 3 editions), had run campaigns of each ruleset, and had a big shoebox full of WotC Star Wars minis and a separate shoebox of their Starship minis line.

I figured I didn't need yet another edition/ruleset and had no intentions of touching Edge of Empire.

He then told me he had equally complete collections of Star Wars games, but he figured he'd never play them again since they were out of print and "unsupported" and thus he felt it would be hard to find players for and hard to run a game without "support." I didn't have time for a long discussion, so I moved on, however that's been bugging me all afternoon.

What is bugging me is basically the whole idea of "needing" support in the form of a steady treadmill of supplements, constant errata to keep track of (I seldom kept track of errata for any tabletop game, I think the constant changing of Polymorph spells in D&D 3.0 trying to block tiny rules holes some rules lawyer somewhere was abusing, that my game never ran across burned me out on paying attention to errata for any game)

When a game goes out of print, or a new edition comes out that people don't like, I've seen many posters be quick to point out you've still got your old books, nobody is forcing you to change. However, for many people, it's like the fact that there is no company out there still making it somehow strips a game of some of its worth.

It is a network effect? Is it being afraid of being unable to find players? For a relatively rules light game with a popular setting (like WEG d6 Star Wars) I can't see that as a problem. I took first-time roleplayers and had them playing that game in 5 minutes, and all they knew going in was the 3 movies that existed at the time.

Is it a need for errata and more continuously more supplements?

Why is it that people won't play a game (or run one) if it doesn't have "support"? Even if they have run it before, or know the rules?

 

[alms66]

I've noticed that totally irrational behavior from D&D-only players and WoD-only players, but in folks who game many different systems, it doesn't seem to exist. The only exception to that is those GM's that actually run nothing but published settings and adventures - I don't actually know any of them, but I'm sure they exist somewhere.

As long as you have one copy of the core rules, you can run it, so who cares if it's been out-of-print since 1974 (or whatever)? I don't get the mentality (excepting the exception above, of course).

 

[amerigoV]

Part of any hobby is the irrational spending of money thereupon. There are a ton of things one can spend their gaming dollar on - a system, modules, worlds, figs, terrain, etc. Some like to spend money on the game/system they enjoy (As I type, I spare a glance to my 3e books with both love (fond memories) and disgust (all that $....)) as opposed to spreading the $ around on other systems, etc. Just look at today's front page on En World. If you are a Pathfinder aficionado you are likely quite giddy at the material announced. If you are a D&D purist, then one must either search for the more outlying items not in your collection or spend that money on something else.

 

[Morrus]

New stuff is nice.

It's lovely that someone has a pile of old stuff. And it's nice that that pile can entertain them forever.

Most of us, though, like to keep getting new stuff. Game, phones, clothes, cars, etc. Which is lucky, because if that wasn't basic human nature, how would any RPG company exist? Produce a core rulebook, a couple of adventures, then close the company down? Doesn't seem worth the effort of starting!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Support is nice, but not required.

However, the one thing a new, supported edition of a game really does better than the non-supported prior editions- at least in the short term- is bring in new blood.

 

[Crothian]

It's common even among the non D&D and WoD people. It's always easier to find players for games that are in print. That's why when you look at games being run at conventions like Origins and Gen Con most of the games being run are the new ones and newest versions.

 

[Griffon86]

I've written a few missives myself (in other places) about "dead" games (i.e., unsupported ones) and, more recently, how relevant publishers remain in a hobby increasingly fueled by creative DIY types who design and disseminate material for free or for pay online without the financial backing and infrastructure of traditional publishers. I think many gamers strike a balance, playing old, unsupported favorites and investing in and immersing themselves in new materials. As far as bringing new gamers to a particular game -- and newcomers into the adventure gaming hobby itself -- currently supported games still have predominance. When I was still doing conventions, long after West End lost the Star Wars license, I'd always run at least one D6 Star Wars RPG game session, not because it was the currently supported version or the new-and-shiny edition, but because I knew gamers out there wanted to satisfy their nostalgia fix...and those game sessions filled beyond capacity every single time.

(I'll also handily argue that, as long as fans or other folks, myself included, continue posting material for "unsupported" games they remain, rather unofficially, supported. I regret I cannot share any of those free, unofficial support materials for the aforementioned D6 Star Wars RPG here....)

Fly casual,
Peter

 

[Umbran]

I personally am running classic Deadlands. It is out of physical print, but these days you can buy the old stuff in PDF format. So, clearly I don't need current, ongoing support to run a game. And, most of my players haven't even bothered to get the player's book. They don't give a hoot if the game has ongoing support, so long as I have content I toss at them.

But, overall, there's marketing to consider. Currently supported games have someone *pushing* them. And that push has a ripple effect - so, we hear more about currently supported games. And that name recognition goes farther than you might think in terms of influencing people's choices. For some, I am almost afraid to suggest, that the "well, I want it to be supported" is a rationalization after the fact. Due to hearing about current games, they are simply more positively disposed towards them. When you ask why, they then pull up a plausible reason.

 

[RangerWickett]

Memetically, one can hope that the game design of newer systems is superior to older systems. It's not always the case, but novelty can yield a more enjoyable gaming experience.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Living here in Japan, I have trouble finding players for both new and old games. If I were in the states,m in a more diverse gaming environment, what I buy and play would depend largely on what I could get players and DMs for. I have no problem with varying rule sets, both new and old, but I play what I can find games for.