WoD renaming, White Wolf returns

[Staffan]

It's just that Arkham Horror and Candela Obscura seem to be specifically going after the same type of gameplay as Call of Cthulhu. If CoC scratches that itch for me, why would I want either of the other two games?

You probably don't. Arkham Horror and (I guess) Candela Obscura are for people who like the Cthulhu Mythos concepts, but not the Call of Cthulhu system.

 

[VelvetViolet]

One game that wasn't mentioned in that thread but that does seem similar to the 1990s/2000s urban fantasy games you listed is Defiant, which might be worth a look if you haven't seen it already.

I got that in a bundle of holding sale.

your requirements were

I basically want everything to be like GURPS

 

[Thomas Shey]

I'd rather companies catered to my wants and needs as well, but I'm not sure they could remain in business if they revolve their marketing around me. I owned Nightlife, 2nd edition I think, and at the time Vampire was just so much more popular that it wasn't even a contest. I don't know if there's a lot of interest in Nightlife today. On occasion I might hear someone mention Nightlife, but rarely does anyone wax nostalgia about it.

There is as point where games are, at least superficially, similar enough to what is already popular that there doesn't seem to be a point in buying them. Candela Obscura and Arkham Horror might be good games, but if they're doing the same thing as Call of Cthulhu then why would I buy them? The same goes for WitchCraft. It might be a good game, but if I've already got Mage, then what do I need WitchCraft for?

Well, of course, because you have problems with Mage and think WitchCraft is better. But selling that can be non-trivial.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I guess if you want to run something more like The Craft or a darker take on Buffy rather than The Matrix/Jujutsu Kaisen? I mean, those two games seem like they're about very different genres to me.

Uhm. As someone who ran one and actually did editorial work on the other--not really. There are differences but they're not as pronounced as all that conceptually.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Uhm. As someone who ran one and actually did editorial work on the other--not really. There are differences but they're not as pronounced as all that conceptually.

I think it depends how you run them, but Mage is insanely more esoteric and fantastical than WitchCraft in terms of the greater setting. Like, corebook on corebook they could be kinda similar, but the more you look into the settings the more they diverge.

 

[VelvetViolet]

I think it depends how you run them, but Mage is insanely more esoteric and fantastical than WitchCraft in terms of the greater setting. Like, corebook on corebook they could be kinda similar, but the more you look into the settings the more they diverge.

Exactly. The settings are in the same genre, sure, but the details are wildly different.

Mage: The Ascension is about… just take a look at this screen art.

C.J. Carella’s WitchCraft is about playing people with magical powers—including psychics, wiccans, vampires, shifters, Atlantean immortals, etc.—who live secretly within muggle society.

They’re hardly interchangeable

 

[MGibster]

Well, of course, because you have problems with Mage and think WitchCraft is better. But selling that can be non-trivial.

That's really the root of the issue. What will sell? With a few exceptions, I don't think anyone knows what will sell let alone what might become the next runaway hit. Did anyone in 1991 think Vampire the Masquerade was making the way for a line of products that included 8+ games like Mage, Hunter, Werewolf, etc., etc. (not even including the Dark Ages, Victorian, or Wild, Wild West variants)? Companies stick with old White Wolf games because it's got a track history of success. It's the same reason Disney owns Marvel, Star Wars, and the Muppets now.

 

[VelvetViolet]

It doesn’t stay successful. Not continuously and not forever.

Even so, that doesn’t mean that other creators should give up and stop making things. Nowadays you can put a completely original game on kickstarter and raise a million dollars.

 

[Autumnal]

100% right on, @MGibster William Goldman said it of movies, with orders of magnitude more audience and money: “Nobody knows anything”, when it comes to what will succeed, or why anything has succeeded. It’s true to varying degrees of every field where there are new products, probably. But in any event, it’s really true of this one. Someone who could reliably pick successes would be a lot more prominent and somewhat wealthier than anyone around roleplaying games actually is.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think it depends how you run them, but Mage is insanely more esoteric and fantastical than WitchCraft in terms of the greater setting. Like, corebook on corebook they could be kinda similar, but the more you look into the settings the more they diverge.

The setting that includes incursions from outsiders that existed before the universe and Atlantis? And even more things that show up in Armageddon?

I'm afraid I just cant' see it. Witchcraft is plenty esoteric. Some of it may not be visible until the later books, but its there.