Black Industries to produce DC Heroes RPG

[Charles Rampant]

BI is a publisher, not a developer, so it is likely they will farm it out to someone.

GR say that they make independant rules systems for games, tinkering the hell out of them to make them suit the game perfectly. I'm pretty sure I read that they do not plan to use the WFRP system for anything else.

 

[GlassJaw]

It's success will depend on the game engine. I suspect it will use something very similiar to what is seen in the new Warhammer RPG.

As long as it doesn't resemble the Mayfair system. That was brutal. Having to consult page-long tables to see if you hit was brutal. It was a cool system in theory but in actual play, it was slow as molasses.

 

[Desdichado]

Well, unlike most other gaming companies, Games Workshop has the means to support a really agressive production schedule - not to mention the ability to pay for top talent - so I suspect that it will be a hit.

Just like all of their other games besides the Warhammer duo and the Lord of the Rings games have been?

Black Industries isn't Games Workshop -- the subsidiaries are at best red-headed step-children, at worst the parent company looks at them as if they just sprouted tentacles from their eye sockets. Oh, sure, there's cult followings to Blood Bowl, Necromunda, Mordheim, Battlefleet Gothic, Warmaster, Inquisition and a few other games that are arguably supported by fanatic, but don't hold your breath for GW to throw all their weight behind this game.

 

[Ranger REG]

MEGS is the Mayfair Exponential Gaming System. It was the system developed for the original DC Heroes RPG. Mayfair lost the DC license to West End Games back in the day, and when Mayfair went under, Pulsar Games picked up the rights to the game mechanics of the system and released it as Blood of Heroes.

Last I checked, Mayfair Games is still thriving but only in the business of making board games (second to TCG as the fastest selling game type products in the market). It's too bad. Their Role Aids product line would have had a much warmer reception now than when TSR threatened to sue them in the 1980's.

 

[WayneLigon]

Given that they've already started to make concessions by eliminating Marvel names off of things (even for obscure Marvel characters and locations), they probably should have had their lawyers analyze whether they could survive an IP suit by Marvel BEFORE releasing their Make-Your-Own-Marvel-Hero generator-cum-MMORPG.

The latest news I can find is this, where most of the substative claims were dismissed out of hand by the judge.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The latest news I can find is this, where most of the substative claims were dismissed out of hand by the judge.

I figured that would be the ultimate resolution, but at least for a while, Cryptic felt they had to tow the line -- Bastion and other NPCs were renamed because they "infringed" on obscure Marvel characters, f'r instance.

 

[cthulhu_duck]

Didn't GW have it's own SuperHero RPG at one point?

Didn't GW have it's own SuperHero RPG at one point?

Golden Heroes or something (I've never played, although one of my gaming groups has some followers who want to have a blast of nostalgia and dig it out and have a game)?

Given that BI produced a second version of WFRP, is there any indication they might not do something similar, and dig out Golden Heroes (?) and try to produce an updated version?

 

[Akrasia]

...
Black Industries isn't Games Workshop -- the subsidiaries are at best red-headed step-children, at worst the parent company looks at them as if they just sprouted tentacles from their eye sockets. Oh, sure, there's cult followings to Blood Bowl, Necromunda, Mordheim, Battlefleet Gothic, Warmaster, Inquisition and a few other games that are arguably supported by fanatic, but don't hold your breath for GW to throw all their weight behind this game.

But Black Industries is aggressively supporting the WFRP game. Just look at their release schedule so far, and for the remainder of the year.

If they give half (or a third) as much support to DC Heroes, it will be a very well supported system.

 

[woodelf]

Last I checked, Mayfair Games is still thriving but only in the business of making board games (second to TCG as the fastest selling game type products in the market). It's too bad. Their Role Aids product line would have had a much warmer reception now than when TSR threatened to sue them in the 1980's.

Actually, *did* sue them. But not until `91.

 

[Desdichado]

But Black Industries is aggressively supporting the WFRP game. Just look at their release schedule so far, and for the remainder of the year.

That doesn't mean GW is throwing all their support behind it, as alluded to in the post to which I responded. The GW offices seem to have a bit of snobbishness towards RPGs and players of RPGs. They're all about their business model, and not diverting from it.

Also, keep in mind, many of those spinoff games started off with a bang, but after a few months settled down to a whimper. I've been kinda a fringe hobbyist on the edge of GW for more than ten years now, and I remember very clearly when most of those games I mentioned were released. They were all heavily supported for, oh, maybe six months or so. Then, suddenly, it was almost as if they had never existed, and it was back to Warhammer and Warhammer 40k.

Honestly, I'm not trying to be Johnny Raincloud over here; I hope all the best for this project, and I think it's got what it takes to be successful assuming someone doesn't bungle it. But I certainly don't expect to see GW throw any weight behind it.