D20 Modern Spectaculars Canceled

[C. Baize]

well if i had access to a grayscale laser printer i would maybe go after the task of printing a 70+ page pdf. but right now i only have a ink-based printer, and one that cant be set to only print grayscale...

It's all good.
Just tossing options out there.

 

[jezter6]

I swear. Every time I hear this I think about staying late and printing it out at work and charging someone $20 for it.

Or maybe I should buy my own laser printer and get rich without getting fired for using 18 reams of paper a week on my office printer.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I would prefer hardcopies were it not for the fact that RPGObjects makes my favourite source books. They're cheaper, integrate well, and I always find them more fun than the WotC books. They're always really high quality, and I'd take them over an 'official' book any day of the week. Plus they always come with print versions that make the hardcopy dilemma a lot easier.

Back when RPGObjects put out wonderful softcover versions of their products, which I could actually find in stores, I ate them up (hugs precious copy of Blood & Fists). Some of the best design work in the entire d20 field, certainly leagues ahead of what WotC was doing at the time.

I've yet to buy a PDF from them because a) I hate buying stuff online and b) I find PDFs immensely inconvenient.

I understand why many companies have had to move to PDF only, but those companies are essentially dead to me. If I had to choose solely between hardcovers (ugh) and PDFs (quintuple ugh), I'd at least consider the PDFs, but as it stands I can still get at least some softcover d20 books.

 

[PosterBoy]

Back when RPGObjects put out wonderful softcover versions of their products, which I could actually find in stores, I ate them up (hugs precious copy of Blood & Fists). Some of the best design work in the entire d20 field, certainly leagues ahead of what WotC was doing at the time.

We still print book. We just release one a few days ago, one at gencon, and have more slated. We don't do it as much, but actually finding in stores is the main issue. I can't easily fix.

 

[buzz]

FYI:

http://printfu.org/

 

[hobgoblin]

hmm, i just read about hte 100$ "laptop" over on slashdot. ok, so its more like 300$ if you want to get hold of one in the developed world as you hve to pay for two that will be given away to kids in the developing world. but anyways, it would be a nice device to read PDFs on just fold it into "book" mode, fire up the pdf and presto...

hmm, the screen is in the 12" to 10,4" area of size, so i dont know how big the text will be maybe the nokia 770 instead? how is it reading a pdf on the avarage PDA?

hmm, printfu. i wonder, do they ship to europe? or is there a similar service available there?

 

[Wasgo]

how is it reading a pdf on the avarage PDA?

Painful. I wouldn't recommend it at all.

 

[occam]

didn't Hasbro recently aquire the rights to produce marvel products? If so, maybe WotC is working on a Marvel RPG.

Hmm... in the January 2006 press release from Marvel explaining the deal, Marvel chairman Morton Handel said:

Commencing in 2007, a wide range of toy and game categories – including action figures, role play and preschool toys, board games and puzzles – will be produced by our new licensee, Hasbro.

 

[Kheti sa-Menik]

Dang NDA.

I think I can safely say you won't be seeing Spectaculars in July. That doesn't mean you'll never see it, but I can't say you definitely will either.

The one thing I can say with absolutel certainty is that if the book never shows up, it's not because WotC decided to save money by doing freelancers dirty, as one poster suggested. WotC always pays for what it asks for, even if that book never gets used. I happen to know of at least one completed manuscript I wrote part of that has never seen light of day (and likely never will). I was paid in full, as was the other author on the book.

Also, the fact Spectaculars isn't showing up in July shouldn't be seen as a death knell for d20 modern in general. I'm not privvy to sales information or scheduling plans (and what I am privvy to I can't talk about), but the d20 Spectaculars issue isn't connected. While d20 Modern may or may not be selling like hotcakes, and may or may not have a robust set of releases in the near future, don't read anything into this one release not hitting shelves in 2 months.

I wish I could say more, but I don't know much and can't say what little I know. For those of you talking about looking for this book, apparently intently interested in what we've done with the mechanics, I thank you. Sorry, it won't be out in July. Hope we catch you later, on this or something else.

Owen K.C. Stephens
d20 Triggerman

This is all well and good, but I think it's owed to the consumer (not by you Mr Stephens, but by the company) to explain why such an anticpated product that has been advertised is being pulled. I think more people would be a little more supportive of WOTC if there was a bit more transperancy.

 

[philreed]

. . . role play and preschool toys . . . URL]

By which they mean things like Hulk fists and feet and costumes. Check around and I think you'll find that "role play" has been used for toys in the past.

I'm not saying there won't be a Marvel RPG. (How the hell would I know?)