Guardians Of Order
First Post
Guardians Of Order's New Year's Message
From President Mark C. MacKinnon
31 December 2003
NOTE: This message may be reposted to other internet sites and distributed freely.
There goes another one. Sure, I could say "I can't believe another year has gone by," but I end up saying that every year now. What I can say is that it doesn't seem like December; it was 8 Celsius (46 Fahrenheit) in Guelph today and there isn't a flake of snow on the ground. In Southern Ontario, there's supposed to be snow this time of year! Not that I'm complaining at all, since I vastly prefer the warmer months. Uncharacteristic weather to match the unconventional year for us at GoO, I suppose.
I look back on 2003 with fondness, but also some disappointment. It was a good year for us, but it could have been a great year. One thing that really nailed us hard is the weakening US dollar, which as decreased our Canadian sales equivalents by about 20% since the beginning of 2003. It's as if someone is reaching into our bank account, and stealing many tens of thousands of dollars from our bottom line every month. Ouch!
In my last New Year's message, I pegged 2003 as a year of growth for us … and it certainly has been. I raise my glass in a toast to a good year, and extend my thanks to the support from all tiers of the gaming industry: distributors, retailers, and of course our fans. Cheers!
SUMMARY OF 2003
To put the year, and the rest of my message, in context, I want to recap the developments at Guardians Of Order in 2003:
* we launched our first line of miniatures, focusing on the heroes and villains of Silver Age Sentinels
* we negotiated a license to produce an RPG line for WildStorm's The Authority and StormWatch comics
* we announced the acquisition of an RPG license for George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series, A Game of Thrones
* we began work on Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide, a crossover adventure and conversions book featuring the characters from our Silver Age Sentinels and Hero Games' Champions
* we transitioned many out-of-print products to PDF format, available for a low price ($5) from RPGNow.com
* we redefined the d20 System as a balanced, point-based creation mechanic with the release of BESM d20
* we became the first third-party RPG publisher to freely release a comprehensive SRD of its d20 System game to the industry (for both BESM d20 and d20 Mecha)
* we released the Tri-Stat System as a stand-alone product for the first time as Tri-Stat dX, available both as a print product and a free PDF download
* we launched our ten-buck, entry-level Stingy Gamer Edition imprint with SAS d20: SGE
* we successfully re-branded the 8.5"x11" Ultimate Fan Guide products as a line of 6"x9" BESM supplements with the release of BESM Slayers (Book 1)
* we finally released BESM Dungeon -- after a two year delay!
* we released our first foray into fiction: Path of the Just, the superhero short story anthology
* we published the first book under our Magnum Opus creator-owed imprint: Link: West d20, by Link Media.
* we welcomed David Pulver back to our company as our full-time Anime Line Developer
In total, we released 25 products -- 22 books and 3 batches of 4 miniatures -- in 2003. That's a tremendous 56% increase over 2002 product output! Breaking down the products into lines, we have:
* Silver Age Sentinels books: 10 (40%)
* BESM/anime books (original): 8 (32%)
* Miniatures: 3 (12%)
* Anime books (licensed): 2 (8%)
* Other: 2 (8%)
Many hours of hard work went into those 25 products, and I think our effort paid off. If I had to pick just a few must-buy stellar highlights, I'd recommend BESM d20, Tri-Stat dX, d20 Mecha, From the Files of Matthews GenTech, and Path of the Just.
ANIME AND POINT-BASED D20
"d20 Redefined." That was our bold declaration for our anime role-player's handbook, BESM d20, that we premiered at Origins 2003. When we first entered the d20 waters in summer 2002 with Silver Age Sentinels d20, we made some minor modifications to the core d20 mechanic. While the core book sells well and has a host of admirers, some of the more hard-core d20 System fans didn't agree with all of our changes (who knew removing Feats would be such a big issue?). We took notes of the comments, and considered them for BESM d20.
There were two core design philosophies behind BESM d20. First, that there was a need and desire for anime-style options for the d20 System. Secondly, that the frame of the d20 System as presented in Wizards of the Coast's core books was not balanced over all classes and races … and this should be corrected. These ideas are not universally accepted by the entire gaming industry, of course, but we believed in our convictions and set to produce a balanced, deconstructed, and point-based d20 System alternative.
Apparently, BESM d20 was exactly what gamers wanted. In a year in which d20 book sales are sharply declining for nearly all publishers, BESM d20 sold out of its generous print run in 45 days and needed to be immediately reprinted. It's our most successful product since BESM Second Edition in 2000. Fan response was, and continues to be, tremendous, and even some of our previous critics were converted to our d20 approach. Gamers are using BESM d20 by itself, plugging it into their favourite d20 System games, or just using select bits in their campaigns. We are humbled by the praise, and thank everyone who gave us a chance.
SYSTEM REFERENCE DOCUMENTS -- FOR FREE!
We just didn't want to redefine the d20 System to make it better -- we wanted to provide unparalleled support to the open gaming movement (championed by my Vegas gambling buddy, Ryan Dancey) that made BESM d20 possible. In an unprecedented move by a major third-party publisher, we released a System Reference Document (SRD) of the entire open game content of BESM d20 … free of charge and concurrent with the print publication.
We knew that developers were tired of trying to decipher obscure declarations of open content, weary of reading "hey, don't touch this vital rule mechanic of our game; it's product identity" in d20 books, and unsure of the best way to obtain open content from other publishers for inclusion in their own products. By declaring almost the entirety of BESM d20 and d20 Mecha as OGC and distributing the text across the internet (http://www.guardiansorder.com/d20 for example), we made it easier for game developers to build upon our work to create innovative point-based variants of the d20 System. Our actions have made Magnum Opus particularly attractive to several publishers who have partnered with us to produce BESM d20 books for next year.
Our openness and support of OGC has helped us make a name for ourselves in the d20 crowd, I think. I've received many emails from fans thanks us for taking those few extra steps, and have read many positive message board posts as well. Amusingly, I've read a few messages complaining that we still didn't go far enough or do it "properly" … but I just shrug off those gripes as coming from people who don't understand that our SRDs are for developers and not intended to be free replacements of the print-products.
Again, I thank you.
MAGNUM OPUS -- ONE DOWN, MANY TO GO
By the end of 2002, a small handful of publishers had signed onto Magnum Opus, intending to publish in 2003. Unexpected delays prevented any other those books from making it out this year, but a summer newcomer, Link Media, debut their first MO book -- Link: West d20 -- in November. Sales have been strong, and I'd like to congratulate them on their success.
We now have over a dozen publishing partners in the Magnum Opus imprint, and I expect we'll see at least six MO books released in 2004. I'll even guess it may be as high as ten, but I don't want to put too much pressure on.
LICENSING THE BEST
George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. WildStorm comics' The Authority and StormWatch. And just recently signed, the ground-breaking anime series … well, I can't spoil the surprise yet. Sorry.
2003 has been a great year for us acquiring top-notch licenses for RPGs. Unfortunately, none of those have come out yet. The Authority RPG was always scheduled for March 2004, so there's no delays there, but A Game of Thrones RPG was intended as a late 2003 release. Unexpected delays have pushed it back to summer 2004 -- perhaps releasing close to Martin's fourth novel in the fantasy series -- but the wait will be well worth it. The game is shaping up to be one of our most intricate and intriguing to date. I won't go into length about those licenses here, but rather I'll save them for a future blog update. Suffice to say, the licensing gods were very kind to us in 2003.
REVIEW OF GoO IN 2003
Briefly, here is my review of our company's performance in 2003:
Communication: B
- With a new web design, improved message boards, and blog updates, we have the tools to give the news to you; now we just have to use them more effectively.
Effort: A
- For a 56% increase in output, we all had to give it our best.
Follow-through: C+
- BESM Dungeon and Uresia finally made it out, but Tekumel, A Game of Thrones, and more licensed BESM books did not (though, in fairness, not all delays were ours).
Innovation and Leadership: A+
- For releasing SRDs of our d20 System books, giving Tri-Stat dX away for free, forging a business/product relationship with Hero Games, and releasing the first Magnum Opus product.
Quality: B+
- BESM d20 Deluxe and many of our book covers are stunning, but I think too many editing errors found their way into our books. We'll make improvements here for sure.
Overall Analysis: B
- I was hoping to improve my review compared to last year's (also a B). I think we have improved, but my expectations have similarly increased. In 2004, I want to give us an A rating, minimum.
THE CRYSTAL BALL OF 2004
The future is always a tricky thing in this industry. You don't want to announce many ideas too early, for fear you can't follow through in time or that someone else will beat you to the punch. At the same time, fans want to know what you have planned and announcing plans early builds hype. This is what we have already announced for 2004:
* BESM Products: Fushigi Yugi: Ultimate Fan Guide #2 (Jan), Hellsing: Ultimate Fan Guide #2 (Jan), The Slayers: Next (Book 2) (Feb), BESM Space Opera (Apr), Swords, Hearts, Flowers (Apr), Fushigi Yugi: Ultimate Fan Guide #3 (Jun), Fushigi Yugi: Ultimate Fan Guide #4 (Jul)
* BESM d20 Products: BESM d20: Stingy Gamer Edition (Jan), Centauri Knights d20 (Jan), Trigun d20 (Jan), d20 Mecha Military Vehicles (Feb), Uresia: Grave of Heaven d20 (Apr)
* Silver Age Sentinels Products: Roll Call #3: Country Matters (Apr), Emergency Response #2: Sphinx Engine (Apr)
* Tékumel: Empire of the Petal Throne RPG (Apr)
* A Game of Thrones: d20 System RPG (summer), A Game of Thrones: The Book of Ice and Fire (Tri-Stat) (summer), A Game of Thrones: Role-Playing Game and Resource Book (dual-stat) (summer), Winter is Coming (summer)
* The Authority RPG and Resource Book (Mar)
* The Slayers: d20 System RPG (Mar)
ANIME BOOKS -- FUTURE PEEK
* BESM Slayers: Try (Book 3) -- the final Slayers fan guide for BESM (spring)
* BESM d20 Monstrous Manual -- point-based deconstruction of fantasy monsters for BESM d20 (summer)
* Hellsing d20 -- fan guide for the BESM d20 system (summer)
* BESM Revolutionary Girl Utena (Books 1-3) -- Three books covering the entire Utena TV series for BESM (fall)
SILVER AGE SENTINELS -- FUTURE PEEK
* Path of the Bold -- Superhero short story anthology #2 (spring)
* Empire City -- City setting sourcebook (fall)
* Artificer's Almanac -- Gadgets and Items of Power from the Artificer (summer)
* Whispering Winds -- Occult and magic sourcebook (2005)
TRI-STAT DX
* Ex Machina: Tri-Stat Cyberpunk Genre -- A genre and setting book, featuring four cyberpunk worlds by Brad Kayl & Chris Gossett, Rebecca Borgstrom, Bruce Baugh, and Michelle Lyons
STUFF WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT YET
* New major anime license (January announcement!)
* New BESM Tri-Stat books
* An upcoming card game
* An upcoming tactical game
* More Tri-Stat dX genre books
* Conversion of select Tri-Stat books into d20
* Additional license acquisitions
THANK YOU, AND GOODNIGHT
That wraps up this address of 2003. Here's to the future! If 2002 was the year of change for us, and 2003 was the year of growth, I predict that 2004 will be the year of establishment. I encourage you all to follow our progress throughout the year by visiting our website (http://www.guardiansorder.com), our message boards (http://www.guardiansorder.com/boards), and our blog (http://www.guardiansorder.com/weblog).
Thanks for reading, and best wishes for the new year!
From President Mark C. MacKinnon
31 December 2003
NOTE: This message may be reposted to other internet sites and distributed freely.
There goes another one. Sure, I could say "I can't believe another year has gone by," but I end up saying that every year now. What I can say is that it doesn't seem like December; it was 8 Celsius (46 Fahrenheit) in Guelph today and there isn't a flake of snow on the ground. In Southern Ontario, there's supposed to be snow this time of year! Not that I'm complaining at all, since I vastly prefer the warmer months. Uncharacteristic weather to match the unconventional year for us at GoO, I suppose.
I look back on 2003 with fondness, but also some disappointment. It was a good year for us, but it could have been a great year. One thing that really nailed us hard is the weakening US dollar, which as decreased our Canadian sales equivalents by about 20% since the beginning of 2003. It's as if someone is reaching into our bank account, and stealing many tens of thousands of dollars from our bottom line every month. Ouch!
In my last New Year's message, I pegged 2003 as a year of growth for us … and it certainly has been. I raise my glass in a toast to a good year, and extend my thanks to the support from all tiers of the gaming industry: distributors, retailers, and of course our fans. Cheers!
SUMMARY OF 2003
To put the year, and the rest of my message, in context, I want to recap the developments at Guardians Of Order in 2003:
* we launched our first line of miniatures, focusing on the heroes and villains of Silver Age Sentinels
* we negotiated a license to produce an RPG line for WildStorm's The Authority and StormWatch comics
* we announced the acquisition of an RPG license for George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series, A Game of Thrones
* we began work on Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide, a crossover adventure and conversions book featuring the characters from our Silver Age Sentinels and Hero Games' Champions
* we transitioned many out-of-print products to PDF format, available for a low price ($5) from RPGNow.com
* we redefined the d20 System as a balanced, point-based creation mechanic with the release of BESM d20
* we became the first third-party RPG publisher to freely release a comprehensive SRD of its d20 System game to the industry (for both BESM d20 and d20 Mecha)
* we released the Tri-Stat System as a stand-alone product for the first time as Tri-Stat dX, available both as a print product and a free PDF download
* we launched our ten-buck, entry-level Stingy Gamer Edition imprint with SAS d20: SGE
* we successfully re-branded the 8.5"x11" Ultimate Fan Guide products as a line of 6"x9" BESM supplements with the release of BESM Slayers (Book 1)
* we finally released BESM Dungeon -- after a two year delay!
* we released our first foray into fiction: Path of the Just, the superhero short story anthology
* we published the first book under our Magnum Opus creator-owed imprint: Link: West d20, by Link Media.
* we welcomed David Pulver back to our company as our full-time Anime Line Developer
In total, we released 25 products -- 22 books and 3 batches of 4 miniatures -- in 2003. That's a tremendous 56% increase over 2002 product output! Breaking down the products into lines, we have:
* Silver Age Sentinels books: 10 (40%)
* BESM/anime books (original): 8 (32%)
* Miniatures: 3 (12%)
* Anime books (licensed): 2 (8%)
* Other: 2 (8%)
Many hours of hard work went into those 25 products, and I think our effort paid off. If I had to pick just a few must-buy stellar highlights, I'd recommend BESM d20, Tri-Stat dX, d20 Mecha, From the Files of Matthews GenTech, and Path of the Just.
ANIME AND POINT-BASED D20
"d20 Redefined." That was our bold declaration for our anime role-player's handbook, BESM d20, that we premiered at Origins 2003. When we first entered the d20 waters in summer 2002 with Silver Age Sentinels d20, we made some minor modifications to the core d20 mechanic. While the core book sells well and has a host of admirers, some of the more hard-core d20 System fans didn't agree with all of our changes (who knew removing Feats would be such a big issue?). We took notes of the comments, and considered them for BESM d20.
There were two core design philosophies behind BESM d20. First, that there was a need and desire for anime-style options for the d20 System. Secondly, that the frame of the d20 System as presented in Wizards of the Coast's core books was not balanced over all classes and races … and this should be corrected. These ideas are not universally accepted by the entire gaming industry, of course, but we believed in our convictions and set to produce a balanced, deconstructed, and point-based d20 System alternative.
Apparently, BESM d20 was exactly what gamers wanted. In a year in which d20 book sales are sharply declining for nearly all publishers, BESM d20 sold out of its generous print run in 45 days and needed to be immediately reprinted. It's our most successful product since BESM Second Edition in 2000. Fan response was, and continues to be, tremendous, and even some of our previous critics were converted to our d20 approach. Gamers are using BESM d20 by itself, plugging it into their favourite d20 System games, or just using select bits in their campaigns. We are humbled by the praise, and thank everyone who gave us a chance.
SYSTEM REFERENCE DOCUMENTS -- FOR FREE!
We just didn't want to redefine the d20 System to make it better -- we wanted to provide unparalleled support to the open gaming movement (championed by my Vegas gambling buddy, Ryan Dancey) that made BESM d20 possible. In an unprecedented move by a major third-party publisher, we released a System Reference Document (SRD) of the entire open game content of BESM d20 … free of charge and concurrent with the print publication.
We knew that developers were tired of trying to decipher obscure declarations of open content, weary of reading "hey, don't touch this vital rule mechanic of our game; it's product identity" in d20 books, and unsure of the best way to obtain open content from other publishers for inclusion in their own products. By declaring almost the entirety of BESM d20 and d20 Mecha as OGC and distributing the text across the internet (http://www.guardiansorder.com/d20 for example), we made it easier for game developers to build upon our work to create innovative point-based variants of the d20 System. Our actions have made Magnum Opus particularly attractive to several publishers who have partnered with us to produce BESM d20 books for next year.
Our openness and support of OGC has helped us make a name for ourselves in the d20 crowd, I think. I've received many emails from fans thanks us for taking those few extra steps, and have read many positive message board posts as well. Amusingly, I've read a few messages complaining that we still didn't go far enough or do it "properly" … but I just shrug off those gripes as coming from people who don't understand that our SRDs are for developers and not intended to be free replacements of the print-products.
Again, I thank you.
MAGNUM OPUS -- ONE DOWN, MANY TO GO
By the end of 2002, a small handful of publishers had signed onto Magnum Opus, intending to publish in 2003. Unexpected delays prevented any other those books from making it out this year, but a summer newcomer, Link Media, debut their first MO book -- Link: West d20 -- in November. Sales have been strong, and I'd like to congratulate them on their success.
We now have over a dozen publishing partners in the Magnum Opus imprint, and I expect we'll see at least six MO books released in 2004. I'll even guess it may be as high as ten, but I don't want to put too much pressure on.
LICENSING THE BEST
George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. WildStorm comics' The Authority and StormWatch. And just recently signed, the ground-breaking anime series … well, I can't spoil the surprise yet. Sorry.
2003 has been a great year for us acquiring top-notch licenses for RPGs. Unfortunately, none of those have come out yet. The Authority RPG was always scheduled for March 2004, so there's no delays there, but A Game of Thrones RPG was intended as a late 2003 release. Unexpected delays have pushed it back to summer 2004 -- perhaps releasing close to Martin's fourth novel in the fantasy series -- but the wait will be well worth it. The game is shaping up to be one of our most intricate and intriguing to date. I won't go into length about those licenses here, but rather I'll save them for a future blog update. Suffice to say, the licensing gods were very kind to us in 2003.
REVIEW OF GoO IN 2003
Briefly, here is my review of our company's performance in 2003:
Communication: B
- With a new web design, improved message boards, and blog updates, we have the tools to give the news to you; now we just have to use them more effectively.
Effort: A
- For a 56% increase in output, we all had to give it our best.
Follow-through: C+
- BESM Dungeon and Uresia finally made it out, but Tekumel, A Game of Thrones, and more licensed BESM books did not (though, in fairness, not all delays were ours).
Innovation and Leadership: A+
- For releasing SRDs of our d20 System books, giving Tri-Stat dX away for free, forging a business/product relationship with Hero Games, and releasing the first Magnum Opus product.
Quality: B+
- BESM d20 Deluxe and many of our book covers are stunning, but I think too many editing errors found their way into our books. We'll make improvements here for sure.
Overall Analysis: B
- I was hoping to improve my review compared to last year's (also a B). I think we have improved, but my expectations have similarly increased. In 2004, I want to give us an A rating, minimum.
THE CRYSTAL BALL OF 2004
The future is always a tricky thing in this industry. You don't want to announce many ideas too early, for fear you can't follow through in time or that someone else will beat you to the punch. At the same time, fans want to know what you have planned and announcing plans early builds hype. This is what we have already announced for 2004:
* BESM Products: Fushigi Yugi: Ultimate Fan Guide #2 (Jan), Hellsing: Ultimate Fan Guide #2 (Jan), The Slayers: Next (Book 2) (Feb), BESM Space Opera (Apr), Swords, Hearts, Flowers (Apr), Fushigi Yugi: Ultimate Fan Guide #3 (Jun), Fushigi Yugi: Ultimate Fan Guide #4 (Jul)
* BESM d20 Products: BESM d20: Stingy Gamer Edition (Jan), Centauri Knights d20 (Jan), Trigun d20 (Jan), d20 Mecha Military Vehicles (Feb), Uresia: Grave of Heaven d20 (Apr)
* Silver Age Sentinels Products: Roll Call #3: Country Matters (Apr), Emergency Response #2: Sphinx Engine (Apr)
* Tékumel: Empire of the Petal Throne RPG (Apr)
* A Game of Thrones: d20 System RPG (summer), A Game of Thrones: The Book of Ice and Fire (Tri-Stat) (summer), A Game of Thrones: Role-Playing Game and Resource Book (dual-stat) (summer), Winter is Coming (summer)
* The Authority RPG and Resource Book (Mar)
* The Slayers: d20 System RPG (Mar)
ANIME BOOKS -- FUTURE PEEK
* BESM Slayers: Try (Book 3) -- the final Slayers fan guide for BESM (spring)
* BESM d20 Monstrous Manual -- point-based deconstruction of fantasy monsters for BESM d20 (summer)
* Hellsing d20 -- fan guide for the BESM d20 system (summer)
* BESM Revolutionary Girl Utena (Books 1-3) -- Three books covering the entire Utena TV series for BESM (fall)
SILVER AGE SENTINELS -- FUTURE PEEK
* Path of the Bold -- Superhero short story anthology #2 (spring)
* Empire City -- City setting sourcebook (fall)
* Artificer's Almanac -- Gadgets and Items of Power from the Artificer (summer)
* Whispering Winds -- Occult and magic sourcebook (2005)
TRI-STAT DX
* Ex Machina: Tri-Stat Cyberpunk Genre -- A genre and setting book, featuring four cyberpunk worlds by Brad Kayl & Chris Gossett, Rebecca Borgstrom, Bruce Baugh, and Michelle Lyons
STUFF WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT YET
* New major anime license (January announcement!)
* New BESM Tri-Stat books
* An upcoming card game
* An upcoming tactical game
* More Tri-Stat dX genre books
* Conversion of select Tri-Stat books into d20
* Additional license acquisitions
THANK YOU, AND GOODNIGHT
That wraps up this address of 2003. Here's to the future! If 2002 was the year of change for us, and 2003 was the year of growth, I predict that 2004 will be the year of establishment. I encourage you all to follow our progress throughout the year by visiting our website (http://www.guardiansorder.com), our message boards (http://www.guardiansorder.com/boards), and our blog (http://www.guardiansorder.com/weblog).
Thanks for reading, and best wishes for the new year!
