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Is Ghostwalk any good?
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron_Chef" data-source="post: 950157" data-attributes="member: 4530"><p>Most stay dead, or are raised. They don't go wandering around as ghosts, and certainly not as a long-term choice.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's too offbeat to perform well from a marketing standpoint.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That's not what I said at all. Both are talented writers, but creative types are notoriously bad at making business decisions, or even thinking from that perspective, not that there are not exceptions to this rule. However, creative types using other people's money (OPM) will very often strive to do something "creative" and "edgy" (translation: "financially risky") because they're not the ones who will foot the bill if it flops. OPM is a wonderful way to try out new ideas without endangering your own finances.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Actually, it's not that little-known of a fact. Most gamers will see a horde of vampires before they see a single ghost in any given campaign. Vampires are more popular as villains and easier to run than the somewhat confusing "mix and match" ghost template.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's true! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Dragonlance is extremely high fantasy, in my mind, and a completely undesirable setting for my games. I have zero interest in it. Others will, but not in the same numbers as the more generic and popular FR. Modern is well... Modern. It's not D&D.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If you'd stop trying to be flip for the sake of being flip, you'd see that this comparison is valid. Both Wraith and Ghostwalk are RPGs in which characters portray ghosts. Wraith does not sell as well as Vampire, Werewolf or most other WW "monster" games, so therefore ghosts are not as popular among gamers as a character choice. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>There you go, being flip again. WoTC executives were incredibly smart to commission the creation of 3e, and now 3.5e. 4e is only a few years away at this rate. Why? Because it's not about what's best for the game (half the 3.5e changes seem to tell us that, simply being so they can say it's "new and improved"), it's about what's best for WoTC corporate finances. It's unfortunate that corporations must make money to survive (just like the rest of us, lol), and strongarming the majority of customers to fork over $90 worth of new rule books every three years is a great way to keep the dough rolling in. WoTC has said that most of their money comes from core rules sales, so more core rules more often should equal more money for them, right? </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Sucky products that appeal to a narrower spectrum of the buying public (one player's only and one DM's only) may still outsell something like Ghostwalk, which, despite its high gloss good looks, is too strange for most gamers and will likely only be bought by mostly DMs and only a few players. Economics dictate that something with broad appeal to both player's and DM's alike will outsell anything that appeals to only one or the other. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm not afraid to call it as I see it, no matter how much some may choose to belittle me. Ghostwalk may (or may not) be wonderful and creative, but I fail to see how it will ever be a bestseller for WoTC. As a complete outsider, I predict it will do "okay" at best (by however WoTC defines that to be) and "poor" at worst (again by however WoTC defines that to be). I could be wrong, certainly, but more than likely, I am right, because everything I know (and my gut, always trust your gut instinct) tells me it will not be a bestseller.</p><p></p><p>Were I a WoTC executive, I would have played it safe (and sane) and greenlighted a project about playing vampires instead, but that's me, or possibly a book that talked about how to play undead and other D&D and movie monsters, just to be extra safe and ensure I'm appealing to as wide an audience as possible... </p><p></p><p>Any moron knows that vampires will outsell ghosts 9 times out of 10 in any media (book, movie, TV, comic book, RPG, etc.). Sometimes, things like RINGU or THE OTHERS pop up that defy the norm, and succeed wildly, but that is the movies, not RPGs. I doubt we'll see anything similar develop among gamers, and certainly not something that lasts. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite6" alt=":cool:" title="Cool :cool:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":cool:" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron_Chef, post: 950157, member: 4530"] Most stay dead, or are raised. They don't go wandering around as ghosts, and certainly not as a long-term choice. It's too offbeat to perform well from a marketing standpoint. That's not what I said at all. Both are talented writers, but creative types are notoriously bad at making business decisions, or even thinking from that perspective, not that there are not exceptions to this rule. However, creative types using other people's money (OPM) will very often strive to do something "creative" and "edgy" (translation: "financially risky") because they're not the ones who will foot the bill if it flops. OPM is a wonderful way to try out new ideas without endangering your own finances. Actually, it's not that little-known of a fact. Most gamers will see a horde of vampires before they see a single ghost in any given campaign. Vampires are more popular as villains and easier to run than the somewhat confusing "mix and match" ghost template. It's true! ;) Dragonlance is extremely high fantasy, in my mind, and a completely undesirable setting for my games. I have zero interest in it. Others will, but not in the same numbers as the more generic and popular FR. Modern is well... Modern. It's not D&D. If you'd stop trying to be flip for the sake of being flip, you'd see that this comparison is valid. Both Wraith and Ghostwalk are RPGs in which characters portray ghosts. Wraith does not sell as well as Vampire, Werewolf or most other WW "monster" games, so therefore ghosts are not as popular among gamers as a character choice. There you go, being flip again. WoTC executives were incredibly smart to commission the creation of 3e, and now 3.5e. 4e is only a few years away at this rate. Why? Because it's not about what's best for the game (half the 3.5e changes seem to tell us that, simply being so they can say it's "new and improved"), it's about what's best for WoTC corporate finances. It's unfortunate that corporations must make money to survive (just like the rest of us, lol), and strongarming the majority of customers to fork over $90 worth of new rule books every three years is a great way to keep the dough rolling in. WoTC has said that most of their money comes from core rules sales, so more core rules more often should equal more money for them, right? Sucky products that appeal to a narrower spectrum of the buying public (one player's only and one DM's only) may still outsell something like Ghostwalk, which, despite its high gloss good looks, is too strange for most gamers and will likely only be bought by mostly DMs and only a few players. Economics dictate that something with broad appeal to both player's and DM's alike will outsell anything that appeals to only one or the other. I'm not afraid to call it as I see it, no matter how much some may choose to belittle me. Ghostwalk may (or may not) be wonderful and creative, but I fail to see how it will ever be a bestseller for WoTC. As a complete outsider, I predict it will do "okay" at best (by however WoTC defines that to be) and "poor" at worst (again by however WoTC defines that to be). I could be wrong, certainly, but more than likely, I am right, because everything I know (and my gut, always trust your gut instinct) tells me it will not be a bestseller. Were I a WoTC executive, I would have played it safe (and sane) and greenlighted a project about playing vampires instead, but that's me, or possibly a book that talked about how to play undead and other D&D and movie monsters, just to be extra safe and ensure I'm appealing to as wide an audience as possible... Any moron knows that vampires will outsell ghosts 9 times out of 10 in any media (book, movie, TV, comic book, RPG, etc.). Sometimes, things like RINGU or THE OTHERS pop up that defy the norm, and succeed wildly, but that is the movies, not RPGs. I doubt we'll see anything similar develop among gamers, and certainly not something that lasts. :cool: [/QUOTE]
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