[PR] OWC introduces new line: VERGO

[HyrumOWC]

OWC is pleased to announce a new line of D20 products, the VERGO line. Vergo books are D20 Toolkits usable in any campaign, in any setting, in any D20 game. Vergo is designed to be mature books aimed at exploring what makes the "dark side" attractive and alluring. While anyone can fill a book with gratuitous violence and sex, the goal of Vergo is to provide a product that explores the darker side of hummanity, all while giving GM's and players alike a useable product. Announced at the GAMA Trade Show were:

Mercenaries: Born of Blood, written by Michael Tresca
Cities: Born of Stone, written by Lizard
Magic: Born of Power, written by Aaron Rosenberg
Religion: Born of Faith, written by Owen KC Stephens
Rebellion: Born of Power, written by Caias Ward

Each of these titles explore the subject throughout "real-world" history, how they've been used in fiction, tips for using them in your game, new feats, skills, and prestige classes, as well as 6 samples for use in a fantasy game, 2 for use in a pulp/modern game, and 2 for use in a sci-fi game. Each book will be 176 pages, hardcover, and retail for $29.99.

Mercenaries: Born of Blood will be available in August 2002, with the other books being released each month thereafter. For more information on the Vergo line, visit the OWC website at http://www.otherworlds.cx/onesheet.pdf

 

[Lady Dragon]

Sounds great Some mature gaming products.And more crunchy bits.

So whats coming next in your Diomin line.I didn't think muh of the first two but the second two are vastly improved.

 

[Vaxalon]

What's "mature" about these books? I don't get it.

 

[uv23]

I'd recommend you make them softcover and take $10 off the price. Way too much hardcoveritis going around.

 

[HyrumOWC]

Sounds great Some mature gaming products.And more crunchy bits.

So whats coming next in your Diomin line.I didn't think muh of the first two but the second two are vastly improved.

Thanks for letting us know that Lady Dragon. We've been busting our butts here at OWC to constantly improve our products both in terms of content and presentation, and I think we've been doing a pretty kick ass job myself.

As for what's next for Diomin, we're finishing up Diomin: State of the Nations, vol 2, the Arak and the Gnolaum, and we've gotten the text in for DSN 3, the Tirasim and Zeredites. DSN 2 *should* be out sometime this summer, and DSN 3 this fall. After those 2 books, we'll begin working on Diomin: Revised, a complete updating of the world in terms of story, as well as a heck of a lot more content. Right now the outlines have it coming in at over 300 pages, although it won't be done for quite some time. It will be hardcover, have art from some of the top names in the industry, and be the book it was always meant to be.

 

[HyrumOWC]

What's "mature" about these books? I don't get it.

Hey Vaxalon,

By mature we mean not your standard fare, or what you'd expect from a company like WotC. The books will be dark in tone, art, and presentation, and not shy away from controversial subjects. (ie: Rape in the Mercs book, prostitution and drugs in the City book, harnessing of souls for Magic, and slavery in Rebellion.)

We're not going to go for the splat and gore, but we're also not going to pull any punches. We think most gamers are mature enough to deal with most anything, and we intend to give them books that live up to that idea.

Hyrum.

 

[HyrumOWC]

I'd recommend you make them softcover and take $10 off the price. Way too much hardcoveritis going around.

Hey uv23,

One of the reasons you're seeing so many hardcovers is that 1. retails are asking for it, 2. a lot of marketing data is showing that customers are buying hardcovers over softcovers, and 3. we (game companies) make more money with hardcovers than softcovers.

Heck, even if it was softcover we'd still charge around $25 for it. It's just the nature of the game. While I'd love to be able to produce veritable tomes for next to nothing, this is a business, and companies need to make money in order to survive.

And now for a small lesson for those who haven't heard it before....

If you've got any handy, pull out a TSR module from the early 80's. *If* they put the price on it, you'll see they charged anywhere from $7-$10 per book. That's early 1980 dollars. According to the Inflation Calculator at the Consumer Price Index homepage (a service of the U.S. Gov't that can be found here: http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl), that same book would now (2002) cost you anywhere from $12.90 ($7) - $18.42 ($10). And yet you still see 32 page modules selling for $7-$10. And the modules of today have better art, better writing, better printing, better everything. You can even take the Vampire: The Masquerade core book, which sold for $25 in 1991. Today, that book is worth $32.64. (Which is about what White Wolf is selling their core books for now.)

Again, it all comes down to being able to make money and survive. If a company isn't making a profit, that company will go down the tubes. End of story. I happen to like my job, and think we're charging a fair price for what you get. Some people might think otherwise. That too is the nature of life.

 

[uv23]

Well you can justify it all you like but from everything I've read here and heard from locals, less and less people are willing to front that much cash for non-essential sourcebooks. $30US = ~$45 CDN. I'm not about to spend that on a toolkit book. There's some real market data for ya.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I'd recommend you make them softcover and take $10 off the price. Way too much hardcoveritis going around.

Opposite shore. I love hardcovers. Stand up to punishment more and look better on the bookshelf.

 

[drnuncheon]

Opposite shore. I love hardcovers. Stand up to punishment more and look better on the bookshelf.

Ideally, hardcovers should be the books that you are going to use a lot - constantly opening, paging through, referring to, transporting, etc. My GURPS main book, for example, had its binding completely disintegrate. If I buy a main rulebook these days, I always go for hardcover if its an option.

Size is also a consideration - larger books become increasingly fragile when bound softcover. I've got some larger perfect-bound gaming books and they are the ones that tend to lose pages. 176 pages, though, is in one of those grey areas - it's either a fat softbound or a slim hardback.

For that size, at that price...I think that some of the other posters are right, it will turn off casual browsers. I'll be asking myself if the books are $5 better than, say the FFG stuff (similar page count, hardcover, $25, excellent books), so you guys will have a lot to live up to. That said, it's great to see some cross-genre products coming out, and I will be taking a look at Cities especially.

J