Review of the Revised Star Wars Core RPG Book

[Arani Korden]

...another response (erroneously) thought that d&d was the only rpg around now that got good adventure support.

What I actually said was that off-hand, I couldn't think of another current game that saw a lot of adventure support. This was a factually true statement, since it doesn't imply anything about the possible exisatence or non-existence of said well supported games. (Being pedantic is fun!)

However, it was an off the cuff remark and as much of a broad generalization as the statement I was replying to, so I'll try to be more clear. White Wolf's World of Darkness line hasn't seen much in the way of adventure support for years, and is still doing quite well. Steve Jackson Games have pretty much stopped publishing GURPS adventures, and they're still doing okay. Published adventures can be nice, but I don't believe that they are vital to the health of an rpg line.

Better?

 

[Psychotic Dreamer]

i'll state it again for (hopefully) the last time. the current licenseholder of the star wars roleplaying game refuses to publish quality adventures (save for T-F) for that game. i think that sucks, especially considering that the previous licenseholder, with few resources, was able to be very prolific in this area. i believe that quality adventure support is necessary for a rpg to survive and thrive.

West End Games also had quite a long time to build up a level of support. WOTC has not had nearly as long to build up their level of support. Right now they are trying to get informational books out. I'm sure given time they will start to publish more adventures.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Gosh. You're so perfect. I guess all of us who can't measure up to the standard you've set are just a bunch of lazy bastards who don't deserve to have a quality roleplaying experience.

I feel deep shame.

*SHRUG*

Suit yourself, but that's not what I meant at all. There were some who were complaining that they didn't have time for building adventures, because they have a family, go to work, go to church, whatever... I was trying to explain that that doesn't necessarily have to be so. Gaming is a hobby, and if you really want to play an RPG, you can make time for it like any other hobby.

Anyway...

...if you agree with the above statements, as it seems you might, then i don't think we've got a beef...

More or less, I do agree... And no, I don;t really think we do.

The point I (and a few others) was trying to make is that for WEG, Star Wars was the Primary RPG game. It was there big money maker, so they devoted a lot of time and money to it. They also had plenty of time to build up a player base, and plenty of time to get product out.

Now, WotC has D&D, which is their flagship, so to speak. It gets all the attention, because it makes all the money and the game has a monsterous and long-lived player base.

I don't think its just SW... I think that anything that WotC makes that isn't D&D will get the same sort of treatment. It just hurts SW more, because secondary publishers can't publish anything due to Uncle George's restrictions.

So, to make a long story short... Yes, I sucks that WotC isn't making more SW adventures. But I doubt Cthulu or WoT will see any anytime soon either... Give it time, we may see some.

 

[Florin]

Heh, adventures are the last thing I want to see WotC put out for SW. Give me more books like the Jedi Order and the alien anthologies. I was a bit surprised they put the Dark Side book out before the Jedi book, but that might have had something to do with the second movie coming out this May. Frankly, I buy about one adventure every two years, but I buy sourcebooks a lot more often. I've only ever run one pre-made adventure, and that was the adventure out of the back of the Wheel of Time book. Adventures are useless to me, so give me stuff I can use.

 

[Michael Tree]

i'll state it again for (hopefully) the last time. the current licenseholder of the star wars roleplaying game refuses to publish quality adventures (save for T-F) for that game. i think that sucks, especially considering that the previous licenseholder, with few resources, was able to be very prolific in this area. i believe that quality adventure support is necessary for a rpg to survive and thrive.

The previous licenseholder has a completely different licence than the current one, and probably paid less than a 10th of the licensing fees.

The reason why WotC publishes so few SW adventures is simple economics: adventures make a lot less money than sourcebooks. This is even more true with SW, because the additional license fees involved eat into the already narrow profit margins. (If you want an explanation of why adventures make less money, I'll be happy to oblige).

Add to this the fact that WotC doesn't have complete control over what books they publish. WotC must propose every book to Lucasfilm Licensing, who look not only at content and continuity, but also at projected sales. If they license WotC to publish, say 6 books per year, they're going to want those books to be profit-makers.

As for adventure support being neccessary for a rpg to survive and thrive, that is simply incorrect. Most RPG publishers publish few or no adventures, and thrive just fine. In fact, it is sourcebook support that is truly neccessary for a rpg to thrive.

D&D is an anomaly. It's only because D&D has such a large consumer base that adventures are economical to publish for it.

Please note that I'm not begrudging you your complaint, I'm just pointing out why the situation is as it currently is.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

(If you want an explanation of why adventures make less money, I'll be happy to oblige).

Simple enough... Everyone who plays the game has a use for the Rulebooks and Sourcebooks. Only the GMs, however, have any use for published adventures. At the very best, adventures should only sell a sixth to a quarter as many units as the Rulebooks.

 

[Michael Tree]

Simple enough... Everyone who plays the game has a use for the Rulebooks and Sourcebooks. Only the GMs, however, have any use for published adventures. At the very best, adventures should only sell a sixth to a quarter as many units as the Rulebooks.

That's only part of it. With the economics of scale of book printing, the more copies of a book your print, the less each copy costs. In other words, even if you ignore the fact that the same development effort is put into a book that will sell substantially less copies, you're also making less money per book because each costs more to print. This is further confounded by the public's belief that an adventure book should cost less than a sourcebook of the same size.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Aaaagh!

In all honesty, I don't care what you think about the new rules, as long as you say something that will convince King Stannis to never write to these or any other boards again.

 

[Tokiwong]

Simple enough... Everyone who plays the game has a use for the Rulebooks and Sourcebooks. Only the GMs, however, have any use for published adventures. At the very best, adventures should only sell a sixth to a quarter as many units as the Rulebooks.

Have to agree with Jack Haggerty on this one... sourcebooks and rule books tend to sell much more then adventure modules... for the simple fact that for one only GM/DMs really need them... and for me at least I might buy an dventure book once a year... many adventures come out but I doubt they sell as well rules books... and sourcebooks...

 

[King_Stannis]

Re: Aaaagh!

In all honesty, I don't care what you think about the new rules, as long as you say something that will convince King Stannis to never write to these or any other boards again.

and you are......?

oh yes, i remember. an old pantheon member - emphasis on member.

the double standard continues......