Ryan Dancey on Phase II

[Staffan]

Old RPG publishers never die, they just fade away. I think Fantasy Games Unlimited is still sort of a publisher even though they have made anything new in a long time.

I thought that was just because the owner didn't want the stuff to revert to the creators?

 

[Nikchick]

SSZ? Not familair with this one.

[/B][/QUOTE]Spaceship Zero

SSZ has received many really glowing reviews online. The Gameplay News review said, "... complete, easy to understand set of game mechanics and a universe packed with a generous array of hooks, plots, and death ray shooting tentacled things. Enough action to keep hard boiled space jockeys on their toes for the next 13 billion years." Two more print reviews that each gave the game "highly recommended" and "Grade A" ratings landed on my desk yesterday. Gamewyrd's review said, "It’ll be tragic if the game isn’t wildly successful because it’s good enough to be a run away success. "

We advertised the game in print and online, even included an ad for it in PC Gamer. It came out from a company that earned a reputation for quality (if I do say do myself) and has an established track record and distribution system.

Before you think this is all just gratuitous self-promotion, the reason I'm laying out all this info about Spaceship Zero is because it supports my next point: the game is not perceived as a wild success simply because it is not D20. Spaceship Zero is a great game, I will unabashedly say that it was a better product than any of a dozen randomly selected D20 releases from last 12 months. It's done very well for a small-press, niche game but regardless of all the talk about the D20 glut or companies dropping out of D20 publishing, it's evident to me that D20 still completely dominates the market. A non-D20 game that can reach consumers and gain mindshare with them at even the level of a mediocre D20 release is truly a runaway hit.

Because of that, I'm afraid this long-talked-about contraction of the market, with D20 publishers cashing in and closing down, is going to be all that much longer in coming if it comes at all. Roleplaying game publishers can keep their companies on life support, squeeking along for years with just the barest levels of success and reward. It's been happening for decades. If even the most mild success with a D20 game is equivilent to a wildly successful non-D20 release, I can't imagine people giving up on it any faster.

But last year what rocked at Green Ronin, well Freeport"city of adventure, and Mutants and Masterminds. I'm not sure how many people work there but 2 very good products in 1 year sounds good to me from a smaller press company than wizards.

Hey, and thanks for the kind words, Shard. Green Ronin has been two full-timers and two part-timers for the last year, with everything else contracted out to freelancers. We recently (finally!) got Hal Mangold to come on full-time this month. We all appreciate the props. It's nice to hear that people notice the extra effort.

Nicole