Shane Hensley comments on the RPG industry

[Synicism]

Not really. What I've discovered is that while my groups will occasionally play CoC, or a science fiction game, or super-heroes, whenever we return to D&D, there's always a sigh of relief. For some reason, D&D has long term play potential that none of the other games have. What this means is that anything you buy for D&D will almost certainly have use, while CoC, say, might get a month of play a year, at best.

Well, I will be the first one to admit that D&D is very, very easy to play and run. It seems to be one of those institutional games. Still, there are groups that always go back to D&D, groups that always go back to Vampire, Champions, Rifts, Palladium Fantasy, whatever it may be. Still, it's the same with all of these groups. It's like getting stuck in a rut.

 

[Synicism]

My suspicion is that the quality difference (i.e., the conversion to d20 was so well done that even veteran CoC players couldn't help but be sucked in --- I know, speaking as someone who bought CoC 4th edition and many a campaign from Chaosium) between Deadlands d20 and CoC d20 is why CoC d20 is a breakout hit, while Deadlands d20 is being dropped by its publisher.

Well, there are a couple things:

1. CoC d20 came out a lot later than Deadlands d20. In that time, developers have been able to play with the system a lot more and we've seen that variations can and do work.

2. The central failing of Deadlands d20 is, IMO, the same problem that turned me off to Weird Wars. A reasonably experienced character can survive a direct hit from a 88mm rocket/Gatling Gun/bundle of dynamite and walk away down about 40 HP. THAT'S why a lot of Deadlands fans didn't like the d20 version. "Stock" d20 (the D&D system) just doesn't work for it. It ruins the flavor of a harsh, gritty setting because characters are too damn hard to kill.

3. I bet that a Deadlands d20 that came out with a slick hardcover like the CoC or Star Wars books, with a tweaked out system like CoC's would have done much, much better. There has been a lot of innovation out there recently.

4. Someone mentioned that d20 was a lot more like Linux than Microsoft Windows. Yes and no. The Open Gaming License is a lot like the open software movement that drives Linux, and in that sense, it is. The OGL might be the single coolest thing that happened to gaming. d20, OTOH, is quite a different animal. Suddenly, there are "compatibility" issues. Books have to "follow the d20 rules," which basically means look like D&D. BIG difference, no?

5. I'm a freelancer. I write because I like to. The fact that I can get paid to do it now is great. In that respect, I love d20. In my latest project, however, I ran up against the system. Certain things "HAD" to be certain ways because that was "the way d20 worked." Thankfully, it all worked out in the end, and quite well. Still, I think it would be a lot more fun to play with the OGL than get stuck in the rigid conventions of the d20 license.

 

[Aaron2]

2. The central failing of Deadlands d20 is, IMO, the same problem that turned me off to Weird Wars. A reasonably experienced character can survive a direct hit from a 88mm rocket/Gatling Gun/bundle of dynamite and walk away down about 40 HP.

If you take damage from an 88 and walk away (i.e. with hps left) it WAS NOT A DIRECT HIT. I'm sick of this. Plenty of games have "hero points" or some such and that is exactly the same mechanic.


Aaron (sorry. Its just a sore point for me)

 

[Aaron2]

[B}I've noticed that this is a disturbing trend. Though I wonder - if you are the GM, couldn't you simply decide to try out another game? I know a lot of groups where there is one person who is always the GM.

I mean, there is so much more to roleplaying than D&D. How will a group know what else there is if they never explore other options?[/B]

I've run about half a dozen different game systems and played about a dozen more. However, I only buy d20 stuff now. d20 fans aren't all isolated loners hiding in a corner of ignorance waiting to be enlightened. We know other game. We've played other games. We prefer D&D.


I am Aaron and I am a Hack&Slasher.

 

[2WS-Steve]

I am Aaron and I am a Hack&Slasher.

Hi Aaron; I'm Steve and I'm a Hack & Slasher too!

 

[Sulimo]

Well, I will be the first one to admit that D&D is very, very easy to play and run. It seems to be one of those institutional games. Still, there are groups that always go back to D&D, groups that always go back to Vampire, Champions, Rifts, Palladium Fantasy, whatever it may be. Still, it's the same with all of these groups. It's like getting stuck in a rut.

Yeah. Our group has gone and played all sorts of games, but always seem to return to Rolemaster, and its always like putting your fave pair of slippers on again.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Except that when you boil it down, Spycraft's system is quite different. Character creation and levels work the same, but the combat mechanics are like night and day.

Except that combat mechanics don't make my list of core d20 elements.

 

[jasamcarl]

Is your business textbook written by Bazooka Joe? I think you are making a macrocosm case of a microcosm industry. It is never really a good thing when the suits are winning, because there aren't that many suits.

In the real world, business runs heavily on speculation and risk. The true motivations, success and thriving, must be placed before monetary thoughts. You have a direct focus, which brings indirect benefits.

hellbender

Do you even understand the economic fundementals that are the context to business strategy? This 'macrocosm' case works for any pseudo-competitive industry where the barrier to entrance is not that high; you seem to believe rpgs operate within a broad economic vacuum, that relative returns and input markets do not operate and in a certain respect that has been the case in the past. But someone decided to make this into a viable business, giving the broad range of consumers control over what is made and what is not. The price signals have been lit and 'suit', i.e. everyone who ascribes to a capitalist model, much higher than you give it credit for, are flooding in.

'Risk' as you call it tends to be minimized over time, because, though few consciencly place primary value on money, EVERYONE places some value on it and therefore do as much to avert risk as possible.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

I don't know what he said but, damn, he sure sounds smart in all of his posts.

 

[Duncan Haldane]

I don't know what he said but, damn, he sure sounds smart in all of his posts.

And nasty. Every post I've seen from him has been negative, attacking other people.

At least that's what I recall.

Because of this attitude I find that I seem to disagree with him before I even start reading his posts.

Duncan