Shared Experiences: Worlds Largest Dungeon, Shackled City or Other?

[JoeGKushner]

Wow, Shackled City is a great product but seriously, if people are choosing it for these reasons.. :\

The lure of the official product is strong. Dungeon and Dragon magazine, in my opinion of course, would not still be around in print if they weren't official magazines.

Of course the full color maps, interior, etc... are other strong reasons why some like the product, despite those things not necessarily... adding to the utility of the product (and in some cases, those maps might be better off if they were a little simplier!)

 

[jdrakeh]

Note that the Mayfair version of the CSIO has nothing to do with the original JG version

Well, that isn't true - it was a licensed product and does cover a lot of the same ground, albeit in a different light.

or the new JG/Necro version.

You are right about that. The Necromancer version is based wholly on the JG material.

It is a horrible aberration, best ignored.)

The Mayfair version had its problems, but in fairness, so did the JG version (the Mayfair version trumped the JG version where basic presentation was concerned, for example).

 

[Crothian]

The lure of the official product is strong.

and I have no idea why that is.....

 

[JoeGKushner]

and I have no idea why that is.....

Surely you do.

Official products have the mist of being better products simply because they're official.

I'm not saying that they are better but they are generally better known, have more hype, and have more fans.

Take Goodman Games. Some fantastic adventurers. Their forums are no where near as busy as say Wizards of the Coast. Most companies, even those with busy forums, are not.

It's a matter of scale in some instances.

 

[Crothian]

Surely you do.

Official products have the mist of being better products simply because they're official.

Ya, they have perception of being better but in my reality of seeing d20 stuff I know the Official really means nothing to me.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Ya, they have perception of being better but in my reality of seeing d20 stuff I know the Official really means nothing to me.

So see, you do know that they have the perception of being better! You may not agree with it (and I'm in that camp too), but it is the way it is.

 

[jdrakeh]

Ya, they have perception of being better but in my reality of seeing d20 stuff I know the Official really means nothing to me.

I'm in pretty much the same place - I've done a lot of reviews (both private critiques for publishers, as well as public critiques for certain web sites), and see no correlation between official status and good quality (or, for that matter, between 'Winner of Award X' and good quality).

 

[Crothian]

So see, you do know that they have the perception of being better! You may not agree with it (and I'm in that camp too), but it is the way it is.

Well, it still amazes me it matters to some people.

 

[Keith F Strohm]

If I got the signals right, Shackled City didn't really sell that well, despite its good reputation here on EN World. Age of Worms sees some buzz, but that's just from Dungeon subscribers, and how many are those?

Turjan,

Shackled City sells (present tense) quite well. The initial preorders were lower than we had anticipated, but once the buzz was out on the street, sales strengthened and continue to this day. We sell Shackled City fairly regularly and I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes an "Evergreen" product--one that continues to sell month in and month out.

Every week there are more people who are taking their first plunge in to the SC AP, and they in turn convince other people to give it a try.

I think that Age of Worms definitely has the potential to be an even bigger hit--and the buzz isn't just from subscribers. Sales of Dungeon continue to increase month over month, and the Age of Worms is a big part of that success.

Keith Strohm
Chief Operating Officer
Paizo Publishing, LLC

 

[Qwillion]

I run the wld and find it to be a great deal of fun, and the shared experiance is well worth it, If I was not already running Wld I would be looking at SC and AoW; So when I get done with the WLD I will probably buy one of them.

assuming the World's Largest City is not out by then.