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[MerricB]

So Merric (or anyone else who knows), what's the latest on this one? Is it going to be out for Christmas? I'd love to pick it up along with the expansion, but FFG has a history of delaying release dates.

No news I can find, alas, giving an accurate release date.

Mind you, they've been changing a few things (for the better, it seems).

Talisman Preview Article #1

Cheers!

 

[Shade]

I can't wait for the revised Talisman, and I'm even more excited for The Reaper Expansion.

 

[Melba Toast]

I can't wait for the revised Talisman, and I'm even more excited for The Reaper Expansion.

Does anyone know the real story behind the Black Industries/Talisman debacle?

I worked at a game store at the time of the release (last year), and from my perspective, Talisman was about as big as game industry news gets. Presales were high. It was outselling Settlers for a while, all despite a noticable lack of advertising. Then, while the game was still fresh and retailers were still moving through their stock, Black Industries folded (or did they?) and handed the keys to the caddy over to FFG.

Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of the Talisman Clusterf*ck was that the local Games Workshop Store was forbidden from selling the game. The manager told me they had received a shipment of the game when it was first released, but HQ told them at the last minute not to stock it. So they had a box of Talisman in their storeroom that they weren't allowed to open.

Personally, I've always felt Talisman was a failure of marketing. It belongs in toy stores and Walmart. The appeal is broad enough, and the game rules simple enough, to sell to a wider, non-gamer marketplace.

 

[Asmor]

Does anyone know the real story behind the Black Industries/Talisman debacle?

I don't know everything, but in a nutshell GW shut down BI so that they could focus on writing novels, which they decided was a better financial move than developing Talisman and the RPGs. At least, that's the official line.

 

[Melba Toast]

I don't know everything, but in a nutshell GW shut down BI so that they could focus on writing novels, which they decided was a better financial move than developing Talisman and the RPGs. At least, that's the official line.

But why go through the expensive process of design and production only to throw it all away? Talisman 4e could have been a good magnet game for young players, who would get funnelled into the GW minis machine, and then onto the novels, provided it was tied into the larger GW line.

And that was the other odd thing about Talisman 4e... it rejected the GW design principles which were fundamental to the previous editions.

I'm just really surprised by the lack of synergy and the lack of confidence behind it. There must be more to the story...

Maybe it GW's goal all along to sell the property off?

Maybe they needed to update the game to renew the copyright ownership?

Whatever... looks like FFG is doing a better job with it anyway.