WFRP/40K games shut down by GW [merged]

[Sitara]

In other news...Matt Sprange was seen frantically rushing towards BI with contract papers in hand...

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I am so glad I didn't drop the $50 on Dark Heresy this weekend.

Huh. My first reaction was to try to pick the book up immediately.

Why would you lose interest? Is "support" that key for this product? You anticipate needs not already supported by the full GW line?

 

[mhensley]

I hate GW. This is absolute proof that it is run by aliens from bizzaro world. "40k rpg is run away hit and has already sold out. What we do now? Close down company of course."

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I hate GW. This is absolute proof that it is run by aliens from bizzaro world. "40k rpg is run away hit and has already sold out. What we do now? Close down company of course."

Maybe you read a different announcement than I did. Where did you see that they closed down the company?

 

[Sitara]

I hate GW. This is absolute proof that it is run by aliens from bizzaro world. "40k rpg is run away hit and has already sold out. What we do now? Close down company of course."

However in all honesty its apprent the book did not make a profit, or did not make as much as they forecasted. Perhaps it didn't even breakeven.

 

[Mark Hope]

I have it on good authority from a family member who works at GW that they are the first UK company to have coughed up the $5000 for the 4e developers Kit. WFRP and 40K will be rebranded as D&D 4e-compatible and relaunched later this year (I guess GenCon, but who knows.) To be honest, I have been waiting for this news to break for a few weeks, but I guess this is the first public announcement. I'd have thought GW would make their side of things clearer first, but there you go.

Personally, I think that the Warhammer universe (fantasy as well as far future) are natural fits for the point-of-light setting. Heck, WHFRP's Empire pretty much defined gritty fantasy gaming, so in a certain sense it's good to see the setting get the ruleset that it deserves. Never was fond of the wonky percentile mechanics of WHFRP. Too shackled to its 1980s roots imho.

Of course, all of the above would be far more shocking if it were true. As it happens I am making all of this up as I go along. It's been a slow afternoon, what can I say?

More seriously, I am a bit surprised by this move. Is there any news on whether GW will be doing the rest of the projected games themselves? It would be a real shame to see them fizzle away when the initial release was met with such enthusiasm.

 

[Xath]

There's alot of inappropriate language in this thread. Please refer to the rules:

http://www.enworld.org/faq.php?faq=faq_rules

Keep it clean: Don't use obscenities, don't use clever tricks to run around the profanity filters, and don't link to sites with inappropriate content. The "acid test" we use is the "Grandmother Rule" -- if it would be inappropriate to say to or show to our grandmothers, don't do it. I want a typical 13 year old kid to be able to come here and participate if they want to without feeling uncomfortable. This should be a minor-friendly place. Think about it this way: how do you act around strangers or work acquaintances? You watch your language and you're on your best behavior. That's the ideal we're shooting for here.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I have it on good authority from a family member who works at GW that they are the first UK company to have coughed up the $5000 for the 4e developers Kit. WFRP and 40K will be rebranded as D&D 4e-compatible and relaunched later this year (I guess GenCon, but who knows.) To be honest, I have been waiting for this news to break for a few weeks, but I guess this is the first public announcement. I'd have thought GW would make their side of things clearer first, but there you go.

Personally, I think that the Warhammer universe (fantasy as well as far future) are natural fits for the point-of-light setting. Heck, WHFRP's Empire pretty much defined gritty fantasy gaming, so in a certain sense it's good to see the setting get the ruleset that it deserves. Never was fond of the wonky percentile mechanics of WHFRP. Too shackled to its 1980s roots imho.

Of course, all of the above would be far more shocking if it were true. As it happens I am making all of this up as I go along. It's been a slow afternoon, what can I say?

Good one. I could have believed it. Except for the fact that couldn't be a cost-effective way to things. And Warhammer doesn't (traditionally at least) invoke the heroic fantasy of D&D...

More seriously, I am a bit surprised by this move. Is there any news on whether GW will be doing the rest of the projected games themselves? It would be a real shame to see them fizzle away when the initial release was met with such enthusiasm.

I only have the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay core book, but I must say I was pretty happy with what I got. I am not fond of percentile systems and so on, but I think the system was extremely solid and played well.

I can't believe it was less succesful than any of the typical D&D 3.x publishers with their own alternate players handbook or supplements out.

Well, I hope we'll hear more about that...

 

[S'mon]

AFAIK Bryan Ansell has always hated RPGs, he seems to have some kind of vendetta against them. Ever since he took over GW from Jackson/Livingstone and shut down White Dwarf as an RPG mag, GW have been roleplaying's Heart of Darkness.
(My POV may be totally out of date. I'm still burned by the demise of White Dwarf back in the '80s!)

 

[Mark Hope]

Good one. I could have believed it. Except for the fact that couldn't be a cost-effective way to things. And Warhammer doesn't (traditionally at least) invoke the heroic fantasy of D&D...

Yeah, it was just an idle whim, really, and not very well thought out .

I only have the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay core book, but I must say I was pretty happy with what I got. I am not fond of percentile systems and so on, but I think the system was extremely solid and played well.

I can't believe it was less succesful than any of the typical D&D 3.x publishers with their own alternate players handbook or supplements out.

Well, I hope we'll hear more about that...

I loved what little WHFRP that I have played and occasionally ask crazy_cat if he wants to run it for our group. I'd have been very happy to play something set in the 40K universe as well - always liked that setting. There was a very cool article in an old Dragon magazine years ago about using the FRP rules to play a 40K RPG. Ever since then I've thought that it would rock. Guess I'll have to go dig that article out and brush off my issues of White Dwarf (as if I really need another game to distract me from Mage, Elric or Dark Sun, lol!)