[WFRP] Hogshead Closes Doors

[Numion]

As an old WFRP fan I'm saddened by these news:

GAME OVER! As of 30th November 2002, Hogshead Publishing Ltd is leaving the adventure-gaming industry.

Please note that the company is not going bankrupt. It is refreshingly solvent. However we are bored, creatively frustrated, and increasingly despondent about the future of the specialist games industry. After our successes in 2002, particularly the mould-breaking and critically acclaimed games Nobilis and De Profundis, we think we've gone as far as we can, and this seems a suitable high-point on which to call it a day.

From their website. Sad indeed, though their lousy support for the game is what drew me away from it...

 

[Tsyr]

As an old WFRP fan I'm saddened by these news:



From their website. Sad indeed, though their lousy support for the game is what drew me away from it...

Yeah, this is a sad day. At least the selfish part of me can be clad that they sold off their major titles, so that the lines should continue.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

From the Hogshead Website:
... We are bored, creatively frustrated, and increasingly despondent about the future of the specialist games industry... That's it. Nothing more to see. We now return you to your regularly scheduled status quo.

Is that the angst-ridden cry of the bitter game designer I hear?

Don't get me wrong, I love Hogshead for what they did for WHFRP, but I'm going to take a little leap of logic here and surmise that they aren't happy that Joe Gamer is happy with d20.

What is it with game designers and that "blame the masses" attitude?


Wulf

 

[jgbrowning]

Is that the angst-ridden cry of the bitter game designer I hear?

Don't get me wrong, I love Hogshead for what they did for WHFRP, but I'm going to take a little leap of logic here and surmise that they aren't happy that Joe Gamer is happy with d20.

What is it with game designers and that "blame the masses" attitude?

Wulf

I think many game designers are the players that thought, "I can do this better..." when they first played. It probably leads them down the path of "my game is better" and if you can't see that you're not as "good" as me.

I view it to be hand-in-hand with the gamers who think certain games are better than others, as opposed to understanding its really just about preference.

I could be wrong, i'm not a game designer. It could be that the masses just suck.

joe b.

 

[Gez]

Weren't they the guys who were supposed to adapt Bloodlust ?

Oh, and it's true the mass suck. I can see it everyday. However, RPGs are already quite an elitist niche market. Sure, it's getting a wider recognition now with the success of computer RPGs, the end of most witch-hunts, and -- speaking for my own country, as I don't know the situation in others -- the emergence of a new litterature, both in novels and in BDs (the French version of comics or manga), inspired by RPG worlds and frequently written by gamers or designers. I don't speak about things like TSR novels on TSR worlds, but about books published by "true" (generalist) publishers, and not necessarily set in a given RPG setting. But there are similarities and references frequently obvious. It's part of the same culture.

Still, gamers are an elite. One can choose to be even more elitist and reject the most popular RPGs because they're popular, but that's a little ridicule IMHO. This can be justified about pop-music, movies, videogames; but table-top RPGs are far from a real massmarket position.

 

[Legion]

Truly sad

I don't care what the reasons are, this is a blow to RPGs. I loved that Hogshead pushed the envelope on how games are played. In the mid 80s I left DnD to play Warhammer. And even now, if I use other fantasy setting rules, Warhammer has the greatest influnece on the feel of my campaign.

James and all, you did a great service for us over the years. Thanks!!!!!!

 

[Krug]

Ah a sad day. However, it was GW that pretty much defined the world. Hogshead just took over the FRP part of it.

 

[HellHound]

Forget WarHamster! This also means that SLA Industries is ALSO without a publisher again!

GAH!

 

[Numion]

WFRP will always have a special place in my heart. It's sad we never got the Empire in Flames reprint (Empire in Chaos?), which was supposed to come out in, wha, 2000?

I remember when I as a wee lad saw that thing on the shelf of the gaming store.. oh gods why did I not buy it? (I had no money, and greater interest in WRFP came later, but that's not dramatic enough )

edit: or did we get it? I'm been out of the WFRP loop for a while. Did they publish it?

 

[CCamfield]

Don't get me wrong, I love Hogshead for what they did for WHFRP, but I'm going to take a little leap of logic here and surmise that they aren't happy that Joe Gamer is happy with d20.

What is it with game designers and that "blame the masses" attitude?

I don't think it's fair to make an assumption about someone's reasoning and then blame them for it. To quote James Wallis' post on rpg.net:

"Ogrecave will be posting an interview with me later today, which explains more of the whys and wherefores. But this was not a snap decision: it's been in the pipeline for around 15 months. We figured we'd release Dwarfs, get a month of sales out of it, and pull the plug. Parachutes and safety- nets are in place. This is a graceful swan-dive into oblivion, not a despairing leap from the bridge on the bypass."

If d20 is involved, it might be that there isn't as much of a financially sound future for the WHFRP, but it might not be a factor.