[WFRP] Hogshead Closes Doors

[MerricB]

I'm interested in the following quote from that second interview:

James Wallis Interview the Second

I thought D&D3e was a step in the right direction but I'm not seeing it pulling new players into the fold, or even old players back into the fold. All I'm seeing is a way of making existing players spend more money each month, and that can't last.

Hmm... looking around my gaming tables, I see four or five of the nine players I play with having been introduced to the game in the past two years. Of course, I'm an experienced DM, but to a large part I've felt the master-apprentice structure has always been the best way of introducing new players to RPGing.

Cheers!

 

[Henry]

I just saw this thread, and was a little surprised at some of what I saw.

Let's not have any further bashing or even semblance of bashing of James or Hogshead Publishing. If you don't like their work, it's perfectly valid to say so, and why, but personal attacks are right out.

 

[Henry]

That said, I read his interview, and I can perfectly understand where he is coming from. If I had to spend most of my day doing the accounting of running a business, I'd go a little nuts too! Some people absolutely love the day to day of running a business and its accounting - but most game designers just don't seem to have that as a desire.

I personally hold no ill will for the man deciding to go out and make a better living. I'm all for it. I congratulate him on not only turning those game lines over to the hands of others, and thereby not disappointing fans, but also for having the courage and good foresight to go out on a positive note.

 

[Henry]

Hmm... looking around my gaming tables, I see four or five of the nine players I play with having been introduced to the game in the past two years. Of course, I'm an experienced DM, but to a large part I've felt the master-apprentice structure has always been the best way of introducing new players to RPGing.

I have to concur here. I think the addition of new players is perception by area. It's also cyclic, in my experience. I have personally been party to addition of three new players in our gaming group in the recent past, and saw several who had left D&D, return to it.

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

Hmm... looking around my gaming tables, I see four or five of the nine players I play with having been introduced to the game in the past two years. Of course, I'm an experienced DM, but to a large part I've felt the master-apprentice structure has always been the best way of introducing new players to RPGing.

Same here. 3E brought back this old 1E player to RPGs. In my two groups, there are 4 D&D players that have returned to RPGs because of 3E, and 2 new players, 1 of which was brought to the table by me running Masks d20, and stayed when the group returned to D&D.

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

That said, I read his interview, and I can perfectly understand where he is coming from. If I had to spend most of my day doing the accounting of running a business, I'd go a little nuts too! Some people absolutely love the day to day of running a business and its accounting - but most game designers just don't seem to have that as a desire.

That's one reason to hire a business manager. Now, most RPG firms don't have the money to hire one, and hiring a bad one is worse than hiring no one, hence it may not be a viable solution to Hogshead, but I'd say that the business managers for WotC have done a fantastic job so far. Ryan Dancey is easily one of the smartest guys in the business, and Anthony Valterra's pretty cool too.

 

[Desdichado]

Based on reading that exchange on RPG.net I'd have to say that Thorin is right, Mr Wallis acts like a holier than thou a**hole whose game is above d20 players and those who don't see the merit must be lowbrow morons who can't grasp such heady concepts. Reminds me of talking to Vampire: The Pretention fans at the FLGS.

Oddly enough, I've often had that impression reading your posts about 1e vs. 3e...

 

[Desdichado]

My current gaming group -- four "prodigal son" gamers (although the release of 3e was only partially responsible for that -- changing circumstances in our lives also contributed) and four new players. Exactly the opposite of Wallis's observations! Another group I gamed with recently, though, included mostly guys who never quit playing.

 

[Roland Delacroix]

Ok, im a business guy

As such I noticed a few claims Wallis seems to make. he begins by blaming d20 for soft re-orders, as if it was a bad thing leading to the ultimate destruction of the industry. One interpretatation, more business/economics orientated, could be that the flood of new product is merely giving buyers more choices. Gamer A is still buying X dollars in product a month, he's just not buying YOUR crap anymore when there is better stuff out there. In the long run this will do to gaming exactlly what filesharing is doing to music. If you want sales your product better be GOOD.

He makes the correct point that he would need to revise his business model to survive, but then tries to say that doing so would result in a lesser product. If thats the case he was right to leave, if he can't do it someone else will.

This part cracks me up:

I will be working with professionals who are likely to edit my work properly, print it when they say they will, and pay on time.

And this:

sales director of [major but failed CCG company], who was caught at LAX with a briefcase full of cocaine

Could be anyone. The only CCG i can think of being close to (currently) 'succesfull' is L5R.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and the number of people 3e has brought back to gaming is enormous. I can't count the number of 1e players who got out and then back in with the advent of 3e. Who does he think is buying all those PHB's? Is he trying to imply its all a big scam by some kind of 'd20 cult' reminiscent of 'Dianetics'?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Hmm... looking around my gaming tables, I see four or five of the nine players I play with having been introduced to the game in the past two years. Of course, I'm an experienced DM, but to a large part I've felt the master-apprentice structure has always been the best way of introducing new players to RPGing.

Cheers!

I happen to be one of those who was brought back into the fold by 3e.