What did TSR do wrong?

[Ostlander]

From what I've read, the company was pretty much forced to publish the Buck Rogers game by She Who Must Not Be Named, because it'd financially benefit her family (the Dille family, descendents of Flint Dille, who created Buck Rogers).

Woa, interesting...never knew that! Ah the intrigues of thee business world.

 

[kenobi65]

When I think of wargaming, I think of Warhammer i.e Games Workshop. Given there's not one mention of Games Workshop, I suppose Greg defines wargaming a bit differently? Might be another case of "divided by a common language" .

Absolutely. He's talking about the old-school wargames, which eventually did spawn D&D. The kind of games that were the bread-and-butter output of once-big companies like Avalon Hill and SPI. Miniatures (which are at the core of GW games) often aren't used in old-school wargames; they use tokens.

There are still wargame aficionados out there, and still a few games (like Advanced Squad Leader) that seem to do all right, but he's right, it's not nearly what it once was.

 

[teitan]

I compiled the numbers a while ago.

3e had at that time still not released the same amount that 1e did, although they were getting close.

Keeping up the pace they are up to now, it'll take WotC 22 (twenty-two) years to catch up to the amount of 2e material released.

/M

That should read TSR flooded the market... OY!

 

[Dr. Harry]

With internet content instead of a magazine, I cannot read the material while riding on the commuter bus to and from work. With internet content instead of a magazine, I can't sit in my backyard and read material in the afternoon. With internet content instead of a magazine, I cannot have the magazine at the gaming table at my friend's house when he hosts a session. And so on. With internet content instead of a magazine, I cannot read through an article when I am not at my computer.

I suppose I could print out the internet content, and keep a physical copy, but that's a headache for me that would have been avoided i I simply got the paper version to begin with. Internet content is, in many ways, and for many people, simply a less convenient delivery system for the material.

Allow me to add that with internet content instead of a magazine, I cannot browse through pages and pages of ads to keep up with new stuff coming out, as necessity keeps my FLGS from staying current with everything.

I was happy that the magazines I subscribe/d to (Dragon, Dungeon, Sky & Telescope, Astronomy) none of them had ads for cigarettes or cheap beer, just stuff I actually had an interest in.

Also, there was the appeal that even when you cna't play, the magazine was kind of a link to the rest of the D&D community, the way that people will watch a movie on TV (to watch it with a lot of other people) even when they have the movie on DVD.

 

[Rothe]

With internet content instead of a magazine, I cannot read the material while riding on the commuter bus to and from work. With internet content instead of a magazine, I can't sit in my backyard and read material in the afternoon. With internet content instead of a magazine, I cannot have the magazine at the gaming table at my friend's house when he hosts a session. And so on. With internet content instead of a magazine, I cannot read through an article when I am not at my computer.

I suppose I could print out the internet content, and keep a physical copy, but that's a headache for me that would have been avoided i I simply got the paper version to begin with. Internet content is, in many ways, and for many people, simply a less convenient delivery system for the material.

Wow. Almost exactly the opposite for me, but I take a commuter train so the laptop is very easy to use, easier than magazines for me. My wireless goes to the backyard, so I don't mind. I recall I used to lug Dragon's to the gaming table then found I only needed a page or two, so I'd type up what I needed, copy or cut it out.

For magazine content that I might want to keep or use, electronic format is vastly preferred. I just have too much paper around, one less pile of magazines would be great. I'd also hope it is more environmentally friendly using much less papaer as not everyone is likely to print out more than a magazine's worth.

I am saddened by the thought it might just fade away, as a much beloved magazine of my youth. I would literally ride my bike 10 miles one way to the nearest FLGS in town to buy it when it came out. Those were the days.

 

[Ostlander]

Absolutely. He's talking about the old-school wargames, which eventually did spawn D&D. The kind of games that were the bread-and-butter output of once-big companies like Avalon Hill and SPI. Miniatures (which are at the core of GW games) often aren't used in old-school wargames; they use tokens.

There are still wargame aficionados out there, and still a few games (like Advanced Squad Leader) that seem to do all right, but he's right, it's not nearly what it once was.

D&D began as a miniatures wargame called Chainmail. I saw it once years ago...a friend's parents had it actually...it's hard to believe that little box started it all and that it has evolved into a 4rth edition of the game.

Things will change and I believe we all have to remember that it is a business and the primary motivation of the business is to MAKE money. If there is a high enough demand and or outrage over the loss of the mags, I'm sure WOTC will revive them.

 

[deimos3428]

D&D began as a miniatures wargame called Chainmail. I saw it once years ago...a friend's parents had it actually...it's hard to believe that little box started it all and that it has evolved into a 4rth edition of the game.

Small point of order: Chainmail is a booklet. There's no box. You can usually find a copy or two on eBay for a reasonable price. I highly recommend picking up a copy.

 

[Ostlander]

Thanks for the correction...they had it in a brown box (maybe it was a deluxe edition or something, who knows, I was young) when I saw it. I wanted a copy when I was older for a collection piece. I will check out the ebay for it, lol. It should be interesting to see how much they're going for.

 

[Storm Raven]

Thanks for the link. That's an excellent article.

When I think of wargaming, I think of Warhammer i.e Games Workshop. Given there's not one mention of Games Workshop, I suppose Greg defines wargaming a bit differently? Might be another case of "divided by a common language" .

I think the article was also written at a time before GW became a major player in the game industry.

 

[kenobi65]

I think the article was also written at a time before GW became a major player in the game industry.

Well, certain mentions in the article (GenCon '96, TSR still mentioned in the present tense) definitely point to it originally being written in the latter part of '96, or maybe very early '97.

GW was undoubtedly a significant presence then (I admit to never following them much), though they might be even bigger now. Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure that Warhammer wasn't what he had in mind when he was talking about wargames (esp. hex-map-based wargames, a la SPI or AH).