Why so anti-Palladium

[Krieg]

I could probably live with most of the issues mentioned above, which are pretty much all valid...however the thing that gets under my skin the most is the Siembiada's themselves.

I'll leave it at that.

Palladium and RIFTS are NOT the same game. Rifts had the power creep, Palladium did not UNLESS you imported the RIFTS rules.

Personally I like Palladium, but seriously dislike RIFTS. I loved the Wolfen and the Changlings plus the detail of the world. I even like the magic system and artifacts and "Old Ones".

To clarify a bit.

Palladium is the publisher's name.

Treebore is referring to the "Palladium Fantasy RPG".

 

[Ottergame]

"So by all your accounts they are just really lousy people who don't really care about their customer base?"

No, quite the opposite. They are to protective of their products, they'd rather threaten and lose a few customers then have conversions produced that will lead to a drop in sells, and lose their loyal fans.

But the company is one of the relics of the past. Massively flawed in house rule system THAT SHALL NOT BE CHANGED, guy in charge with an ego that's overly inflated, and no attempt at all to bring any sort of balance into the mix.

One reason why their books are so inexpensive is because their production values are so low. Editing is done half-assed, art ranges from bland to stick figure-like, and play testing seems to be a joke. While a few good ideas come from them, they can't follow through with them with good rules. But, their player base is more of the munchkin variety, so play balance isn't really required anyhow.

 

[Ottergame]

I could probably live with most of the issues mentioned above, which are pretty much all valid...however the thing that gets under my skin the most is the Siembiada's themselves.

His wife isn't quite as bad as Kevin himself is, but Kevin sets the bar pretty low to begin with...

He's pretty much a raving egomanic and a control freak, but Palladium is his baby, so it's not really so bad. He gets things done his way, and his company continues to make books in spite of it all. How Palladium didn't explode into a flaming ball of poop years ago I'll never understand.

 

[Psionicist]

Sorry, this is off topic, but Palladium was the former name of Microsoft's new creepy operating system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next-Generation_Secure_Computing_Base

 

[Treebore]

Yes, I am refering to the Palladium Fantasy RPG, which happens to be the name of the company as well. But RIFTS and the fanatasy RPG are definitely not the same monster.

If I found people who like and wanted to play the Palladium Fantasy RPG I would do so in a heart beat, irregardless of its flaws it is still a very cool world and a fun time to be had by all.

Yes, Kevin has his people relations problems, I had a series of personal e-mails with his wife abot 5 years ago and all I can say from those is that she seemed to be a very nice person. Definitely seemed like a night and day couple to me. He is the darkness and she is the light that kept/keeps him sane. Or sane enough, or whatever the case actually is.

I will agree that their attitude, at least Kevin's, sure doesn't convey the idea that a customer is important. Plus I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't run into nearly as many Palladium OR RIFTS fans like I used to. Especially since the year 2000. Coincidence? I think not.

But I still love the world of Palladium, but not RIFTS.

 

[jester47]

I could probably live with most of the issues mentioned above, which are pretty much all valid...however the thing that gets under my skin the most is the Siembiada's themselves.

Sounds like we need a Gen Con Fight Club!

A.

 

[Khur]

A few persons have made vague statements about how the Kevin S. is a raving egomaniac. Can you provide some examples, links to examples, or some other kind of support for this assertion? I'm not suggesting anyone is lying; I'd just like to see the evidence and decide for myself.

And what happened in 2000 that's so bad the Palladium line lost fans?

I ask these things merely for my own education on this subject. I played and enjoyed the Palladium RPG long ago, but I never bought into RIFTS. Even to my then young mind, it screamed "unbalanced"! I had no idea about any controversy about Palladium, though.

Is anyone willing to explain in more detail?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

And what happened in 2000 that's so bad the Palladium line lost fans?

A little thing called D&D 3e. Maybe you've heard of it?

 

[Khur]

A little thing called D&D 3e. Maybe you've heard of it?

** Khur is hit in the face by the obvious answer, never supposing it was so simple.**

Thanks.

 

[Doug McCrae]

So why do you not like Palladium?

The system's crap. It's like 1e/2e D&D but with added complexity.