[UA] Release schedule stuff

[Liam Routt]

Greg Stolze wrote:
> >>>> holycrow at mindspring.com 04/28/01 11:09pm >>>
> >
> >>Who buys the argument that the more supplements you put out, the more
> >>lively your line looks and the more attention it gets.
> >
> Not to be snide, but let's take a historical perspective.
> 
> 1995, or thereabouts.  Pagan puts out a couple books.  AEG is publishing a
> magazine.  I start working for both.
...
> By 2000 Pagan -- following the "a few big thick books a year" model -- has
> put out... maybe six books in its vaunted Delta Green series.  AEG, in the
> meantime, has grown from "those guys with the magazine" to "serious
> contender for #3 company in the business."

OK. But from what I read, those Delta Green books are all good books, and
the people devoted to that game are quite devoted and believe strongly in
the designers and publisher.

My feeling is that a lot of the AEG books (and City of Lies is a big
exception) were from OK to Pointless or worse (Night of 1000 Screams was
nominated in the best scenario category for an Origins award a couple of
years ago? how is this possible!). And AEGs fans may be numerous, but they
may lack insight and introspection (whatever I mean by that), and I think
there is a a palpible difference in the tennor and style of their
devotion to the company and designers. Maybe that's just me.

I think it is a question of what you are looking to achieve.

Try this. If both companies stop publishing material for their games for a
year, which ones will still be as popular then as today? Delta Green won't
suffer nearly as much as a larger market monthly-release schedule rpg.
There will still be people playing the mass market game, but they will be
grumpy and there will be a lot less of them than play the game now. The
slower cycle of support for a game/setting like Delta Green breeds a more
robust player, who thinks more about what they are given, and is capable
of playing with what they have for longer. They actually *use* all that
they are given, as well, rather than absorbing it and discarding it. And
they will still pick up the next supplement, however long they have to
wait for it.

Atlas is not, it seems to me, the company for a game that is expecting to
threaten for one of the top-sellers in the industry. It *is* the company
for a game that expects to develop a strong core following who demand
quality over quantity, and will come back time and again to get it.

> Is there a way to do that without lots of releases?  I do not think so.  I
> think that if UA drops to two releases a year, it won't go five more years
> before Atlas either sells it or shuts it down completely.  In fact, five
> years is optimistic.  I'd love to be wrong about this, and I've been wrong
> about a lot of gaming stuff in the past -- but that's my considered opinion.

As long as there is quality material being published, and being published
with some regularlity, I don't think this is as big an issue as you make
it out to be.

The publisher has to be in a position to continue to support the line, and
be realistic about it. But I don't think that a book every month is the
answer for every game system. A game like UA needs quality in the ideas
and the presentation to keep its market, not more books. As I offered
before, there *is* a point where there are enough books being published
that some people opt out of a proportion of the releases just because it
seems like too much. Four books a year probably is not that point, but six
might be. I *know* I'll buy two UA books a year, and devour them avidly. I
*might* buy four books a year, although if they seem a litle thin (size
and/or content) I might skip one. At the six-book mark I have to consider
each one in turn and be damn sure I want *it*.


My opinion is that in UA you have created a really fine game. It is strong
enough to stand on its own two feet alone with just the rules book. And
every other book you add to that simply adds to the possibilities, rather
than boxing the readers in, and none of them are required, but all have a
serious contribution to make.

This is the sort of game that lasts. It is the sort of game where every
book is of interest to every purchaser who enjoys the basic game. It is
the sort of game that supports gamers, not company profits, or game lines.

Its a way to be remembered, not make money.

And on that level I think Tynes, Stolze, and Atlas are all doing well.
Sure, it'd be great to have three or four 128-page books a year. But if
the resources are not there, I'd be happy to accept a solid two. And so
would most of the fans of the game, I'm sure.


Enough of my babbling.

Take care,

Liam
--
Liam Routt                                               liam at routt.net
Darcsyde Productions                           http://www.darcsyde.org/

        -- still waiting for the Absolute Destiny Apocalypse --

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