Down the hatch

So we just released B&G II: Deep Blue Sea and I just got my first look at the PDF for B&G II: On the Ground.

The draft for the GM's Guide to WWII is done, and the draft for WWII Small Arms is underway.

I love being busy.

10 Questions plus 1! Russ Morrissey

Russ Morrissey is the head honcho of two important RPG entities, ENWorld, the single largest d20 fan sit on the web and ENPublishing, one of the largest PDF companies. As such, he might have his finger more on the pulse of the game community than any other single person. For that reason I am delighted to have him as my third guest here at 10 Questions. In fact, since he wears so many hats, he gets 11 questions!

1. What do you see as the “next big thing” in gaming?

4E, I guess, whenever that appears - assuming you mean RPGs.

2. RPGNow and Drivethru recently merged. What do you think this means for the PDF market?

I don't think it's nearly as dramatic as it has been made out to be. Those two sites merged, ENGS closed, a couple of other sites opened. Some publishers moved from one site to another, in both directions.

EN Publishing has seen a sales increase at RPGNow/DTRPG over the past 3 months; I hear that experiences have varied from one publisher to the next. In the long run, though, it's business as usual.

3. Related to question #2, where do you see PDFs specifically headed in the next year.

I'm not sure I understand the question. I don't anticipate any *major* changes in the nature of PDF publishing. ENP is trying to promote the subscription model heavily throughout 2007 - I know a couple of companies have done this already, but we'll be interested in seeing how things work out with it. So far, pre-orders of the subscription have been very high indeed.

4. Now look further into the future. Where do you see PDFs five years from now?

Lots of varied smaller shopfronts; possibly some specialization amongst them. Electronic product as a whole will increase its market share - heck, even WotC is gearing up its new subscriber-based online resources.

5. How did you get into the RPG business? What was your first job in the industry?

My first "experience" in the industry was EN World. My first "job" was launching EN Publishing (then called Natural 20 Press) with "Wild Spellcraft".

6. If you were just starting out today and were ready to try and break into the RPG business, what would be your first step?

I don't think I'd bother! There are easier ways to make a living. But PDF publishing, rather than being the "hobbyist" end of things, is becoming more and more accepted, and is a good first step.

7. What was the first RPG you ever played?

It was a wargame which I thought was an RPG - the Warhammer black & white boxed set. I was 11 or 12, and misinterpreted the rules and ended up playing it as what I later learned was an "RPG".

8. What are you playing right now?

D&D. Age of Worms Adventure Path. To be followed by EN Publishing's War of the Burning Sky Campaign Saga.

9. If you could snag any licensed property for an RPG, what would it be?

Eh.. ummm. It would have to be DC Comics!

10. What’s coming up for you? Sell me something damnit!

ENP has two major lines for 2007:

WAR OF THE BURNING SKY - hopefully you've heard about this! If you haven't, I haven't been doing my job very well. It's a massive Campaign Saga. 12 adventures, available individually or as a subscription, plus a Players Guide and a DM Campaign Overview (the last two will be free). We're also thinking along the lines of art books and stuff for the saga. It's going to be REALLY good. More info here.

The other major line deals with organizations. Each book will detail a specific organization, such as a thieves guild, a magic school, a town guard, an evil cult, a clerical order, a knightly order and so forth. Each will detail the organization, with maps, NPCs, an adventure involving them, etc.

11. Bonus Question: Before I broke into the business, I read about being involved in RPGs at ENWorld, which I first heard of in Polyhedron Magazine of all places. Could you tell me what it’s like to run THE d20 fan site?

A mix of pleasure and pain! At times it's a lot of hassle, but at other times it's a joy to do. It gives me the chance to be involved in a wonderful community, to do things and branch out with things I'd not be able to do otherwise. On balance, it's a very positive experience - I can't imagine not doing it.

Thanks again Russ! And you gentle reader, stay tuned, 10 questions isn't quite out of volunteers yet, with Joe Browning and Gareth Michael Skarka up next.

Chuck

Old School Review: The Invaders

As part of my great comic book buy from the 70's recently, I picked up a complete run of the Invaders (41 issues).

For those who don't know the Invaders is a comic set in WWII starring Marvel's three greatgolden age heroes: Captain America, the Human Torch (the original android, not the one in the Fantastic Four) and the Sub-Mariner.

Written by Roy Thomas, long-time scribe of the Avengers, X-Men, Conan and Red Sonja, the Invaders is purposely written in a throwback style to Marvel's golden age.

It features appearances by Adolf Hitler. The heroes have sidekicks (Cap has Bucky, Human Torch has Toro) and a lot of the villains are purposely on the cheesy side (Baron Blood, a Nazi vampire being the favorite here).

As the series goes on, new heroes and villains begin to appear and these are by far the highlight of the series. British superheroes Union Jack (best superhero name of all time) and Spitfire, villains Master Man and Baron Blood. It's silver age comics at their best. Light hearted, unafraid to be what they are.

To the best of my knowledge the Invaders have never been collected into a tradeback. You're nosing into a slightly obscure corner of the Marvel Universe here. That said, for those willing to look into back issue collections online, it's not that expensive either.

I picked up low quality copies that averaged about a dollar an issue (or about a third of the cover price of a brand new comic). If you want high quality copies of course it'll cost more, but I went with Good quality comics that I wouldn't feel bad about packing around with me and actually reading.

There's more old school reviews on the way, with the rest of my big-ass comics buy to look at. I also got an awesome new Marvel Masterworks that I will be reviewing in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Blood and Guts II: Deep Blue Sea released

Well it took us awhile thanks to the holidays, but Blood and Guts II: Deep Blue Sea has finally been released and can be found at RPGNow.

You can find more infromation here.

Dancey speak...

you listen.


And don't neglect to read the comments either, because personally, that's where one of the best insights he offers is:

As a gamer, this is a mini-golden age: a little work on my part and I have access to a wider, and more diverse set of product offerings than have ever been commercially available at any one time before. Via the internet, I can find and join communities of people who share my interests, and often interact directly with the people who make those games in ways never before possible. That's incredibly exciting!

My business focus is on the "industry" side though -- the people I know who are trying to build companies and earn a living making and selling games, and for those people, there are real structural challenges that threaten their ability to succeed; and I find exploring those issues to be perpetually interesting.

This is DEFINITELY true.

As a gamer myself, I understand why many of my fellow gamers can't wrap their minds around the idea that business isn't great right now, because it's a great time to be a gamer.

Unfortunately, one of the many messed up aspects of the gaming "industry" which perpetually forces 99% of all companies to more like hobby boutiques than real companies is the fact that great times for gamers and great times for game companies don't necessarily co-exist.

In fact, in most cases, it seems like you have to pick one.

Video Game Review: Sega Genesis Collection

Classic compilations of old games is a genre that's harder to do than you'd think at first. Emulating an older system with new hardware isn't easy, but even worse at times is that new controllers just aren't built like old controllers.

And of course, a lot of old games just don't hold up that well. I remember thinking Pitfall was *awesome* in the arcade. Now? Not so much.

Still, when I saw Sega Genesis Collection, I snapped it up, largely because of the price. I figured, for 20 bucks, how bad could it be.

As it turns out, it's really GOOD. The games I bought the collection for, Sonic, Sonic 2 and Columns are all great and there are some games I played only a little in the Sega days, like Ecco that appeal to me more now than they did then.

And I've even discovered a game I had never heard of, Flicky, that I am totally addicted to.

The ports are all pixel-perfect and the control scheme just works. You don't even notice that you're using a controller with about 6 more buttons than the class Genesis controller.

10 Questions Fraser Ronald

Fraser Ronald is a d20 writer and owner of Sword's Edge Publishing. Their three major lines are Modern Medieval, which presents fantasy classes using the d20 Modern rules, Roles and Classes, which present modern military and espionage classes for d20 Modern and Spec Ops, which provides modern special operations and adventure material.

They have also written a book for Blood and Guts detailing the British special operations forces, B&G II: In Her Majesty's Service. They are a contributor to the Modern e-zine, Modern Dispatch.

Finally, he is the host of the Accidental Survivors podcast that I have spoken of in earlier posts.

I sent Fraser the same questions I asked Phil Reed earlier this week.

1. What do you see as the “next big thing” in gaming?

There are games coming out of the Forge and Indie Press Revolution that dispense with the idea of a GM, making the game more cooperative. That idea intrigues me. There is also an espionage game called “Wilderness of Mirrors” which has the players actually dictate the obstacles which they must overcome. This kind of cooperative gaming, as opposed to having an adjudicator or judge of some sort (like a GM or Storyteller), is very exciting. I don't think it's for all tastes, but I think its a natural evolutionary step in RPG gaming.

2. RPGNow and Drivethru recently merged. What do you think this means for the PDF market?

I was one of the people not particularly pleased with the situation. It creates a behemoth that is very tough to compete against. It allows a single organization, based on its market share, to dictate terms to publishers. There was a lot of argument on whether the merger created a monopoly. I think time will tell.

Now, how could that affect the PDF market? Simply put, the actions of OBS (the merged RPG Now and DTRPG) may be seen by many as the actions of the PDF industry as a whole. If OBS creates a negative impression, that could drive people away from the PDF market. Also, one would expect a merger to create savings, but either this has not been the case, or those savings have not been passed on to the publishers, who have actually seen an increase in costs. This could (and in some cases has) drive the price of PDFs up, making them less attractive. With a lower profit margin, many smaller publishers could disappear, and we might miss the next big thing.

We are already seeing new electronic storefronts popping up, the question is how will these e-stores compete against OBS. It seems, for the most part, these e-stores are letting the publishers do that. By offering lower commissions to the publishers, they offer the publishers incentives to direct traffic their way, in essence, advertising for them. Still, I would be surprised if any other e-store offers OBS serious competition, at least in the near future.

3. Related to question #1, where do you see PDFs specifically headed in the next year.

I'm not good at predictions. I would guess that we may see fewer PDF publishers. To some extent, that's already happening. I think a lot of the smaller publishers will either disappear or get swallowed. Is this a bad thing? Well, in some ways yes but in other ways no. Losing smaller publishers means many niche products won't see the light of day. On the other hand, a lot of people think there are too many products already.

4. Now look further into the future. Where do you see PDFs five years from now?

I expect publishers will continue to push the envelope of the digital format, trying to create something other than electronic books. Already Silven Publishing has included sound clips with a PDF. I would expect that we'll see more innovations like that. What about video clips? Maybe even links to online resources only accessible through the PDF link.

Also, as younger people—comfortable with reading off a screen—enter gaming, I expect the PDF market will expand. The big complaint right now is that people don't like to read off their screens. For those who grew up with computers, this is going to become less of a difficulty.

5. How did you get into the RPG business? What was your first job in the industry?

In all honesty, I can't remember how I got in touch with Neal Levin at Dark Quest Games, but my first job was a really short piece of fiction. It never got used, but Neal liked my writing and gave me a major part of Gnomes: Masters of Illusion to work on.

6. If you were just starting out today and were ready to try and break into the RPG business, what would be your first step?

I was lucky because I didn't really have a hard time getting my first two gigs with Dark Quest Games. Neal Levin liked my writing and offered me work. However, when I decided to get into writing for Modern, I had some legwork to do. I would still do what I originally did: put together the best damn proposal package I could and cluster bomb the industry. That proposal got me work with RPG Objects (the original Blood & Guts: In Her Majesty's Service). It also got me a great note from Goodman Games which basically said that they weren't doing Modern but they really appreciated the professionalism of the proposal. Even if I hadn't scored work with RPG Objects, that note from Goodman Games would have told me I was on the right track, and I would have kept going with the same: think up a new angle, get a proposal together and send it out.

7. What was the first RPG you ever played?

D&D, the basic set in the red box. I ran our group (two other guys) through Keep on the Borderlands. Oh man, was that a blast. I still have very fond memories of KoB, even though it really made no sense at all. One of the fun things was I had a whole political thing going on at the keep that was always in the background. The group went back to the keep three or four times during the module, and that was the part I really loved running.

8. What are you playing right now?

Sadly, nothing. I recently moved to Ottawa and my wife and I had a baby girl in November, so I haven't had time to really get a group together. Before that, I was in Chris Groff's (another host at Accidental Survivors) Warhammer Fantasy RPG game, which was a lot of fun. I'm working on two possible campaigns right now, one that's a science fantasy rip-off of Flash Gordon and a military adventure set in Albenistan. Neither are for publication, just for fun.

9. If you could snag any licensed property for an RPG, what would it be?

Since Green Ronin snagged “Black Company,” I'll have to say Glen Cook's “Dread Empire” (which he wrote before “Black Company”). The Dread Empire books includes the usual Western European milieu, but it also includes a desert kingdom--very Arabic and Muslim in flavour--a group of city-states and the Dread Empire itself, Shinsan, which is basically China but with an uber-class of sorcerers called the Tervola.

I also wouldn't mind getting licences for any of Guy Gavriel Kay's books. Each setting is basically a template from our own history, but they've each got a unique twist. I think I'd want the Tigana licence.

10. What’s coming up for you? Sell me something damnit!

Right now I'm working on an update of Covert Forces, imaginatively titled Covert Forces Redux. Through the SEP forums, I got in touch with Dominque Sumner, who works in law enforcement with SWAT. He writes for the special operations and SWAT community, and he was able to get me in touch with a lot of new information. I decided if I was going to update the unit entries, I might as well update the whole book, and expand it as well. Covert Forces Redux will include new classes (a mix of the concept of 'training classes' from B&G: Military Training Manual and the spec ops classes from SEP's Roles & Classes line), expanded 'fluid situations,' expanded discussion on mission types, and more equipment and weapons along with updated unit entries.

I'm also hoping to update our Albenistan series. The plan is to present simply the adventure scenarios, hopefully in one volume. I was never completely pleased with the way Raid on Ashkashem was presented, especially when compared to the Khorforjan Gambit.

There is a military science fiction project that I also want to do some work on, but I have my doubts. A new baby takes up a lot of time.

I'd like to thank Fraser for taking the time to answer my 10 questions. Check back early next week when I'll post my next 10 Questions volunteer, ENWorld's own Russ Morrissey!