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Message no. 1
From: DemonPenta@***.com DemonPenta@***.com
Subject: Game systems (Was: Re: Yet another crossover possibility question)
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2000 22:29:04 EDT
Totally off the subject as it was, but I'll issue a warning for all...

OK. Last Unicorn Games. Smalltimer, VERY recently purchased by WotC....I'm
going to warn you all so you can keep your sanity. If ya like Star Trek or
Dune as an RPG setting, get their stuff (though, with Trek...eww. They take
such a rosy-shaded approach at times it's positively disgusting.). They're
great on detail and STUFFING their books full of things a decent GM could
translate to ANY game as plots or hooks. However, a warning? Their ICON game
system sucks. It's used by all LUG products as far as I can tell...It makes
VERY little sense. It looks great on paper, but..I have, after a year, not
figured out ONCE how one is meant to actually roll
skills/attributes/anything. It reinforced why I love SR's basic game
mechanics, let's say that. If anyone's figured it out...lemme know.

John
Message no. 2
From: Patrick Goodman pgoodman13@*************.com
Subject: Game systems (Was: Re: Yet another crossover possibility question)
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 00:26:10 -0500
From: DemonPenta@***.com
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2000 9:29 PM

>OK. Last Unicorn Games. Smalltimer, VERY recently purchased by
>WotC....

People keep saying that like it's a bad thing. It's really starting to bug
me.

--
Patrick E. Goodman
pgoodman13@************.com
"I'm going to tell you something cool." -- Gene Wolfe
http://communities.msn.com/ShadowrunDataHaven/
Message no. 3
From: Cybertroll cybertroll@******.crosswinds.net
Subject: Game systems (Was: Re: Yet another crossover possibility question)
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 13:36:46 +0300
Patrick Goodman wrote:
>
> From: DemonPenta@***.com
> Sent: Friday, August 11, 2000 9:29 PM
>
> >OK. Last Unicorn Games. Smalltimer, VERY recently purchased by
> >WotC....
>
> People keep saying that like it's a bad thing. It's really starting to bug
> me.
>

Well if you have noticed those last years WoC is buying everything. I
wouldn't like to have RPG games that have all of the them the same
system. One reason I buy RPG books is to look at their game mechanics.
Let's hope that FASA will be able to remain as a whole company.

Cybertroll
Message no. 4
From: Patrick Goodman pgoodman13@*************.com
Subject: Game systems (Was: Re: Yet another crossover possibility question)
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 11:59:32 -0500
From: Cybertroll
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2000 5:37 AM

>> >OK. Last Unicorn Games. Smalltimer, VERY recently purchased by
>> >WotC....
>>
>> People keep saying that like it's a bad thing. It's really starting
>> to bug me.
>
>Well if you have noticed those last years WoC is buying everything.

You exaggerate, sir. You exaggerate a lot. They acquired TSR several years
ago, and they acquired LUG this year. That's two. (Wizards itself was
recently purchased by Hasbro.) They haven't shown any great tendency
towards buying "everything."

TSR was going under for the last time when they were acquired by WotC, and
it was absolutely the best thing to happen to them. It kept one of the
original pillars of this hobby and this industry alive, and flourishing.
They've produced a lot of really good stuff since their acquisition
(ALTERNITY, for instance, the precursor to the new D20 system).

I see the same pattern with LUG. LUG's been struggling, and struggling
hard, for some time. They've had distribution problems, production
problems, all sorts of problems...and I think that they, too, were going
under. Perhaps not as dramatically as TSR was, but they were in a lot of
trouble. They might not have been one of the great pillars of the industry,
but they do put out some neat stuff, and they had some very desirable
properties in STAR TREK and DUNE that it would have been a real shame to see
go away. So I think this was a good move by WotC, and I think it was good
for LUG (they get to keep their jobs, and get a real production schedule),
and I think it was good for the hobby and the industry.

>I wouldn't like to have RPG games that have all of
>the them the same system. One reason I buy RPG books is to
>look at their game mechanics. Let's hope that FASA will be
>able to remain as a whole company.

Your worries are, IMnsHO, over-stated. FASA isn't in any danger, from what
I've seen, of going away any time soon, nor is it in any danger of being
acquired by WotC. And neither are Steve Jackson Games, or White Wolf, or
Holistic, or Chaosium, or any of a number of other game design shops.

Like I said, people say "Acquired by Wizards of the Coast" like it was some
sort of curse, and so far I haven't seen it do anything but make the
industry a little stronger. And I've been involved in this hobby for an
awfully long time, and seen a lot of stupid stuff done within it.

--
Patrick E. Goodman
pgoodman13@************.com
"I'm going to tell you something cool." -- Gene Wolfe
http://communities.msn.com/ShadowrunDataHaven/

Further Reading

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