| From: | Paolo Marcucci thatpaolo@****.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Deciper press release link |
| Date: | Tue, 7 Sep 1999 20:41:43 -0700 |
> happening
> at FASA; dropping a great product [Earthdawn] and releasing a
> version of an
> existing game that does little but insult my intelligence.
>
> Yeah, it's all about the dollar signs, but brand loyalty counts for
> something...doesn't it?
Yes. Especially when there was the very real possibility of FASA to close
down operations. So, no more products.
At this point, we have two great RPGs (Shadowrun and Mechwarrior), a nice
tabletop game (Crimson Skies) and two wargames (Battletech and Vor). Note
that ALL these games (except Battletech) were newly released or got a
serious revamp this year, when the rest of the gaming industry is suffering
(witness the WOTC booth at GenCon, a fraction of the size of '97).
This means business sense, all about dollars and nothing else. As a
byproduct of their enrichment, we got five games.
Earthdawn was not a great product. Nice and well done, but hardly innovating
and jumped right in the fantasy arena, dominated by TSR. Bad move, if you
don't have the money of WOTC behind you...
Shadowrun 3rd ed. can be read as a unneccesary update for us, experienced
role players going to games with a rulebook under an arm and a 3 ring binder
of house rules under the other, but...
But. In the first 12 months, SR3 outsold Battletech. The ENTIRE line. There
is a line of Shadowrun jewelry. A movie was made out of the game (I know, I
know, The Matrix was not directly from Renny's story, but we have been
confirmed that the initial idea was exactly that and the movie went into
another direction after some *problems*). As Mike said, the public awareness
of the game is growing at an amazing rate. I wouldn't call this a failure...
Internet companies go for IPOs to raise breathing funds, gaming companies
cannot. So there is this trend about merging that made TSR a brand new
company, and it will be this merge (if it goes on) won't be necessary to
"save" FASA from death, but will give them some more room to play either in
the development of new products and in marketing them.
I won't go into the web site redesign, 'cause that thing still hurts me...
:)
Dr. Doo^H^H^H^H^H^H Paolo
