Big announcement today?

[Verderer]

I'm a bit fed up with Mongoose being wise after the event. We had to buy the overpriced slim multi-volume first edition rules because they failed to grasp that people would prefer to have all the rules in a single volume, and a book where the covers are thicker than the contents is just wrong. Then we had to buy the second edition rules in fancy leather bound edition, again paying for the covers not the content. Now they finally realise that they should be competing with Savage Worlds rather than D&D.

Maybe bny the time they get to Wayfarer 3rd edition they'll have realised that layout is important too...

Really, you were forced to buy these products? :shock:

 

[Hopeless]

I suspect that once the new conan film is out we'll start hearing rumblings about licencing deals, especially if it proves to be a popular film.

Its going to take some remarkably bad filming for them to mess up a Conan movie after all I actually liked both of the Arnie Conan movies even Red Sonja was fine.

The lead for the new movie should do well unless someone knows otherwise?

 

[Verderer]

I suspect that once the new conan film is out we'll start hearing rumblings about licencing deals, especially if it proves to be a popular film.

Its going to take some remarkably bad filming for them to mess up a Conan movie after all I actually liked both of the Arnie Conan movies even Red Sonja was fine.

The lead for the new movie should do well unless someone knows otherwise?

Well, the new Conan's trailer doesn't look too good to me...

 

[Hopeless]

I suspect that once the new conan film is out we'll start hearing rumblings about licencing deals, especially if it proves to be a popular film.

The lead for the new movie should do well unless someone knows otherwise?

Well, the new Conan's trailer doesn't look too good to me...

The only one I've seen seems to be a play from the original arnie conan movie regarding the lamenting of women, has there been another trailer since then?

 

[Da Boss]

I suspect that once the new conan film is out we'll start hearing rumblings about licencing deals, especially if it proves to be a popular film.

Its going to take some remarkably bad filming for them to mess up a Conan movie after all I actually liked both of the Arnie Conan movies even Red Sonja was fine.

The lead for the new movie should do well unless someone knows otherwise?

I really enjoyed both of the previous films - very different to each other but cool.

 

[danskmacabre]

I loved Conan the Barbarian.
Conan the Destroyer was ok, good in parts.
Red Sonja was just dire..

I'll go and see the Conan movie. To me it looks like it's going to rely on lots of special effects, which turn me off, but lets see I guess.
It'll be a laugh no matter what anyway.

 

[Exubae]

Its a shame, just when the Glorantha stuff was getting better...
Back to hero-quest conversions then...
It is a shame that the second Races of Glorantha never made it to the printing press though.

On the positive side, at least RQII has been left in a pretty robust and enjoyable state I think I'ld have felt a little more annoyed if it had been left in its previous state.

How does fan based productions for 2nd ages stand?

 

[PhilHibbs]

How does fan based productions for 2nd ages stand?

I can't access this at work but it might help:
http://www.glorantha.com/wp/?page_id=712

 

[Rurik]

I'm a bit fed up with Mongoose being wise after the event. We had to buy the overpriced slim multi-volume first edition rules because they failed to grasp that people would prefer to have all the rules in a single volume, and a book where the covers are thicker than the contents is just wrong. Then we had to buy the second edition rules in fancy leather bound edition, again paying for the covers not the content. Now they finally realise that they should be competing with Savage Worlds rather than D&D.

Maybe bny the time they get to Wayfarer 3rd edition they'll have realised that layout is important too...

Really, you were forced to buy these products? :shock:

Yes indeed - I was the one holding a gun to his head.

Though in all honestly I really just wanted to steal all of his Guinness. Forcing him to buy the MRQ books at gunpoint was just out of sheer cruelty.

In hindsight forcing him to by MRQ2 to be cruel kinda backfired though. :?

 

[duncan_disorderly]

Really, you were forced to buy these products? :shock:

Yes. Stealing them would have been morally reprehensible, would not have encouraged Mongoose to continue to support RQ and Glorantha (Hmm, that may have been overly optimistic then...)

 

[duncan_disorderly]

Then we had to buy the second edition rules in fancy leather bound edition, again paying for the covers not the content.

To be fair, I think at the time Matt said the leather covers added absolutely no extra cost to a standard colour hardcover. There was some incredulity on the forums about this and the fact that it is real cow hide, but Matt maintained and reiterated the point as true.

He may be right, but, on the other hand, he would hardly be likely to say anything different. But then I'd prefer a softback to a hardback anyway.

But the point is, if Leather Bound Hardbacks are the best and cheapest (or joint cheapest) way of presenting the rules, why are the next edition going to be in £10 "digest sized" books? If the first edition of MRQ had been written as well as MRQ2 and priced in this bracket I suspect that much of the goodwill in the RQ name would not have been squandered and sales would have been better....

 

[PhilHibbs]

But the point is, if Leather Bound Hardbacks are the best and cheapest (or joint cheapest) way of presenting the rules, why are the next edition going to be in £10 "digest sized" books? If the first edition of MRQ had been written as well as MRQ2 and priced in this bracket I suspect that much of the goodwill in the RQ name would not have been squandered and sales would have been better....

There may be factors at work such as scale. They also needed to recoup the development costs on the first print run. With those factors considered, it may be that going hardback with leather covers as against softcover made an insignificant difference to the final cover price. Now that development costs are largely done with, doing a new, smaller print run in a different binding has quite different economics. Maybe it's also a different printing company with a different price list.

 

[Morgan d'Barganfore]

Phil,
That sounds about right. Artwork is useful and relevant where it shows an item or a beastie, but where it's a PC flexing or performing a random skill it may be pretty but it's not useful and relvance is arguable. It may be a space filler I suppose, but gamers aren't daft and may see it as such. If the market segment being aimed at drives the pricing down then just ditch 90% of the non-useful artwork.
As long as the book stays in one piece for years then I don't care about the format.
Who else thinks along these lines?

 

[master of reality]

But the point is, if Leather Bound Hardbacks are the best and cheapest (or joint cheapest) way of presenting the rules, why are the next edition going to be in £10 "digest sized" books? If the first edition of MRQ had been written as well as MRQ2 and priced in this bracket I suspect that much of the goodwill in the RQ name would not have been squandered and sales would have been better....

There may be factors at work such as scale. They also needed to recoup the development costs on the first print run. With those factors considered, it may be that going hardback with leather covers as against softcover made an insignificant difference to the final cover price. Now that development costs are largely done with, doing a new, smaller print run in a different binding has quite different economics. Maybe it's also a different printing company with a different price list.

If the new Wayfarer books are just going to be small (5.5 by 8.0), no frills, soft cover volumes, then I'd just as soon buy them as pdfs.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Artwork is useful and relevant where it shows an item or a beastie, but where it's a PC flexing or performing a random skill it may be pretty but it's not useful and relvance is arguable.

For a generic rulebook, art can give a general feel for the kind of game that the rules are aimed at. But if there isn't a specific "default" setting, it doesn't really mean a lot. For setting books, art is pretty much essential to give a feel for it. Anyone who wants to get a feel for Glorantha should take a look at the art from the King of Dragon Pass computer game, it's perfect.

 

[PhilHibbs]

If the new Wayfarer books are just going to be small (5.5 by 8.0), no frills, soft cover volumes, then I'd just as soon buy them as pdfs.

I disagree - if I were to use the Wayfarer rules then I'd want a physical copy. It's much faster to have a book open on a page with your thumb in another and flip between them, and be able to see and read two facing pages in high definition. Also, a lay-flat binding is essential.

 

[Morgan d'Barganfore]

A agree with both of those last 2 posts of yours Phil. Maybe I'm just frugal, but if I'm paing for something then I want it to be pulling it's weight for me..

 

[master of reality]

If the new Wayfarer books are just going to be small (5.5 by 8.0), no frills, soft cover volumes, then I'd just as soon buy them as pdfs.

I disagree - if I were to use the Wayfarer rules then I'd want a physical copy. It's much faster to have a book open on a page with your thumb in another and flip between them, and be able to see and read two facing pages in high definition. Also, a lay-flat binding is essential.

But you can obtain a physical copy from a pdf by clicking print. You could then 3-hole punch the hard copy and put it in a binder, or if you want a nice book, you can take the printed pdf to a print shop and get it bound into a book.
I'll pay good money for hardback books that lay flat. I spent plenty of money on the the nice hard back Glorantha books, and I like my copy of the leather bound RuneQuest II core book. However, it sounds like Mongoose will be publishing small, "Reader's Digest" books that will neither be nice nor lay flat. So what's the point. I might as well buy the any new material as a pdf, print it out, and either put it in a binder or have it bound myself.
Of course, if you prefer to purchase new material in ready book form regardless of what it looks like, then by all means, buy the books, but I'm not terribly excited about the proposed format.

 

[DamonJynx]

The Savage Worlds Core book isn't too bad. It's fairly easy to read, has appropriate artwork and is light and easily transportable. The setting books are a different matter. They appear (I've only seen them on the intraweb) to be more regular size hardcover books. All in all not too bad. Mongoose could do much worse than emulate them.

IMO I would prefer a generic core system book to be around the A5 size soft cover depending on the number of pages. It would require an extensive and accurate index as well. I don't know if Mongoose would be able to the system justice in the small format.

 

[Stainless]

Pinnacle recently announced they will be releasing a deluxe Savage Worlds core rule book (this August) as a hard cover in a standard size. There were howls of protest by their fan about the announced format. They cited the smaller, convenient size and low cost of the Explorers Edition as a huge plus; It allows all in a gaming group to buy their own copy of the rules and makes it easier for those new to RPGs to enter the hobby.

Considering the popularity of Savage Worlds and their attachment to the digest sized book, I think this speaks volumes to the sense/desirability of this approach.