Said we Wouldn't do it, but. . . Opinions Wanted

[MongooseMatt]

Hi guys,

We have an opportunity coming. Mongoose is about to invest in its own printing facility. There are lots of benefits to this but one of the spin offs is that when we reprint a book, we can make changes on the fly to it. For example, I have never personally liked the cover to our first Drow War book, so when it gets reprinted, we could change the cover - very easy to do, no harm, no foul.

Now, about Babylon 5. . .

What we _could_ do on Babylon 5 reprints (and, potentially, all B5 books sold after a specified point) is a) give them brand spanking new 2nd edition covers and b) revised 2nd edition text. Now, this won't be a complete re-write and layout - they'll be the same books, but with updated stats. There are certain books that would require a re-write (Technomages comes to mind), but I think most could be updated.

So, would you like us to produce, say, a 'revised' Minbari Federation book with a new cover and 2e stats. . . or not?

 

[Gargoyle117]

That could be some great news. I have to say that the black cover of some of the older books has been a bit of a warning flag for me when buying books. There are several that would be good to have for the campaign.

Even if you do not get the printing presses, could you consider releasing them as PDFs? I much prefer the instant gratification of buying a PDF when I need it to ordering the books. It also helps to keep them all on one laptop.

I primarily play a Technomage and would love to see a reprint and update. The absolute most critical item for an update would be page numbers next to spell prerequisites. It is very difficult to track these down when they are from another school or the name is misprinted.

That being said, there are only a couple other books I might buy if they were updated to second edition:
- Merchants, Traders and Raiders
- Crusade
- Minbari

I beilieve Rangers and Psi Corps are already getting a fresh 2e treatment, so I left them off the list.

 

[MongooseMatt]

_If_ we go ahead with this (and it is pretty much up to you chaps), then we will likely prepare a list of books for treatment, and let you guys decide which should come first. . .

Oh, and yes, we would of course do PDF versions of these.

 

[Gabriel_Luna]

I've been avoiding most 1st edition books, since I started with the 2nd edition. Updated versions with 2e rules would be a big selling point for me. So yes, sounds great to me!

 

[Neo]

Sounds good to me

How about a trade in discount for those of us wanting to replace 1st with 2nd ed books.

 

[lastbesthope]

Would the revised stats be made available seperately either as downloads or in S&P for those of us that don't want to rebuy all the books?

LBH

 

[Mage Ash]

Would this make it possible to have the 1st Season guide in a 2nd Season format?

 

[Cut]

Oh, and yes, we would of course do PDF versions of these.

I have yet to find the money to make the move over to Babylon 5 RPG 2nd edition, so my question is, will there be 1st edition titles remaining (maybe only as PDFs)in print so to say, so that I could get my collection complete (at least the season guides I'd love to have all, so far have only two!).

For example, I have never personally liked the cover to our first Drow War book, so when it gets reprinted, we could change the cover - very easy to do, no harm, no foul.

The idea to reprint stuff (inculding changes and corrections) itself is great and I'm with you on the issue of the not so great cover of Drow War One

 

[Reborn]

Yes please, seeing as I haven't got any 1st ed books

 

[the_first_one]

as you can see i am farily new at this game (started with the second edition) but i relly wanted the minbari fact book but i dont relly whant to "translat" it all into 2 ed. i would buy about 6 more books if they were put into 2 ed. format. it sounds like a great idea.

 

[Natxomann]

Although I own already all the 1st edition books , I would be certainly interested in seeing them actualised to 2e .

Optionally , you could publish a single book , simply translating all the feats , new racial habilities and prestige classes to 2nd edition .

 

[Greg Smith]

Optionally , you could publish a single book , simply translating all the feats , new racial habilities and prestige classes to 2nd edition .

Given that Mongoose promised that information would be free, that would not be popular.

I wouldn't buy the books again if they were reprinted for 2e. However, I would think reprinting them with 2e stuff would be a good idea, making them more acceptable to those who didn't buy them first time around. Of course if Mongoose still have hundreds of unsold ones, putting the 'crunch' into pdf and putting a sticker on the back of the book might be a better option.

 

[El Cid]

Considering the hugh investment I already have in 1st Ed, it really bugs me to think I'd need to purchase all of the books again.

I'd like to see the books revised for new players but would also like to see some update books which convert the 1st Ed books to 2nd Ed for those of us who have bought most of the books in 1st Ed.

The update book(s) could cover classes and any other changes. For example: one update book could cover the major races.

I expect that the Technomages really need a full book so a 2nd Ed Technomage book would make sense.

When you came out with the Conan series, I got the 1st Ed and the 2nd Ed came out very soon after the first. I have refused to buy any more Conan books because of this.

I did buy the first B5 2nd Ed book and like it.

Sidney

 

[SheliakBob]

Since I have all but a couple of the 1st edition books, I really wouldn't be all that interested in 2nd edition updates of them. The fundage IS limited and I can do any conversion work necessary (IF I ever use 2nd edition at all, that is) myself.
I'd rather see the resources go into producing new product instead of refurbishing older ones. There's whole lots more of that universe I'd like to see before the inevitable "reruns" start!
I wouldn't be buying any "updated" products, at least not unless I could get them for massively discounted prices (I only have the 2nd edition corebook because I managed to score it and two other 2nd edition sourcebooks for a total of $15, post paid! )

 

[Mouth of Sauron]

I say NO WAY to this idea. After buying every 1st edition book, I'm not going to spend more money to buy reprints of books that will only have a few changes. And as Greg Smith mentioned there was supposed to be a free conversion document.

From my point of view this is just another reminder of Mongoose's failed promises.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Would the revised stats be made available seperately either as downloads or in S&P for those of us that don't want to rebuy all the books?

LBH

Of course (like you, of all people, won't buy something new and shiny with the words 'Babylon 5' on the front ).

 

[Greg Smith]

From my point of view this is just another reminder of Mongoose's failed promises.

I don't think they've failed, since stuff has been printed in S&P. But if they do change all of the mechanics for re-releases of the books and fail to make it available, they will have done so.

 

[ShadowScout]

Well...

Personally a simple reprint with 2nd Edition rules would annoy me (I buy the books for the background, not the rules, as I play my B5 campaigns in GURPS anyway)

Reprints with BG fixes, rewrites and new stuff though... I'd buy that for a bunch of euros.

Of course, that'd be a project which ought to wait for a while yet. I'd like to see my sourcebooks with more ship (should wait for more CGI meshes of alien and Mongoose-made B5 ships) and vehicle pictures (should wait for "War Without End" CGI of tanks), more equipment and uniform/insignia pictures (the uniform page on the EFCB was nice - I'd like more of that for all the alien races too), more important NPC's (with their own faces - drawings like in "M,T&R" or CGI like in "IPX" are best IMO).
Just more stuff to flesh out the universe, and help GM's sustain the illusion. (of course, some things could also benefit from some changes - like parts of the Minbari history -shudder-) But that's my opinion...

 

[FuryMaster]

I think its a good idea to update reprints. I won't re-buy all of my 1st edition books but there are a few, the Technomage book, that I would definetly re-buy...new players shouldn't be deprived of the updated books if they can be done easily enough.

FM

 

[lastbesthope]

Would the revised stats be made available seperately either as downloads or in S&P for those of us that don't want to rebuy all the books?

LBH

Of course (like you, of all people, won't buy something new and shiny with the words 'Babylon 5' on the front ).

Even I only have so much money and patience. And since we were already promised full compatibility, which we're still waiting for, doing this might be considered bad sport, unless the updated infformation were made available free for those with the 1st edition books already.

LBH