So how well is MRQ2 selling anyway?

[DramaticExit]

Speaking of dedicated pages, really there ought to be a friendly,easy to read descriptive page for all the settings, including Elric etc...
Pointing to a forum for people to ask questions IMO isn't a solution either, as many people just aren't going to bother with that. If there isn't a page that's blindingly obvious, then I think you're lost lots of customers.
I'm not say8ing putting together a fancy page with Flash and java apps etc like WOTC has, just a page that actually explains the settings

This is something I completely agree with, and was a little surprised at. Likewise, I'd definitely suggest having all 'free' material for that setting (e.g. from S&P) very visible.

I see runequest2.com is free (runequest.com goes to Hasbro).

 

[ryhopewood]

As the makers of Austrian wine will testify, a bad reputation is difficult to overcome. Mongoose has produced some disappointing products in recent years including various MRQ2 books with far too much errata, generally dull internal layout, and maps that suck. Mongoose books often cost a lot more than other publishers too.

Matt - do you really think you do that good a job with layout? You are not in the same league as Paizo, WotC, Whitewolf, etc.

 

[danskmacabre]

I agree Mongoose has a Historical bad reputation with other products.
On forums where MRQ2 is discussed, it's a VERY common question from those considering buying it asking about the production quality, errors, consistency etc...

Honestly I think MRQ2 is a far better product than MRQ1 and well worth the purchase. I don't see it as being more expensive than other books. I can run a Full RPG with just the MRQ2 rules if I want to start with. For £30 that's a bargain.

 

[ryhopewood]

I agree Mongoose has a Historical bad reputation with other products.
On forums where MRQ2 is discussed, it's a VERY common question from those considering buying it asking about the production quality, errors, consistency etc...

Honestly I think MRQ2 is a far better product than MRQ1 and well worth the purchase. I don't see it as being more expensive than other books. I can run a Full RPG with just the MRQ2 rules if I want to start with. For £30 that's a bargain.

Don't get me wrong, I love the rules themselves.

 

[danskmacabre]

Yes, so do I, i think they're great.
I just finished a gaming session with my son, A Pan-tangian Pirate attack on an Argimiliar ship they're helping defend! Yarr!!!
It's a great game, but we're just discussing some constructive criticisms here.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I think that RQ II is one of the best RPG products in recent years and deserves more market success than it has received to date. It's unfortunate that the product has come out at a time when the industry as a whole is in the doldrums, but hopefully things will get better over the next year or two.

I think part of the reason the Traveller has been so much more financially successful than RQ II is that there is very little active competition in the SF market at the moment. There are very few high-profile SF RPGs out there right now, while there are an awful lot of products competing for the fantasy market. Although the overall market for SF is smaller than the market for Fantasy, Mongoose Traveller has captured a disproportionate slice of that market. It will be very hard for RQ II to duplicate this feat in the fantasy market when competing head-to-head with Pathfinder and D&D...

 

[PhilHibbs]

I think part of the reason the Traveller has been so much more financially successful than RQ II is that there is very little active competition in the SF market at the moment.

Traveller is THE big name in sci-fi roleplaying, it's the D&D of the genre.

 

[DamonJynx]

I am also a fan of pre-made adventures and scenarios, but like them to be as generic and modular as possible. I might not even look at an Gloarnthan adventure twice, but if there is a nice Tavern with floor plans, NPCs and adventure hooks, that just has some info added, where in Glorantha it might be located, I would be much moire interested, since I could use such material in any of my games.

+1 on this, Adventures help a new GM to Glorantha how to get a feel for it.
Background material is all well and good, but Adventures are just as important IMO.

Same for all the settings really. At least initially, until the GM's have an understanding of

• 
  A) How the system actually works in play - see the various posts on movement and charging for example
  B) Is comfortable with the setting and it's flavour and feel to create their own scenarios.

I'm a fan of MM so Elric and the Young Kingdoms is a no brainer for me. It's very hard though to find decent scenarios that I can use NOW, that don't require a load of conversion work. And converting other systems apart from Elric and Stormbringer adventures that are the most compatible... well, it's not overly difficult, but it's still a load of work.

 

[DamonJynx]

I kinda know why game shops are dwindling. My account at DrivethruRPG has a follow me set up and guess what, I can purchase Cities of the Young Kingdoms online for $15USD, that's about $13.65AUD given the exchange rate. A hard copy will cost me roughly $33AUD regardless of where I buy it, and I'll have to wait a few days to get it.

Maybe, for RPG's at anyrate, e-Books are the way to go (I can always print and bind them at work - thanks Boss!)?

 

[taxboy]

I think part of the reason the Traveller has been so much more financially successful than RQ II is that there is very little active competition in the SF market at the moment.

Traveller is THE big name in sci-fi roleplaying, it's the D&D of the genre.

What about Spacemaster!!!??

 

[taxboy]

I kinda know why game shops are dwindling. My account at DrivethruRPG has a follow me set up and guess what, I can purchase Cities of the Young Kingdoms online for $15USD, that's about $13.65AUD given the exchange rate. A hard copy will cost me roughly $33AUD regardless of where I buy it, and I'll have to wait a few days to get it.

Maybe, for RPG's at anyrate, e-Books are the way to go (I can always print and bind them at work - thanks Boss!)?

I know, even the NZ peso is worth 80c US - that reminds me, i better buy some vouchers at rpgdrivethrough while the exchange rate is high...

 

[sdavies2720]

I know, even the NZ peso is worth 80c US - that reminds me, i better buy some vouchers at rpgdrivethrough while the exchange rate is high...

I'm not betting the exchange rate is going to favor the US Dollar any time soon.

 

[danskmacabre]

What about Spacemaster!!!??

I used tro run Spacemaster many years ago, it was a great game, but not as well known as Traveller.
I've only played traveller once or twice, but it seems like a good scifi game, However I know very little about it.

 

[Random Code]

Traveller is THE big name in sci-fi roleplaying, it's the D&D of the genre.

Definitely agree with this. There are other great SF games out there (Starblazer Adventures and Diaspora to name just two) but Traveller is definitely the "D&D Daddy" of them all.

I've said it earlier, but stick a really popular setting to the RQII rules (with good production values and that fits the RQ system) and it will sell.

 

[danskmacabre]

I think Glorantha can be fine, but it needs to be more accessible.
Like I said earlier, I just don't know where to start and TBh, I just can't be bothered trying to figure it all out.
I'm sure it's probably just a case of looking around online a bit, asking on forums whatever, but I'd rather buy a book with all the starter information/world guide in it and get into it pretty quickly. Later building on it with other material.

 

[weasel_fierce]

I think Glorantha can be fine, but it needs to be more accessible.
Like I said earlier, I just don't know where to start and TBh, I just can't be bothered trying to figure it all out.
I'm sure it's probably just a case of looking around online a bit, asking on forums whatever, but I'd rather buy a book with all the starter information/world guide in it and get into it pretty quickly. Later building on it with other material.

The original "Glorantha 2nd age" book did a marvelous job at explaining a lot of "what do these people do, and why would I work for them?" stuff. I hope thats the case for the new book as well.

 

[danskmacabre]

The books may well be great, but I would like to see on the Mongoose site a page laid out describing the world and what books you should get if you want to start out GMing Glorantha, not just individual desciptions of the books.

 

[Enpeze]

As the makers of Austrian wine will testify, a bad reputation is difficult to overcome. Mongoose has produced some disappointing products in recent years including various MRQ2 books with far too much errata, generally dull internal layout, and maps that suck. Mongoose books often cost a lot more than other publishers too.

Matt - do you really think you do that good a job with layout? You are not in the same league as Paizo, WotC, Whitewolf, etc.

Yep, absolutely. As a professional layouter I do care about good layout and grafical presentation of a product. Especially the newer Paizo books are unbelievable beautiful. Many of them are a piece of art by themselves. The colored illustrations are georgeous. Maybe from the content MRQII is upper class but from a aesthetic PoV unfortunately it plays 2+ leagues below a Paizo book. (maybe the look of MRQII would have been ok in the mid 90ties)

BTW: the new 4th edition Legends of the Five Rings is also beautiful from a grafical point of view. (not from the rules of course)

IMO the beauty of the Paizobooks contribute considerably to the ascending commercial success of the company. Take away all the layout glitter and coloured illustrations and make it so cheap b/w like some products of other 3rd party publishers in the industry and Paizo will very soon not threaten WotC market leadership anymore.

 

[Jujitsudave]

Layout is nice, but I don't really care about the superficiality of it. It could all be written on the back of cocktail napkins and I'd be happy.

 

[PhilHibbs]

BTW: the new 4th edition Legends of the Five Rings is also beautiful from a grafical point of view. (not from the rules of course)

I like L5R, I think it's a great system but we use 2nd Edition still. I'm not sure how different 4th Ed is.