Quote:
Originally Posted by larsdangly
Based on the nature of the game, the likely market size, and the interests of the likely customers, the correct model to emulate might be the more successful companies that specialize in the OSR market. Goodman Games is probably the best example of someone who has found a recipe that appeals to people interested in ca. 1980 roleplaying games and their clones: They present a balanced menu of very nice reproductions of original materials (their Judges Guild line), a house system that appeals to this market, both in its rules and visual appearance (DCC), a set of dungeons in the style of TSR's pastel module era, and then they have some sort of arrangement that permits/encourages smaller third party authors to bring forward dungeons. Anyway, whatever they are doing seems to work. Their Metamorphosis Alpha line might be the best specific example that is closely similar to TFT (a short lived game with a small but dedicated following, and an initial offering based on a Kickstarter with a long list of stretch goals).
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Well,
Call of Cthulhu hit the markets at about the same time as TFT did, which more or less makes it OSR by definition, so there's that... But I also refer back to my earlier post about when (or perhaps better, HOW), precisely, SJGs is going to fit all that work into their already packed production schedule. DCC is, for all practical purposes, Goodman's "flagship property." For SJG, I think it's really, far and away,
Munchkin, with GURPS as a somewhat distant second. That doesn't leave a lot of room for TFT in the production schedule -- especially with more
Ogre material due out soon, and
Car Wars waiting in the wings. Which is why I suggested they might find it valuable to let the fans do some of the heavy lifting for a while, with SJGs acting more as a traffic cop until they CAN clear more space in their production schedule for new TFT material. Just sayin'... ;-)
Plus, I have no idea what kind of market share TFT would have these days. Back in the day, it was the second biggest selling RPG system out there, with D&D being the only thing that was outselling it (probably due more to much wider availability through toy stores and the like, not just hobby shops). Given TFT's beautiful simplicity, compared to some of the things you see on the market these days, I don't consider it entirely impossible that it could take off in a big way. Of course, I might be completely wrong about that too -- what appealed to people in 1980 might not work the same in 2018. But TFT does have at least some kind of track record, and it will be interesting to see how it does comparatively (though, frankly, I don't know if we as gamers will ever get that kind of information...).