07-25-2018, 03:00 AM | #31 |
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Luxembourg
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Re: Public Announcement
A very sad news, both for Gurps fan and, especially, for aspiring new writers.
Understandable in today business, and SJGames probably kept Pyramid alive longer than economically sound, but still sad. |
07-25-2018, 06:50 AM | #33 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: Public Announcement
This is heartbreaking news. I'm going to very much miss Pyramid.
To my knowledge Pyramid doesn't have a problem of not enough content being submitted. Possibly a problem with enough content on the same theme, but last I heard there was a general backlog of new article submissions.
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07-25-2018, 08:10 AM | #34 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Public Announcement
For those wondering what this development means for GURPS, and how GURPS could be doing okay while Pyramid is being cut:
Pyramid supports GURPS, but it's essentially its own product line. This is why it has on occasion supported other SJ Games products, for instance. And as a product line, it isn't consistently earning enough to justify its high production cost – mostly because each issue demands the same production values as a GURPS supplement of equal length, yet sells only to the subset of people who find enough of the individual articles interesting. GURPS benefits greatly from the collector mentality ("I have to own all of GURPS because there could be rules there I need!"), from the inherent competitiveness of gamers ("If Jane has those rules and I don't, my character/vehicle/whatever won't be as cool as hers!"), and from each supplement being cross-referenced in many others (encouraging people to buy the supplements referred to). It also benefits from a quirk of gaming culture: In general, and not just with SJ Games products, GMs tend to see Title of Game: Supplement Name as "official" but Title of Zine: Issue Name as . . . "not official." Pyramid – despite being a zine to which one could subscribe – didn't draw many devoted collectors, probably because it was generally evaluated and bought on an issue-by-issue basis on the strength of having enough articles of interest, and wasn't widely perceived as "official." And because any given issue reached only a limited audience for these (or other) reasons, we were reluctant to refer to it by issue, article, and page. So . . . What we'll have to do going forward is support GURPS with a larger number of "official" supplements that are fully integrated into the system library. Perhaps we can entertain more proposals from groups of writers who want to work together. With luck, we might even be able to get a supplement out the door each month for stretches of a few months at a time. None of these things are guaranteed, but all are more probable if Nikki and Steven divert the hours they were formerly devoting to Pyramid to work on GURPS. We'll see. If that does come to be, then yes, GURPS will be doing even better than before. It's sad that this might come at the cost of Pyramid, but sentimental attachments don't seem to translate into sales in its case.
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
07-25-2018, 09:19 AM | #35 |
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Lansing, MI
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Re: Public Announcement
Understandable, but sad. To mangle a Doctor Who quote, a world without Pyramid Magazine in it scarcely bears thinking about.
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07-25-2018, 09:55 AM | #36 |
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Re: Public Announcement
This makes me sad, but I can understand the decision. I do wonder how SJGames plans to vet new authors for book deals now that their main vehicle for doing so no longer exists. Is there any insight available for that?
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07-25-2018, 09:59 AM | #37 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Cockeysville, MD
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Re: Public Announcement
As one of those that was wondering, thank you for writing this. It is still very sad to see the end of Pyramid, but I totally understand and agree with what you've stated. And cheers to all the folks that make Pyramid the best in gaming for all these years!
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07-25-2018, 10:04 AM | #38 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Public Announcement
Can we get official confirmation that Pyramid back issues will remain on sale through W23? I have sometimes been slow to buy issues as they were released.
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Fred Brackin |
07-25-2018, 10:45 AM | #39 | |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Public Announcement
Quote:
Certainly, the question wasn't ignored, but the decision was first and foremost a financial one, and it's difficult to impossible to attach a price tag to this facet of Pyramid: On one hand, all the great supplements created by writers who joined our freelancer community via Pyramid put money in the bank. On the other, nurturing new writers doubtless had a cost in editorial resources over the years, and in some cases the publication "slots" filled that way might have been filled instead by works from established writers with large followings. The math isn't obvious, so we couldn't base our decision on it to any great extent. But my role in the company is creative, not financial. For me, the loss of this channel isn't a small thing . . . I have vivid memories of wading through lots and lots of queries and proposals back in the days before we started pushing Pyramid as an "on ramp" to GURPS writing. It wasn't easy and it took a lot of my time. So I'll be looking for alternatives. What those are, I honestly cannot say at this juncture. I'd like to say a public "Thank you!" to all the contributors we've worked with over the years.
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
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07-25-2018, 10:48 AM | #40 | |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Public Announcement
Quote:
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
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