Report To The Stakeholders

[philreed]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Great work all around, except for the Sales and Marketing people.
They probably did better then the report leads us to think but definite hope for better this year.

There were sales and marketing wins in 2015. However, most of the wins won't be public until later this year. 2016 is shaping up strong.

[philreed]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

MIBs are supposed to demo the full range of SJ Games products, not just Munchkin.

There is a list of titles that are actively in the demo rotation and that list changes as based on our marketing needs. Munchkin is the majority of what MIBs are demoing at this time, and calling out one title doesn't detract from their demo efforts with Zombie Dice, Hipster Dice, Tile Chess, and other supported games.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

MIBs are supposed to demo the full range of SJ Games products, not just Munchkin. Now if Andrew Hackard had said that it would be fair enough because he's Munchkin Tsar. But you Phil run the entire company and should be thinking wider than that, including MIBs demoing Ogre, Car Wars, GURPS and yes Munchkin.

Originally Posted by philreed

There is a list of titles that are actively in the demo rotation and that list changes as based on our marketing needs. Munchkin is the majority of what MIBs are demoing at this time, and calling out one title doesn't detract from their demo efforts with Zombie Dice, Hipster Dice, Tile Chess, and other supported games.

As an MIB that demos GURPS almost exclusively over Munchkin (though I do like to "cap" demos off with quick games of Munchkin) I can tell you for fact that people demo things other than Munchkin. Last year at ROFCon (which I'm attended again this year) my Dungeon Fantasy demos drew crowds of people who watched the game unfold and their turn to play. At any one time I had between 6 to 12 players and upwards of 15 to 35 people just watching us play. My table beat out Pathfinder, DnD, and every miniature demo except for X-Wing. So yeah, MIBs demo things other than GURPS.

I also demo pretty often in my area and I get people going "Wow, you play GURPS? I thought I was the only one!" and they promptly sit down at my table and play. I've got three groups of people exclusively playing GURPS in my area right now and a large pool of people.

I know Mook does the same at Cons as well as numerous others. Just because GURPS isn't mentioned directly doesn't mean its dead or dying or even on life support. Steve Jackson Games staff are beyond transparent for a business, much less the industry. If Phil were going to pull the plug on GURPS they would tell you. Until that comes - if ever - we plod along. The wheel of the Hobby Industry continues to turn. Boardgames/card games are the "thing" right now, in a few years it's more than likely RPGs will be the "thing" - all you have to do is look at the OSR to see that.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

OSR? What's that?

Old School Revival.

[pestigor]

This is just a case of a company moving the majority of it's efforts away from my particular interest. I don't really have a problem with it as the market dictates what's going to be a priority. That said I have completely given up of dead tree format and decided that if Gurps is going to be a primarily electronic format, I'd ether get into the ebook age or look for another game.

[MazeMonster]

Do we really have to wait 11 more months for Car Wars 6e?

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

Well if I ever felt like becoming a MIB you've permanently put me off. I would only be interested in demo-ing GURPS.

The Men In Black are expected to be able and willing to demo a variety of our games. Several of them (including Munchkin) are on the "required" list.

[PK]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

Well if I ever felt like becoming a MIB you've permanently put me off. I would only be interested in demo-ing GURPS.

Owen, while I know I appreciate and totally share your love of GURPS, I would actually recommend you not become a MIB, based on this:

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

Sorry, but when someone says to me "Oh, the Munchkin people" (it's happened a handful of times) I am embarrased and I suspect this shows on my face. It may be a failing of mine, but I just can't get past the stage of cringing at Munchkin and how infantile the entire thing is.

A MIB represents SJ Games as a whole, which means getting behind all of its products, not just one. Sure, every MIB has games that they love and some that they can do without -- but if you have this much distaste for Munchkin (our flagship product!), you won't be a good fit for the program.

So please continue to play GURPS and share it with everyone that you can. I think you and I agree that it's the greatest RPG out there and it needs to be spread far and wide! I'm only suggesting that you don't try to do it as a MIB, because that involves playing and promoting games that you actively dislike.

[DocRailgun]

Huh. I didn't even know there was a Chez Geek expansion in 2015, and I like to think that I check SJG website at least once a day.

Did I miss the cancellation of Girl Genius as a GURPS project, then?

[philreed]

Originally Posted by DocRailgun

Did I miss the cancellation of Girl Genius as a GURPS project, then?

Nope. It hasn't been cancelled.