Dungeon Fantasy: Print compilation?

[KDLadage]

Originally Posted by demonsbane

...most people that I've seen talking about a printed Dungeon Fantasy book would pick it in a heartbeat...

In my groups: especially as a hard-cover volume.

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by KDLadage

In my groups: especially as a hard-cover volume.

I forgot to mention it!

[sir_pudding]

I'm unlikely to buy it. Somebody in our group already has good quality spiral bound copies.

[Jerander]

I would buy them for the sake of supporting SJG and giving them incentive to release more new material.

[PseudoFenton]

Originally Posted by Jerander

I would buy them for the sake of supporting SJG and giving them incentive to release more new material.

But you do that with pdf's already, which have fewer overheads and lower start up costs due to the digital format. Although I wouldn't object to a hard copy of the DF series, the issue would be that (unless it is officially retired from development) it will never be the complete series. They only need to make one more in the series before the physical-copy is 'out of date', which would bring us right back to the "well I want physical copies of the books to use them" issue again.

Overall I'm happy with the way they are as you can pick and choose. Not everyone wants psionics in their fantasy, not everyone wants ninjas diluting their western medieval archetypes, and not everyone care enough about bookworms or booze to bother with sages and innkeepers. The only essential books are the first two, although id add that 3, 8 and 11 are 'required' for a full play experience - but all the rest are just optional bolt-ons for those who are interested. Forcing you to pay for twice the content when you'll only use half of it would just be a pain.

[Kromm]

I feel that I must add one clarification: Were we ever to do this, it would not go over well here at SJ Games merely to chuck the PDFs into a single cover and call it a day. That kind of compilation – if you could even call it a compilation – has been ruled out at the highest level. It will not happen.

Rather, it would be a completely re-edited compilation with all the templates in one place, all the gear in another place, duplication and contradiction laboriously edited out, page references redone (especially the ones that refer across volumes), etc. That would be a lot of work . . . which is a large part of why it has never been given a green light.

But I say again that avoiding that work and just slapping stuff into a cover will never happen. It's company policy that we take more pride in our work than that.

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by Kromm

I feel that I must add one clarification: Were we ever to do this, it would not go over well here at SJ Games merely to chuck the PDFs into a single cover and call it a day. That kind of compilation – if you could even call it a compilation – has been ruled out at the highest level. It will not happen.

Rather, it would be a completely re-edited compilation with all the templates in one place, all the gear in another place, duplication and contradiction laboriously edited out, page references redone (especially the ones that refer across volumes), etc. That would be a lot of work . . . which is a large part of why it has never been given a green light.

But I say again that avoiding that work and just slapping stuff into a cover will never happen. It's company policy that we take more pride in our work than that.

That's why I consider it massively improbable without an edition change... Everything would need to be redone anyway, to accommodate the changes an hypothetical new edition would include, and Dungeon Fantasy sold enough that it may be worthwhile to re-release instead of providing/relying on a conversion guide.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

That's why I consider it massively improbable without an edition change... Everything would need to be redone anyway, to accommodate the changes an hypothetical new edition would include, and Dungeon Fantasy sold enough that it may be worthwhile to re-release instead of providing/relying on a conversion guide.

I would estimate that a DF relaunch in a single book for Fourth Edition is massively more likely than a Fifth Edition. I honestly don't see GURPS getting yet another edition in the currrent RPG market.

[Pragmatic]

And relaunching the ENTIRE line of DF, redone as Fifth Edition, would be a massive buy-in for people just starting to purchase 5E products. They'd probably put them out piece-meal again, all revamped for 5E, and we'd be having the same discussion about a compilation... again. :-)

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by Kromm

I would estimate that a DF relaunch in a single book for Fourth Edition is massively more likely than a Fifth Edition. I honestly don't see GURPS getting yet another edition in the currrent RPG market.

You've got insider info on that. I was simply giving the current edition 25 more years of life ;) (I said before 2040 ;))