05-06-2021, 06:34 AM | #81 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Cockeysville, MD
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
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Well put! This is something that I have struggled to convey to others over the years. Saying GURPS is realistic makes people think that the game is a complex simulation. I switched to saying GURPS is believable or GURPS "makes sense", but those still don't quite get the point across.
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--- My Blog: Dice and Discourse - My adventures in GURPS and thoughts on table top RPGs. |
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05-06-2021, 06:54 AM | #82 |
Join Date: Jul 2013
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
I don't know if it would help bring in new players or not, but part of D&D success is the open gaming license. Maybe GURPS could try that? Let fans publish and slightly profit from creating unofficial settings and supplements for the game.
Either have them posted on a separate part of Warehouse 23 or some other site. An outside site might be good though, increase the chances of an impulse buy if someone's already on DriveThruRPG.
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My GURPS Blog: https://omniversalmess.blogspot.com/ |
05-06-2021, 07:27 AM | #83 | |
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
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05-06-2021, 07:30 AM | #84 | |
Join Date: Apr 2019
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
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I have said it may times. There a a lot of rules that you don't need to use to play GURPS, but it does take time & experience to learn which rules those are. I have only had one player to date that has genuinely wanted to use the Full basic rules for combat. Once we did two combats even he admitted that as much as he loved the detail, we got nothing else done in the session and realized why I streamline combat and casting to what would probably be considered barely cinematic levels. I agree with the few that have said that there are a few holes that could make a beginning GMs job easier. For me I think that is a Bestiary, but I can see where others might also advocate for smaller prepackaged adventures, and a collection of more PCs/NPCs spanning a few basic genres and point levels. I understand that there are a lot of things that SJG has to factor in when deciding where to invest time and resources. It just that the more recent choices don't seem to really resonate with my needs. |
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05-06-2021, 12:42 PM | #85 |
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
It is unfortunate that there is a lack of such GMs compared to potential new players. A good GM can make any system work for a group of players, but it takes time and effort to learn how to be a good GM and even a book like "How to Be..." is not a substitute for actual experience and skill.
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05-06-2021, 01:35 PM | #86 | |
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
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Decay is inherent in all composite things. Nod head. Get treat. |
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05-06-2021, 02:53 PM | #87 | |
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Snoopy's basement
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
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Diffusion is a natural outcome of how the materials get produced over time, but it has become an impediment. IMO GURPS desperately needs to rejuvenate its form-factor. Unfortunately, from Kromm's occasional remarks it seems like SJGames either lacks the money/resources to modernize, or has decided to just milk the GURPS line rather than invest in it. (And there is also the issue that changing the form-factor could gore the oxen of several writers who depend on a share of revenues from given books in their given form.) IF SJGames had the money/willingness to invest, here is what I would advise: 1) Re-focus on GURPS' essential value proposition -- the ability to play any kind of genre or setting. This is key raison d'etre of the game, so SELL it and provide the tools (e.g. Vehicles design) and advice (indexing/linkage and how-to manuals) that make it work. 2) Differentiate -- stop chasing D&D's table scraps, find the second, third or fourth etc. most popular genres and OWN them. 3) Modernize -- books look good on a shelf, but who shops from shelves anymore? PDF volumes were a step forward, but they are 1990s tech. VTTs are the modern play tools, and living documents are the way complex information is accessed. 4) Leverage the fan base. Consciously and deliberately encourage open-source contributions to periferal parts of the GURPS body. Invite every purchaser at time of purchase into a nurtured community of creators and collaborators. 5) Streamline the form factor. This would mean changing what they are doing now (i.e. spreading editorial resources across piecemeal projects for small revenues). Stop making new content for the moment, go back to (3) (above) and reformat all the treasure trove of the existing content so it is accessible for new players and new modes of gaming. 6) Enliven the brand with partnerships. Find ways to make GURPS a generous bridge for substantial new creators who haven't yet bridged to grand-scale commercialization. Consider rebranding, keeping the link to GURPS but put a catchier name over the top ('powered by GURPS' is already a thing, so maybe riff on that like "Powered! by GURPS"). Will some of this cost money or defer cash flow? Yes. Is it better than fading slowly into oblivion? Absolutely. Does SJGames have the interest and ability to do it? I hope so. Last edited by Donny Brook; 06-01-2022 at 07:51 AM. |
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05-06-2021, 04:29 PM | #88 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
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In GURPS, if you say, "I want to buy a parachute," you don't HAVE to go to High-Tech for the item. The GM can say, "Okay, that's... mmm... $800." If you like detailed equipment lists, that's what the Tech books are for, but you don't need them. Quote:
Again, if you like constructing detailed powers, then by all means use Powers and the Power-Up series. That's what they're for. But they're not required by everybody who plays GURPS, only that set who want detailed powers. And pushing them on newcomers who already feel overwhelmed by just the Basic Set is sure to send them running. |
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05-06-2021, 05:12 PM | #89 | |
Join Date: Dec 2020
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
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But most of this wellconsidered and good advice is completely against the opinion and brand strategy of SJG, as Steve showed and said ( again ) at the last Fnord con. It is not the customers job to buy any products they are served, it is the sellers job to make products that sell good enough to make the business running. Saying the old base isnīt supporting GURPS anymore is in my eyes a sorry excuse. The Kickstarter campaigns for GURPS were as long as Iīm taking part always a sure selfrunner so the market is there, and the base still willing to buy, IF the products are that what the buyers want which is the problem. By the way some of the kickstarter items are still not in warehouse 23, is this a strategy to ensure players take part on Kickstarter, or do you plan to publish them piecemeal to have a steady stream of new products, is there a strategy behind this ? Because otherwise you deprive yourself of possible sales for no reason. |
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05-06-2021, 08:39 PM | #90 |
Join Date: Jan 2011
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Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations
I'm not sure that arguing for products that customers want, while simultaneously saying you've supported the kickstarters (which must therefore contain products you want) really makes a point to why SJG should overhaul GURPS. Neither does arguing it's too complex while advocating a fifth edition that divides the game into genres. The original issue here is this; new players are scared off because they perceive that GURPS is more complicated than it is. The players on the forums feed that by arguing matters of bean-counting and hair-splitting, and so intimidate newcomers even more. The issue isn't "shouldn't SJG make a new game out of this to encourage new players", but rather "why can't current players be more welcoming to newbies and more encouraging of play without all the frills"!
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how to be a gurps gm, managing expectations |
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