GURPS Does It The Hard Way!

[PrinceYyrkoon]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Well, not necessarily. You could have an anthropomorphic bunnies campaign in the world of Steve Gallacci's Albedo, which is fairly hard science fiction. Or you could set them in the world of the 1940s (modern realism)—there was a movie about that. . . .

And conversely, anthropomorphic bunnies would fit hopelessly badly into most fantasy campaigns. I mean, try it with literary sources. Conan visits the valley of the anthropomorphic bunnies! The Fellowship of the Ring pass through a kingdom peopled by bunnies! Harry Potter spends a year as an exchange student at l'Académie St.-Lapin! . . . and in each case the clash of tone destroys any chance of taking the campaign seriously.

Bill Stoddard

Hobbits are obviously rabbits arent they?

I think were talking about archetypal scenario books for the main genres. You could play vampire bunnies, I guess, but youre putting yourself out on a fairly strange limb if you do. I would expect that bunny fans arent going to want scenarios. I shouldnt imagine they are anyones target audience either.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Graham

Again, this might be the key market here. New players. Perhaps old hands don't pick up adventures, because, as discusssed, they're looking for something more specific. Perhaps new players don't pick up adventures because, let's face it, nothing on e23 is yelling "take up GURPS because I exist".

Is it possible that a dedicated page on e23 or the main site for new players, with ready-to-run material, would tap into a new source of revenue, and so not be bound by the arguments given above?

How do you get from where we are now to there? Probably by getting, somehow, that elusive string of adventures for one of the published settings books. But it would seem to make sense that a single book that only needed the Basic Set would be the most likely to sell in this way.

Graham

Well, the Basic Set has Infinite Worlds stuff in the back. You could set something in that, and hope to hook people in to that world.

[PrinceYyrkoon]

Originally Posted by whswhs

But the NPCs have to work equally well in all three. So you can't have any of the AIs and bioroids that are central to THS, or anyone with a Vor in his name, or anyone who's served in the Imperial Marines . . . because each of those is impossible in two of the three settings. You end up with something so generic that it utterly lacks flavor.

If by "scenario" you mean simply "plot skeleton than can be migrated between settings," then yes. But to do the migration, you're going to have to spend a lot of work making it fit the background, and redefining the NPCs to suit the point level and the assumed background. And I think that by the time you've built in that flexibility you no longer have a scenario but an "adventure seed."

Bill Stoddard

I think theres a certain amount of 'itll never work' here! OTHER generic systems have NO PROBLEM in creating scenario material for their games.

Instead of pandering to everyones peculiar tastes, SJG could just say, 'Guys, here is a really cool setting and scenario pack, its our major release for this quarter and were going to push it like theres no tomorrow, possibly followed by more scenario supplements, I think youll agree that it is something special'. Right?

This is exactly what SW has done with their PPC books. Sundered Skies effectively says, 'This is an awesome campaign setting and scenario pack, MUCH better than ANYTHING you could come up with on your own, play it, we think youll agree'. The alternative is, 'hey, some guys play vampire bunnies, maybe we could give them a freebie scenario in a pdf. Oh, it hasnt sold, lets not do that again'.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Well, the Basic Set has Infinite Worlds stuff in the back. You could set something in that, and hope to hook people in to that world.

Not a bad idea if the series of scenarios dipped into each of the major genres one by one. That would allow new players to pick and choose their preferred genres to a certain extent yet still make the series compatible as an ongoing campaign.

Again, the main point here relates to the marketing of these scenarios. For example, Britannica 6 exists, but just adding another five IW scenarios in different genres to e23 wouldn't do the trick here. You'd need to market them specifically to new players as a potential story arc for a cool setting that you can play with just the Basic Set. And, if you like this setting then there's a separate sourcebook you can buy for it and some more setting material on e23. If you like the way GURPS played, but have had enough Infinite Worlds, then let's see what else we can interest you in...

Graham

[Woodman]

Originally Posted by PrinceYyrkoon

Again, the issue is simple. Less setting material, more adventure material.

And thats exactly why i didnt buy a copy of Sundered Skies, i contained too much material i could use only once at best and not enough setting info for my taste, if i buy a setting book i want setting info and not adventures. Because of this thread i took a look at my rpg collection, in 15 years i bought 5 dedicated adventure books, and only ran 2 of those ever. Maybe GURPS just attracts more customers like me who dont buy many adventures because they like tailor-made campaigns.

[PrinceYyrkoon]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Well, the Basic Set has Infinite Worlds stuff in the back. You could set something in that, and hope to hook people in to that world.

I would be amazed if anyone played in an Infinite Worlds campaign as written. It seems pretty lazy to me, IMHO. Pretty uninspired. Maybe if it was fleshed out, it would be good,, but not in the state it is in at the moment.

[PrinceYyrkoon]

Originally Posted by Graham

Not a bad idea if the series of scenarios dipped into each of the major genres one by one. That would allow new players to pick and choose their preferred genres to a certain extent yet still make the series compatible as an ongoing campaign.

Graham

I like that idea a LOT! It ties into the main rule book too, and it does a great job of integrating the scenarios for maximum appeal. SJG needs you!

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by PrinceYyrkoon

I would be amazed if anyone played in an Infinite Worlds campaign as written. It seems pretty lazy to me, IMHO. Pretty uninspired. Maybe if it was fleshed out, it would be good,, but not in the state it is in at the moment.

Fleshed out like this: GURPS Infinite Worlds? With support like this? And with adventures and more worlds in Pyramid?

It didn't sell.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by PrinceYyrkoon

I like that idea a LOT! It ties into the main rule book too, and it does a great job of integrating the scenarios for maximum appeal. SJG needs you!

And SJ Games can have him, or someone like him, if it somehow trips over enough money to pay his salary, the salary of an artist to illustrate his work, the salary of an editor to edit it, and the salary of a layout specialist, and the money to pay for printing, for about two years.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by PrinceYyrkoon

Instead of pandering to everyones peculiar tastes, SJG could just say, 'Guys, here is a really cool setting and scenario pack, its our major release for this quarter and were going to push it like theres no tomorrow, possibly followed by more scenario supplements, I think youll agree that it is something special'. Right?

This is exactly what SW has done with their PPC books. Sundered Skies effectively says, 'This is an awesome campaign setting and scenario pack, MUCH better than ANYTHING you could come up with on your own, play it, we think youll agree'.

Cranking out a product line and hoping to sell it based on unfounded hype? How insulting! Perhaps you remember me mentioning that I appreciate the fact that SJG treats its customers respectfully. I don't want to be told what I like to play.