Pendragon Classic Returns

The RPG nostalgia tour continues with Chaosium bringing back another 1980s classic of the RPG genre, Pendragon Classic. 

I'd read through the original version once before, and yes, I'm a product of those old classic movies such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Prince Valiant.* Hell, I am still fond of the 1982 mini-series adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe on television.

The more I've delved into Pendragon the past few years, the more I've been impressed by Greg Stafford's adaptation of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur into an RPG that's designed to last 50+ years in a campaign setting. That concept alone is something that people who play D&D and its ilk would have trouble wrapping their heads around. 

For those people interested in old editions of RPGs, or for those interested in how the concept of the RPG was stretched far beyond what was originally envisioned by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, this might be something you'd be interested in.

I think I ought to finish up my RPG from the Past on Pendragon soon. Maybe in time once this is released...

*Independent television stations used to broadcast those movies --and many others-- on Saturday afternoon matinees. 

Adding to the "To Be Read" Pile

I knew that Sir Terry Pratchett's novels were popular, but I underestimated just how popular they are.

As of 5:05 PM today.

This is kind of bonkers, but it also underscores the popularity of Discworld.

I never read any of Sir Terry's work, even though I was very much aware of it, because I've been a bit intimidated by it. I'm aware that there's a lot of puns and humor in the novels, and my concern was that I simply wouldn't get the humor in them. Kind of like watching Red Dwarf, I know there's humor there, but a lot of it simply flew over my head because it was so British that I didn't get the context.*

Or maybe trying to understand some of the Monty Python's Flying Circus social commentary, particularly with (then) current political and celebrity characters appearing as caricatures. To me, I simply had no grasp of the context at all, so it could have been humor surrounding Warren G. Harding and the Teapot Dome Scandal for all I knew. The Parrot Sketch? Sure, I got that one. The Ministry of Silly Walks? Yeah, because every country has a blasted bureaucracy. But a lot of Terry Gilliam's cartoons? Eh, not so much.**

But given Sir Terry's popularity, underscored by the support for the Discworld RPG, I think I might give the series a chance.

Yay, one more book (or is that set of books?) for the TBR pile.

*Before you ask, yes, I gave Red Dwarf a chance. My brother-in-law loved the show, which is how I was introduced to it.

**Although I did see a graphic of Edward Heath in a couple of them. I know him not because of The Beatles' Taxman song ("Uh oh, Mister Heath"), but because I attended a question and answer session with Mr. Heath when he was in Dayton for something or another back when I was in college. Let's just say that Mr. Heath does not suffer fools very well, and I'm glad I decided I wasn't going to ask him a question even though the opening was there.

The Secret World Comes to the Tabletop

Anybody remember The Secret World?

The property that Funcom developed about three factions fighting against legends and myths and horrors?

Well...

Apparently the setting for The Secret World is coming to the Savage Worlds RPG.

Alas that this is just a screencap of the video on
Kickstarter. I couldn't figure out how to add it to 
this post.

The funny thing is that there's already a completed Kickstarter for a D&D 5e version of the setting, which I can't really wrap my head around. Yeah, you can make D&D 5e work for The Secret World, but does it really fit the ruleset? If I'd a choice, a system such as Savage Worlds --or maybe even converting Call of Cthulhu-- would work better. Savage Worlds is by far the more accessible ruleset, so I'm kind of glad the developer, Star Anvil Studios, went in that direction.

One caveat is that you don't get a print version of the game, but PDFs. You DO get the option to do a print on demand of the material (the amount varies according to the backer level) via DriveThruRPG at cost, which is a significant cost savings over what it would cost in retail. So... take that into mind should you make a pledge.

Still, it's kind of intriguing that The Secret World (The Secret World Legends in this case) has made it to Savage Worlds. It's the sort of setting that ought to thrive on the tabletop, and in a Savage Worlds environment.

A Tale of Two Models

In the past week since I posted about the death of Joystiq and the sites Massively and WoW Insider, there's been a flurry of activity. Most notably, the "relaunch" of both Massively and WoW Insider as Massively Overpowered and Blizzard Watch.*

Both new sites have set up crowdfunding to help support the relaunches, with both garnering a lot of attention. Oh, not even in the same league as the attention paid to The Oatmeal's Exploding Kittens card game or Rich Burlew's Order of the Stick reprints, but they met (and exceeded) their respective goals very quickly.

And, to be honest, the selection of Massively OP's and Blizzard Watch's crowdfunding method is a perfect demonstration of "know your audience".

Massively OP went with Kickstarter to provide the seed money for the site and content, and will eventually use a combination of ad sales and Patreon funding to provide a steady revenue stream.** Given the prevalence of non-subscription based MMOs in the wider MMO landscape, this makes perfect sense to attract the diverse MMO player. When your audience prefers B2P and F2P games over the subscription based model, you go with a model that replicates the MMO online store as much as possible.

Blizzard Watch, however, decided to go straight up with a Patreon funding site to provide an (ostensibly) steady income. Again, this is perfect because of who they are hoping to attract: the WoW player who is used to plunking down $15/month to visit Azeroth. Sure, there will be online ads too, but creating --in effect-- a subscription based model of support demonstrates that they know their audience will not blink twice at another "subscription."

***

Now, I suppose the big question out there is whether both sites are sustainable in the long run.

I believe that both are sustainable, not only because there's enough interest out there in keeping both sites running, but because each economic model mirrors each site's potential audience.

The people who believe that the Patreon model may eventually bleed subscribers forget that we're talking about WoW here. Sure, the initial blast of subs may eventually go down, but there will always be the hard core to sustain the site. Just like the Castros in Cuba or WoW itself, people will come and go and predict the end of WoW (Insider) as we know it.

Massively OP's modus operandi, getting the seed money up front to get the operation running, works well because they can get everything running without having to worry about keeping subs right away. They realize that their core --those that will support Patreon-- is going to be smaller than a WoW based site, so a greater emphasis on initial startup and selling ad space alleviates those concerns.

***

What will I do?

Probably not much; I'm on a tight budget that is frequently beset by (seemingly) monthly emergencies such as car repairs and new clothes***. If some money frees up, I'll look into sending a few dollars the sites' way, but I'm also likely to look into Netflix or Hulu as a potential replacement for our satellite service.****

I wish both new sites the best of luck, and here's to hoping both succeed beyond their wildest dreams.





*Massively OP for short.

**A (very) reduced version of the economic plan from the Massively OP Kickstarter page.

***Overheard at our house: "Really, you need new pants AGAIN? Just exactly what are you eating, kid, Miracle Gro plant food?"

****We get our internet connection through our local phone company, which is expanding a Fioptics network. If there were a way to get college basketball --my big sports weakness-- without needing a cable/satellite/FiOS package, I'd jump on board. For that reason, I'm watching Sling TV with a great deal of interest.


EtA: Fixed grammar bugs.

A Thursday Quick Hit: Girls on Games

Deftig's wife passed this Kickstarter along to me, and I figured I'd share it.  I recognized quite a few of the games that were shown in the Kickstarter, and I'd be interested in hearing their stories.







EtA: Changed the title to make it actually reference the Kickstarter, like I'd originally intended, before I pressed the Publish button by mistake.