One of my favorite non-gaming subjects is that of personal development; who we are, why we are, what we individually do well, and how we can get better at whatever these things may be to achieve Name Level fulfillment in real life. For those interested, I recommend checking out Strengthfinders, but self-discovery is not for everyone -- and there are certainly many ways to skin this particular cat.
I bring this subject up after checking out what appears to be the current endeavor of Ravenloft author Tracy Hickman, "XDM: X-treme Dungeon Mastery." While I am certainly in no position to be calling anyone's baby ugly, I confess to a bit of an eyeroll when I read the name of his book and his game system ("XD20"), and began to understand his overall thrust, which appears to be to inject humor, energy, and magic tricks (I'm not kidding) into one's DM bag of tricks. Indeed, Hickman appears to have transformed himself, rather vampire-like, from an RPG author to what can best be described as (1) a DM motivational writer and speaker and (2) a consultant for budding RPG writers. I'm not sure whether his seminars involve a firewalk or sawing an assistant in two, but he does his damndest to make them appear "xtreme," as if he were the offspring of the union of Gary Gygax and Anthony Robbins.
Setting aside my distaste for buzzwords and useless jargon ("xtreme" is really unforgivable), I couldn't help but wonder whether Hickman isn't a bit like the surgeon who has made his millions in the operating room then believes, magically, that he is somehow able to invest that money wisely (I'll give you a hint: doctors are the number one target for stockbrokers, commercial realtors, and scam artists). Here's a guy who, by all accounts, was the darling of the RPG world for many years writing successful adventures and novels. I would consider buying original content written by Tracy Hickman. I would not consider buying an "xtreme" motivational product or attend a paid seminar put out by him, for one simple reason: hubris. Tracy Hickman's arrogance is the glue that holds his website together; it is visceral.
This sort of "I'm good at X, so I must be good at Y, since X and Y are so much like each other" is pervasive among successful people of all industries and nationalities. Its relative is the thought of "I'm smarter than Bill, and Bill is good at Y, so I can be better at it than him." Both of these beliefs are born of an inflated ego and pride.
I'm Good at Game Writing, So I Can Run a Game Company
This is common in the gaming world because, frankly, nearly all of the companies we know today started as one- or two-man operations where the head guy wore all the hats in the company. Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owens ran Judges Guild for its first few years. Bledsaw was a great content guy (particularly in map and setting design) and philosopher of the game; Owens appears to have been more of an organizer. After Owens left around 1980, JG's production quality worsened and the company lost its exclusive license to publish under the D&D logos. Bledsaw was not free to do what he was best at -- writing, designing, and leading -- and got stuck in the back-end of the business (editing and publishing), things for which he was poorly-suited.
I'm Smarter than the Technical Games Guy, So I Can Run a Game Company with No Technical Expertise
The same could be said, to a lesser extent, in the TSR saga of the early 80s, pitting the Blumes (and then Lorraine Williams) against Gary Gygax for control of the company. We'll never know what would have become of TSR had Gygax retained control, but we certainly know what happened in his absence. People with a lack of understanding and appreciation for the technical product could not be expected to appease their core demographic, design appealing new content, and keep up with the changes to the game market.
The conclusion? Do one thing, and do it well.
Showing posts with label TSR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TSR. Show all posts
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Greyhawk and the Fall of Judges Guild
It's 1983, and Dungeons & Dragons, despite the documented problems within TSR's ownership group, is apparently doing well by all external measures. Its core gamer base remains in an expansion mode despite the protestations of satan-fearing religious types, and many of the kids and adults who started playing over the prior eight years are clamoring for new and better content and game aids. While TSR was fighting its own internal battles, a few hundred miles south in Decatur, Illinois, a competitor and sometimes-friendly colleague in the RPG publishing business, Judges Guild, is in deep trouble.
I am not breaking any news here, but my thesis is that JG was at its best in publishing two categories of gaming product: campaign setting content and maps related to the Wilderlands of High Fantasy, and game aids (tables, charts, and mapping materials) for use in the Wilderlands or in homebrew settings. JG was at its weakest, with a few notable exceptions (Tegel Manor and Dark Tower among them), in writing adventures and rules-related offerings. In this way, JG was a great complimentary publisher to TSR, which had roughly opposite strengths and weaknesses.
To give you an example of why I adore JG campaign materials:
For its time, JG printed wonderful maps. Not because they were beautiful (though I thought they were), but because they were big, they were on the faux-parchmentish paper, and because you were expected to write on them and actually use them. The Player Maps were exactly that -- to be filled out as the players explored the unknown, with only a coastline, a few rivers, and some distant mountain ranges to guide them. Now THAT is how you sandbox, people.
So as you read this post, please don't think I'm dancing on JG's grave. If anything, I am angry that this company didn't recognize and capitalize on its niche while it had the opportunity. Bledsaw and Owens, the main operators of JG in the 70s, had a virtual monopoly on officially-licensed campaign settings. They came up with two fabulous ideas: (1) the Wilderlands itself, a huge sandbox of a game-world (really, about the size of Europe) and (2) an ahead-of-its-time subscription-based publishing strategy to put out setting-related materials, supplemented by the Pegasus magazine, one of the main functions of which was to promote and support the Wilderlands setting. They had a good plan. They did not execute the plan.
With respect to the maps of the Wilderlands, 18 campaign maps (with mostly-blank Player versions) were published and distributed on or before 1978. The often imititated, never duplicated, City State of the Invincible Overlord (launched in 1976) was the centerpiece of the game world. JG's setting-related offerings (e.g., Modron, Shield Maidens of Sea Rune, Verbosh) often focused on nearby locations within easy reach of the City State. Thus, in fairness, JG's main intent was in supporting City State-based campaigns, rather than necessarily expanding the Wilderlands. The Wilderlands' next most substantial content-related expansion arguably was the 1980 release of the City State of the World Emperor, detailing the Overlord's main rival to the West and the surrounding lands.
In prior posts, I have more or less identified the core reasons for Judges Guild's fall (from a product standpoint only; I can't speak to JG's financials or ownership issues), to wit: low-quality and stale production values, poor art, missing-in-action editing, a tendency to regurgitate previously-published material, and a failure to adapt to the rapidly increasing sophistication of TSR's product line (as well as the D&D target market itself) in the early 80s. The coup de grace, however, was JG's 1982 loss of the license to put the D&D and Advanced D&D logos on its products. JG already was moving into second-class publisher status; the licensing debacle relegated it to the role of gonzo publisher -- though one with a fairly impressive back catalog.
So in 1983, my guess is that Bob Bledsaw, one of the founders and the remaining owners of JG, decided to stick to what had worked in the past (and frankly, something that capitalized on his best personal skills -- writing and setting design), and published Tarantis, a city-state in the eastern portion of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.
At first blush, one would think this was a significant upgrade for JG, which in some sense it was. A glossy color cover certainly was de rigueur in the early 80's. As with many JG offerings, however, this was lipstick on a production pig, for under the single-page glossy cover, under the shrink wrap, were two 96-page staple-bound cheap paper books.
To make matters worse, look what else came out in 1983:
As you will recall, this was the fabulous boxed set for which fans of D&D had been clamoring for years. It had a polished gazetteer and of course the iconic Darlene Pekul map of the Flanaess. Tarantis (as good as it is -- see below) -- had no shot. This was the "game over" moment for JG, because TSR had officially gotten into the campaign setting business. JG's Wilderlands of High Fantasy had a six-year virtual monopoly on this sub-industry -- and the World of Greyhawk smacked it aside like the proverbial redheaded stepchild.
As a side note, 1983 also saw the release of Ravenloft, which was in itself a seminal moment in the development of D&D. JG had long since fallen behind the curve on adventure publishing, which TSR absolutely dominated since around 1978 (despite a few Paul Jacquays standout offerings for JG).
Now here's the punchline: remember the date on that Tarantis Player map? 1977. When was Tarantis published? 1983. Why did it take Judges Guild six years to publish Tarantis? Or to put a finer point on it -- why couldn't Judges Guild fully flesh out the Wilderlands with a six year head start?
So to recap -- JG had no D&D license, third-class citizen status amongst the game-buying public, stale production and 1970s sensibilities -- and it lost primacy in its best category. Frankly, they are fortunate TSR didn't get into the setting business sooner, because if Gygax had published the City of Greyhawk and World of Greyhawk early on in D&D's life-cycle, JG wouldn't have made it past 1978.
In the end, though, Tarantis was a largely forgotten product, which is sad. As a whole, the Wilderlands is in some ways a superior product to the WoG, especially for OSR players. I'll post my review of Tarantis in in the coming days.
Edit: a day late and a dollar short: Grognardia's retrospective on the Wilderlands makes many of my points for me -- as usual. Looks like I'm playing catch-up!
I am not breaking any news here, but my thesis is that JG was at its best in publishing two categories of gaming product: campaign setting content and maps related to the Wilderlands of High Fantasy, and game aids (tables, charts, and mapping materials) for use in the Wilderlands or in homebrew settings. JG was at its weakest, with a few notable exceptions (Tegel Manor and Dark Tower among them), in writing adventures and rules-related offerings. In this way, JG was a great complimentary publisher to TSR, which had roughly opposite strengths and weaknesses.
To give you an example of why I adore JG campaign materials:
 |
| A "Player Map" of Tarantis: Campaign Map Four, printed in 1977 |
So as you read this post, please don't think I'm dancing on JG's grave. If anything, I am angry that this company didn't recognize and capitalize on its niche while it had the opportunity. Bledsaw and Owens, the main operators of JG in the 70s, had a virtual monopoly on officially-licensed campaign settings. They came up with two fabulous ideas: (1) the Wilderlands itself, a huge sandbox of a game-world (really, about the size of Europe) and (2) an ahead-of-its-time subscription-based publishing strategy to put out setting-related materials, supplemented by the Pegasus magazine, one of the main functions of which was to promote and support the Wilderlands setting. They had a good plan. They did not execute the plan.
With respect to the maps of the Wilderlands, 18 campaign maps (with mostly-blank Player versions) were published and distributed on or before 1978. The often imititated, never duplicated, City State of the Invincible Overlord (launched in 1976) was the centerpiece of the game world. JG's setting-related offerings (e.g., Modron, Shield Maidens of Sea Rune, Verbosh) often focused on nearby locations within easy reach of the City State. Thus, in fairness, JG's main intent was in supporting City State-based campaigns, rather than necessarily expanding the Wilderlands. The Wilderlands' next most substantial content-related expansion arguably was the 1980 release of the City State of the World Emperor, detailing the Overlord's main rival to the West and the surrounding lands.
In prior posts, I have more or less identified the core reasons for Judges Guild's fall (from a product standpoint only; I can't speak to JG's financials or ownership issues), to wit: low-quality and stale production values, poor art, missing-in-action editing, a tendency to regurgitate previously-published material, and a failure to adapt to the rapidly increasing sophistication of TSR's product line (as well as the D&D target market itself) in the early 80s. The coup de grace, however, was JG's 1982 loss of the license to put the D&D and Advanced D&D logos on its products. JG already was moving into second-class publisher status; the licensing debacle relegated it to the role of gonzo publisher -- though one with a fairly impressive back catalog.
 |
| The Kiss of Death |
So in 1983, my guess is that Bob Bledsaw, one of the founders and the remaining owners of JG, decided to stick to what had worked in the past (and frankly, something that capitalized on his best personal skills -- writing and setting design), and published Tarantis, a city-state in the eastern portion of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.
At first blush, one would think this was a significant upgrade for JG, which in some sense it was. A glossy color cover certainly was de rigueur in the early 80's. As with many JG offerings, however, this was lipstick on a production pig, for under the single-page glossy cover, under the shrink wrap, were two 96-page staple-bound cheap paper books.
To make matters worse, look what else came out in 1983:
As you will recall, this was the fabulous boxed set for which fans of D&D had been clamoring for years. It had a polished gazetteer and of course the iconic Darlene Pekul map of the Flanaess. Tarantis (as good as it is -- see below) -- had no shot. This was the "game over" moment for JG, because TSR had officially gotten into the campaign setting business. JG's Wilderlands of High Fantasy had a six-year virtual monopoly on this sub-industry -- and the World of Greyhawk smacked it aside like the proverbial redheaded stepchild.
As a side note, 1983 also saw the release of Ravenloft, which was in itself a seminal moment in the development of D&D. JG had long since fallen behind the curve on adventure publishing, which TSR absolutely dominated since around 1978 (despite a few Paul Jacquays standout offerings for JG).
Now here's the punchline: remember the date on that Tarantis Player map? 1977. When was Tarantis published? 1983. Why did it take Judges Guild six years to publish Tarantis? Or to put a finer point on it -- why couldn't Judges Guild fully flesh out the Wilderlands with a six year head start?
So to recap -- JG had no D&D license, third-class citizen status amongst the game-buying public, stale production and 1970s sensibilities -- and it lost primacy in its best category. Frankly, they are fortunate TSR didn't get into the setting business sooner, because if Gygax had published the City of Greyhawk and World of Greyhawk early on in D&D's life-cycle, JG wouldn't have made it past 1978.
In the end, though, Tarantis was a largely forgotten product, which is sad. As a whole, the Wilderlands is in some ways a superior product to the WoG, especially for OSR players. I'll post my review of Tarantis in in the coming days.
Edit: a day late and a dollar short: Grognardia's retrospective on the Wilderlands makes many of my points for me -- as usual. Looks like I'm playing catch-up!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Judges Guild Retrospective #2 (Grab Bag Edition): Caves and Caverns
Back in the aughts, whilst hunting for missing elements of my Wilderlands Campaign map collection on Ebay, I bought a few Judges Guild "grab bag" packs from a particularly creative vendor. Some of these have remained unopened for 7+ years.
To to add a little spice, I am reviewing this product cold. Here it is, in all of its shrink-wrapped glory:
Caves and Caverns, by John Mortimer, 1982, cover price: $3.98. 64 pages softback, all black-and-white. As you will note, unlike earlier products, around '82 JG was no longer a holder of the D&D license and was forced to designate their products as "Judges Guild UNIVERSAL Fantasy Supplement." This development is worthy of a blog post or two on its own, but it was one of the contributing factors to the eventual demise/comatose state of JG; without the "approved for use with DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS" label (complete with official TSR-style branding), JG created a semi-compatible game system and its new products were left to stand on their own merits without D&D branding. Compare this offering with TSR's product line circa 1982, and the difference in production values is staggering ...
Here's a fairly typical 1982 TSR product with full color artwork that is actually evocative and relevant. It has a cardstock cover I believe, or at least better binding than a couple of staples. The unflattering comparison is unfortunate for several reasons, not the least of which is that JG products got short shrift. With substandard artwork, thick newsprint-quality paper, iffy editing, and a generally dated feel, a lot of JG inventory got left in the shrink wrap -- like my copy of Caves and Caverns. By '82, the hobby had left JG in the dust -- Bob Bledsaw's "TSR Illinois" in Decatur was making product for 1977 audiences. Whether that sad development was caused by TSR's non-renewal of JG's license or if JG's production values were the reason the license was yanked is a matter of interpretation and speculation.
To to add a little spice, I am reviewing this product cold. Here it is, in all of its shrink-wrapped glory:
Caves and Caverns, by John Mortimer, 1982, cover price: $3.98. 64 pages softback, all black-and-white. As you will note, unlike earlier products, around '82 JG was no longer a holder of the D&D license and was forced to designate their products as "Judges Guild UNIVERSAL Fantasy Supplement." This development is worthy of a blog post or two on its own, but it was one of the contributing factors to the eventual demise/comatose state of JG; without the "approved for use with DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS" label (complete with official TSR-style branding), JG created a semi-compatible game system and its new products were left to stand on their own merits without D&D branding. Compare this offering with TSR's product line circa 1982, and the difference in production values is staggering ...
Here's a fairly typical 1982 TSR product with full color artwork that is actually evocative and relevant. It has a cardstock cover I believe, or at least better binding than a couple of staples. The unflattering comparison is unfortunate for several reasons, not the least of which is that JG products got short shrift. With substandard artwork, thick newsprint-quality paper, iffy editing, and a generally dated feel, a lot of JG inventory got left in the shrink wrap -- like my copy of Caves and Caverns. By '82, the hobby had left JG in the dust -- Bob Bledsaw's "TSR Illinois" in Decatur was making product for 1977 audiences. Whether that sad development was caused by TSR's non-renewal of JG's license or if JG's production values were the reason the license was yanked is a matter of interpretation and speculation.
Back to our Caves and Caverns. The subtitle: "Forty-eight caves & caverns with nine pages of charts & guidelines using the City State Campaign Hexagon System." To reiterate from my prior posts about JG: this is par for the course -- offering a game aid to allow DMs to populate their own sandbox settings or the Wilderlands itself. JG was less in the adventure writing business than it was in the game aid and DM toolbox business.
 |
| A bit of a giggle on the back cover. |
All right: let's open up this 30 year time capsule.
The first few pages are dedicated to explaining the Universal Fantasy terminology, and Mortimer takes great pains to stress that this product is designed for all game systems, although back in '82, there was D&D, Runequest, and that's about it as far as major fantasy RPGs. This "methinks he protesteth too much" vibe continued when, at first glance, most of the stats presented were identical to D&D stats, with some minor changes and additions. One notable alteration was to armor -- Mortimer describes a piecemeal armor system combining armor types with construction material, to arrive at an 'armor rating' that is a damage reduction system rather than the traditional AC-as-damage avoidance system.
To be clear -- I have no issue with JG designing new content. It's just one of the earliest examples of a non-copyright holder having to create new game subsystems and otherwise engage in various gyrations and contortions to avoid an infringement lawsuit from TSR.
My favorite parts of JG products are the tables and charts, and Caves and Caverns does not disappoint. The next few pages describe wilderness terrain effects on combat, and the best part of the whole supplement: "Random Generation of Caves, Caverns, and Burrows." By cross-referencing the base terrain with a die roll, the "type" of cave (limestone, dungeon, lava tube) is generated; the next tables allows generation of the "type of cave entrance" and the size thereof. The following table is a random cave and dungeon generator, allowing a DM to fill in a blank map quickly, either on-the-fly or to prepare a lair beforehand. I have seen several random dungeon generation tables that were superior to this, but the fact that it is broken down by "cave type" lends it some additional merit. JG was never afraid to get hyper-specific in its tables and charts.
Several of the following pages are devoted to a random monster tables, about half of which are JG original monsters designed for use in their Universal Fantasy System and described further in the separate two-volume (and really poorly-named and launched) Field Guide to Encounters -- which I also own in its original pristine shrink-wrapped state and will review on a later date. About half of the monsters' stats were Universal Fantasy additions (agility, endurance, etc.). The stat blocks on the monsters are pretty heinous walls-o-numbers and pure gobbledygook for those with a D&D-only background. For this reason, the monster list in Caves and Caverns is only partially usable for a DM using D&D unless he has the aforementioned Field Guide.
The remaining 50 pages of the 64-page booklet are dedicated to pregenerated mega-hex wilderness maps using JG's Campaign Hexagon system (more on that in a future blog). The outdoor maps are entirely modular, allowing a DM to slap down a cave, small dungeon, or other underground feature in any type of prevailing terrain. The maps alone stimulate an incredible amount of imagination and are well worth the cover price. They are as usable today as they were in '82.
The product is free of fluff and bad artwork, thankfully.
Overall grade: C, due to the Universal Fantasy System aspects; otherwise, it would have been a B+ due to the utility of the maps, charts, and tables.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)