Traveller wrote:I find 1300 pages* to be a bit unwieldly, don't you think? *Assumes 24 44-page books and one 256-page hardcover.
deimos3428 wrote:Of course it is. They should hire an editor, because there's no way that's all gold. However, it's more economically feasible for them to pulp out a bunch of smaller booklets and hope that some are hits. Not unlike TSR's later years, WotC today, and many many others.By dividing the material into 24 separate products*, each generously padded with fluff, you'll need to purchase them all to get the nuggets of useful information buried in each. You don't have to buy them all...but they are betting that you will. Nothing new.* I use that term very loosely. C'mon -- we're selling individual districts now? What's next, random "city block" packs?
Traveller wrote:Other than the map of the city in the hardcover, I fail to see the point behind the wailing and gnashing of teeth here.
serleran wrote:Let me just point out a little misunderstanding you seem to have:Actually, there are 24 planned modules for Yggsburgh, each one going into much more detail than what the "core Yggsburgh" describes. The "big book" is more of an overview of the entire city, where these books are more "neighborhoods" and you only need the ones you want, or like, or will use. This is to give a more introspective view of the city, as each section interacts and so forth. Think of it like this: Yggsburgh is macroscopic; the town modules are microscopic. So, in a very minor sense this is "stuff you already have," like the names of streets and some other material, but its 98% new, and is intended to explode the amount of information available, not restrain or reprint it.
deimos3428 wrote:The point, since you missed it, was that this sort of publication strategy stinks. It produces a litany of products, a few of which are great, many of which are not. Note that twenty-four products have been planned, all before any meaningful feedback can be obtained from consumers.This is exactly the same "modularization" we experienced with the GAZ series, and with the splatbooks series, and with the d20 hardcovers. I didn't care for it then, I don't care for it now.Lest you think I'm simply being negative, I also mentioned what I do like -- and more importantly what I would buy. Something larger, carefully-edited, and complete. Like the boxed sets and hardcovers of yore.
FormCritic wrote:The problem is that I didn't misunderstand.I already bought the city of Yggsburgh. I should have gotten a decent map with the book for the $40 cover price.Branching out into two dozen side adventures is OK.....But what I (me, myself) and probably most other fans of the setting want is Castle Zagyg.Can't repeat this enough...Castle...........Zagyg.C A S T L E Z A G Y GSo, when this product finally comes out, is Troll Lord Games going to fail to print the map that goes with it?And then, will they split the map into four pieces and charge me $10 more for each one?The issue here is credibility for Troll Lord Games.What will be remembered as The Great Yggsburgh Map Fiasco is not a thing to be proud of. The company has fixed the problem, but in the entirely wrong way.This is a game company that I want to like. I want Troll Lrod Games to make money hand over fist....in great and mountainous piles of loot and sales of game products in swarms so great there aren't enough printing presses in Wisconsin to meet the demand. Decisions like this one erode consumer confidence and that is sad.Just sell me the map...please.
Your problem ...is a fear that the people implementing that strategy will fall into the same trap that TSR and Hasbro both have fallen into. I admit that it's a valid concern, but in the end an unwarranted one.
deimos3428 wrote:So you agree it's a valid concern...and yet you're not concerned. Why not?We know that history tends to repeat itself. Are you saying you think it'll be different this time, or just that we should give them the benefit of the doubt? I'll admit I'm not an optimist when it comes to forking out cash on RPG supplements. I've been burned too many times.Anyway, the "nobody's forcing you" argument is a lame one. It's designed to deflect or dampen criticism. You don't want me to comment on something if I'm not going to buy it? Too damn bad. We can and we should be critical of the products and companies in this industry.