Quote from: kregmosier;358224always said 4th edition would be great for Gamma World or Supers, so ther ya go.

I'd thought the same thing.

Quote from: kregmosier;358224However, where is the information about booster power cards coming from?  All I see on the release schedule is Legion of Gold and Famine in Fargo.  Is this an assumption, or based on something official posted that I'm missing?

edit:  I suspect it's from the hand-wringing and mincing over the TBP. some dude just saw "power cards" and said "OMG BOOSTERS!"

Y'know, I'd have sworn I read something about the cards being randomized, but it could be I simply read that here and "filled in the blanks" of the official description. Maybe people have knee-jerk response to seeing power cards listed. I know the sets WotC has released for 4e aren't randomized.

So far, the random boosters have only been mentioned in tweets from the DDXP seminar.

Quote from: Wizards_DnD on TwitterThe game also has a card component. A deck of 80 cards with 40 tech cards and 40 mutation cards you might suddently manifest
10:55 AM Jan 28th from TweetDeck

Could be something useful like life-leach or something comical like big floppy feet
10:55 AM Jan 28th from TweetDeck

Gamma world random booster packs include more mutations and tech. These will be found in core stores
10:57 AM Jan 28th from TweetDeck

Game days for gamma world will revolve around picking up some boosters, and creating a character based on the cards you get
10:57 AM Jan 28th from TweetDeck

Colonel:  Yeah, like I said, all I've seen are the two decks that come with the boxed set ("Mutation power card deck" and "Loot power card deck").  

I found this over at "that site":
http://forum.rpg.net/showpost.php?p=11601760&postcount=52

QuoteWizards of the Coast has just announced (via Twitter) that a new edition of Gamma World will be published in October 2010.  The following details were released:

    * The Gamma World rule book will be 160 pages and include everything you need to play, covering character creation through GM advice.
    * The rules will be strongly rooted in the 4e Dungeons & Dragons game mechanics.
    * The rule book will include 30 different monsters, including badders and yarns.
    * The rule book will include an adventure with 10 encounters, providing enough experience to raise character levels by 2.
    * The game will incorporate a card component. 40 tech cards and 40 mutation cards will be included.
    * Booster packs of random tech and mutation cards will be available for purchase separately.
    * The rule book will be supported with a boxed set release, Famine in Fargo. This adventure will include 16 encounters, token sheets, poster maps, and 10 additional GM cards. Oh, and mutant chickens... can't forget the mutant chickens.

hrmm...

God, I think I'm going to throw up.

Quote from: J Arcane;358237God, I think I'm going to throw up.

Why? I have various editions of Gamma World, and while I still prefer the original (which I still have), none of the others somehow render what I like obsolete. This new edition won't cause the old books to be struck blank.

Welllll... now it might not be ALL bad. Think of it this way; its a cheap way to introduce new mutations and tech into the game in the future instead of them having to print supplements we have to buy at $30 a pop. And it sounds like it won't be REQUIRED to buy them to play, it'll just give you more random options...

Maybe?

Quote from: ColonelHardisson;358238Why? I have various editions of Gamma World, and while I still prefer the original (which I still have), none of the others somehow render what I like obsolete. This new edition won't cause the old books to be struck blank.

Yeah, that's you, and me.  We grew up then.  

Think about the people who don't know about Gamma World at all.  Think about what this game says about the direction this hobby's biggest salesman is pushing it in.  Think about what it says about the mindset that has taken over gaming in the last few years.

You can stick your head in the sand all you want, but I'm still allowed to be disgusted at what's actually happening out here in the real world.

Quote from: Werekoala;358239Welllll... now it might not be ALL bad. Think of it this way; its a cheap way to introduce new mutations and tech into the game in the future instead of them having to print supplements we have to buy at $30 a pop. And it sounds like it won't be REQUIRED to buy them to play, it'll just give you more random options...

Maybe?

Yeah, that sounds right to me. Anytime I see something like this being done, I always ask myself how I would have reacted back in my heyday of gaming (the early 80s). I'm pretty sure I would have thought this all sounded cool as hell. A lot of the appeal of something like this, for me at least, is the nostalgia. One element of nostalgia, for me, is what I hoped something would be. While cards may not have crossed my mind then, their arrival would have been cool with me.

That said, I have no real interest in collecting, and I ain't gonna go after "chase cards." Just means I'll play the game "as is."

Quote from: Werekoala;358239Welllll... now it might not be ALL bad. Think of it this way; its a cheap way to introduce new mutations and tech into the game in the future instead of them having to print supplements we have to buy at $30 a pop. And it sounds like it won't be REQUIRED to buy them to play, it'll just give you more random options...

Maybe?

QuoteGame days for gamma world will revolve around picking up some boosters, and creating a character based on the cards you get

And I mean, come on dude, you know the mindset of gamers these days. and the mindset of CCG players.  Of course it's going to be "required", if only because every fuckstick at your table is going to want to be all about stacking that deck for the best fucking shit, gaming the system to make the most ludicrously powerful character they can.

The forums will be full of complaints about how awful and evil and "unbalanced" having to randomly pick powers is, and how Wizards is stupid for putting bad mutations in the game.

Both of those things will be the first thing house ruled out at the table, and Wizards being who they are these days will make them the first features to be phased out in the next expansion or ".5" edition.

Quote from: J Arcane;358240Think about the people who don't know about Gamma World at all.  Think about what this game says about the direction this hobby's biggest salesman is pushing it in.  Think about what it says about the mindset that has taken over gaming in the last few years.

For younger players, TSR is ancient history and WotC 3E/3.5E D&D is "old school" to them.  Even younger players have probably never even heard of TSR.

:rolleyes:

Quote from: J Arcane;358240Yeah, that's you, and me.  We grew up then.  

Think about the people who don't know about Gamma World at all.  Think about what this game says about the direction this hobby's biggest salesman is pushing it in.  Think about what it says about the mindset that has taken over gaming in the last few years.

You can stick your head in the sand all you want, but I'm still allowed to be disgusted at what's actually happening out here in the real world.

How is it sticking my head in the sand? The reality is that computer games have all but destroyed the fan base for tabletop RPGs. That's a fact. Electronic games appeal to kids more than books or just about anything else. If books alone could be made so attractive as to stave off their own demise, it would already have been done. Anything to draw in new players is a plus.

It's not like Gamma World was some pristine embodiment of RPG perfection, anyway. If doing things the old fashioned way actually worked, then companies wouldn't have to do the things they're doing now. What, should they simply reprint the originals, sell them to a continually shrinking customer base, and go out of business to maintain some pretense of purity? If younger people wanted to buy books and play tabletop games instead of computer games, they'd be doing so.

You completely missed my fucking point, Colonel.  

You act like I don't know this shit.  That doesn't mean I have to fucking like that the entire paradigm, the entire mindset around what was once my favorite hobby, has completely shifted to the point where the very term used to describe it is no longer accurate in any sense I identify it as.

Quote from: J Arcane;358243And I mean, come on dude, you know the mindset of gamers these days. and the mindset of CCG players.  Of course it's going to be "required", if only because every fuckstick at your table is going to want to be all about stacking that deck for the best fucking shit, gaming the system to make the most ludicrously powerful character they can.

The forums will be full of complaints about how awful and evil and "unbalanced" having to randomly pick powers is, and how Wizards is stupid for putting bad mutations in the game.

Both of those things will be the first thing house ruled out at the table, and Wizards being who they are these days will make them the first features to be phased out in the next expansion or ".5" edition.

This.  Competitive human nature mixed with manufactured scarcity will create a scam.

Quote from: ColonelHardisson;358245How is it sticking my head in the sand? The reality is that computer games have all but destroyed the fan base for tabletop RPGs. That's a fact. Electronic games appeal to kids more than books or just about anything else. If books alone could be made so attractive as to stave off their own demise, it would already have been done. Anything to draw in new players is a plus.

The reason drawing new players in would be a plus is there would be more players who would want to play Gamma World the way I'd like to see it done.  What I'm worried about here is that rather than drawing in the sorts of players I'd like to see, they'll create a new base of players who are primarily card collectors.  I don't want their collectible cards, and I have no interest in playing GW with a bunch of collectors.

ANYTHING to draw in new players is not always a plus, IMO.

Quote from: ColonelHardisson;358245It's not like Gamma World was some pristine embodiment of RPG perfection, anyway. If doing things the old fashioned way actually worked, then companies wouldn't have to do the things they're doing now. What, should they simply reprint the originals, sell them to a continually shrinking customer base, and go out of business to maintain some pretense of purity? If younger people wanted to buy books and play tabletop games instead of computer games, they'd be doing so.

If the price of seeing a new edition of an old favorite on the shelves is also seeing it gimped, then tarted up as a 'collectible' to prey on compulsive buyers, then I'd rather it stayed in the grave.

Of course, it's their brand, and they owe it to themselves to make whatever profit they can from it, but I won't buy it.

QuoteThe reason drawing new players in would be a plus is there would be more players who would want to play Gamma World the way I'd like to see it done. What I'm worried about here is that rather than drawing in the sorts of players I'd like to see, they'll create a new base of players who are primarily card collectors. I don't want their collectible cards, and I have no interest in playing GW with a bunch of collectors.

ANYTHING to draw in new players is not always a plus, IMO.

Indeed.  I'm talking about what this kind of thing means for the culture of new gamers and new groups.

I know a bunch of you old fuckers are still playing with the same neckbeards you started playing White Box with 40 years ago, but for the rest of us, this game, and this kind of attitude, is what we have to weed through when we go out and try and find new players.

Wow.

Ok, then.

IIRC, the powers and mutations in the original edition(s) were random anyway. I seem to recall having to roll for number of each, then roll on tables to see what you got. That's not much different from drawing cards from a deck. I love Gamma World, and would love to see it's return as a successful game, so I'll read reviews and whanot when it comes out and make my decision then. I really don't see the problem with that.

And let's be honest - how many NEW players do ANY of these games draw in? Mostly it's word-of-mouth, older gamers, and their kids who grow up around it, unless there's some magical place I'm not aware of.