Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on Today at 02:40:42 PM

Quote from: WERDNA on Today at 12:56:43 PM

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on Today at 10:52:26 AMIt's ridiculous that an RTS like Godsworn is depicting a fantastical version of the Baltic crusade before any ttrpg has tried.

Well Crusaders of the Amber Coast exists...

Never heard of that before. Huh

  BRP Supplement by Alephtar Games. Unfortunately out of print and not available in PDF, so like so much of their material, it's hard to find and getting harder. (I nabbed a copy at an FLGS Christmas sale a few years ago, but Stupor Mundi on the 13th century HRE was harder to find ... and I'm still hunting a copy of their nomads sourcebook, Wind on the Steppes.)

Books ARE expensive, WotC wants to switch to digital only, and as Professor Dungeon Master says, I would be greatly surprized if they don't make a phone game you can play casually on the subway.

Quote from: Mistwell on Today at 09:58:15 AMLatest earnings call:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hasbro-q1-2024-earnings-call-164518554.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZW53b3JsZC5vcmcv&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHAQVO30snNQCJm4GSToRptm2zCiWDl5PtdcExukSViXZsez77nAC9_qFOxXXXoNlJ-C1g3LkpG1OqKaQ_-_O9kHHV6teOWfjsKyb9SuqT2xg5-VsuviwkSCQGvecU1n_XYQwT27-p0TqlLcxRrXQRS6z8KHRbZFnPvZM7lNi5xU

The Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment's revenues totaled $316.3 million, up 8.2% from $339 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted operating margin was 38.8% compared with 26% in the year-ago quarter.

Hasbro's overall revenues: -24%
Digital and licensed game sales: +14%
Overall tabletop gaming: +5%
Magic the Gathering: +4%

Wait a minute...

$316.3 million < $339 million

So how can they be "up 8.2% from the year-ago quarter"?

Mistwell,

It's "earnings" came at the expense of massive cuts that ensure that they will not be able to keep this up for very long.  Anyone really looking at the company over all, their public releases, total holdings, active projects, and open partnerships will see a company that dying. 

BG3 is the only reason why Q1 saw earnings.  Everything else was mitigating the flooding coming in through the holes in the hull.  Now the partnership with Larian (the actual makers of BG3) is over.  They aren't profitable with toys, they aren't profitable with board games, their Renegade Studios RPGs are tapering off.  WOTC is on fire, and none of their digital projects are on time or on budget. 

MtG sales have increased from last quarter but not nearly at the same rate of the rest of the CCG market.  Looking at the reception the latest releases, it's bleak in the long term.

Over all, they've drained their creative talent pool and the business management side is saying stupid things and making even dumber decisions.

I don't say this with glee.  Many of my happiest moments were brought to me by Hasbro.  It's like watching my favorite uncle die of cancer.

Quote from: WERDNA on Today at 12:56:43 PM

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on Today at 10:52:26 AMIt's ridiculous that an RTS like Godsworn is depicting a fantastical version of the Baltic crusade before any ttrpg has tried.

Well Crusaders of the Amber Coast exists...

Never heard of that before. Huh

Between RPGs, board games, and war games, there's a lot of players.  There's a messing thing going on right now where the blue hairs are trying to turn game stores into lefty coffee clubs but home games are on the rise.  People want the game and the social contact through the game, they just don't want the sanctimony.

Take a look at what is going on with Battletech with their community rep and the player base.  In short, the player base has had it with Catalyst Game Labs and have started to boycott buying new BT stuff.  Instead, BT piracy us way up, EBay is selling old BT stuff all the time, and home brew mechs are all the rage in many BT local meet-ups.

This is a thing that's happening all over.  Many games are selling well and many people are in great games but the big publishers are shitting on their customers.  Of course they are seeing dips in revenue.  OTOH, look on Drivethru and look ate what is hot.

Even 5e is doing well, just not WOTC.  The amount of third party stuff that's selling is staggering. 

My final F&L and GaryCon convention report—Part 3, Thank Yous and Swag—is now live, at https://grodog.blogspot.com/2024/04/founders-legends-garycon-2024-convention-report-part-3.html

Allan.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on Today at 10:52:26 AMIt's ridiculous that an RTS like Godsworn is depicting a fantastical version of the Baltic crusade before any ttrpg has tried.

Well Crusaders of the Amber Coast exists...

Quote from: Steven Mitchell on April 24, 2024, 09:47:06 PM

Quote from: Eric Diaz on April 24, 2024, 08:20:38 PM

Quote from: ForgottenF on April 24, 2024, 09:03:17 AM... To my mind, the holy grail of good RPG design is to have it that a player can make decisions entirely based on understanding the game world and in-game situation, without even needing to understand the rules, and the rules will bear out the effectiveness of that decision as it would be in the fiction. The point of all of this weapon and armor realism is not simulation for it's own sake, but to produce the same incentives in equipment and combat choices as would exist if the game world was real.

Agreed... that would be ideal.

OK, if we accept that as the ideal for a moment, let me ask you both a question.  Would you settle for rules/mechanics that caused the players to emulate the weapon and armor realism, but without really understanding how this pertains to simulating the fiction? That is, what if players end up choosing weapons and armor that would make sense due to real-world concerns, but not necessarily for those reasons?

Yep, I'm taking that thought a little sideways, because I think the ideal is unobtainable, and then the question becomes what becomes an acceptable, pragmatic result short of it.

Not sure I understand the question, but I'll try to give my 2c... I think that it would be good if weapons were more "realistic", with or without players understanding WHY a pick is good against plate.

I think there are two aspects to consider.

First the "realism" thing. I want the game to function similarly (not identically) to the real world. I've learned a lot from RPGs - not only vocabulary, but until a game last month I had no idea if a bonfire was hot enough to melt gold (it is).

Second, I think this is FUN. Describing a weapon piercing armor or bashing someone's head even under a helmet makes the game more action-packed. I wouldn't be as excited to calculate precisely how many calories a person needs, or the chances of mild ear disease as suggested in AD&D.

So, in the end, I like attempting realism when it can potentially increase the fun, but that is very subjective, of course.

Has tabletop gaming as a whole declined? How many gamers are there and what are they playing?