So, I think I finally found the answer to one of my great pet peeves with D&D 3.0 and beyond. If you look through the books there is a general emphasis on urban (yes, urban) game play and, even in 3.5 (which was better about this) a disappointing lack of rules for GMing a game in THE OUTDOORS (gasp!).
Apparently this may have something to do with the fact that the setting (if you can call it that) that they used to play test in was a giant freakin’ CITY!
Yup, a great big piece of urban sprawl. Because you know Middle Ages Europe was just crawling with big ass cities. And all those great epic works of fantasy that take place in cities. Let’s see – There’s Thieve’s World and, uh, I can’t think of anymore.
But it isn’t like you wanted to play a FANTASY game that involved, say, roaming the forest or hunting down dragons in faraway lands, or wandering around on your super cool horse looking for fair princesses (or princes) to rescue? You didn’t actually want to leave the giant urban sprawl of a capital city did you? Of course not. That’s silly. Who ever heard of a FANTASY game that involved THE OUTDOORS.
Now be a good gamer and cough up $119.99 for Uncle Monte.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Comic Books --- The Wall Street Journal Gets It
Cinerati has often discussed, and lamented, the state of the comic book industry. Comics just don't sell at the rate they used to in prior "ages." Combine this with the fact that the target audience has shifted from the developing fan to the committed fan, a combination partly responsible for the decline in sales (not entirely, don't get me started on Jim Shooter and speculators in the early 90s).
Though Marvel and DC have done little to expand their audience to the emerging fan in recent years, if you think they have done a lot we ought to meet for coffee some time, one thing is certain, both Marvel and Time Warner (DC Comics) understand the need to increase revenue from the comic book marketplace. Even as a loss leader the production costs are becoming extremely high. When you combine huge printing costs, due to higher quality paper/printing techniques and smaller print runs, with increased pay to artists/writers you have to find ways to increase revenue flow without increasing prices. After all, the marketplace is too small for much of an uptick in cover price. In the link above, I discussed Marvel's plan to release digital back issues both online and in DVD-Rom is one way to address this. If you don't own 40 years of the X-men, 44 Years of the Fantastic Four, or the upcoming 40 Years of the Avengers, you are missing a great opportunity to read quality comics at a cheap price.
Now Marvel and DC are looking to a new avenue for revenue, actually an old avenue in a new medium. Comics have long had advertisements which often interupt the flow of the narrative/panel design. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal both companies are looking to product placement within the panels to increase revenue. (I would link the article, but you have to be a subscriber.) According to Brian Steinberg, "Las week, DaimlerChrysler AG's Dodge finalized an ad pact that will include product placements in Marvel comics." Combine this Daimler buy with Time Warner's recent contract with General Motors Corp, and the creation of "Rush City," and you have high priced ads which might become fluid parts of the narrative. The idea is similar to what Gaijin Studios did with "The Ride" two years back, with the addition that the cars are modern, rather than classic.
The ad buys are an direct example that comic books are finally admitting who their audience is, "one of Madison Avenue's most elusive audiences: guys in their 20s." As the Steinberg article points out, and we have said many times, "Lately, readers of comic books have gotten older. On Madison Avenue, 'there is a large misunderstanding of who is reading these titles and what they are paying attention to...' fans who kept buying the books have grown older, now reaching into their 20s and 30s." I actually think that even this estimate projects the comic audience too young. I would state that the audience is more in the late 20s to the early 40s, but that still constitutes real buying power. DC Advertising VP David McKillips "hopes to bring in other advertisers seeking an older male. 'You're going to see this year a lot more health and beauty care, shaving cream, razors, alongside the automotive."
Comics are finally realizing who their audience is, too bad that doesn't mean they want to expand the audience from its current niche place in the market. On the plus side, this does mean I will see fewer house ads in the issues I buy. If you saw, "In Good Company" with Dennis Quaid and its conversations about global corporation "synergy," and the film's argument that this is not a desireable revenue source, then you can appreciate my joy at reading that there would be more shaving cream ads and thus possibly fewer ads for movies/video games based on the IP of the company whose comics I am buying.
I hope that the companies will do more to expand the audience. Until that time comes, it is good to see that they are finally trying to bring in revenue from the advertisers who have products that might appeal to the comic reading audience. In television, the equation works from a revenue standpoing. TV studios ask, "Hey, what show will sell X to demographic Y." Comics have been denying who their demographic is for sometime. Comics grew up, but the revenue sources didn't. I wish that comics had been able to grow up while keeping some titles filled with the youthful joy that made me buy comics in the first place.
If you want to read the whole article, and are a WSJ subscriber, you can read the article here.
Though Marvel and DC have done little to expand their audience to the emerging fan in recent years, if you think they have done a lot we ought to meet for coffee some time, one thing is certain, both Marvel and Time Warner (DC Comics) understand the need to increase revenue from the comic book marketplace. Even as a loss leader the production costs are becoming extremely high. When you combine huge printing costs, due to higher quality paper/printing techniques and smaller print runs, with increased pay to artists/writers you have to find ways to increase revenue flow without increasing prices. After all, the marketplace is too small for much of an uptick in cover price. In the link above, I discussed Marvel's plan to release digital back issues both online and in DVD-Rom is one way to address this. If you don't own 40 years of the X-men, 44 Years of the Fantastic Four, or the upcoming 40 Years of the Avengers, you are missing a great opportunity to read quality comics at a cheap price.
Now Marvel and DC are looking to a new avenue for revenue, actually an old avenue in a new medium. Comics have long had advertisements which often interupt the flow of the narrative/panel design. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal both companies are looking to product placement within the panels to increase revenue. (I would link the article, but you have to be a subscriber.) According to Brian Steinberg, "Las week, DaimlerChrysler AG's Dodge finalized an ad pact that will include product placements in Marvel comics." Combine this Daimler buy with Time Warner's recent contract with General Motors Corp, and the creation of "Rush City," and you have high priced ads which might become fluid parts of the narrative. The idea is similar to what Gaijin Studios did with "The Ride" two years back, with the addition that the cars are modern, rather than classic.
The ad buys are an direct example that comic books are finally admitting who their audience is, "one of Madison Avenue's most elusive audiences: guys in their 20s." As the Steinberg article points out, and we have said many times, "Lately, readers of comic books have gotten older. On Madison Avenue, 'there is a large misunderstanding of who is reading these titles and what they are paying attention to...' fans who kept buying the books have grown older, now reaching into their 20s and 30s." I actually think that even this estimate projects the comic audience too young. I would state that the audience is more in the late 20s to the early 40s, but that still constitutes real buying power. DC Advertising VP David McKillips "hopes to bring in other advertisers seeking an older male. 'You're going to see this year a lot more health and beauty care, shaving cream, razors, alongside the automotive."
Comics are finally realizing who their audience is, too bad that doesn't mean they want to expand the audience from its current niche place in the market. On the plus side, this does mean I will see fewer house ads in the issues I buy. If you saw, "In Good Company" with Dennis Quaid and its conversations about global corporation "synergy," and the film's argument that this is not a desireable revenue source, then you can appreciate my joy at reading that there would be more shaving cream ads and thus possibly fewer ads for movies/video games based on the IP of the company whose comics I am buying.
I hope that the companies will do more to expand the audience. Until that time comes, it is good to see that they are finally trying to bring in revenue from the advertisers who have products that might appeal to the comic reading audience. In television, the equation works from a revenue standpoing. TV studios ask, "Hey, what show will sell X to demographic Y." Comics have been denying who their demographic is for sometime. Comics grew up, but the revenue sources didn't. I wish that comics had been able to grow up while keeping some titles filled with the youthful joy that made me buy comics in the first place.
If you want to read the whole article, and are a WSJ subscriber, you can read the article here.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Palladium Books Facing BK
Palladium Books is one of the biggest independent RPG companies around, and one of the oldest. I've always respected them because they're basically a one-man show: Kevin Seimbeda has lovingly nurtured his world of RIFTS for over fifteen years, and his company for over 20!
As much as I love the phenomenal support offered by WOTC for DND 3.5 and Modern, the fact is that there's something special about Palladium: they're the little publisher that could.
Anyway, check this out here, and read Sembeida's personal appeal. I think a $50 minimum may be a bit ambitious for some, so maybe we should try to collaborate?
Hopefully we can help keep a good company from going under!
As much as I love the phenomenal support offered by WOTC for DND 3.5 and Modern, the fact is that there's something special about Palladium: they're the little publisher that could.
Anyway, check this out here, and read Sembeida's personal appeal. I think a $50 minimum may be a bit ambitious for some, so maybe we should try to collaborate?
Hopefully we can help keep a good company from going under!
Flash Gordon -- Planet of Peril
On January 7, 1934 Alex Raymond forever changed the "comic world" when he created a new comic strip character to compete with the extremely popular Buck Rogers comic strip. Flash Gordon offered all the excitement of the typical Buck Rogers adventure, but with two significant improvements. Raymond's art was far superior to that of the Rogers title and was better able to transate the excitement of "cliffhanging adventure." Second, the Flash Gordon universe was more fantastic that scientific.
Buck Rogers as a title has always demanded a modicum of scientific plausibility. The adventures of Buck Rogers (the comic strip) told of a future America where World War had changed governmental structures and a future China had come to rule the world.
Flash Gordon has never had limitations restricting it to the plausible. Flash was truly the adventures of the mind. Buck Rogers is a character who one could imagine Isaac Asimov writing a story about in adventures filled with political struggles as well as physical. If one were to imagine any classic science fiction author drafting tales of Flash Gordon, the first name to leap to the tongue would have to be Edgar Rice Burroughs. The adventures are too fantastic, too scientifically implausible, to wild, and too swashbuckling for any other author. Flash Gordon shares as much with modern tales of Fantasy as he does with science fiction.
Flash, Dale, and Zarkov inhabit a universe where there are self propelling planets, swordfights, and magic powers and, not surprisingly, Raymond's influence has extended into modern movies as well. A Gordon comic fan cannot help but see honest homage to Raymond's creation when he watches the Star Wars films. Both contain the aforementioned "moving planets" (Mongo vs. the Death Star), evil emperors (Ming vs. Palpatine), and magic powers (the Force and Ming's Magic). Both also contain princesses (Aura vs. Leia), anthropomorphic animistic friends (Thun the Lion Man vs. Chewbacca the Wookie), and roguish allies (Prince Barin vs. Han Solo). The list of comparisons above is far from exhaustive and is not meant to detract from Star Wars in any way. Star Wars easily deserves its place beside Raymond's creation, but the influence of Flash Gordon on a young Lucas is almost undeniable. One of the reasons for the enduring legacy of Raymond's creation was his attitude toward the medium itself:
I decided honestly that comic art is an art form in itself. It reflects the life and times more accurately and actually is more artistic than magazine illustration -- since it is entirely creative. An illustrator works with camera and models; a comic artist begins with a white sheet of paper and dreams up his own business -- he is playwright, director, editor, and artist at once.
It is wonderful that Checker Book Publishing is releasing the strips in a series of collected editions . So far there are five volumes in the series.
As you can see be the illustrations below the artistic quality is higher than one would expect from a 1930s newspaper strip. I think the art speaks for itself today and deserves a place in art history as well as in the history of popular culture.
Flash Gordon quickly leapt from the newspaper page and onto the big screen. In 1936, Alex Raymond's eponymous Polo player/Savior of the Planet Flash Gordon, played by the charismatic Buster Crabbe, first entered the sparkler powered rocket to the planet Mongo. Once there Flash would face numerous dangers and begin his battles against the evil emperor Ming, battles which would last for many years.
Thanks to You Tube, you can watch the first episode "Planet of Peril." Two warnings. First, the file is big so if you want to watch it, you had better have a high speed connection. Second, if you like it, rather than hunting down all the episodes as streaming video, do yourself (and the IP owners) a favor and buy the Space Soldiers
DVD box set. I know, why buy when you can download? Well...you might just prompt someone to make a quality film that is a true adaptation of the material. We Flash Gordon fans are in dire need of a good adaptation, I can only watch Sam Jones so many times. Though I can sing the Queen song all day...Flash! Ahhhhhhhh!Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Inter-Web-O-Net-O-Sphere Woes
While there are times that I love the interwebonetosphere, there are times when the massive collection of ones and zeroes really gets on my nerves. Take right now for instance. My professional email provider, the one I use for work and official stuff, is experiencing some kind of major meltdown making it all but impossible for me to communicate with anyone for work. Let me tell you, it is more than a little lame to tell someone that you will be emailing them with your IMJayGatz or SwinginTrojan email address. Sure IMJayGatz isn't too bad, if they've read the book, but unless they know you well enough to know that you are a baseball and USC fanatic the SwinginTrojan email might raise some eyebrows.
So... for those of you out there who I work with let me say the following. The reason I am not responding to your very important, and in need of immediate response, email isn't that I am avoiding you or hate you. Though both of those statements might be true depending on who you are. Rather it is because it takes 50 minutes for me to get any email that happens to be in my inbox. If you were diverted into my Spam folder, fahgetaboutit! That has been "hidden" to realocate resources so that email works at all. Bah!
Add to that Blogger will have a scheduled outage at 4pm PST and you can see my frustrations.
Some people ask me why I still have my AOL account, that I've had for over a decade. Well...they have NEVER given me this kind of problem. Of course neither has gmail, but since I am on a couple of media/political newslists on that address the likelihood of me reading your email there approaches zero.
Double Bah!
So... for those of you out there who I work with let me say the following. The reason I am not responding to your very important, and in need of immediate response, email isn't that I am avoiding you or hate you. Though both of those statements might be true depending on who you are. Rather it is because it takes 50 minutes for me to get any email that happens to be in my inbox. If you were diverted into my Spam folder, fahgetaboutit! That has been "hidden" to realocate resources so that email works at all. Bah!
Add to that Blogger will have a scheduled outage at 4pm PST and you can see my frustrations.
Some people ask me why I still have my AOL account, that I've had for over a decade. Well...they have NEVER given me this kind of problem. Of course neither has gmail, but since I am on a couple of media/political newslists on that address the likelihood of me reading your email there approaches zero.
Double Bah!
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
I Can't Believe I Missed This!
Every year Hasbro has updated their D&D website on April 1st to reflect some April Fool's Day joke. Since it was on a Saturday this year, and I was busy with my wife and friends partying in the streets of Glendale, I never visited the Hasbro site. Figures that this year would be the best April Fool's Day joke ever, at least for humor if not effectiveness.
They announced the release of the most exciting roleplaying game ever!!!
That's right...My Little Pony the Rpg!!! I can't wait for the Massively Multiplayer Online version.
Now, I have only to create a Savage Worlds version of the rules for my own campaign.
They announced the release of the most exciting roleplaying game ever!!!
That's right...My Little Pony the Rpg!!! I can't wait for the Massively Multiplayer Online version.
Now, I have only to create a Savage Worlds version of the rules for my own campaign.
Brisco County Jr. Coming to DVD this July
On July 18th, Warner Home Video will release the Complete Brisco County Jr. television series.
From the box:
Brisco was a show released in the early 90s and was one of the first shows which captured the "leftover" stew tastes of the Generation X audience. The invasiveness of popular culture, and genre combination, in the conversation/culture of Generation X gave rise to many shows that combined anachronistic retellings of old pop-culture. Shows like Hercules, Xena, and even more recently Firefly have displayed this distinctive formula. Take an established genre, in this case the Western cowboy show, add humor, metacognitivity (self-awareness), and tropes from other genres to create a show to satisfy an audience that loves popular culture old and new. Brisco was a show made in heaven for those who grew up watching The Lone Ranger, Star Trek, and Batman on UHF.
Hurry up and pre-order the show.
While you are at it, you might want to watch American Gothic while you are waiting. Sean Cassidy's supernatural drama was ahead of its time.
From the box:
The world's favorite western/sci-fi/comedy/action cult hit rides again! Here on 8 discs is the complete series about Brisco (Bruce Campbell), a tough-as-rawhide cowpoke, debonair ladies' man and Harvard-educated smarty-britches who roams from Frisco to Jalisco in pursuit of outlaws who killed his father...and in search of a mysterious orb possessing out-of-this world powers. Hot lead and cool anachronisms await Brisco as he and his sidekicks - including Comet, the intellectual equine who doesn't know he's a horse - fight for justice in the way, way, way-out West. Put your boots in your stirrups, your tongue in your cheek and join the fun. Let's play cowboys and aliens.
Brisco was a show released in the early 90s and was one of the first shows which captured the "leftover" stew tastes of the Generation X audience. The invasiveness of popular culture, and genre combination, in the conversation/culture of Generation X gave rise to many shows that combined anachronistic retellings of old pop-culture. Shows like Hercules, Xena, and even more recently Firefly have displayed this distinctive formula. Take an established genre, in this case the Western cowboy show, add humor, metacognitivity (self-awareness), and tropes from other genres to create a show to satisfy an audience that loves popular culture old and new. Brisco was a show made in heaven for those who grew up watching The Lone Ranger, Star Trek, and Batman on UHF.
Hurry up and pre-order the show.
While you are at it, you might want to watch American Gothic while you are waiting. Sean Cassidy's supernatural drama was ahead of its time.
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