[macd21]

Originally Posted by trap monkey

If you are reviewing a product, you should review the product- and I'm not saying you didn't- I thought alot of your points were well thought out and honest.
However, just because you don't like something in the setting doesn't mean the overall product should suffer in a public review of it. You blantantly marked it down for having a race you didn't like. So what? If the overall setting is so deep and complete, why not give the setting a high score? The only thing you didn't like about the setting was the Felinor, but again, is that a flaw? Out of 300 pages of pure descriptive text, does a 4-page culture description really cause the grade to slip from an A to a C? That's harsh by any standard, and certainly not an objective one, which a reviewer should be.

The Felinor were not the only thing I disliked about the game and certainly weren't the reason I dropped Prophecy's rating down so much. As you say, they were only one part of the setting. They are, however, a very important part, as they are one of the four Prime races, the default races for players. The game also lost a lot of points for the poor layout. The game gained points for a number of other aspects - the bestiary, the magic system, other parts of the setting etc, which is why it didn't get a 0.

Originally Posted by trap monkey

The Felinor aren't flawed, or deserve the kind of negative attention you've perpetuated with them. Bellona is right as well- players don't have control over whether they're going to meet a Felinor or not, the GM does. And if they want to play one, they should be able to. If they want to be a magic user, as a GM, let them play one, whether NelVan, Gelling, or a Comnar Artifact Mage.

Whether the Felinor are flawed are not is a matter of opinion. And in the opinion of many, they are deeply flawed. That isn't something my review is responsible for. I will point out that isn't just my own opinion - every gamer I've shown the Felinor too have reacted poorly to them.

Originally Posted by trap monkey

And multiple times throughout the manuals they tell you that if something is slowing things down, don't use it. You could have tried the simple combat rules if the advanced ones didn't work out for you, not comment that the 'combat system is completely unworkable' and that you decided to home brew it.

Saying "if you don't like it, drop it" is not an excuse for a poor system. The combat system suffers badly from the poor layout and presentation. A GM has to figure out how the system works, then figure out which aspects he doesn't like and should drop, then which rules to change to make it workable. Prophecy does not contain a single, well-playtested rule set for combat. Instead it gives you a toolkit to create a combat system for yourself. This isn't too bad for experienced GMs, but others will have a difficult time figuring it out. By the time they've played a few sessions, they will probably have given up and moved on to something else. I did look at the simple combat rules (though they themselves are flawed, something the game itself points out), but in the end Prophecy essentially tells you to homebrew your own system, giving you some tools to help you do so.

This is not a good thing and cost the game some more points.

Originally Posted by trap monkey

You stated that you liked the mechanics- the tick-xp system was good, you liked that the magic was simple, but that combat was iffy for you and that Character creation was a little confusing. Fine. You liked half of it. But you failed to mention the errata for the Box Set available on their company website for free download, as well as all the charts. Therefore showing that while some bugs have to be worked out, they are aware of them and are open to further dicussion and input from their fanbase, as well as others.

The review was for what is in the Box Set, not the rest of the game (supplements, errata etc). In any case, the errata doesn't really solve any of the problems I mentioned. I believe I did mention the charts - the game lost a few points for them, because they are poorly laid out and explained. As you said, I liked half of it, which is why I gave it some points. The other half cost it points.

Prophecy could be a good game, but as-is it has a lot of problems that need to be fixed. The biggest issue (IMO) is the combat system. It needs to be presented in a clear manner. There are some issues with some of the mechanics, which simply don't work as intended. The second issue is the layout (I believe the stand alone PM solves some of the layout problems). The third is the Felinor. While you may not have an issue with them, a lot of players do. It is generating a bad image for the game and putting a lot of people off.