For every gamer who wished that just once there was a superhero rpg that played just like the comic books, With Great Power… is a worthwhile investment, even in rough form. Solve the mystery: What is the Secret Purpose of the Thought Balloon?!!!
Post originally by Tim Kirk at 2004-10-04 04:40:23
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"but this thing is currently only 2/3 baked and needs some examples to make it rise. I gave it, sadly, a 2 for Layout due to the information in the game being lumped together in odd places, but a 4 for some pretty ground-breaking Content. Fair enough for a preview edition"
This is what I was worried about that they were already selling the game, its not been through the revisement process, its not been playtested enough to have plenty of examples of play.
As a superhero game writer myself, it makes me quiet a bit worried about how an author can justify selling something that as you put it is only "2/3rds" baked.
Entirely a half-baked idea IMHO.
Playable, maybe, but if you have trouble understanding it because of lack of examples, and lack of detail on important issues (is death possible? for example), then obviously the author needs to stop selling this and go back to the drawing board for a while. This may be a the end all be all of superhero games, when it is completed.
Hopefully people won't be put off of buying indepedent games that are finished, after buying one that isn't. (Since I'd like to sell them a perfectly complete, and playable superhero game some day.)
Post originally by Matt Helms at 2004-10-04 05:12:04
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I admire what the author's done in making a preview edition available. It is playable and will give him the money to put out a proper edition next year. Having all the little bugs worked out before the official release is a nice benefit, as well.
Post originally by Tim Gray at 2004-10-04 06:15:10
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If it actually is $8.00 for a mere 25 pages of the standard the review indicates, that's WAY overpriced. Compare the prices at RPGNow.com. (Though on glancing at the site it looks like a *physical* product - why?! That limits your guinea pig audience geographically. Make it a pdf and sell it for $3. Although RPGNow now has a $40 new vendor charge...)
It does sound interesting. I've become very aware that the supers game I published is very traditional/simulationy in system terms, which fits with RPGs but not so much with comics. I'd really like to see a playtest review of a more polished version.
Post originally by Michael S. Miller at 2004-10-04 12:15:52
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Thanks for the review, Carl. Your suggestions are on my to-do list for the full edition.
As for "What is the thought balloon for?" Well, one of the great stregths of comics as a storytelling medium is that it's just as easy to show what a character is thinking as it is to show what a character is saying. You just put the words in a thought balloon.
Physically, the Thought Balloon is meant to be mounted on a handle and left in the center of the table where anyone can grab it. Sometimes in play, particularly when you're dealing with Convictions, or Secret Identity issues, you'll want to reveal to your fellow players what your character is thinking. Just grab the thought Balloon, hold it over your head, and say what he's thinking.
It's one of those things that players catch onto instantly at the table and have a lot of fun with.
Post originally by Ralph Mazza at 2004-10-04 12:33:10
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$8 is not too much. In fact, its probably too little.
If $8 is too much for you to want to participate in the play testing and development of one of the coolest superhero games to come down the pipe in ages...
...Then quite simply you're NOT the target audience. Its quite the demonstration of gamer ego to presume that YOU personally are expected to buy this game...and thus that your opinion on it being overpriced is somehow important.
The answer is simple...if you aren't committed enough to the concept of the game then you AREN'T expected to buy it, and thus your opinion on price is completely irrelevant.
If you ARE committed to the concept of this game...if it really grabs you by the lapels and shakes you hard core so that you really really want to play...then $8 is NOT too much to pay to get in on that.
Really...people who equate content length with price baffle me to begin with. What horrible roleplaying experiences your lives must be filled with if a key criteria for quality for you comes down to page count. People who truly enjoy roleplaying and not simply reading about roleplaying know that page count is irrelevant...only quality of the actual play experience matters.
When you then go so far as to apply this ridiculous logic to a "preview edition" my WTF alert starts blaring at about 135 db.
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