Djeryv wrote:If he would have just made one nice book called "OSRIC Advanced" or "Advanced OSRIC" (for example), he probably could have been done by now. Instead, I guess he wanted to make something his own...that is why he is the "only" one that can work on it. If he would have done a supplemental book, he wouldn't have to worry about making monsters. He wouldn't have to cover the basics of playing. He would only need to focus on UA and Dragon material additions. He would have still been cheered if he made this book similar to the feel you get when you play Labyrinth Lord and get a copy of the Advanced Edition Companion book. Instead, he is trying to draw people from OSRIC and move to his game instead (maybe not on purpose...but the effects may still be the same).
Hi Djeryv. Joe here; the aforementioned author. I wanted to address this particular observation of yours, since it's something that I've considered myself. In fact, if you look through the ADD Forums, you'll find me asking the participants there if it wouldn't be easier to simply put out an OSRIC supplement and be done with it.
I came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be the right move for a few reasons. First and foremost, the stated purpose of the project was to produce the 2nd edition that Gygax would have produced. And he was explicit in the notion that it would have had three books. The consolidation of the MM, FF, and MM2 (and their reorganization) was a central factor, according to his written plans. Plus there are a few universal changes, such as variable monster hit dice, that require a restatement of the monsters.
An OSRIC supplement would have consisted of the new character classes, spells, and umpteen tables of monster adjustments, as well as the new initiative system, etc. etc. etc. It would most certainly have fallen short of the Gygaxian goal of a game whose books were reorganized to make them more efficient. For those, and other, reasons, I decided to come out with a new title.
I would say, however, that it is not correct that I'm "trying to draw people from OSRIC". If anything, I'm trying to draw them from AD&D 1st Edition. The fact that OSRIC is trying to do the same thing is coincidental, from the standpoint of my own motive.
Djeryv wrote:I have said this in another post here that I think its great when people do these types of projects. If he ends up selling it, I don't have any issues with that. I just wish he was more of a "fan" of AD&D and try to make OSRIC a game with expanded options. Instead, he might have found something he didn't like about OSRIC and decided that he could do AD&D better than Stuart and Matt did.
EDIT: I just read a forum post on their site. The author wrote that he is making the game for "himself" and not concerned about what other people think. This is from a post about genders having attribute differences and how he is not going to change it. If he is truthful, then he can't lose. He would just be making himself a nice set of rule books. Most of my opinions still stand, but if he was really doing it for "himself"...then why create a website with forums when you are not close to being done? Apparently he wanted to generate some type of hype...thus he has some part of him that cares what others think.
Well, it's one thing to be the sole author of a trio of game rule books. It's another thing entirely to seek to publish them entirely in a vacuum. I stand by, and will always reiterate, my original goal. My sales goal is 1. I want to see this game on my own shelf, because it is the game I will play myself until I'm dead. It's what I've wanted since 1985. It just so happens that other people want to see what I've come up with, perhaps because I've got a bit of a good reputation amongst the gamerati, and so make it available to them. But it's not for them. It's for me.
The forums weren't created to "generate some type of hype". They were created to give the playtesters a place to give their feedback. Remember, Adventures Dark and Deep is in an "open playtest" mode at the moment-- everyone who downloads the free pdf's is a playtester, and is welcome to contribute to the feedback. The free pdf files available on the site are there to elicit feedback, whether it be typos, rules problems, more general aesthetic ideas, etc. I may be the only one writing the three rulebooks, but that doesn't mean I don't want to know when I've made mistakes or written something that's unclear!
