Ed Stark
09-11-1998, 06:03 PM
While I understand people being upset because their favorite line got put
on hiatus, and I can agree with the "vote with your bucks" sentiment, I
would like to point something out about what some people said about not
purchasing any more TSR product until BR returns.
When BIRTHRIGHT went on hiatus, part of the reason was to be able to shift
the manpower that had been working on it over to other lines--lines that
management hopes will support a wider variety of gamers. This means that
the people who created BIRTHRIGHT and the products you really liked are
still creating new stuff for you to enjoy. Now, everything might not appeal
to you--I'm working almost exclusively on ALTERNITY right now, and you
might not be an SF fan--but if you like the authors and the editors who
worked on BR, I recommend checking out what they are doing on other lines.
Rich Baker was one of the principle ALTERNITY designers. Carrie Bebris is
working on DRAGONLANCE and RAVENLOFT stuff (and maybe some FR). Duane
Maxwell is on STAR*DRIVE, while Anne Brown wrote some of the new GREYHAWK
material.
I bring this up because I think about my favorite authors. One of them,
Glen Cook, wrote a cool book (which turned into a series) called "The Black
Company" (I've mentioned him before). He stopped writing them at some point
and began work on "The Garret Files," a different sort of fantasy series. I
wanted more BC, but I picked up GF because I liked Mr. Cook's writing--and
now I have two series of his that I like (he started writing BC again,
too). If I'd decided to stop reading Glen Cook because he was no longer
writing my favorite series, I would've missed out.
This translates to games very well. Lots of people said "2nd edition?! I
play 1st edition--I'm not buying any more TSR stuff!" Others said
"GREYHAWK/MYSTARA/SPELLJAMMER/AL-QADIM" or whatever "is gone, so I'm not
buying more TSR stuff!" They missed out on BIRTHRIGHT. I think we can all
agree they lost out.
I hope you all continue to support BR. I will; I hope it comes back. I also
hope you'll take a look at some of the ALTERNITY stuff and other material
I'm working on. Maybe you won't like it ... but what if you do? At the very
least, you'll get some new stuff to suck your precious free time away and
I'll get the satisfaction of talking to you on a wider variety of subjects ;-)
Talk to you later!
Ed Stark
Game Designer, Wizards of the Coast/TSR Division
Asst. Brand Manager
ALTERNITY Team
TSR Website: http://www.tsr.com
on hiatus, and I can agree with the "vote with your bucks" sentiment, I
would like to point something out about what some people said about not
purchasing any more TSR product until BR returns.
When BIRTHRIGHT went on hiatus, part of the reason was to be able to shift
the manpower that had been working on it over to other lines--lines that
management hopes will support a wider variety of gamers. This means that
the people who created BIRTHRIGHT and the products you really liked are
still creating new stuff for you to enjoy. Now, everything might not appeal
to you--I'm working almost exclusively on ALTERNITY right now, and you
might not be an SF fan--but if you like the authors and the editors who
worked on BR, I recommend checking out what they are doing on other lines.
Rich Baker was one of the principle ALTERNITY designers. Carrie Bebris is
working on DRAGONLANCE and RAVENLOFT stuff (and maybe some FR). Duane
Maxwell is on STAR*DRIVE, while Anne Brown wrote some of the new GREYHAWK
material.
I bring this up because I think about my favorite authors. One of them,
Glen Cook, wrote a cool book (which turned into a series) called "The Black
Company" (I've mentioned him before). He stopped writing them at some point
and began work on "The Garret Files," a different sort of fantasy series. I
wanted more BC, but I picked up GF because I liked Mr. Cook's writing--and
now I have two series of his that I like (he started writing BC again,
too). If I'd decided to stop reading Glen Cook because he was no longer
writing my favorite series, I would've missed out.
This translates to games very well. Lots of people said "2nd edition?! I
play 1st edition--I'm not buying any more TSR stuff!" Others said
"GREYHAWK/MYSTARA/SPELLJAMMER/AL-QADIM" or whatever "is gone, so I'm not
buying more TSR stuff!" They missed out on BIRTHRIGHT. I think we can all
agree they lost out.
I hope you all continue to support BR. I will; I hope it comes back. I also
hope you'll take a look at some of the ALTERNITY stuff and other material
I'm working on. Maybe you won't like it ... but what if you do? At the very
least, you'll get some new stuff to suck your precious free time away and
I'll get the satisfaction of talking to you on a wider variety of subjects ;-)
Talk to you later!
Ed Stark
Game Designer, Wizards of the Coast/TSR Division
Asst. Brand Manager
ALTERNITY Team
TSR Website: http://www.tsr.com