No, this isn’t about the Book of Erotic Fantasy. I’ll get to that shortly.
In the meantime, let me give you my impression of Eden Studios this year: a company on the verge of becoming huge. With the Army of Darkness RPG planned for October, and the CCG as well, and the Buffy TV juggernaut having ended, I’d imagine Eden is casting about for another big property to ride. The convention’s new releases were still intriguing: The Book of Archetypes, a short supplement for All Flesh Must Be Eaten, provided a few dozen new character choices, including the Stripper and the Porn Producer; and The Magic Box, the new Buffy RPG book, dives headlong into the mystic side of the property, breaking the spell selection down by the seasons they aired. I’m sure Buffy will continue to do well for a while, as will AFMBE, but Army of Darkness is likely to be a big hit that fades away (a very cool one, but still… ). I just kept thinking that Eden is on the prowl for that next huge something. We’ll see, I guess.
Well… they’ve got the upcoming Angel RPG and that’s still on the air. I wouldn’t be counting Buffy out though just because it isn’t airing anymore – that series has too many fans to just let it slip away quietly.
I just wish for new Conspiracy X stuff.
It feels to me that Eden is just grasping at straws. They’re constantly developing new games, and leaving their old ones in the dust (when was the last time a new book came out for Witchcraft?) It’s like what would happen if a whole bunch of kids with ADHD grew up and decided to start a game company. If Eden would just focus on one product or line at a time, and abandon this “shotgun marketing” approach, they might remain viable. As it is, they’ll never be a big player, at best, they can hope to have the same half-dead existence that Chaosium manages to eke out…
I don’t know about that. Their main game, ALL FLESH MUST BE EATEN, is still around. So is WITCHCRAFT, whose Unisystem rules are now used in the more popular BUFFY/ANGEL RPGs.
Dai Oni… do you even read messages before responding to them? The point was not that “they have a lot of games”… the point was “they have too many games, and aren’t devoting resources to any of them…” except for Buffy, of course… and that one only has about a year or so of viability, before all the fans stop caring…
Regarding the lack of support for previous games, I know the Book of Hod is due out soon for Witchcraft and Zombie Smackdown will be forthcoming for AFMBE. Armageddon will be along shortly if the printers don’t eat it, which will give Witchcraft a great deal of additional background detail and some new powers in addition to being a stand-alone game.
Mind you I was on the demo team at Gencon, so I am biased; but, I think the scatter gun approach has allowed Eden to do a great deal more than if they had focused on just one product. And you can always mix and match the pieces to create the Unisystem setting you like best. I used Enter the Zombie for villian powers in my Witchcraft and Angel games. Actually my Witchcraft and Terra Primate demoes ended up with one of the Book of Archtype characters each….made for interesting group dynamics. I like the breadth, especially since quite a few pieces for the non-licensed games are coming out soon. Just my .02, Charlie.
Yes, I have read your post. Granted, I know of only a few of the more notable product lines they have maintained. While it is better that they concentrate on a few of them, that would mean they have to cancel the other lines or put it on the backburner. Either way, it’ll upset fans of those lines. As for BUFFY/ANGEL’s case, I think their viability will last longer than a year as long as ANGEL is still on the air and the BUFFY DVD collection by season continues to be released. Heck, BUFFY continues to re-air in many local station by syndication.