Who's buying HERO stuff New fans or old faithful?

[Herolover]

First, I have no idea of what any sales numbers are of any of the HERO books. All I can go on is what Steve and Darren have said that they are doing okay. (And don't we all just pray they are.)

Anyhoo. I am wondering since HERO has risen from the dead who really is buying the HERO books. Is it the old faithful gamers that got into 3rd and 4th edition now coming back? (I put myself in with this group.)

Or, are we generating new blood. People new to gaming or players that have played other games and are now coming into HERO 5e?

[Monolith]

Just judging by the posts I have seen on the various Hero Games forums over the last 9 months I would assume the breakdown is probably 90/10 - 90% being existing fans and 10% being new fans to the system (about twice a month we see a "Hi, I'm new to the system how do you do this?" type post). For a game system as complex as HERO I really do not consider that to be a terrible ratio.

Darren and Steve have stated from the very beginning that they hope existing fans will help bring new players into the fold; that is one of purposes of the Legion of Heroes program as well. There are very few people who can learn the HERO System on their own, but they are out there and are asking for our advice from time to time. I do think a product like HERO Sidekick would go a long way toward bring new fans into the system though. Most of us "old timers" learned how to play the game from a 64 or 96 page book. That was quite a bit easier than the current newbies trying to learn for a 372 page tome.

[Snarf]

I'd never even heard of Hero until a friend who buys a lot of RPG's showed it to me. It's been a lot of work and confusion getting started but it's already my favorite RPG system.

I think it's more of a system for people that have played other RPGs than a one for total newbies. It's complex but flexible, so it should appeal to people like me, who figured out the basic stuff on other RPGs but eventually found them too limiting.

[keithcurtis]

Originally posted by Monolith
Just judging by the posts I have seen on the various Hero Games forums over the last 9 months I would assume the breakdown is probably 90/10 - 90% being existing fans and 10% being new fans to the system (about twice a month we see a "Hi, I'm new to the system how do you do this?" type post). For a game system as complex as HERO I really do not consider that to be a terrible ratio.


In my own experience, this has been pretty much true of any system. Most groups I have been in, there is one person who already knows system X and teaches it to the others. And he learned it from someone else. He might have bought the book and read it, but only after being exposed to the system already. Very rarely have I seen someone buy a brand new game, read the book "cold" and then teach it to the group. Last time I did that was with First Edition Champions.

Keith "Ooooldtimer" Curtis

[Lord Liaden]

Originally posted by Monolith
Darren and Steve have stated from the very beginning that they hope existing fans will help bring new players into the fold; that is one of purposes of the Legion of Heroes program as well. There are very few people who can learn the HERO System on their own, but they are out there and are asking for our advice from time to time. I do think a product like HERO Sidekick would go a long way toward bring new fans into the system though. Most of us "old timers" learned how to play the game from a 64 or 96 page book. That was quite a bit easier than the current newbies trying to learn for a 372 page tome.

Ditto vote for the HERO System Sidekick. The number-one concern I hear from newbies looking into HERO, especially when they're considering it because someone else wants to play it, is the sheer intimidation from the bulk of the rules mechanics. Steve's concept of a free "entry level" rules PDF would certainly make my sales job easier. I hope he gets the chance to work on it in the near future; now that the system is once again well established, IMO Hero Games is missing out on potential new customers by not doing this.

Okay, I will now cease to bust Steve Long's chops and leave him to run his own business. :rolleyes:

[hybris]

That's me:
Never owned any HERO books before, but now I own 5e.

[Insaniac99]

uh which is the "was introduced into RPGs while REALLY young and because of the way brothers ran the games was turned off of them untill i found Fifth and since then has branched out and played multiple RPGS but i only own books to one other system other than Fred"

[Alibear]

I personally bought my first Hero book when ChampionsII hit the shelves, my GM had a copy of "Champions" as far as I remember.

So you could say that I am a veteran.

I've been playing Champions and Hero more than half my life. Gulp.:eek:

[Blue]

My brother's best friend had V&V. My brother bought 1st edition champions, just to see how it worked. With those two games "occupied", I bought the little known Superhero 2044 and ran it for a year until I realized my brother had stopped playing at all.

So I inherited his book and ran for about 8 years, all the way through 3e, when my game group broke up.

I just realized the other day that the reason I'm so rusty on the system is that though I bought 4e when it came out, I never ran under it! I've owned the BBB all these years and in that period of gamelessness I never had the chance to run it. No wonder I'm surprised by things I find in 5e... it's because they were actually changed in 4e but I never discovered it.

[Citizen Keen]

I owned the BBB, but I never played under it. I just oggled it. The rules were so complex and poorly worded in the BBB that, while I figured most things out, I didn't think I could teach my players.

Then I saw FRed, and I was like "oooo...." What really sold me on FRed was the index. A game can frequently be judged by its index. So I bought it.

After reading the rules, I became so convinced that yesterday I took all my D&D3E books down to Powell's Bookstore and traded them in for HERO books.

In short, new convert, love the system.

[Bartman]

Well I joined a newly forming group this year. All of us have piles of the old stuff. So there are 6 old timers to add to the list.

[Tim]

Add another oldtimer to the list. I've been playing since 1983 and started with Champions 2nd ed.

TimS.

[5 Sided D6]

Definite Old timer (21 years of Hero system). I got the 2nd Edition when it first came out. I own every single Hero product now but 2 I think lol.

[Dr Lucky]

I'm pretty fresh. I got Fred last summer and its treated me well so far. It was my first HERO book.

[cutsleeve]

Ive been playing hero system since the early nineties not to long but long enough to know its the best rpg out there. I even bought 2 copies of the hero system rules 4ed and one copy of the BBB. i have one of the hero books and the BBB in 3 ring binders and the other hero system book is just missing its covers but its in good condition other then that. :D

Now im just waiting for a Fred.

[aylwin13]

Originally posted by Tim
Add another oldtimer to the list. I've been playing since 1983 and started with Champions 2nd ed. Ditto for me. As a matter of fact, I still have the box and dice from the 2nd Ed. set (the box is being held together by 2 or 3 ft of scotch tape.) :D

[Blue]

I have my first edition (unrevised) book and it's in surprisingly good shape, except that the previous owner and myself both wrote in it, so it's not exactly perfect anymore. I could kick myself now.

[Vondy]

Fledgling 5E
Neonate CNM, 5E
Ancillae 4E, CNM, 5E
Elder 3E, 4E, CNM, 5E
Methuselah 2E, 3E, 4E, CNM, 4E
Antideluvian From the beginning....

[Monolith]

Originally posted by D-Man
Fledgling 5E
Neonate CNM, 5E
Ancillae 4E, CNM, 5E
Elder 3E, 4E, CNM, 5E
Methuselah 2E, 3E, 4E, CNM, 4E
Antideluvian From the beginning....
I at least made Elder. That sounds so much better than Ancillae. :)

[Insaniac99]

Originally posted by D-Man
Fledgling 5E
Neonate CNM, 5E
Ancillae 4E, CNM, 5E
Elder 3E, 4E, CNM, 5E
Methuselah 2E, 3E, 4E, CNM, 4E
Antideluvian From the beginning....

what if you learned fifth, and then learned CNM, then Fourth?

[Blue]

I'm what? Don't make me look up antideluvian now.

Funny how in the vampire world it's a compliment to be called really, really, really old.

[TheEmerged]

I believe it literally means "Pre-Flood", referring to the period between the Biblical Expulsion From Eden, and the Flood of Noah (about 2000 years).

[Tim]

Originally posted by D-Man
Fledgling 5E
Neonate CNM, 5E
Ancillae 4E, CNM, 5E
Elder 3E, 4E, CNM, 5E
Methuselah 2E, 3E, 4E, CNM, 4E
Antideluvian From the beginning....

I guess this makes me a Methuselah.
Boy wouldn't he tax the social security system. :)

TimS.

[Vondy]

Originally posted by Insaniac99
what if you learned fifth, and then learned CNM, then Fourth?

Diabalerie?

[Vondy]

Originally posted by TheEmerged
I believe it literally means "Pre-Flood", referring to the period between the Biblical Expulsion From Eden, and the Flood of Noah (about 2000 years).

Yes, correct.

It was 1948 years to be precise. Some people have noted that was the CE year Israel became an independent state.

And I played 1st edition twice in the sixth grade (84) and then came back with 4th when I graduated from high school (90), so that makes me an antidiluvian who went into a long torpor and returned. let gehenna begin...!

[TheEmerged]

You mean my memory actually worked for once? :rolleyes:

[Doug Limmer]

Originally posted by D-Man
Methuselah 2E, 3E, 4E, CNM, 4E
Antideluvian From the beginning.... Hmm ... should I point out that Methuselah lived in antediluvian times? :)

Myself, I played a bit of 2E, but (unfortunately) haven't gotten into a real game since ...

[Vondy]

Originally posted by Doug Limmer
Hmm ... should I point out that Methuselah lived in antediluvian times? :)

Myself, I played a bit of 2E, but (unfortunately) haven't gotten into a real game since ...

Well... lets just say I've never been real thrilled with white wolf's biblical accumen.

I was using their "age chart", not their biblical exegis! :D

[Syberdwarf2]

Sure, I own quite a bit of the old stuff, but I wouldn't really say "this is old hat".

[Captain Obvious]

"I owned some hero books" doesn't seem properly descriptive. My Hero library takes up about two feet of shelf space, and that's with Dark Champions, Super Agents, all my 5E stuff, and the 3E rules for Champions all laying around the room in various piles. And from what I've seen on the boards here, some oldtimers would call me a poser based on these meager holdings.

Oh there's Robot Warriors over by the bed....

[BlackSword]

Fledgling, but it feels so wrong to use a White Wolf reference here.

[bcholmes]

Originally posted by Herolover
Anyhoo. I am wondering since HERO has risen from the dead who really is buying the HERO books. Is it the old faithful gamers that got into 3rd and 4th edition now coming back? (I put myself in with this group.)

<p>I had the BBB and a number of 4th edition books, but I mostly played non-Champions games using the Hero rules (SF, mixed genre, and a Mage-like game). The big change for me is that I'm now running a Champs game, so although the mechanics are old hat to me, the Champions source material is pretty fresh for me -- I had almost no experience with the pre-5e versions of any of the Champions Universe characters.

[tiger]

I started with the original boxset of Champions. Guess that makes me rather old :)

[slaughterj]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious
"I owned some hero books" doesn't seem properly descriptive. My Hero library takes up about two feet of shelf space, and that's with Dark Champions, Super Agents, all my 5E stuff, and the 3E rules for Champions all laying around the room in various piles. And from what I've seen on the boards here, some oldtimers would call me a poser based on these meager holdings.

Oh there's Robot Warriors over by the bed....

LOL! Did I introduce you to Hero games back in the late 80s?

[Herolover]

As the originator of this poll I have to say it has suprised me.

Looking at the poll about 20% are people that have purchased their first HERO book with 5e. That really surprises me because I wouldn't think the number would be that high.

When I posted the poll I figured a vast majority would be old timers because newbies wouldn't be so inclined to come to the boards. Who knew.

[Tech]

Originally posted by 5 Sided D6
Definite Old timer (21 years of Hero system). I got the 2nd Edition when it first came out. I own every single Hero product now but 2 I think lol.

Here, too! I got Champions about 2 days after it first hit the market, i.e. Champions first edition. I still have the book, too, although it's quite weather-worn. Still, it was cool - a front and back full-colored book.

[tiger]

Originally posted by Tech
Here, too! I got Champions about 2 days after it first hit the market, i.e. Champions first edition. I still have the book, too, although it's quite weather-worn. Still, it was cool - a front and back full-colored book.

I manage to loose quite a bit of what I did have. Have all the Genre books though. I also have a complete run of Adventurer's clubs. Good stuff in there

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by slaughterj
LOL! Did I introduce you to Hero games back in the late 80s?

Yep. I made that pathetic Minotaur character (who had his horns and tail handed to him in his one and only fight), and although we didn't play Champions again for months, the wonderfully flexible system kept calling to me like a drug. Within a few weeks, I was at One-Eyed Jacques picking up my first Hero book....

[JEChristgau]

I started with Champions and still have my 1st and 2nd editions. I was also lucky enough to play Fantasy Hero before it was originally published. Gotta thank Glenn for that one :)

Anyway, to answer the original question, I'm an old Hero player who's back for more! bring it on!

[Superbadger]

Well me and my friends have either played D&D, Star Wars, DBZ or more than one of more than one of these. We were all annoyed by our limited ability for creating a wide variety of characters. We have looked for a multi-genre type game for awhile. I found info of this game on the internet a couple of weeks ago. Will order soon, and am looking forward to when I get it.

[Tim]

Originally posted by Superbadger
Well me and my friends have either played D&D, Star Wars, DBZ or a competition of more than one of these. We were all annoyed by our limited ability for creating a wide variety of characters. We have looked for a multi-genre type game for awhile. I found info of this game on the internet a couple of weeks ago. Will order soon, and am looking forward to when I get it.

Welcome to the fold SB!

The biggest problem with hero is that there is TOO MUCH choice. I've known people who look thru FRED and get lost because there is no easy start. IE: I wanna play a fighter, uhh what all do I need?

[Agent X]

I've been playing since 1991. I guess that means I'm not really an old-timer but I made a point of grabbing any older Champions material I could find. I have a pretty good collection at this point although it is not complete. It is my favorite game to play in and my second favorite to run.

[slaughterj]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious
Yep. I made that pathetic Minotaur character (who had his horns and tail handed to him in his one and only fight), and although we didn't play Champions again for months, the wonderfully flexible system kept calling to me like a drug. Within a few weeks, I was at One-Eyed Jacques picking up my first Hero book....

Ahhh, back in the day... :)