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Upcoming POD titles?


thewomble

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  • 9 months later...

I think the problem is, sales have been low, because most people who wanted them, bought them when they came out.

 

At least, that's the reason I only bought Hero System Skills. I'm not sure what, for example, I would do with a second Bestiary.

 

That being said, people are selling the Big Blue Books on Amazon for $1,000+, so putting them in POD may be worthwhile. I dunno. I don't have access to Hero Games sales figures, of course. :)

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The thing is, it costs nobody anything to make a book available via POD, so economics/demand/popularity (or lack thereof) can't possibly play a role in the lack of availability of any book.

 

The only reason I can think of as to why 6E1/6E2 aren't being made available as b&w softcover POD books is because Hero Games doesn't want to perpetuate a version of the rules that have been deprecated and ultimately made obsolete by the new rules in Champions Complete/Fantasy Hero Complete. It all comes down to removing "marketplace confusion" as to what constitutes the "official rules" of the game today.

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The thing is, it costs nobody anything to make a book available via POD, so economics/demand/popularity (or lack thereof) can't possibly play a role in the lack of availability of any book.

 

The only reason I can think of as to why 6E1/6E2 aren't being made available as b&w softcover POD books is because Hero Games doesn't want to perpetuate a version of the rules that have been deprecated and ultimately made obsolete by the new rules in Champions Complete/Fantasy Hero Complete. It all comes down to removing "marketplace confusion" as to what constitutes the "official rules" of the game today.

Having had to remaster a .pdf for POD, it takes time, and either a few specialized programs, or a full copy of Adobe Acrobat.

 

Time costs money in business, and so do those programs. In order to spend the money to pay someone (or take time from other projects) to get the job done, they have to take time and money from other projects. And that requires some sort of assurance that they will make that money back.

 

Although I don't have any special insight into Hero Games' workings, or Telepathy. That said, if the sales are too low, that's discouraging to convert more.

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Given that Hero Games already has all the necessary software, and that it would take little more than a couple of hours to get 6E1/6E2 ready for POD, the cost theory simply doesn't hold water IMO. Hell, I've already done the work for them and I'd willingly send them the PDF files for free if they cared. I highly suspect that they don't.

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I certainly can't fathom some of the decisions made by Hero Games either...I could speculate but there would be little point. Already I have two warning points because I questioned why the 6E errata pdf was at one time pulled from download.

The errata and other files weren't pulled that I am aware of. I do know that after the old system died, none of those files came across.

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It wasn't pulled, it simply didn't get transferred to the new system (though someone has posted it to the download section since then).  I suspect the warnings were from arguing with a certain individual after being told the decision was final, not for merely questioning why.

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  • 2 months later...

I just purchased Print On Demand with PDF copies of the HERO System Basic Rulebook and HERO System Equipment Guide from RPGNow/DriveThruRPG. Thanks for putting the out-of-print HERO System books up on the site with POD options. I like PDFs, but prefer to read a meatspace book when it's available.

Edited by borbetomagnus
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  • 4 weeks later...

Okay, Print on Demand novice. I'm late to the game (heh) and am now looking to start collecting 6th Editions books. I think I have a deal lined up for the 2 main books, Character Creation and Combat & Adventuring. As I understand it, these are the starting points for 6th Edition, and include conversion notes/guidelines for transferring from 5th to 6th. So my plan is to get these already printed books, however I can, either hardcover or softcover. Beyond that, I want to support HERO Games and purchase directly from them. To that end, I'm thinking that purchasing PDF versions of their products (where no already-printed version is available thru the HERO store) and then having them printed via a source like Lulu (never heard of this; link please (if allowed)). Final cost after print-on-demand may be about the same as a printed book would be, but I've got nothing to lose if HERO Games doesn't have a printed copy of a given product. I prefer books (does that make me a Luddite?) I'd still be supporting them by buying the PDF version from them.

 

(deep breath)

 

For those of you who've used Print-on-Demand services, were you happy with the finished product? Did you think the pricing was fair, and the job was done in a timely manner? Were any specific instructions you provided (don't know how this printing process works, actually) carried out perfectly, half-@$$ed, or ignored? What kind of cover, if any was provided: hardcover, softcover, binder? Paper quality? Sharpness of text and images? Colors of images, with the understanding that almost all of the images would be black & white (so I guess we're talking distinctions of grey from one end (black) to the other (white), and not ending up with a muddled-looking mess)? What was the general turn-around time, from placing the order to having the printed book in your hands?

 

Thanks for any and all feedback.

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Champions Complete and Fantasy Hero Complete are the new core rulebooks for 6e, although some people still prefer 6e1 and 6e2. For whatever it's worth, more people seem to like the two small books than the two big books.

 

Couple of counterpoints to that...the two big books are still for sale in PDF. Steve Long still gives official rulings on them in this forum. And I'm not sure how you know whether more people prefer the Complete series (I don't). Even if your gaming group and your buddies on this forum have that opinion, that's not necessarily the best rubric.

 

Bring back the big books!  :winkgrin:

No, actually it's understandable that they were too expensive to reprint and the game remains accessible through Complete. So that's fair enough. 

 

But as a newcomer, I would prefer to learn through Basic Rules then use the Big Books. Coming completely fresh through Complete would be tougher - there just aren't enough examples and explanations in my opinion. Basic teaches the game very well.

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I did manage to get the two big books (6E1 and 6E2) in hardcover. In fact, received them in yesterday's mail. Wow! Even with the photos on eBay, I didn't realize they'd be this BIG! I'm glad I found them, though. Back to the topic at hand, I guess I'll have to search out my first foray into POD, based on what the Hero Games store does or doesn't have, printed-book-wise.

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I did manage to get the two big books (6E1 and 6E2) in hardcover. In fact, received them in yesterday's mail. Wow! Even with the photos on eBay, I didn't realize they'd be this BIG! I'm glad I found them, though. Back to the topic at hand, I guess I'll have to search out my first foray into POD, based on what the Hero Games store does or doesn't have, printed-book-wise.

 

Nice purchase! Hope you get a lot of value from them. My copies are certainly prized. Yes, they're big, a lot of that is due to the thick page stock which I've never seen in any other RPG books.

 

Seems like Hero Games would have pocketed some money if they'd had them available as PoD...you might not have gone to eBay, right? Hmmm...

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I was actually considering getting them as PDFs from the store here, and while I do want to support Hero Games, as far as the base books (4th Edition/The Big Blue Book, 5th Edition/FREd, and now 6E1 & 6E2) are concerned, I like having those in hardcover. Sentimental? Longer-lasting? Continuation of a personal tradition? I dunno. But this is just the beginning of my foray into 6th Edition. In time, I foresee myself not only getting every 6th Edition product I can, but also going back and getting everything in 5th Edition I never picked up (to the extent I can find them and/or even discover they exist -- what is the deal with the Wikipedia entry on Hero Games not listing any products past 2012?). Addiction ahoy! :winkgrin:

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Couple of counterpoints to that...the two big books are still for sale in PDF. Steve Long still gives official rulings on them in this forum. And I'm not sure how you know whether more people prefer the Complete series (I don't). Even if your gaming group and your buddies on this forum have that opinion, that's not necessarily the best rubric.

 

Bring back the big books!  :winkgrin:

No, actually it's understandable that they were too expensive to reprint and the game remains accessible through Complete. So that's fair enough. 

 

But as a newcomer, I would prefer to learn through Basic Rules then use the Big Books. Coming completely fresh through Complete would be tougher - there just aren't enough examples and explanations in my opinion. Basic teaches the game very well.

I actually do regular searches on Hero System on other boards, blogs, etc.. Mostly boards and blogs, because there isn't much etc..

 

CC and FHC are more popular than 6e1 and 6e2 by that sampling.

 

I don't measure the popularity here, becuase this forum is self-selected towards people who like massive tomes. I read the entirety of 6e1 and 6e2; that doesn't think I mean I'm indicative of most gamers on the internet.

 

Edit: As well, the official word in the official threads for FHC and CC, over and over again, was "These are the 6e rulebooks now." If that's changed, I haven't seen an announcement on it. If it has, I apologize.

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As much as I would love to see 6E1 & 6E2 & the Basic Rulebook reprinted with all errata fixed, that just doesn't seem to be in the cards.

 

The '...Complete' books are the official rules, now.

 

Still, when people ask me to recommend a way into 6e, I'm as likely to recommend the PoD Basic Rulebook as either of the Complete books. It depends on the needs of the person doing the asking.

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I love the 2 volume core rules, but Hero Basic is really poor when compared to the Complete books.

 

That's true in some ways, but for a newcomer to learn the game with no-one to guide him, I think Basic is better. The whole structure of the game is clearly laid out. For example the extended combat example and the sidebars are very helpful for newbies, the kind of things lacking in Complete which is a dense compendium.

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  • 8 months later...

I'm another newcomer to the HERO system and appreciate the detail that is available in the two Big Blue Books. I've played in a short Valdorian Age fantasy campaign which was using 5th edition revised, but it appeared that there were minor changes between 5E Revised and 6th Edition. I have Fantasy Hero Complete and it provides a good structure for the game with very few examples. I like the examples in 6th Edition and will check out the examples in 6th Edition Basic for additional examples. Combat is very detailed, and more examples or actual play, are extremely helpful.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I did manage to get the two big books (6E1 and 6E2) in hardcover. In fact, received them in yesterday's mail. Wow! Even with the photos on eBay, I didn't realize they'd be this BIG! I'm glad I found them, though. Back to the topic at hand, I guess I'll have to search out my first foray into POD, based on what the Hero Games store does or doesn't have, printed-book-wise.

 

What examples would you like to see?

 

I am thinking about working up some newbie-support files.

 

A little direction in that regard would be great.

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  • 7 months later...

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