HERO system observations and beefs

[Blue]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

Oh' date=' yes, there was new art in 5thEd. Because I did much of it. About 10 pieces, I believe. And I think there were a few new pieces by Greg Smith as well. However, it does fall in the minority.[/quote']

I stand corrected. I have maybe... half the stuff published before 5th edition (and everything after).

 

And I like the art. Even the 4th stuff.

 

I never throw stones at artists. If I were a little better at it myself, maybe...

[Lord Liaden]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

Oh yeah' date=' I'm kind of curious as to how much the book would've cost if higher quality paper was used. Probably would've added $10 to the cover price at least.[/quote']

 

This paper misconception keeps coming up, and I want to cut the speculation short:

 

The paper question's been discussed extensively on a couple other threads in this forum, if you want to look them up. The basic gist is: this is actually better paper than 5E's paper, with a higher rag content for increased strength (which we felt was necessary, given the size of the book). If we bleached it out to make it whiter, it would weaken the paper, defeating the point of selecting it in the first place.

 

We have no plans to change paper for future printings.

[Eosin]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

Chalk another up in the ranks of someone looking for a sports car and finding only a machine shop! REP'd!

 

That is not to say that I have any difficulty with Hero products, to the contrary I love them but as voiced in a recent discussion on Legendary products - I think Hero is still looking to knock one out of the park. Part of that will mean stepping out on a limb and paying for some stunning art, slick design (B&W or Color), and producing a product or two in support that will not likely make much money. About the best comparison I can make is the MIDNIGHT setting. It is mostly B&W. The core books sold well and if common sense is any indicator they made good money on it but FFG went on to produce other supplements. These secondary supplements likely avoided a loss but their real value was to cement a core following that gives the setting solid legs making the line something of an evergreen product. That is solid long term strategy - fire and forget settings/supplements work in the short term but fail to grow your fan base allowing the natural forces of attrition take hold until support is winnowed into a ever shrinking pool of Hero fans. At least that is my opinion.

 

DISCLAIMER - Just a Joe looking from the outside.

 

[Eosin]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

I'm sorry that many folks don't like the artwork.

 

Hey Storn,

 

I know that the comments may seemed to be aimed your GENERAL direction but I think that is a bit misplaced on your part. Most everyone I know sighs in relief when they see your art on the next page

 

IMO it isn't one specific artist either - the overwhelming majority have shown they are capable of delivering solid works. The problem is that many of them also turn in some real lemons - which go on to see print. When I say lemons there are a couple of reasons for "lemon-flavor" and the most common one is that the piece is done in a style that is incongruent with the subject or is just not up to snuff for its positioning (FREX: The Valdorian Age cover is decent art but it is not cover-worthy as opposed to Arcane Adversaries which is in every aspect a great cover). The other lemon factor as mentioned is matching a piece to the product (I have AA in hand so I will scan it to see if I can provide an example - mind you, I am looking for a single isolated piece and this is not a beat down on any single artist who likely has other works that I love). Ok...Take a look at page 112, then flip the page to 114, then flip to 120 see how Mother Gothel is just blah in comparison? Mind you, I reviewed AA and it got much higher marks in the art department than other reviews I have done and overall I have zero complaints about this particular book. For a better example look at pages 41 & 42 of Vibora Bay.

 

I think the key here is that rarely does a single artist make or break a books look (unless we are talking about something along the line of Dark Sun where the art not done by BROM was done in an imitative style).

[Lord Liaden]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

(FREX: The Valdorian Age cover is decent art but it is not cover-worthy as opposed to Arcane Adversaries which is in every aspect a great cover).

 

Note the following recent discussion-board thread: Valdorian Age - Best FH Cover Yet!

 

I dunno... maybe art criticism is just too subjective to result in constructive feedback. Seems that one man's "decent" is another man's "best."

[Eosin]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

Note the following recent discussion-board thread: Valdorian Age - Best FH Cover Yet!

 

I dunno... maybe art criticism is just too subjective to result in constructive feedback. Seems that one man's "decent" is another man's "best."

 

Granted that it is subjective. However, there are also some standards that this piece misses. Not that it is terrible - it is not - but is not good enough to be a cover.

[RDU Neil]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

I expected to come back to this thread and face the flames... to try and defend my off-the-cuff sports car metaphor...

 

... only to find some people actually liked it!

 

That's an odd sensation on these boards!

 

Anyway, I do think discussions like these... and the Legendary Product (from now on called "The Sports Car!" ) thread are important. I'm a huge Hero System fan... but I'd also really like to find a Hero System based GAME that I could be gaga over. 1st through 4th Edition... Champions was that Sports Car. Not anymore.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

I guess I am in the minority. I love the toolkit nature of Hero and if anything, I'd like to see that expanded on. I don't really need setting. I can come up with setting and most published setting bore me to tears anyway. I love books like Star and Fantasy Hero though. Instead of precanned setting I get the tools to create as many different games as I feel the need too.

 

That being said. I did enjoy Terran Empire and Turkanian Age. And another Hero setting might be nice to look at it, but I wouldn't want it to eslipse the genre books.

 

I don't think you are in the minority, at least not on these boards. HERO is a game for tinkerers whether they admit it or not. All HERO people love to look at the detail of the system. What people are saying is that sometimes it would be nice to be able to pick up something that allowed you to use the system without tailoring the bits and pieces to get the genre feel you want for that game.

 

I was thinking that one of the things HERO might want to consider is a low-cost supplement kind of thing - like a skin for the PC - essentially a list of house rules for a genre - cost $5 or less. You could have hundreds of these available for download - even better if they could be GM shield style theat could be ordered on coloured cardboard for perhaps a bit more money.

 

I think that people are more likely to drop $5 a week on four small purchases than $20 a month on one bigger one. I think that game companies, like comic companies, are abandoning low value products and that the end effect is that they rarify the market. You need to be bringing kids in at the low end and for that you need some accessible products. Sidekick is fantastic, at the price it provides an easy purchase and a playable game that can lead to the bigger books. Once you have the bigger books, I'd welcome something lower cost that I can impulse buy more often.

 

 

Doc

[Storn]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

Less of my art in the Hero books.

 

I have other clients. I have a part time job due to financial constraints. Hero puts out a ton of books. I can't be in every Hero book. Interiors are time consuming beasts, to be sure, and are large commitments at a time. But when I can fit them in, I do so.

 

All I can tell you is that if you like my work, I'm doing the cover for Hidden Lands... I hope you enjoy that. I am not doing any interiors for it.

[Sean Waters]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

FREd and 5ER are stunning products (as you'd know if you ever had one thrown at you). There's an enormous amount of information and the majority of it is useful.

 

I have to say though, I do recall not being quite as excited reading through 5th ed. asChampions 3 + 4 ed. when I first got it. That may be because 3rd and 4th edition made some quite substantial advances (not least of all they looked a lot more professional than 2nd) and 5th was more an exercise in:

 

a) making the system, which had become somewhat sprawling, more coherent

and

getting Hero back on the shelves

 

Criticise Mr Longs approach as I might on occasion, I have nothing but gratitude for his part in point above.

[Constantine]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

*snip*It's a reference book not something that's necessarily meant to be read cover-to-cover in one sitting.

 

True, and, quite honestly, I haven't. But doesn't this make it more difficult to get someone new into the system? If they have no or little exposure, and just see the book sitting on the shelf, aren't they less likely to buy the book and cracking it and reading some of the text? I think most people are gonna say, "I already know how to play D&D, this is way too complicated." Don't get me wrong, I love Hero, and have been playing for a long time, using it for everything from fantasy to sci-fi. I'm just worried about it, especially after the announcement about declining sales of gaming products across the board.

[Zephrosyne]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

Well, I for one think the system is absolutely phenomenal and I can't say that enough. I don't really have a problem with the art either; but I have a tendency to be more of a "substance" over "style" type person. I don't know, maybe I am just weird, but I have always cared more about content in a rpg than I did about art.

[MitchellS]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

Well' date=' I for one think the system is absolutely phenomenal and I can't say that enough. I don't really have a problem with the art either; but I have a tendency to be more of a "substance" over "style" type person. I don't know, maybe I am just weird, but I have always cared more about content in a rpg than I did about art.[/quote']

You're probably older than 28 then.

[Eosin]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

You're probably older than 28 then.

 

I am quite a bit over 28 but still care about the looks and presentation.....does that make me weird?

[MitchellS]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

I am quite a bit over 28 but still care about the looks and presentation.....does that make me weird?

No, it makes you like me, and exception.

[Constantine]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

I am quite a bit over 28 but still care about the looks and presentation.....does that make me weird?

 

Rest assured, Eosin, that I, at 32, share your view.

 

You're weird for other reasons...

[JohnTaber]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

Hi Gents: First off...GREAT thread. I have only a couple of comments.

 

Re: Doc's Idea. I think the idea of having genre specific house rules available as small downloads is neat. Hec, couldn't these be DH articles? Is Dave lurking around here somewhere???

 

Re: Comments On Genre Books Vs Settings Books. I'm also an old time Hero gamer. I know how to tailor the system because I've been doing for a very long time. Saying that...I feel the genre books are still valuable to me but the setting books are less valuable. I'm running my first sci-fi space opera Star Hero game right now. I started writing it well before Star Hero came out. When the Star Hero book came out it really helped me figure out how to handle areas I had not considered. Medical tech, everyday tech, etc. I thought it was VERY well done. In fact I liked it so much that I started looking for James Cambias GURPS stuff...don't worry...I wanted to use the material for Hero. Anyway...I also bought TE and Alien Wars. I was much less impressed with these books. TE had some nice ideas for tailoring a timeline but not a lot more that I could use. Alien Wars was the same for me...not a lot I could use...just some small ideas.

 

Anyway...just my take...

[proditor]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

I wanted to take small issue on 2 points.

 

1) Erratta. After doing the erratta dance for D&D 3.0, fixing my copy of 5e was a walk in the park! I spent considerably longer fixing the product from the top dog than I did Hero 5e. Your mileage may vary, but in a page per incident count, they aren't even close. And Hero has gotten better since then, a claim that WotC cannot make according to friends who still purchase darn near every book from them.

 

2) Bland settings. I can only speak to Champions Universe as I haven't picked up the Fantasy settings (I'm making my own and I don't want to be influenced). The issue for me was that there wasn't enough elaboration on some of the material. It was all there, but due to the size constraints, some stuff that I would have personally liked to have seen get more detail, got a gloss. So it is it bland? No. It's almost too rich. There is so much stuff that some of it can only be covered quickly or in a cursory fashion in the interest of getting it all in there. Now that is the purpose of the setting books (Vibora bay, Millenium City, Hidden Lands) and I have yet to be disappointed with those. MC might not be my particular flavor, but man that thing was loaded with neat stuff! My players are contiually impressed with the depth and texture of the established CU. They learn something new (They have a Monster Island?!?) and ask if I added it. I just smile, say "Nope, pretty much everything outside of NYC is straight up Hero Games" and they look amazed.

[Constantine]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

Hi Gents: First off...GREAT thread. I have only a couple of comments.

 

Re: Doc's Idea. I think the idea of having genre specific house rules available as small downloads is neat. Hec, couldn't these be DH articles? Is Dave lurking around here somewhere???

 

Re: Comments On Genre Books Vs Settings Books. I'm also an old time Hero gamer. I know how to tailor the system because I've been doing for a very long time. Saying that...I feel the genre books are still valuable to me but the setting books are less valuable. I'm running my first sci-fi space opera Star Hero game right now. I started writing it well before Star Hero came out. When the Star Hero book came out it really helped me figure out how to handle areas I had not considered. Medical tech, everyday tech, etc. I thought it was VERY well done. In fact I liked it so much that I started looking for James Cambias GURPS stuff...don't worry...I wanted to use the material for Hero. Anyway...I also bought TE and Alien Wars. I was much less impressed with these books. TE had some nice ideas for tailoring a timeline but not a lot more that I could use. Alien Wars was the same for me...not a lot I could use...just some small ideas.

 

Anyway...just my take...

 

Re: Your avatar. Good work. Get 'em involved early.

[Herolover]

My two cents

 

One thing I question in this whole discussion is HERO compared to what? What exactly are you comparing it to when you say it has to much fluff? I love the statement that Alien Wars (which I still feel is the weakest book HERO has published) and Terran Empires requires Star Hero. Yep, and what D&D book have they published that doesn’t require the PHB and the DM’s guide?

 

I have been very pleased and surprised by how many non-HERO fans have had rave reviews for Star Hero and Fantasy Hero. These are becoming well known in RPG circles as good sourcebooks whether you play HERO or not. That is a testament to just how good they are.

 

It seems to me part of the problem is not with the books themselves, but with the nature which HERO system books are currently written. HERO system books are currently written in a style which emphasizes system over setting. Thus you get the toolkit feel and when you do pick up a setting book, such as Terran Empire, you feel it is lacking. This has been done intentionally so that players can create their own universe and setting.

 

I, in my moments where I really let myself dream, would like to see HERO get a really good setting. Then, using the complete HERO system, make one or two books creating a complete game that did not require 5th revised to run. That way the people could see how the system is used to create a setting and they could always pick up 5e if they wanted to make changes to the setting or if they wanted to do their own. I think this would be a great product that could introduce new players to the HERO system without requiring them to create the setting or get into the real “crunchy†parts of HERO.

 

The problem is what setting do you use? Settings that grab people are few and far between. You are never going to overcome D&D in Fantasy. You are never going to overcome White Wolf in the “monster character†genre. Star Wars, Star Trek, Traveller, B5, and a few others have got the science fiction genre so wrapped up that as good as Star Hero is its sales aren’t enough to warrant HERO doing much in the science fiction genre. What’s left?

 

If, HERO, could find that one good setting I think it could do them wonders. I understand Steve’s and HERO’s aversion to doing any kind of licensing where HERO would put out a book under someone else’s license. However, I also think this is the one thing that HERO could do really well that could bring in a lot of new fans.

 

As an example I give you Battlestar Galactica. Battlestar Galactica is making a very serious comeback on the Sci-Fi channel. (It might seem to be quite because it isn’t mainstream.) So serious are its ratings that NBC, the owner of Sci-Fi channel, has even talked about taking BSG and bringing it to their broadcast network.

 

Now, yes I realize it is never going to happen, but if HERO could get the BSG license, create a reasonably priced game in the form of a Player’s book and a DM’s book that did not need the 5e book, but used the HERO system, then I think it would be a great example of what the HERO system could do. Now, I admit that BSG might not be the perfect thing for this. I am using it as an example.

 

As for the Art vs Content argument I for one will always fall on the content side. You I would rather have 50 more pages of content explaining, giving new rules, etc. than to have a single nice piece o artwork. (Sorry you art guys.) If you want artwork there is plenty around the internet for you to copy, paste, and use.

[MisterBaldy]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

About Guidebooks/Sourcebooks...

When you look to create a Guidebook/Sourcebook for and Game System, you have to look at a few criteria...

1. Scope of Topic
   
   • Broad Topic...guidelines for the general genre of the topic. (ex. Champions)
     
   • Specific Topic...A specific setting or backdrop (ex. Hudson City)
     

[*]Necessity...Is there a need for the material?

[*]Marketability...Is it something that will be purchased buy the consumer?

[*]Timeframe...Does the time it will take to create it make the item unmarketable, due to loss of interest?

I would think that the people at HERO Games consider much of this, and possibly even more topics than the ones that I have just put here...but lets look just here at those that I have mentioned above.

1. Scope of Topic
   When you first consider creating a Guidebook/Sourcebook, you need to consider what "subject focus" that you are going to explore. Are you looking to do something specific, like explore a city or realm (like Hudson City, or Terran Empire), or are you looking to explain a Genre setting (like Champions or Star Hero)? That very question itself helps to shape the other criteria(s) of your plan(s). If you are looking to be Specific, your volume will be somewhat smaller in scope, and also physical size. The Drawback to being specific is in itself a somewhat of a "trap". If what you are specifically talking about is not of use to the individual consumer...some "potential sales" are lost, due to the very nature of it's design.
    
   If you are looking to explore a "broader topic", such as Champions, you have a much greater potential to sell books, because the potential for usefulness of the volume is greatly increased.
    
   This is not to say that you should never create the "specific topic" book. Those books serve a great purpose!!! They help to aid Players and GMs alike to have a rich setting to play in, and the GM doesn't have to create it from scratch. It also gives GMs ideas on how to go about creating a setting for themselves, by laying out an example right before them.
   
2. Necessity
   If there is no perceived need for the volume, why release it? Sometimes, even though there is not a perceived need for the volume, when it is released...it sparks an interest, which spreads like "wildfire".
    
   So, sometimes this can be a very BIG gamble, but HERO Games has seemed to have found their nitch here!
   
3. Marketability
   This kind of goes "hand in hand" with Necessity. In some cases this is again as much of a "crapshoot".
   
4. Timeframe
   This is the "final piece of the puzzle", as it were. If the volume or item is not released in a timely manner, the "buying public' begins to lose interest. This was experienced by me on a personal note. When the MMORPG City of Heroes was first announced a few years ago, it was hyped like it was due out very soon. It was displayed at E3, and the "computer gaming world" caught the fever. Then setbacks rose up, then release dates came and went. Two more E3 Conventions went by, and no City of Heroes! When the game was finally released, after being totally overhauled and redone from scratch...a good chunk of the buying market share lost interest (myself included).
    
   Timeframe of the release can be a companies "worst enemy". When release dates are not met, the "target audience" begins to lose interest, and faith in the manufacturer. This was the problem that HERO Games went through for quite a few years in it's previous form.
    
   Steve Long has brought HERO Games back from a "near death experience", and has the company going in what looks to be a forward, and productive direction! The quality of the product lines are quite good, and I am happy to be back in the realm of HERO Games Products after being away for approximately 10 years. It's actually mostly due to the steadfast support of my best friend TheImperialKhan , and has got me to seriously start exploring the HERO Games Product Lines again! I first introduced him to to Champions all those years ago...and he restored my faith in the company of HERO Games, bringing me back "into the fold".
    
   For that, I thank TheImperialKhan...and for Steve Long to help to renew my faith in HERO Games!
   

About HERO SYSTEM Fifth Edition Revised...

My only real concern is about it's IMMENSE SIZE. My fear is that it may have the potential to new gamers.

 

Now, don't give me that whole comparison to D&D 3ed, and it's size if you add up the Players Handbook and DMs Guide...that's just plain HOGWASH!!! I own 5er and D&D 3ed, and although I must admit that I do like some of D&D 3ed, but the game for me is just to limiting and cumbersome for my tastes, as both a Player...and a GM.

 

Sure, Wizards of the Coast has released some sharp looking products...very flashy and well dressed. The problem, if you look underneath the outer layers and the flashiness, the d20 system is not the "be all and end all" as the Universal Game Licence seems to lead one to believe. Underneath it all, HERO SYSTEM Fifth Edition Revised to me is the far superior product! It's not particularly as flashy as the Wizards of the Coast d20 Product Line, nor does it have "pretty pictures" that the Wizards of the Coast d20 Product Line does, but what is contained in the HERO SYSTEM Fifth Edition Revised volume is exactly what the cover of the tome advertises...THE ULTIMATE GAMER'S TOOLKIT.

 

It gives you just that!!!

 

In Conclusion...

Thank you to Steve Long for your vigilance, and of you and your staff's support of us, the "game buying public"!

 

I'm looking forward to many other purchases from the HERO Games Product Line...keep up the great work!!!

[atlascott]

Re: HERO system observations and beefs

 

"Star Wars, Star Trek, Traveller, B5, and a few others have got the science fiction genre so wrapped up that as good as Star Hero is its sales aren’t enough to warrant HERO doing much in the science fiction genre."

 

I disagree. As a HUGE SCi-Fi fan who has purchased basically every sci-fi RPG, they have all left me cold. The rules were terrible, the stats did not reflect the series, basically terrible. Cyberpunk comes closest to being playable on a sustained basis, and has a nice mix of rules and content. You read the rule book, and really FEEL IMMERSED in the world. If I had to run a sci-fi game and couldnt use Hero, I might dig out my old FGU Space Opera rules. Sci-Fi, while nowherer NEAR as popular as Fantasy, is not all sewn up. d20 Star Wars is TERRIBLE.

 

I LOVE the idea of Firefly or BSG in HERO flavor! It is my impression that those guys would want so much $ to do it, that HERO could never do it.

 

I also have to take exception to what has become the 'art - content' dichotomy on this thread. I never began this thread by saying more art and less content (or the reverse) was desirable. My criticisms regarding content were that, if I buy a setting book, I EXPECT it to immerse me in that particular game world, not be a 'tool-kit.' Star HERO is a toolkit. Fine. But dont label campaign books as books with source content, and then fail to deliver a fully-fleshed out game world, with lots of gadgets, etc. As an example, I thought the 3rd Edition FOrgotten Realms book did just that. Neither 'campaign' or setting book for star Hero did that for me, though admittedly, there is a fair amount of good stuff in both.

 

As regards art, my main complains wasnt that the art SUCKED, just that it was not consistent in style, tone, etc. Even in an RPG that requires IMAGINATION, if I but a campaign setting, I expect to have a consistent visual style to the universe. Could anyone mistake the look fo a stormtrooper? Or the snap-hiss of a light saber? Or the look of an X-wing? Or of the Enterprise? Or a phaser? THIS sort of visual consistency is ESSENTIAL if you are going to immerse people in a game world. Instead, what we really got in TE and AW was some cartoony-looking art (all well drawn) and some technical looking stuff (all well drawn) and some more abstract shaded stuff. No consistent appearance of troops or even of Xenovores. I mean, what sdo the military marking look like? What do the various faction flags look like? How does a UE trooper vary in appearance from Anti-Spinward forces? These visual details are necessary and are not too much to expect, and simply were not present. I didn't mean to disparage the artists. If you dont have an art director for a book, and you go to 3 different artists, you'll get 3 different styles and ideas--you cant just throw them all together and expect magic.

 

I agree with the guys that say content is the most important. But, I want more hard content when I buy a book. I want a dozen ships, a dozen ground vehicles, illustrations of all the different types of troops, and a huge variety of weapons, illustrated. THESE are the sorts of details and visuals that make a world more real.

 

Making the produce a success requires neat visuals. Iif your focus is on getting more people into the game, you could produce a phone-book sized rule book for half price, and no one is going to buy it. People want something that LOOKS fun and IS FUN. One without the other will not endure.

[MitchellS]

Re: My two cents

 

Steve Long has brought HERO Games back from a "near death experience"' date=' and has the company going in what looks to be a forward, and productive direction![/quote']

I just want to add here that I believe DoJ has 6 partners, and that the Champions Universe itself appears to be based more off of Darren's campaign than Steve's. I don't even know if Steve Long is a primary share holder in the corporation. I'm not saying this to belittle Steve in any way, but only to express that there are many other people involved in bringing "Hero Games back from a near death experience."

[Darren Watts]

Re: My two cents

 

I just want to add here that I believe DoJ has 6 partners' date=' and that the Champions Universe itself appears to be based more off of Darren's campaign than Steve's. I don't even know if Steve Long is a primary share holder in the corporation. I'm not saying this to belittle Steve in any way, but only to express that there are many other people involved in bringing "Hero Games back from a near death experience."[/quote']

 

There are in fact five of us, and Steve and I are the only two involved in the company day-to-day. Jason Walters is also a partner, and writes and contributes where he can when his actual day job allows him the time. The other two prefer not to make their identities public and are not involved in the operations of the company, though both have provided us with invaluable help over the last three and a half years in their own ways.

 

The supers side of the CU has probably more stuff from me than Steve (though it's pretty close) simply because I'm more of a straightforward supers fan and comics history geek than Steve, who has to divide his time also overseeing Fantasy and Dark Champs (two genres I'm much less interested in personally, at least as a writer.) So when I do get to fit some writing into my schedule, it tends to be mostly supers stuff, and it's frequently the stuff that has more of an eye on the history of the setting.

 

Anyway, thanks for the acknowledgement. We wouldn't be here without Steve's incredible work to date, of course, but the other owners, the ridiculously dedicated staff (Andy, Ben, Tina, Allen) and our corps of freelancers have all contributed greatly to what we've accomplished so far. dw

[Herolover]

Re: My two cents

 

There are in fact five of us' date=' and Steve and I are the only two involved in the company day-to-day. Jason Walters is also a partner, and writes and contributes where he can when his actual day job allows him the time. The other two prefer not to make their identities public and are not involved in the operations of the company, though both have provided us with invaluable help over the last three and a half years in their own ways. dw[/quote']

 

Okay...now I am really intrigued. Let the conspiracy theorist begin. Who are the two unknown benefactors of Hero?