It's been roughly a year (give or take) since Paradox pulled the rug out from under us (thanks guys-how's that movie coming along?).
I'm not going to make bitter comments at how much money they could have been making through EE compared to what Fantasy Forge has been raking in with their (cough-unreleased-cough) Mutant Chronicles collectable figure game.
I am not here to go over painful territory or hurt anyone's feelings (except a mild sting to the aforementioned corporation that starts with the letter P).
I think the fact that we are still here and spending money on this game proves that EE was on the right track. Paradox lost a lot of money based on the what we have spent as a group in the last year, not to mention the money they would have made on the new books and releases that could have come out in the past year.
I would like to examine where we are and where we are going.
Achievements:
1. Figures
We have sucked the world dry of existing Warzone figures. Yeah there are still sources out there but they are drying up quickly. Prince August remains our best hope, assuming we can produce enough business through them to convince them to produce for us. I am optimistic, but not holding my breath, either. Cyclopes Forge has also produced some suspiciously familiar figures and if we in the States can get past the insane S&H costs or get a local distributer we will be looking well. The only thing that could make us purr would be for the greens that never saw the light of day to get produced but we can always hope.
We have identified proxies and scour EBAY almost daily but soon may have to resort to piracy to produce "legitimate figures". I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing so long as laws are not broken. I label this as an accomplishment because I think it proves that Warzone has life and a financial interest if only to a niche market. It has also made us tighter as a group as we trade amongst our selves. I have yet to see a negative post in the Good Traders section (of course maybe that's why it is the Good Traders section) and only know of one case of someone hedging. Overall though, people have been extremely generous with one another.
Not quite dry but the sources are drying up. I don't know of anyone hedging and agree that we have the best group of traders on the net.
2. Conventions
We have gone independant and shed the chains of organized conventions (although there is still participation in some of the more open-minded conventions) and started producing our own events. I think this is a remarkable feat considereing. I especially salute the efforts of Topkick, Archer, and the whole Maplewood gang for keeping that torch burning in the continental United States. Europe is freaking out of control with Warzone/Chronopia goodness and I don't even know where to start with those guys. I know I have left someone out in this so my apologies if I have.
Thank you for the kind words but the work in the Midwest has been a group effort. Southpaw, Coldthunder, Stalker, The One King and Sylvas all deserve kudos. Stop by at Origins and say hi and let them and me know what we can do to make Origins better next year.
I also think that the Jersey Boys and the Philly Crew have the right idea. We need to continue identifying pockets of interest and coordinate regional cons to keep it going and expand our base. To that end I am going to talk to Dog of War and the 4 Staters to see if we can identify a venue that is acceptable to them and the Boys from Southern Illinois. If we can find one then maybe we can put together something
3. Unit of Command
The board has done an excellent job with the Warzone FAQ team. The dozens of small issues the plague any first printing/new ruleset are being addressed and smoothed out. Keep up the good work.
Agreed
Challanges:
1. Figures
See above.
Most of the 28 mm figs will work. Besides the Urban Mammoth figs, Rezolution, GW, and severla others listed in the search links will work. Cyclops is making excellent proxies and I think that if we let the smaller independent sculptors know they might submit works to Cyclops or other manufacturers for limited production.
2. Factions
There is a small sense of us vs. them between this board and some of the European crowd. Also, some people have split off and started using their own rules to overcome percieved shortcomings. Some would argue this is the beginning of the end. Others would point to its inevitability. The question is at what point does it stop becoming Warzone? I would argue that second edition was so far off the map from the original fluff that it was close.
People have their own desires for the expansion of the game. Grumpel was going to put together something and the Poles have their own FAQ. In the end attempting to force everyone to one standard is what will fracture our community. I encourage that we accept all these cousins to the game and maintain a friendly exchange of ideas. I personally think that everything needed is in the Ultimate rulebook and units limited to one faction (ie the Vermin APC) that make sense for all factions can be created using the same stat line and point cost. Just rename it and find a suitable fig. Bottom line we all love the game so lets work together for the common good.
3. Spam
Good heavens will it ever end? I'm not pointing fingers at anyone other than the spammers on this one.
We just need to keep working together to report them and hopefully they will get the message and go away.
4. Forward progress
Where are we now, but more importantly where are we going? Coki has pushed forward with a team for Curelian Mists. Chronopia is limited by its lack of a points rubric. There have been long talks about the legitimacy of producing or copying the Warzone rubric so I won't rehash that debate but I feel there are some shortcomings in the games that should be addressed. I would like to see an indie mag produced by the board pushing foward new ideas, units, and scenarios if only as house rules. There is plenty of Chornopia and Warzone out there before we go stagnant, but it will happen. I know this leaves up open to dissent and disagreement, but it is worthy of thought.
The books or at least preproduction notes are out there. If Thom still retains the intellectual rights I for one would gladly pay him in advance for copies so that he could pay upfront for a print run. If they belong to Paradox then I think we need to make them aware that we are here and enter into negotiations to release the material. We have the rubric exposed but the ownership is in debate. We have Grumpels waiver in these forums. If we can get Thom's and/or Paradox's we are in business. I like the idea of an in house mag but wonder who has the time. Maybe if we find a current indie mag- or web- zine we could get some column space from them. My first thought is to talk to Mark Theurer. He was always kind to Warzone and Chronopia in the past.
Lamentation
I admint now that I am far more into Warzone than when it was fully armed an operational. I wonder some times if I would have been more active then (read deeper into the rules, funneled my money towards it rather than some game that will only change everything you bought in a year anyway) it would have made a difference. Unlikely but it falls in that "which drop of water causes the damn to break" category.
I do not want to make anyone here feel bad but I have to relate this as it has a direct bearing on this topic. Thom once told me that he did not want to produce the Warzone SD figs (the Valpurgis and Brotherhood figs that were replicas of his artwork that appeared in a thread). Everyone raved about them and swore they would buy a set. He sold one - to me. That hurt him more than any other event that happened in the troubles Excelsior experienced I think. He trusted us and we let him down. I have wondered in the past year if Thom spending so little time here has to do with the support for the games we show now but weren't showing when he needed us.
In summary, it's been a year but we are still here. I would like where all of you think we should be headed.
I stand with the games and Thom. Until they become at odds with each other I will not pick one over the other. When/if that happens I will have to look into my soul and decide what I have to do to live with myself. As for our future we stand at a crossroads. If we turn our backs on each other and our common past (the game) we will perish like so many others who eventually gave up on an OOP game and moved on. I live for OOP games. Been playing Legions of Steel for ?? years and Warzone/Chronopia since they hit my FLGS. As to the specifics ideas for our future that should perhaps be a seperate thread and/or poll so we can jucdge what the group wants and go from there.