D20 System Games Penumbra Bestiary Angst
From: Chris Aylott Posted on: 1/26/2003 3:02 pm
To: ALL
Message: 147.1
Just checked out the new Bestiary preview ("The Great Northern Dragon"), and have to take a moment to say.

WAAAH! I WANT THIS BOOK! GIMMEE! GIMMEE! GIMMEE!

(And see, it's not just because I have stuff in it. Before I was looking forward to seeing that. But now I want to see what everyone *else* has done...)

Anyway, just had to get that out of my system.

best wishes,

Chris Aylott
The Space-Crime Continuum
selling interesting books and games
http://www.spacecrime.com/

From: John Nephew Posted on: 1/27/2003 12:39 am
To: Chris Aylott
Message: 147.2
in reply to: 147.1
I've made it to page 150 in my proofreading.

Ugh!

I also have to proof Land of Fire and Ice (which is now looking late for its Feb. release date, given hardcover printing turnaround).

But yeah, the Bestiary is very cool. Wish I had a clue as to how many it will sell in current D20 market conditions. I really don't know how many I should print.

From: Chris Aylott Posted on: 1/27/2003 11:34 am
To: John Nephew
Message: 147.3
in reply to: 147.2
> Wish I had a clue as to how many it will sell in current D20 market
> conditions. I really don't know how many I should print.

[putting on retailer hat]

Unfortunately, I'm in much the same boat on my end -- I don't know how many I should buy. Lots of interest, not much commitment yet. I know this just puts more pressure on you (sorry!) but it will be easier to close the sale when there's a reasonably firm release date for the book.

Ah, well. Right now I'm taking a middle-of-the-road position, and the order is safely stashed in Centurion's Aegis preorder system so that you get at least a little bit of data to project from. But 3 years ago I was sure that our rapidly advancing industry would have this guessing-in-the-dark problem licked... remind me to go back in time and kick my younger self in his idiot head.

best wishes,

Chris Aylott
The Space-Crime Continuum
selling interesting books and games
http://www.spacecrime.com/

From: Al3xWhite Posted on: 4/26/2003 8:39 am
To: Chris Aylott
Message: 147.4
in reply to: 147.3
There is the problem as to just how many Critter books you can own. I own a few (MM, Monsternomicon, Liber Bestiarus) but unless there is spectacular art work or some damn cool ideas in the book, I'd give it a miss over something like the Wise and the Wicked or Secrets and Societies (by SSS), or The Mysteries (new spells, V&Fs and spirits! woot!).

~Alex
pax

From: Chris Aylott Posted on: 4/26/2003 11:47 am
To: Al3xWhite
Message: 147.5
in reply to: 147.4
> There is the problem as to just how many Critter books you can own.

That's definitely a factor, yes. On the bright side, the limit for critter books is quite a bit higher than it is for some other types of books.

> unless there is spectacular art work or some damn cool ideas in the
> book,

Which is one area where I think the Bestiary will shine.

I'm actually a lot more confident of its prospects now than back in January. Our overall RPG sales are stronger now than they were then, and the market seems to be defragmenting as various companies pull back on releases. If the book comes out in the next quarter, I think I can get enough people looking at it that it will then sell on its own merits.

cheers,

Chris Aylott
The Space-Crime Continuum
http://www.spacecrime.com

Edited 4/26/2003 11:48:33 AM ET by Space-Crime Continuum (SPACECRIME2)
From: Al3xWhite Posted on: 4/27/2003 8:35 am
To: Chris Aylott
Message: 147.6
in reply to: 147.5

We'll see. I like to support Atlas, but really I'm not at all interested in D20 and the product needs to be useful for my Ars Magica game (luckily, Johnathan Tweet made the games fairly compatible). If it's too out there or too generic, then I won't be getting it. If the art is competent but not astounding, then I go past it.

~Alex
pax

From: dalefriesen Posted on: 10/14/2003 2:57 pm
To: Chris Aylott
Message: 147.7
in reply to: 147.5
So is the Bestiary written for 3.0 or 3.5?
From: John Nephew Posted on: 10/14/2003 9:46 pm
To: dalefriesen
Message: 147.8
in reply to: 147.7
It was written for 3.0.

We had held off, thinking we should make it 3.5 compatible, and we got on the access list for 3.5. We ultimately concluded that it was not necessary -- and that doing it properly for such a huge book would push the release back by months (like, to about now), which would have been devastating to sales, given what we figured was the tsunami of d20 releases that were being held for release after 3.5. (Sales figures on new d20 releases since 3.5 persuade me that we made the right call. After some declines earlier this year, we were back up to all-time-records for the number of new d20 books scheduled for release each month.)

From: dalefriesen Posted on: 10/15/2003 9:48 am
To: John Nephew
Message: 147.9
in reply to: 147.8
Thanks. :)