It was not the smoothest of launches. Wizards of the Coast servers could not keep up with the demand, and they are scurrying to answer questions regarding the playtest restrictions.
...while we were preparing material for the second core set, we realised that we would be repeating more information than we had expected. That didn’t sit right with us – both Cubicle 7 and Sophisticated Games strongly believe in producing quality games that give gamers value for money. The last thing we wanted was to leave people thinking that they had to buy the same information again just to get the new content. We also realised that moving away from the core set structure would give us a greater degree of freedom with our releases, and that we would be able to cover more areas of Middle-earth and playable cultures sooner.
Tales from Wilderland is finally making its way to the printer and the pre-order is up on C7's site. The PDF will be ready "in a week or so." Pre-orders are also up for the Der eine Ring - Würfelset (Dice set) which were previously only available in Germany. Those are also a May/June release.
Here's the full schedule:
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Tales from Wilderland - Adventure anthology playable as a campaign - May/June*
The One Ring Dice Set - Seven dice in hard plastic box - May/June*
Loremaster’s Screen and Laketown Sourcebook - Heavy duty screen, and information about the busiest city in the North, including a new playable culture: the Men of the Lake - July/August*
The Darkening of Mirkwood - epic campaign sourcebook and adventures spanning over thirty years - August
Rivendell (title TBC) - core supplement introducing 'unique' cultures: Rangers of the North and Rivendell Elves. Includes material on The Last Homely House, the surrounding areas, magical artefacts, and more - Autumn
* Shipping can sometimes be subject to delays causing the two-month release windows.
The Origins Awards have a unique nomination and final voting process. Nominations are voted by the retailers who attended the 2012 GAMA Trade Show. Final voting will be done by the attendees of the 2012 Origins Game Fair and winners will be announced on June 2.
So who do you think will win? Who should have been nominated?
We are publishing a new fantasy game by Jonathan Tweet and Rob Heinsoo, 3rd and 4th Edition D&D designers. That’s all I’ll say for the moment
On their play-testing page, there is a bit more information:
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13th Age is a love letter to D&D: a rules-light, story-oriented RPG that honors old school values while advancing the OGL art. Players create unique heroes using flexible interpretations of familiar D20 character classes. New indie-style rules connect each character’s story to the Gamemaster’s customized version of the campaign setting.
The MARVEL HEROIC ROLEPLAYING Basic Game uses the acclaimed “Breakout” story arc from Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers to launch the MARVEL HEROIC ROLEPLAYING product line. The Operations Manual gives you all the rules you need to play, from gathering your heroes to taking on the likes of Carnage and Mister Hyde in a desperate free-for-all!
If you haven't been to Gen Con before, Housing (hotel reservations) is extremely competitive. The longer you wait, the further away you will be from the convention center.
5/20 (Noon EST): Event Registration starts
Like housing, Event registration is extremely competitive. Many events will be sold out within an hour or two.
6/30 (11:59PM EST): Pre-Reg Ends
After this date, badge prices increase and must be picked up at Will Call. Will Call lines have been a big issue in the past at the beginning of the con. Save yourself a headache and have the badge mailed to you ($3 extra, $10 with verification).
Privateer Press has announced that the first preview of their upcoming Iron Kingdoms RPG will be in No Quarter #40:
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No Quarter Magazine #40 kicks off with the first in a series of previews leading up to the release of the Iron Kingdoms RPG, giving you an exciting first look at this highly anticipated product.
This new Iron Kingdoms RPG is scheduled to be released at Gen Con this year. Privateer Press hasn't published any print RPG material since 2007.
Dominic McDowall-Thomas, C7's CEO, is taking over Customer Service duties. He also released the following production updates:
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Doctor Who The long delays on our Doctor Who line are coming to an end. We were initially planning to release four supplements with the Tenth Doctor edition of the rules, but it turned out that we couldn’t, so the delay until the Eleventh Doctor edition has also meant that supplements were held up too.
But, we’re in the final stages of approval on the Eleventh Doctor Set, with the first supplement, The Time Traveller’s Companion about to head into the approval queue and the second, Defending the Earth not too far behind. Assuming no major issues, the Core Set will be out in April, but I will confirm this once it is on press.
There are another three supplements written, a couple more being written and lots more planned.
Primeval The Primeval core book is in the late stages of layout (second draft). Time to stores will depend on printing location – if I can get an affordable US printer it’s a 4 week turnaround, if I can’t and I have to get it done in China it is a 12-14 week turnaround. It’s mainly been layout issues that have caused the delay with Primeval, but we are getting there.
Laundry The Laundry Files: Agent’s Handbook has just gone to print and should make it into stores for January. The Mythos Dossiers is heading into layout and License to Summon is being edited. Other unannounced books are at the planning and writing stage.
Victoriana Victoriana has a huge range of books in the works, the only one which is significantly delayed is War of the Worlds, for copyright reasons. I should know what we’re doing with that shortly though, and will keep people up to date.
Qin, Yggdrasill and other translated games Qin supplements are moving again following major translation delays. We had some issues with early translations which meant that we effectively had to start again. The Art of War is ready for its final check before layout. Yggdrasill is going through its final pre-layout checks, while Kuro should be edited by the end of the month. I think we have a much better understanding of the translation process and potential pitfalls now, and should have a base level of 2-3 translated books per year.
Starblazer The second edition player’s guide is in layout, and the story teller’s guide is in editorial. The delay here has also been in layout – something that has had a knock-on effect for a number of our products this year.
HeroQuest HeroQuest is just about to go to press (it’s with the printer, in pre-press). The Sartar books are following shortly.
Genesis Descent Genesis Descent is the Cyberpunk game that Angus was looking after, so it only seemed proper for him to take it with him to his new company, Chronicle City. I will be writing to all Genesis Descent pre-order customers in the next few days to arrange their choice of a refund or store credit.
Other pre-orders I’ll be sending an e-mail to all existing pre-order customers in the next few weeks to introduce myself as their contact at Cubicle 7 and give them an update on their orders. Following that I’ll send regular updates.
Of course, now that we don’t offer books for pre-order until they go to print it isn’t so much of an issue. But when we started the company we took pre-orders when products were announced, and that has led to a number of long waits, some of which are still outstanding. I’m working to resolve these orders as soon as possible, and hope that improved communication in the meantime will reassure customers that the products will eventually get to them. It’s not a great situation to be in, but we have learned our lesson here and all products now available for pre-order are, at least, at the printer. And all pre-order customers have a standing offer of a refund.
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The Legends of Anglerre Companion is ready for approval by D C Thomson - I'm hoping that it will be a January release.
