New World of Darkness Game Line All Hardcover; White Wolf ..

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http://www.worldofdarkness.com/press/hardcover.html

New World of Darkness Game Line All Hardcover;
White Wolf Limits WoD Releases to Two Books a Month

Atlanta, GA, July 27, 2004 – White Wolf Publishing today unveiled
additional details of its publishing plan for the new World of
Darkness line. This plan includes an attractive hardcover format for
all game books and a smaller overall number of releases.


The World of Darkness, launching anew on August 21st with the World
of Darkness Rulebook and Vampire: The Requiem, is White Wolf's
flagship game line of contemporary horror roleplaying games. In it's
first incarnation – published from 1991 to early 2004 – the line
consisted of many different games, each with hardcover rulebooks and
many softcover supplements.


"We took a long, hard look at our publishing model and reworked how
we deliver books to our customers," said Mike Tinney, White Wolf's
President. "This started with the creation of a central rulebook for
the entire World of Darkness line" – meaning August's World of
Darkness Rulebook – "and continued with the decision to publish
fewer, meatier supplements."


Indeed, all roleplaying game supplements for the line will be
hardcover books of at least 128 pages (and usually 160 or more).
White Wolf plans to publish two of these books for the World of
Darkness every month, for a total of 24 roleplaying book releases a
year. This total will hold true even once other game lines join
Vampire: The Requiem in the World of Darkness, such as the upcoming
Werewolf: The Forsaken and Mage: The Awakening.


Fiction titles, play aids (dice sets, Storyteller screens) and
merchandise items (T-shirts, mousepads) will come in addition to
these releases. The Exalted and Sword & Sorcery game lines will
continue their established publishing patterns with a blend of hard-
and softcover releases.


#          #            #


Since its entry into the roleplaying game market in 1991, White Wolf
Publishing, Inc. has grown, maintaining an average market share of
26%. With collective book sales in excess of 5.5 million copies
during this time, White Wolf is one of two undisputed worldwide
publishing leaders for pen and paper roleplaying games. White Wolf
properties have been licensed for television series, comic books,
action figures, console and computer video games, coin-operated arcade
games, professional wrestlers, replica props and weapons, interactive
media events and a myriad of merchandise. More information on White
Wolf can be found at www.white-wolf.com .



--
Conrad Hubbard
White Wolf Publishing http://www.white-wolf.com
Sword & Sorcery http://www.swordsorcery.com
"Promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for
limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their
respective Writings and Discoveries" - U.S. Constitution, Article 1,
Section 8

 

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On 27 Jul 2004 07:27:13 -0700, conrad@white-wolf.com (Conrad Hubbard)
wrote:

>http://www.worldofdarkness.com/press/hardcover.html
>
>New World of Darkness Game Line All Hardcover;
>White Wolf Limits WoD Releases to Two Books a Month

(snip)

After a while, that's going to be quite a tough schedule to keep up,
isn't it?

Am I right in also thinking that it's pretty much the same as the old
WoD. Oh well, hardcover books are more durable for me. And bigger -
that'll be nice.

C

 

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Charlie B wrote:

> Am I right in also thinking that it's pretty much the same as the old
> WoD. Oh well, hardcover books are more durable for me. And bigger -
> that'll be nice.

It is. 24/3=8, and there are three game lines. The old lines got eight
books per year as well.

I suppose it just means the schedule will be more regulated. We used to
get some months with four releases and some with barely any, IIRC.
--
Stephenls
Geek
"I'm as impure as the driven yellow snow." -Spike

 

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In article <2d3dg0lq51gdiemq5nc5guis2aocq81ipp@4ax.com>,
msrfx@remove_to_mail.fsmail.net wrote:

> Oh well, hardcover books are more durable for me.

I can think of any number of WW customers who would take issue with that
statement, excepting the "for me" part.

Personally, I'm ambivalent about the hardcover issue. The scheduling
news is good, I think. Regulating publication dates would help the
developers manage their time better and see every book gets what it
needs, I should think.

--
Tyler

u d e t o d r y s t a n o i d f t

Bac>|wards

 

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"Stephenls" <stephenls@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:2mnjlpFofja2U1@uni-berlin.de...
> Charlie B wrote:
>
> > Am I right in also thinking that it's pretty much the same as the old
> > WoD. Oh well, hardcover books are more durable for me. And bigger -
> > that'll be nice.
>
> It is. 24/3=8, and there are three game lines. The old lines got eight
> books per year as well.
>
> I suppose it just means the schedule will be more regulated. We used to
> get some months with four releases and some with barely any, IIRC.

To be fair to WWGS, much of that depended on the vagarities of getting
manuscripts from writers edited, laid out, and done, which is not always a
predictable process. Being on the board of Softskull press
(http://www.softskull.com) has made me somewhat more sympathetic to what
publishers go through.

Whether or not the 2 hardcovers a month from WWGS for the new lines will be
worth it will depend on how good the product is, but I personally prefer
hardcover.

CB

 

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Tyler Dion <tfdion@spammenot.com> wrote:

> Personally, I'm ambivalent about the hardcover issue.

I'm more likely to take a flyer on a softcover supplement
if I'm not absolutely sure I'll like/use it. I'm *much*
more leery of laying out the extra cash for a hardcover
that I'm not absolutely sure of.

Hmmm. Has any gaming company considered trying the style
of regular book companies, with initial releases of titles
in hardcover, followed by softcover versions some months
or a year later?

-Ky
Life is complex; it's partly real and partly imaginary.

 

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Kylinn wrote:

> I'm more likely to take a flyer on a softcover supplement
> if I'm not absolutely sure I'll like/use it. I'm *much*
> more leery of laying out the extra cash for a hardcover
> that I'm not absolutely sure of.

> Hmmm. Has any gaming company considered trying the style
> of regular book companies, with initial releases of titles
> in hardcover, followed by softcover versions some months
> or a year later?

It's not really viable in the RPG industry, because most books don't get
reprints. I forget the exact numbers, but something like 80% of all the
sales for a given supplement will take place during the first month.

There are occasional reprints of really successful books, but those are
the exception.
--
Stephenls
Geek
"I'm as impure as the driven yellow snow." -Spike

 

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in article 2mq267Fnf07uU1@uni-berlin.de, Stephenls at stephenls@shaw.ca
wrote on 7/28/04 12:22 PM:

> Kylinn wrote:
>
>> I'm more likely to take a flyer on a softcover supplement
>> if I'm not absolutely sure I'll like/use it. I'm *much*
>> more leery of laying out the extra cash for a hardcover
>> that I'm not absolutely sure of.
>
>> Hmmm. Has any gaming company considered trying the style
>> of regular book companies, with initial releases of titles
>> in hardcover, followed by softcover versions some months
>> or a year later?
>
> It's not really viable in the RPG industry, because most books don't get
> reprints. I forget the exact numbers, but something like 80% of all the
> sales for a given supplement will take place during the first month.
>
> There are occasional reprints of really successful books, but those are
> the exception.

So true. It's almost like we're publishing magazines instead of books, which
is what the "fewer and hardcover" method is designed to ameliorate.

Regards,
Justin

--
[Justin Achilli]
[Vampire: The Requiem IP Manager]
[White Wolf Game Studio]
[jachilli@white-wolf.com - www.white-wolf.com]
"We know what men want. They want to go do stuff
and then come back and sit around."
-- Christine Primeaux, "Hell Is for Sisters"