We’re back again with plenty of gaming goodness! On this episode Elliott reviews Nature of the Beast from Eye-Level Entertainment, and Star Trek Fleet Captains from WizKids, while Jeff reviews Nexus Ops from Fantasy Flight Games and The Mistborn Adventure Game RPG from Crafty Games. All this along with a bit of our usual sprinkling of random nonsense…
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Founder/Editor-in-chief of The Gaming Gang website and host of The Gaming Gang Dispatch and other TGG media, Jeff tackles any and all sorts of games but has a special fondness for strategy, conflict sims, and roleplaying games. Plus, he's certainly never at a loss for an opinion...
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A “reapist” made me laugh out loud!
Great show.
Good Show, made me want to try Nexus Ops. Romulan expansion, definitely, maybe combined with a Cardassian shipload for a full second game that can be mixed with the first?
Thank you taking the time about our game, Nature of the Beast!
By the way, we DO have a larger font rulebook (hey, all the cool card games had tiny rulebooks in 2005). There is a current draft for the new ruleset (compatible with the original sets) at…
http://www.eyelevelentertainment.com/download_files/notb_rules_2011.pdf
Hope you guys win the podcast appreciation contest. We’ve already got some ideas to immortalize you guys…
Thanks Mark! Elliott and I really enjoyed both editions of Nature of the Beast. I have to say if the most critical thing I have to say about a title is the font size of the rule book then you’ve got a great game there. 😉 I figured you had a easier to read rule book online but things were so hectic the past week neither Elliott nor I had a chance to actually take a peek… Thanks for setting us straight!
Anyone noticed that the RSS feed is not working? Or is it just me?
Love the podcast and thx for fixing it!
Thanks for the catch Mike! It looks like there was a single character out of place on the file that messed it up. It’s fixed now.
Thanks Mike! Serves me right for trying to post the RSS file at 5am after spending all night editing… Doh!
Loved the show. I like the fact that Elliot is a man of conviction rather than some insipid podcasters who love evrything. But on kickstarter he is WRONG WRONG WRONG !.
Im sure he doesnt have anything against GMT 500 and yet all the arguments he has against Kickstarter could be applied to the GMT 500. The idea that GMT has the money to develop and publish the game without seeing if there is any interest in it is clealry nonesense. Why should Eagle/Griffon games be any different.
I m sure it would be cheaper for VPG games to print off a 1000 (or even 100) copies of a game right off rather than print on demand but that is their model to avoid be left with a load of useless stock. Why should poor Eagle/Griffon be any different. The only difference is they are using Kickstarter to gauge interest in a game , they are not Hasbro for Thor’s sake. One turkey could see a little company like them go under.
I absolutley realise and appreciate that Kickstarter was set up for people without capital to fund projects. But in the case of “Fleet” for example , Griffon games have given support to two new designers but dont want to take all the risks that entails. Whats wrong with that ? If people dont like it they wont back it .
Yes I agree at some point , someone is going to take the kickstarter money and run . But it will not be the “Fleet” people as they are being backed by a known company who is using Kickstarter as a proxy p500.This is their model to reduce risk and I for one dont see a problem with that. If it prevents a game company from going under then Im all for it.
Im sure Elliot will give my comments a good kicking but thats what he’s there for , I ll still love him even when he’s wrong.
Hi Simon,
Actually I think you’ve mistaken Elliott for myself as I’m the person who made the comments regarding Gryphon and Kickstarter. In all honesty I’m not going to give you comment a good kicking either. 🙂
As far as some of the points you’ve made I have to point out that there have been people who have already taken Kickstarter money and run (or at least jogged) by releasing titles that we’re as advertised. Thankfully it has only been a couple of occasions that I’m aware of so you’re looking at a vast number of projects that have been what was promised or even better.
A P500 system say such as GMT or Lock ‘n Load use is actually quite a bit different in my opinion than Kickstarter in the fact that both companies are known quantities so if you back their titles for a print run you know what to expect. Eagle/Gryphon can be a lot more hit or miss. Obviously they have some good titles but they also have quite a few dogs under their belt. This isn’t to imply that I’d like to see Eagle/Gryphon go under by any means but I’m still not a big fan of established companies using Kickstarter as a means to produce titles. Granted I’ve warmed more to Kickstarter as a whole but I’m not alone in not being a fan of seeing companies not take any risk while involved in the process. It’s great that two new designers get a shot at seeing their game in print (and as I write I see Fleet is well past 300% funding) and I’m all for that.
I have to point out some of the reasoning about not being excited to see companies like Eagle/Gryphon on Kickstarter also has to do with other information within the industry of which I’m not at liberty to discuss publicly. We’re exposed to a lot of discussions that are off the record and we’re the type of guys who take it seriously when people tell us things are off that record…
As for VPG, and I’m sure Alan will be happy to correct me if I’m wrong here, I believe they do produce small print runs and don’t simply print every game on demand. With the sheer number of available titles, and the rapid schedule of release, it wouldn’t make sense to be running off to hand craft a game every time an order comes in. Alan has mentioned to me in the past that they will be out of stock on a title and if it was completely print on demand I don’t believe that’d be the case.
I’m glad you like the show and it’s true both of us are very free and easy with our opinions. That’s what the show’s about; if we all agreed on everything why would anyone both to visit our site or listen to our shows. And I certainly wouldn’t think anyone would ever consider us insipid. 😉
I just wanted to make sure that you were disagreeing with the right guy as Elliott is a much bigger proponent of Kickstarter than I am but I’m coming around a bit…
Hi Jeff,
yes Im sure its you im disagreeing with ! , all you yanks sound the same to me 😉 (Im a Brit you see) .
As an old Grognard Im old enough (like you) to have seen SPI/Avalon Hill/Victoy Games/Omega/SimCan etc etc to have gone under over the years. I think anything which gives games companies reduced exposure from risk can only be a good thing. I think for some game companies they see Kickstarter as the way to do that.
Whether it is the best way to reduce the risk of publishing a new game , you may be right , it may not be the best format. But game companies need some kind of feedback as to whether a game is worth publishing , the hobby is too small for them not too.
Keep up the stirling work , and so hello to Alan Emrich for me from a UK fan. I have several VPG games as fortunately there is one UK hobby store that imports them. I think they make an excellent contribution to the hobby.
Anyway thats enough sycophancy from me. I m starting to sound like one of those insipid podcasters I dont like .