Classic Dungeons and Dragons and Old School Gaming

D&D etc.


"Heir to a crumbling summit: to a sea of nettles: to an empire of rust: to rituals' footprints ankle-deep in stone."

-Mervyn Peake

"...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped."

-Sir Bedevere in Monty Python and the Holy Grail



Tuesday, July 15, 2014

An open letter to Games Workshop


Hi,

I'm writing to ask about the possibility of Games Workshop publishing the old Realms of Darkness books.  It's easy to find illegal pdfs on the internet, and some of the best tables and art have been put up online by various people.  My problem is I don't download illegal pdfs, I don't want just a few tables or pictures, and really what I'd like is to have the books Slaves to Darkness and the Lost and the Damned.  They are so cool.  The art is really really amazing, these are some of the best rpg products ever.  Used copies can be found but they're damaged, written in, crazy expensive or all three.  

I think it's weird that while a novel if it's popular will be reprinted in perpetuity, rpg products either go out of print or are "revised" until they're unrecognizable.  Why not just keep printing the books that sold well in the first place, just as they were printed before?  No additions, editorializing, no new rules and definitely no new art is necessary!  Just good binding and all the art and content GW paid for 25 years ago.  Hey the Lost and the Damned was originally printed almost 25 years ago, right?  That's a good reason for a reprint right there. 

I know those rules are supported anymore and if reprinted as is there would be conflicting editions.  The thing is, there already are conflicting editions! Sure, now you have to pay $200 for a copy of the old edition, but it's out there.  I really believe that if reprinted as-is the old Realms of Darkness could only increase sales of current edition games and miniatures.  Wizards of the Coast has been reprinting old editions of Dungeons and Dragons, and I think it's bought them a lot of goodwill from the older fans.

If I bought used copies of the RoD books it could easily set me back $350.  It seems like you could charge a third of that and make plenty of money.  That's $116.66, hah, or $110 and $6.66 for shipping and handling.  I am sure that I'm not alone.





I just sent the above to GW's customer service email, where I doubt anything will come of it.  Who knows though, with the OGRE reprint, Metamorphosis Alpha and all of the D&D reprints and pdf releases Wizards of the Coast has been doing and the 25 year anniversary, just maybe...   

3 comments:

  1. I believe you mean "Realm of Chaos," no?

    I would definitely buy new copies with nice bindings, despite having old copies already.

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