Originally posted by oid_gharaei
I was just wondering whehter people would be willing to invest in a publication of birthright by WOTC. I would buy every one of their publications so long as it keeps the flavour and is well tought out, how about you?
I'd love to see WotC revive Birthright. If they follow the same quality control they have been using for 3.5 then the products would be infinitely better than they were in 2nd ed. Unfortuneately this is a dead horse. Rich Baker himself has said that WotC will not be bringing back Birthright (alright he didn't say never, but it is extremely unlikely) - it was never a money maker and they are concentrating on having fewer product lines with more focus so that they (the company) can keep out of the financial straights that forced TSR to fold.
Originally posted by oid_gharaei
I believe that birthright would be a good choice because there hasn't been much of a gap from 95' - 2004 insofar its fanbase is concernced. Fans of birthright have been playing the game consistingly ever since it has come out and its fanbase has, as such, not had much time to die down. Dragonlance, one of my favourites, only speaks to a small fanbase in my opinion yet has, in comparison to birthright, had time to die down.
Dragonlance had a series of bestselling novels. Birthright had a rather mediocre computer strategy game. The Dragonlance forum currently has 17,694 posts. The Birthright forum has 188. I think you're a bit naive about which is the more popular setting.
Wyvern
he Dragonlance forum currently has 17,694 posts. The Birthright forum has 188.
Check out birthright.net [22884 posts]. I know dragonlance is popular and that is propably due to the fact that there are 3.5 books out there for the setting and more are in the comming. I am a fan of dragonlance by the way and can hardly wait for some of them. This is a forum not many birthright players are actively participating in. I know birhtright has a hard time fitting into a traditional RPGing enviorment because of its scale but I know of several birthright games which are currently being conducted over the internet; one of which I am in and it alone harbours over 35 people.
Birthright had a rather mediocre computer strategy game
Insofar the computer game is concerned, i think you are being generous
Birthright had far fewer novels than did any of the other settings mentioned and this is really a key to developing a broad fan base that will support a product line. That is one of the main reasons why Dark Sun has refused to die peacefully in the past.
My 2 cps worth.
Birthright had far fewer novels than did any of the other settings mentioned and this is really a key to developing a broad fan base
good point.
Sometimes books can limit where dms are willing to take the setting. This is something Wizkids [just to give an example] has been struggling with in their mechwarrior universe - which was previously fasa's setting - they can't take their stories anywhere without destroying a house, faction or clan, as such compromising the appeal of mechwarrior bsc part of their fan-base is attached to said house, faction or clan. Luckily, this is not as big a problem with RPG settings altough I didn't read as many of the DL novels after the age of mortals was introduced. A setting with ongoing, continous novels may be gripping [a lot of people got into the mechwarrior game, for instance, bsc of the novels or battletech] but does not allow for the game to go places and write its own history via its characters which is key in birthright since players will be playing blooded scion regents who [literaly] make history and this may be why there aren't as many [succesful] birthright books.
Originally posted by oid_gharaei
Check out birthright.net [22884 posts]. I know dragonlance is popular and that is propably due to the fact that there are 3.5 books out there for the setting and more are in the comming.
Well, of course you're going to find more Birthright-related posts on a message board dedicated to Birthright. The forums at the Dragonlance fansite have around 13,000 posts, but that's not necessarily an accurate comparison either -- it may just mean the message boards there are newer than at birthright.net. As for the recent publication of Dragonlance, I'm sure that's increased the fanbase, but that alone doesn't account for the disparity of numbers -- just look at the Ghostwalk forum, which has a paltry 386 posts currently.
I never said that Birthright doesn't have its devoted fans, but I think its fanbase, and thus its profit-making potential, are *much* smaller than Dragonlance's.
Insofar the computer game is concerned, i think you are being generous
Well, the 'adventure' subroutine was a piece of junk, and the tactical battles were just plain dull, but I did have a fun time with the realm management.
Wyvern
Well, of course you're going to find more Birthright-related posts on a message board dedicated to Birthright.
just noting that a fanbase exists and it isn't weak either. DL has, because of the novels a lot more to talk about.
The forums at the Dragonlance fansite have around 13,000 posts, but that's not necessarily an accurate comparison either
true. Forums can be old/young - who knows? It is hard to gauge a fanbase by a forum.
just look at the Ghostwalk forum, which has a paltry 386 posts currently.
I still don't understand why they publisehd ghostwalk...
I never said that Birthright doesn't have its devoted fans, but I think its fanbase, and thus its profit-making potential, are *much* smaller than Dragonlance's.
I understand that birthright has a smaller fan base escpecially since there are no WOTC birthright books but I was wondering how dedicated this fanbase would be to purchasing WOTC birthright products. Would you purchase WOTC birthright products?
I also believe that the birthright fanbase would grow once WOTC publishes birthright books [hypothetically speaking]
:D 
After all, it's my EVIL PLAN(tm) now.
I swear (but not profanely), what was thought to be a parody that was based on a fictional RPG from their long-running comic book ("Knights of the Dinner Table") is seriously becoming a legitimate game product.
Originally posted by oid_gharaei
I was just wondering whehter people would be willing to invest in a publication of birthright by WOTC. I would buy every one of their publications so long as it keeps the flavour and is well tought out, how about you?
To answer the original question: Yes, though I'd probably just buy the campaign setting alone, as I'm currently too involved in the aforementioned Dragonlance setting.
Originally posted by Ranger REG
I think Kenzer & Co. got the license but is using it to expand their Hackmaster line. You guessed it, it's called Hackright.
I swear (but not profanely), what was thought to be a parody that was based on a fictional RPG from their long-running comic book ("Knights of the Dinner Table") is seriously becoming a legitimate game product.
Kenzer & Company has a license to make HackMaster versions of AD&D products. WotC still retains the license on Birthright AFAIK.
HackRight has just been listed on the Kenzer & Company release schedule :D
Oh, and IMHO Hackmaster was always a legitimate game ... heck, it won Origins Award: Game of the Year the first year said award was issued (2001).
While I would like to see Birthright revived, to be brutally honest, I bought it for the realm management system. It was something that I hope that there will be a d20 version of that system.
Now, we got several: Field of Blood: Book of War, Strongholds & Dynasties, Empire, etc.