In praise of Cottage Industry

Perhaps GW is a marketing machine. Perhaps they constantly keep their
games
"fresh" by changing rules, codexes, and army lists at a rate that would
dizzy the novice. Perhaps they "milk" their market. Quite frankly, SFB
changed its rules a lot (not out of marketing, but out of the type of
game
they were). The N versions of the game helped drive me off. GW drove me
off
in part by their continual re-engineering, by their Microsoft like
nature,
and by the quality (ick!) of the rules they produce. 

Maybe Jon/GZG is none of these things. Approachable, interested in
things
that interest the gamer base and growing it by word of mouth (demos and
intros by those of us already in). Maybe it is a Cottage Industry. If
so, I
can live with that. If the game grows by steadily attracting new
converts
through word of mouth, all to the better. 

I hope Jon's business grows and prospers. But I sure hope he doesn't
feel
compelled to reinvent rules for the sake of re-selling me the game. That
will have the same effect on the existing player base (or most of it)
that
GW and SFB and others have had.... driving the folks to other systems. 

Frankly, I'm not worried :) 

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Thomas R. S. Barclay
Voice: (613) 722-3232 ext 349
e-mail: tomb@bitheads.com

You are what you do when it counts. -- The Masao
from John Steakey's Armour
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