Not to stir up trouble or anything, but this place appears to be very lifeless.
My group is in the final stretch of the current campaign(another system) and are open to something new. I’ve been plugging AO for a while now, but am a little skeptical.
what do you mean, what happened? we’re all still here!
Do you really want to know?
I bought The Encountered and the Core Rulebook in 2009 at Gencon. No hardcopy releases in almost two years. Last pdf adventure was out in, what, October? Pdf adventure prior to that was from the March before, iirc. Little Yoshida looks like it’s only gone 3 of 9 episodes…
I’m seeing all the classic signs of an outfit that doesn’t have enough capital to put out new product, and is slowly withering on the vine. If that’s the case, Mindstorm Labs won’t be the first rpg to fail, but they might just be the best. And FWIW, this isn’t intended to be a rant, I’d *like* to buy more of those gorgeous books that only Mindstorm seems able to make.
I hope they don’t close the doors! I’m just getting into the system myself, and would love to get my grubby little paws on the Field Guide and Gear Guide….though my players might think otherwise!
As one of the more active forum members and someone who started about a year ago as a Warden, I can confirm that there is stuff in the works still.
While it is sometimes a long stretch between releases, it has long been MLS’s position that they would rather delay a product than release something that does not meet their production value requirements.
As a player and avid gaming consumer, the delays do throw me off a little.
However, when their products are released, I always feel it was worth the wait.
I’ve seen way too many companies release “crap” on a regular basis.
MSL’s commitment to quality is a fresh breath in an otherwise crowded RPG landscape… though I would like to see more product sooner
We’re sorry our release schedule has slowed down. We’ll be releasing the final episodes of Little Yoshida and a Field Recognition Guild for The Encountered in March. After that we’l be looking at releasing several new modules in the remainder of 2011.
Most of our RPG products moving forward will be in PDF format. We wanted our two flagship books to be in hardcover but for modules and smaller supplements it makes a lot more sense to release electronic products.
A lot of our energy in the fall of 2010 and currently is towards bringing the world of Alpha Omega to you in several new mediums. These next steps take a lot of time and it’s still premature to discuss them but when we can announce what we have been working on we hope you’ll agree it was worth the wait.
I’ve started to feel the same latley, no news must mean trouble.
More news or updates to on going works in progress would be helpful. We don’t need expected dates or anything, just confirmation things are still going on.
What ever happened to the Mind Storm Labs and Full Sail University Partner to Create the Alpha Omega Character Creator announcement, is there still work being done on this? The announcement was just over a year ago.
Well, to continue your analogy of parties and if there’s one, the best thing I could say from at least the AO virtual gaming movement is that it hasn’t started yet but it will Soon (TM).
I figure as AO’s Virtual Warden and one of iTabletop’s Chat Lounge Ambassadors, I should pop in to offer some news of progress on where we are. Since the development of the Alpha Omega group on iTabletop last fall, we have a small community formed who are interested in playing the game online there. It’s by no means ready for NeoPangea‘s persistent world campaign yet although we do have a world where AO people can hang out in RT but I have one module ready for play and another in the works. The software right now, especially with all the recent developments that the devs have been bringing out means that AO modules can be played there. All you need to do first is register on the site to get access to the software.
For those who have already registered, thanks to its main developer, Paladin, he’s given me a direct link to our room so you can just click here to go straight to NeoPangea. And if you want to get there the old-fashioned way, after you register, click on the main page, “click here to launch itabletop” and then once you’re in, you’ll see a bevy of splash images that you can scroll through using the bar underneath. If you move it to about halfway as worlds and games in iTabletop are in ascending alphabetical order, you’ll see “NeoPangea”. Inside the world, if you click on the NeoPangea.net token, it’ll say “NeoPangea F.A.Q.” , select the black arrow in the upper left corner and select, “Character Journals”, that will give you an introduction to the world, about NeoPangea, about Alpha Omega and suggestions on where to go and what to read. It’s there more for players who are looking for a new game and are curious about AO.
And yes, I encourage you to join the “Alpha Omega” group there because it’s where I’ll be posting when the next game will be held, asking about player availability, group status updates, etc. As the NeoPangea world is an extension of the NeoPangea site, you can register at those forums as well. Yes, the NeoPangea forums are back up but need to be populated with threads (all in good time, all in good time) as it’ll be easier to discuss without spoiling newcomers who haven’t played the module yet. The bad news is that we lost the content from the previous forum and so, if you did register there before, please register again. Thanks.
From your unOfficial AO Ra-Ra Grrl,
Myridean
NeoPangea Storyteller/GM
Thanks to Hermit, Modfather, Wasp and Hedgy coming by during the Alpha Omega Meet n Greet yesterday and last night. It was a quiet party but a good one. ^.^ Looking forward to hosting tomorrow’s game and next Thursday’s.
From your friendly neighbourhood AO Virtual Warden,
Thanks to Dryst and Link for attending this afternoon’s game. Their characters had a “blast” as I certainly did. ^.^ Looking forward to do it all again this Thursday. ;D
Thursday’s game is all booked up, for those registered please make sure you are RSVPed to receive notification of the link to take you to your game session that will open 15 minutes prior to game time. People can still drop by to view the game in progress.
Last Nights game was great. Our intrepid adventurers were grossly outnumbered, but we staged a last minute comeback.
Thanks to Myri for the virtual adaptation.
Although I am happy about the idea of published material continuing to come out, I find that the Core Rulebook and The Encountered sufficient to host a campaign setting and make my own modules. Milk Run was a good starting point to get a feel for the tone and difficulty of an encounter.
A couple years back I played in a group that had just a single copy of the Deadlands main book, and we ran a campaign for something like 5 years based on that one sourcebook. I anticipate being able to get the same kind of mileage out of the already published material it we put our minds to it.
I consider that a compliment, by the way, that the Core Rulebook of a system has enough breadth and depth to have that kind of staying power.
That said, I do plan to purchase everything that is published, too.
Considering that two years have gone by with only two modules produced for AO, I think the question is a valid one. Maybe MSL isn’t WotC or Paizo, but the books have amazing production values and the rules are very interesting. I’ve cribbed some of the mechanics for my Pathfinder game, in fact. So what is keeping AO from the market share and recognition it deserves? Are the rules too complex? Are there just not enough people out recruiting new players? Is it just that a sci-fi setting is less interesting to people than fantasy?
There has certainly been a slow drift away from Tabletop RPGs in favor of instant-gratification entertainment. Smaller publishers would be hit by this much more than larger companies, certainly. But there has got to be some way to get AO into the “big leagues”, as it were. I don’t have my nifty Warden badge yet, so maybe I’m asking questions that have already been answered. I don’t know. It just seems like a shame to let such an awesome product slide into obscurity.
I think it comes down to (a) very crowded competitive market, (b) changing demographics of RPG players and GMs, (c) momentum.
(a) If you are going to pick up a new system, there are a low of them out there. In addition to the ones which have been around for a while (D&D, Rifts/Palladium, Deadlands, Traveller, White Wolf, Star Wars, ...) there are a host of interesting new systems (Eclipse Phase, WarHammer, Lord of the Rings, Song of Ice and Fire, the list goes on forever - there really are a TON of great systems out there).
(b) Regarding changing demographics: I kind of made that up. I suspect that “kids these days” are into a different kind of experience, or come at role playing from a different angle than some of us did when we first started. For example, there are a lot of systems which are based on a “brand” adapted for role-playing. Also, the market dominance of Wizard of the Coast has probably created a shift in the marketplace some how (D&D has always been the biggest, but now their reach feel greater than ever, and their outreach program to non-RPGers and first-time players seems particularly effective). Think about it this way: in 1995 if a group of kids had never tried an RPG, they might try D&D first, but if the “GM” of the group didn’t like fantasy they might just as likely start on any other system. Today, I think a lot of players see D&D first and try something else second, even if fantasy isn’t their preferred genre.
(c) If you want to play an RPG (any RPG), there is momentum to play a game you already know. It takes some time to learn a new system, and only a fraction of the players out there like reading rules (the other half like playing but don’t like learning new rules). A different kind of momentum is the momentum in the rate of adoption, caused by word of mouth and viral adoption of the game.
Don’t lose heart though - just because the rate of officially published material is low doesn’t mean the system is in decline. I think a lot of groups find success with Alpha Omega and keep playing it with a lot of home grown material (which has its strengths, to be sure).
The game will be alive as long as people continue to play it.
MSL will stay in business as long as they keep costs low.
(I am not an expert, these are just my guesses and opinions).
