1st Border Red Devil Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 Well.... after an almost 6 yr hiatus, West End Games is returning to the market. Thankfully, the old owners are long gone...may the old President rot for putting all his profits into a failing shoe company. Anywho, for those of us that grew up on playing the old Star Wars D6, Torg and Shatterzone RPGs there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. West End Games' Official Webpage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowlightman Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 Glad that they're back. I used to be a big fan of their Star Wars game and was bummed when WoTC snatched up the Star Wars license. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpaw Samurai Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 I was going to ask if that means a return of Paranoia, so we can finally root out all the commie mutant traitors here and make the Computer as happy as we all are. Remember, happiness is mandatory. But, I decided to look around first and discovered that Mongoose Publishing is coming out Paranoia XP later this summer (done by the original designers), so I'm contemplating finding new victims...I mean introducing the game to the friends who have never played it. I, too, liked the old Star Wars RPG. Say whatever anyone wants to say about the system itself, it did manage to capture the feel of the movies. And I like the limitations on Force-sensitive characters, staying true to the time period. Once you open up the possibility of having Jedi, everyone is bound to want to play one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Focker Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 I heard about this a month or so ago. I was such a fan of their Starwars game I have over 50 of their books in a couple of card board boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twich Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 Damn, that was some of the funnest gaming experience with their Star Wars system.....god, I had so many of their books and they had so much stuff for the Universe....too bad WotC doesnt put out as much stuff as West End Games did. I met some of the artists that did the star wars book for west end....played in one of their games....Bill something or other was his name...pretty cool game. It was at a con, so it didnt last long. Wonder what games they are going to put out? Wonder if WotC is going to lose the contract for Star wars and West End will get it back. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1st Border Red Devil Posted June 20, 2004 Author Share Posted June 20, 2004 I was going to ask if that means a return of Paranoia, so we can finally root out all the commie mutant traitors here and make the Computer as happy as we all are. Remember, happiness is mandatory. Funniest thing I ever did was playing in the Paranoia Live Action game at NecronomiCon last year. I $hit you not...the Computer was played by a 6 yr old girl. Talk about capricious and insane! She walked up to one guy, elevated him to Green and then reversed herself and had him fried on the spot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effect Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 Okay. Would someone mind explaining what makes this a good thing? I'm sure it is but I've never really been into table RPGs, never had anyone to play with to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otaku-Smeghead Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 Okay. Would someone mind explaining what makes this a good thing? I'm sure it is but I've never really been into table RPGs, never had anyone to play with to be honest. I glanced through a few of the West End SW Books and it didnt seem like table top play to me... Feel free to correct me if Im wrong... On a side note I attended a few War Hammer 40k sessions now those were Fun. I love all the Techno Goth crap they have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1st Border Red Devil Posted June 20, 2004 Author Share Posted June 20, 2004 Okay. Would someone mind explaining what makes this a good thing? I'm sure it is but I've never really been into table RPGs, never had anyone to play with to be honest. Its a good thing because West End put out some absolutely great products for years on end. They had one of the best game engines out there (D6) and it was quite a shock when we learned that they had to shut their doors back in '98. The pisser was that they were making money hand over fist with the Star Wars license and were set to capitalize on The Phantom Menace when they had to close up shop. The industry was going through a shakeup period at the time with alot of companies losing their licenses and others completely shutting down. The gaming industry kinda went into the toliet about that time. As much as we don't like to admit it, the whole D20 Open Gaming License revitalized the industry and got it moving again. Now the problem is that the D20 OGL is being overused to the point where its created a glut...the industry is going to stagnate and their has been increasing backlash against the D20 OGL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 Okay. Would someone mind explaining what makes this a good thing? I'm sure it is but I've never really been into table RPGs, never had anyone to play with to be honest. Two main reasons: one, the D6 system used in Star Wars was one of the most elegant I've ever come across; granted, its wasn't particularly sophisticated or detailed, but it was a perfect match for the Star Wars universe, and the system really encouraged "heroic" gameplay (also, the West End Games sourcebooks provided a good deal of information used by the various Star Wars novels to flesh out the Star Wars universe, though I've never been entirely clear how much may have come from Lucasfilm itself - it would seem even Lucasfilm Games used some of the RPG material in their X-Wing games... ) Two: West End Games did Paranoia, one of the greatest RPG concepts of all time. Along with Call of Cthulu, possibly one of only two RPGs that you knew your character was going to die horribly at some point - not if, but when. The trick was to go out as stylishly as possible, and in Paranoia, take as many of your fellow players with you as you could (and as every character in Paranoia has six extra "lives", you could take quite a few with you...! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dies Irae Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 I thoroughly enjoyed West End Games' GHOSTBUSTERS which I still feel is the ultimate tool for teaching how to Gamemaster. Paranoia was fantastic too. Good to see them back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Focker Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 That D6 system in SW was easy to learn, play and GM. Simple but effective. I liked how easy it was to get killed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 I liked how easy it was to get killed. You were a GM, Roy, weren't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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