Hiyas!
Been 'round some, I've read all the previous announcements & false starts that Deathwatch has had over the years. Now, they've finally produced it but, is it too "late"? Has its' time "passed" & the (gaming) world changed in ways that it's not going to have the same popularity it could've have had (by my estimates the '90s were when a product like Deathwatch would've had the biggest impact)? Or, is this doubt relevant at all?
What do you guys/gals think?
L
I sometimes think that in about three to five years wizards of the coast is going to be looking at a game line(including DH and RT) more popular than dungeons and dragons.
I think it'll sell just fine. As for whether it would've done better in another decade... I think tabletop gaming in general isn't as popular as it was in the 1990's. So it's hard to say. But by the standards being set today, as I said, I think Deathwatch will be popular. I know a lot of people (not just my immediate gaming group) who are die-hard fans of the setting, and have been waiting a long time for something like this to come out. And from my experience with Rogue Trader, the rules are solid. My opinion (and also my hope, so maybe I'm biased) is that Deathwatch will do well.
Seems to me that Deathwatch will do just fine. They the official rules that mean that the majority of people don't have to do what everyone else was having to do before: create their own interpretation. (And something that many are still doing even with the official rules being released.)
The gaming industry in general seems to be going through hard times at the moment, though I somewhat doubt that the 40k RPG line is going to seriously damage the "big games." Kudos if it did but... Nah. It seems to be a tad too niche for that, and the mechanics too tied into the setting (well, sorta). We'll just how to see how FFG's support for the products continues to play out in the next few years.
Kage
I dunno Kage. We've already seen previously that Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader became huge hits, getting into the top 5 games sold (I believe Dark Heresy got to number 1 for a year), and if there is anything in the 40k setting that sells like hot-cakes, it's Space Marines.
I honestly think Deathwatch might well have a bigger impact on games like DnD than we might think.
As I said, if it does kudos if it does. I just see it more as the punchy little new kid that is all bark and no teeth. The fact that it supports one setting, the official compartmentalisation, various other issues (only if you believe their issues, of course), etc...? I don't know. I'm not a fan of D&D (even though some of the best stories that I've ever had the pleasure of playing were abstracted with that system), but it does have the added advantage of being a bit less niche. That's one of the reasons that it will be interesting to see where the product goes after the initial "seeding period" where FFG are following the standard format (core, players guide/extra combat goodies, GM Kit, etc.).
Does it have the same staying power as the setting? That remains to be seen. I hope so, but I would imagine that there are going to be hard choices to be made to take it into those realms, and not a few difficulties in dealing with such a tightly controlled IP.
Kage