Re: New Life for Millennium's End

["Roger Stenning" <roger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(de-lurking, now my workload is FINALLY easing up!)

Steve Peterson of Hero Games wrote...

> Hello Millennium's End fans! As you've already discovered, Hero
Games has
> acquired the rights to the Millennium's End product line from
Charles Ryan.

Well, now we know, lol!

> What we're trying to do right away is take the existing ME books,
without
> changes, and make them available online as e-books. Several are
already up
> in our store, and the rest should be up shortly. We're still in the
process
> of figuring out the future of the product line, and we invite you to
provide
> your input to that process through our discussion boards at
> www.cybergames.com. I don't want to take up bandwidth here on the
mailing
> list about this discussion, unless that's what you'd prefer. You can
comment
> directly to me, or to our discussion boards, or on this list.

I suspect most of us will prefer to discuss this here, rather than on
a discussion board; it's cheaper for those of us who pay on-line time
(especially in Europe)!

> Our goal is to make these fine products available to a wider
audience and
> expand the community of ME fans. Our first step is to find out what
you, the
> hard-core ME fans, would like to see. We'd like to get input from
all
> interested parties so we can make well-informed decisions. This
process will
> take a while, so there will be plenty of time to hear all opinions.

So noted; thanks for the opportunity.

> While I'm still in the process of reading through the ME line, I'm
not
> entirely unfamiliar with the genre, having co-authored the
Espionage! and
> Danger International RPGs, and being a long-time fan of
technothriller
> fiction in general. The ME line has impressed me with its production
values,
> writing, and meticulous research. I'm also impressed with the
quality of the
> materials that you all have created in support of ME. When creating
future
> materials for ME we will strive to meet the high standards that have
been
> set. Thanks for your time!

Excellent.

OK, ideas from here:

1. Make the core rules somewhat simpler. I /LNOW/ this will not be
easy. The strength of the M.E. system is in its' realism to taking
fire - one hit, and you're potentially brown bread (dead), but I
suspect this could be made a little simpler. However, it will require
a GREAT DEAL of work.

2. Make the basic rules a freebie download (as an e-book in PDF?) - it
could well help hook more new players into the game. Look at GURPS for
a lead in to the theory; their core rules (character generation,
taskings, etc) are freebie download, which, I suspect, helped make
them a major force in the gaming market today.

3. Advance the timeline a few years, thus keeping the game near future
enough to be interesting, without being too sci-fi for non-sci-fi
players. We started this process with the Millennium's End Future
History Continuation Project, but unfortunately, I gost snowed with
work, and couldn't devote the time I wanted to it. I still have the
files and e-mails for the project, and can carry on working on it,
should the other participants wish to carry on as well; this assumes
that you guys at Hero Games can make use of the material we produce,
of course. If you can't, then the MEFHCP is as much use as a roof-rack
on a helicopter - please advice us on this!

4. How about letting us know the production schedule you have in
mind - esp in relation to PRINTED material, rather than e-books?

Over to you!

Best regards,

Roger Stenning
Webmaster, The Impossible Scenarios Group
www.the-isg.co.uk
ICQ: 74721632
UK Amateur Radio call sign: G1LIW
(PGP public key available on request)
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