Asmodée announced on their website that a new edition of Formula Dé was coming in 2008.
It led to this thread on BoardGameGeek. Three posts in, and people are already complaining.
Let me see if I understand this correctly:
Asmodée negotiates for months so that they can release Formula Dé - an OOP game for which there has been a great deal of demand. Their contract is for a single printing of the basic game.
To avoid giving the wrong impression or raising false hopes, they make sure the public knows that all they have the rights to do is this one final printing. No track reprints, just the game. One time.
It sells out in pre-order.
Meanwhile, they begin (or continue) negotiating with the designers of the game, hoping to be able to do more. Not just because there is a lot of demand for more, but because it's a great game.
When BoardGameNews quotes Christophe Arnoult, they're talking to the head of Asmodée US. He's not just a businessman, he's also a gamer. Yes, Asmodée is a business. Yes, they want to make money. At the same time, I know Christophe is excited at the chance to make this game available again just because he loves the game. I remember how excited he was at being able to put out the reprint earlier this year. He was also frustrated at not being able to reprint the tracks. Again - not because there is demand, but because they make a great game even better.
Am I biased? Yes. But Asmodée lives up to what I think is an ideal model in the gaming industry - a game company run by gamers, with gamers involved at every step along the way.
Getting annoyed or upset because they managed to pull off something more than they had originally anticipated is something I don't even have the words for.
Wherein Eric discusses Games, the Game Industry, Gamer Culture and anything else which catches his eye.
Sometimes I think people get so excited about the games that they forget there are people behind these companies.
ReplyDeleteI think that part of it is the internet, too. People feel safe saying and doing things online that they would never say or do in person.
ReplyDeleteEither way, it's frustrating. I know how hard Christophe worked to get Formula Dé reprinted. I also know how disappointed he was that he wasn't able to reprint the tracks.
Now, they've managed something above and beyond, and it takes about ten seconds for someone to whine that it's not what they wanted.
My wife tells me I'm taking it too personally, that the perceived griping wasn't that bad. And she is probably right. But it still bugs me.