I started writing a long response to mxyzplk’s post about the Origins Awards here, but then thought to myself “Hey, this could be a blog post of my own!” so I’m posting it to my own much neglected blog as such instead.
Thanks for the kudos on Freeport! We are, of course, quite proud of the product around GR HQ but recognized we were up against some stiff competition. IMHO, Paradigm Concepts is one of the most overlooked companies to come out of the d20 boom. We realized early on that our companies were made up of kindred spirits (a bit of trivia for you: GR’s Chris Pramas and Paradigm’s Henry Lopez share the same birthday… though a few years apart). Back in the days when many companies were trying to come out with material that covered much of the same d20 ground, Green Ronin and Paradigm announced virtually identical product plans on the same day. Instead of getting all adversarial, we decided to try to harness some of that mutual enthusiasm and we tried a line of co-operative companion books with the OGL Interlink logo (foreshadowing our more successful M&M Superlink and True20 licenses).
I’m not surprised at all that Paradigm was able to walk away with some well-deserved kudos at Origins. Early in the d20 cycle when we found ourselves at a crossroads, Green Ronin decided to put our efforts into getting more of our ideas out into products for the market, while Paradigm devoted a tremendous amount of time to their organized play program and building Arcanis (more trivia, Arcanis is one of the earliest third-party homes to Freeport).
Anyway, Origins has always been a good show for Paradigm and their Arcanis supporters. Since the Origins Awards are now voted on by the Origins attendees, it makes sense that Paradigm is finally getting a little love back. They’ve been shamefully overlooked in the larger marketplace over the years as they poured more of their resources into organized play and creating a community of Arcanis supporters. Congratulations to them on their Origins Award this time around!
Regarding Faery’s Tale Deluxe vs. Grimm in this year’s awards, I laugh because Grimm (the d20 version of this designed by Green Ronin favorite Rob “Dr. Evil” Schwalb) is a fairy-tails-gone-wrong kind of setting, while Farey’s Tale Deluxe (by Firefly Games’ owner Patrick Sweeney) is a sweet and lovely faeries-bring-out-the-best game aimed at youngsters (and those willing to play straight-facedly sweet and “good” faery characters). Made for quite the diverse range when it came to voting, I’m sure (and guessing that the 6– to 9-year-old set weren’t getting out the vote at Origins). Heh.
Anyway, certainly an interesting year at the Origins Awards. We were happy to net a win for Hobby Games: the 100 Best.
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Kudos
And I thought I’d mention my congrats here too. You know, I bought Death in Freeport at Gen Con 2000 as the very first adventure for 3e and have been in love with Freeport ever since.
The Paradigm folks need to work on their PR and marketing I guess — it seems like I’d be a target market for them but don’t know it. I was a Living Greyhawk Triad and the first I heard of Living Arcanis was when it appeared on con play lists with no explanation and no promo (maybe there was at Origins, I was more of a Gen Con/local con guy). I try to keep my finger generally on the 3p publisher space, write and read rpg.net reviews, etc. I found it strange that both winners — Codex Arcanis and Aces & Eights — were nearly unknown to me. A jewel in a box looks the same as a chunk of coal in a box…
I appreciate the insight into the other nominees!
Re: Kudos
Re: PCI PR/Marketing
The funny thing is that PCI has what was at one point the largest non-WotC Living campaign in the RPGA, and it got that way in only a couple of years. They have kept it up since leaving the RPGA and right now they pretty much rule the Origins Game Fair organized play scene. Witch Hunter also has a new and quite popular already organized-play campaign that’s bound to keep growing. So they have the fanbase and the products to keep them happy. But in the general market a lot of people tend to go, Paradigm who?
If you’re going to Gen Con, drop by their booth and talk to Henry, Eric and the rest of the team. They are all extremely amiable and will tell you about their games and the company. I do think they need to amp up the marketing for their games, but I’m sure this win and the noms they got for the ENnies will help out to expose a lot more people to their products.
Kudos
And I thought I’d mention my congrats here too. You know, I bought Death in Freeport at Gen Con 2000 as the very first adventure for 3e and have been in love with Freeport ever since.
The Paradigm folks need to work on their PR and marketing I guess — it seems like I’d be a target market for them but don’t know it. I was a Living Greyhawk Triad and the first I heard of Living Arcanis was when it appeared on con play lists with no explanation and no promo (maybe there was at Origins, I was more of a Gen Con/local con guy). I try to keep my finger generally on the 3p publisher space, write and read rpg.net reviews, etc. I found it strange that both winners — Codex Arcanis and Aces & Eights — were nearly unknown to me. A jewel in a box looks the same as a chunk of coal in a box…
I appreciate the insight into the other nominees!
Re: Kudos
Re: PCI PR/Marketing
The funny thing is that PCI has what was at one point the largest non-WotC Living campaign in the RPGA, and it got that way in only a couple of years. They have kept it up since leaving the RPGA and right now they pretty much rule the Origins Game Fair organized play scene. Witch Hunter also has a new and quite popular already organized-play campaign that’s bound to keep growing. So they have the fanbase and the products to keep them happy. But in the general market a lot of people tend to go, Paradigm who?
If you’re going to Gen Con, drop by their booth and talk to Henry, Eric and the rest of the team. They are all extremely amiable and will tell you about their games and the company. I do think they need to amp up the marketing for their games, but I’m sure this win and the noms they got for the ENnies will help out to expose a lot more people to their products.
Re: Kudos
Re: PCI PR/Marketing
The funny thing is that PCI has what was at one point the largest non-WotC Living campaign in the RPGA, and it got that way in only a couple of years. They have kept it up since leaving the RPGA and right now they pretty much rule the Origins Game Fair organized play scene. Witch Hunter also has a new and quite popular already organized-play campaign that’s bound to keep growing. So they have the fanbase and the products to keep them happy. But in the general market a lot of people tend to go, Paradigm who?
If you’re going to Gen Con, drop by their booth and talk to Henry, Eric and the rest of the team. They are all extremely amiable and will tell you about their games and the company. I do think they need to amp up the marketing for their games, but I’m sure this win and the noms they got for the ENnies will help out to expose a lot more people to their products.
Kudos
And I thought I’d mention my congrats here too. You know, I bought Death in Freeport at Gen Con 2000 as the very first adventure for 3e and have been in love with Freeport ever since.
The Paradigm folks need to work on their PR and marketing I guess — it seems like I’d be a target market for them but don’t know it. I was a Living Greyhawk Triad and the first I heard of Living Arcanis was when it appeared on con play lists with no explanation and no promo (maybe there was at Origins, I was more of a Gen Con/local con guy). I try to keep my finger generally on the 3p publisher space, write and read rpg.net reviews, etc. I found it strange that both winners — Codex Arcanis and Aces & Eights — were nearly unknown to me. A jewel in a box looks the same as a chunk of coal in a box…
I appreciate the insight into the other nominees!
Kudos
And I thought I’d mention my congrats here too. You know, I bought Death in Freeport at Gen Con 2000 as the very first adventure for 3e and have been in love with Freeport ever since.
The Paradigm folks need to work on their PR and marketing I guess — it seems like I’d be a target market for them but don’t know it. I was a Living Greyhawk Triad and the first I heard of Living Arcanis was when it appeared on con play lists with no explanation and no promo (maybe there was at Origins, I was more of a Gen Con/local con guy). I try to keep my finger generally on the 3p publisher space, write and read rpg.net reviews, etc. I found it strange that both winners — Codex Arcanis and Aces & Eights — were nearly unknown to me. A jewel in a box looks the same as a chunk of coal in a box…
I appreciate the insight into the other nominees!
Re: Kudos
Re: PCI PR/Marketing
The funny thing is that PCI has what was at one point the largest non-WotC Living campaign in the RPGA, and it got that way in only a couple of years. They have kept it up since leaving the RPGA and right now they pretty much rule the Origins Game Fair organized play scene. Witch Hunter also has a new and quite popular already organized-play campaign that’s bound to keep growing. So they have the fanbase and the products to keep them happy. But in the general market a lot of people tend to go, Paradigm who?
If you’re going to Gen Con, drop by their booth and talk to Henry, Eric and the rest of the team. They are all extremely amiable and will tell you about their games and the company. I do think they need to amp up the marketing for their games, but I’m sure this win and the noms they got for the ENnies will help out to expose a lot more people to their products.
Nice words about PCI, and totally true. It’s like for years they were completely under the radar while building this huge fan base. I’m happy to see them getting some more recognition now.
And of course, congrats to Green Ronin, as the award is well deserved.
Nice words about PCI, and totally true. It’s like for years they were completely under the radar while building this huge fan base. I’m happy to see them getting some more recognition now.
And of course, congrats to Green Ronin, as the award is well deserved.
Nice words about PCI, and totally true. It’s like for years they were completely under the radar while building this huge fan base. I’m happy to see them getting some more recognition now.
And of course, congrats to Green Ronin, as the award is well deserved.
Nice words about PCI, and totally true. It’s like for years they were completely under the radar while building this huge fan base. I’m happy to see them getting some more recognition now.
And of course, congrats to Green Ronin, as the award is well deserved.