Weekly Update

It is really Investors & Illithids

I did not get to game at all this week due to a training conference at work, but I did get to read a really cool book called Designers and Dragons: '90-'99. This book covers the tabletop RPG industry during the '90s and is very interesting. The name of the book would lead you to believe that it focuses on the design side of gaming, but really it is centered on the business. The book does discuss certain game mechanics choices made by the companies covered, but spends most of its page count discussing the rise and fall of the different companies that contributed to RPGs in the '90s.

It is part of a series of 4 books, one book covers the '70s, one the '80s, one the '90s, and one the '00s. Each chapter covers one company, counter to what you might think the chapter covers the entire history of a company, not just its activities during the '90s. So there is no chapter discussing TSR, it is covered in the '70s when it started, although it does get covered in the Wizards of the Coast chapter for obvious reasons.

The author starts with a discussion of White Wolf, the makers of Vampire, this is a smart choice as that company defined the overall feel of '90s gaming, even if you never played one of their games. It covers the company from its founding, all the way through to the unfortunate events involving CCP. The book also spends a considerable amount of time on WoTC, the architects of the CCG boom, and the eventual owners of D&D.

While many of the business stories are well known to me, especially the story of how TSR was purchased, others are completely new. Many mysteries from my teen and early adult years are solved, like what happened to Traveller and why Guardians of Order just seemed to vanish. Many companies were also connected in interesting ways that I never realized until reading the book. It is a fascinating tale of buyouts and bankruptcies. I ordered the rest of the series immediately after finishing this book.

As this is a long weekend, and my family has nothing planned, I expect I will get a good amount of gaming done.