so, uh, how well is this Duels thingy doing, as far as sales go? to be honest, i'm asking because i think it's insanely stupid that there are going to be novels for this dumb clicky-toy game, and not for the actual RPG itself. i'm hoping that the game will be dropped in the future--the near future would be nice--and that the focus and support will be fully on and for the RPG.

is it stupid of me to differentiate between novels for the clicky game and novels for the RPG, since they use the same setting? yeah, maybe--but i'm not the one that created that division.

Personally I don't agree with you. Just the number of new people signing on to Dumpshock in the past couple of months as a result of the higher profile marketing of SR:Duels makes me happy.

Furthermore I think your logic has a serious flaw. SR:Duels is a game developed, produced and marketed by Wizkids. The SR RPG developed, produced and marketed by FanPro LLC. See the problem?

SR:Duels benefits from belonging to the company that makes the highly popular (and profitable) MageKnight and Heroclix games. This shows in a number of different ways, most notably the investment surrounding its release (still immensely smaller from what MageKnight and HeroClix have seen). However, don't delude yourself, if SR:Duels were to fold (and I hope it doesn't) any future investment would go right back into Wizkids' other lines and NOT into SR RPG which is licensed out to FanPro LLC. At which point I'd also like to remind you that Wizkids chose to license out SR rather than continue to develop the game itself when it got the rights from FASA.

"Focus and support" for SR the RPG comes exclusively from FanPro LLC (Rob Boyle and crew) and a very good job they've done with the limited resources they have. I hadn't seen as much interest in Shadowrun as I've seen in the past year or so since SR3 came out.

So as far as I'm concerned: Long Live SR: Duels!

At least this way the SR Universe is sneakily infiltrating the legions of clickers out there and introducing them to a whole new world of potential gaming opportunities... if they try the RPG that is. You should visit some of the SR: Duels boards and groups to see the interest the game has generated in the SR RPG before damning it.

Could it be the DnD cartoon of the 2000's? Well... maybe.

I remember watching the cartoon when I was a little kid and when I found the RPG, it resonated with me because of those memories. Maybe the next generation of Shadowrunners is being weened on Duels... Maybe.

MFB, the only fragment of what you say that I agree with is that it's stupid to have the novels for Duels. The game itself follows in the beautiful Shadowrun tradition of having a horrifically flawed rules system that is a true joy to houserule into oblivion and back (I'm being utterly serious here. The Duels rules suck arse, but they're great things to sit around asking "so what is a better way to do this?" about), and it can only be good for Shadowrun RPG by increasing product awareness.

~J

given the number of threads on this board, i'd have to question that the new signups are related to duels. i agree that rob boyle and company are doing a good job with the line, and i didn't know who owned/ran the line. that wasn't my main bitch, anyway.

my main bitch is, why does that damn clicky game get novels, and we don't?

Because WizKids has all the novel rights, and FanPro doesn't have the resources to publish novels properly in the USA.

life: unfair.

.deednI

~J

This may not apply, but...

When I heard that they were bringing out Mechwarrior Dark Age novels instead of more classic Battletech novels I was kinda wary of them. But I saw that Wizkids was having the same older authors write the new books and I picked one up. It was really good. I say give it a chance. Just because you may not like the new direction that Duels is taking SR, doesn't mean you can't get some enjoyment out of some decent SR fiction.

Sorry if this went off topic.

I have a question... Why did they make the SR: Duels so dreking big? Not that I'm saying that I have a problem with He-man sized dolls, but how much fun can you have with a 6" figure on a 4'x8' table. While I'm a compulsive collector, the limited 6 figure selection didn't even tempt me because of the size. You can't even pick them up to use a NPCs in your tabletop game. Other than that I think they're beautifully done, Street Deacon is my fav, but I doubt I'll buy him since there is no practical use for it.

No doubt part of the reason was to attract us RPG fanboys who have little intention of playing the game but would like to have a detailed SR figurine on their desks...

Me wants big troll combat mage on top of my computer...

While I don't know how I feel, my players saw them at a Suncoast video store and thought they looked cool. So, good.

Well apparently ol rasta is getting a couple of the figures as gifts from game store owning family member who knows not what else to do with them.
They will likely end up as puter desk ornaments as previously mentioned.

On the other hand, Adam's site (the official Shadowrun site that he webmasters) says Steve Kenson is writing the first series of Duels novels. This is promising because his four SR novels with FASA were good.
I reserve judgement until I see the actual product.

ADAM, maybe its time for TSS to do a preview interview with Kenson and let the traditionalists know what to expect.
If none of the usual suspects wants to do the piece, I'll volunteer.

Just to chime in a bit...

The novels are still Shadowrun novels, MFB. Having read an early draft of the first novel, it's still Shadowrun. It's a bit simplistic, since it's designed as an introduction to the world of Shadowrun, but it's still a good read.

There will only be two differences between the SRD novels and the old SR ones:

1) No metaplot stuff. Which is fine, because a lot of people complained about having to read the novels to get the plot stuff.

2) They will use the Duels characters as the main characters for all the novels. Which, IMO, is also fine, as there are already 18 fairly cool characters for the SRD universe to play with and write about, with more hopefully coming. There's not much background info available about the characters yet, but trust me, they all have some backstory and purpose and most have a lot of potential.

I don;t know about you guys, but I really enjoy reading novels that regularly feature the same general cast and specific "world" (in this case, the world being these particular runners little slice of the Shadows). It gives a lot more room for character5s to grow and develop over time, and on the few occasions I've read adn really enjoyed an SR novel I've always wished tehre were more books featuring those characters. (THat's one reason I always liked Odom's novels. Skater and Crew made several appearances through several novels).

You're making too much of this, I think. IT's not like SR Duels is some seperate and unheard of bit of the Shadowrun world. It's not actually about Gladiator fights in an arena or something. The game plays a bit like that, but mostly because it's currently very limited by only having 6 figures out. But the world overall isn't.

Go read the available sections of Eye of the Drzgon, hopefully you'll see what I'm talking about.

Bull