I remember when I first posted here and people were pondering whether to make the change from Icon to CODA in the first place.
I mentioned all kinds of advantages about it and then went to say that providing they can keep a regular schedule of products, ample web support and maybe even a periodical (even in PDF form) then they could give Wizards a run for their money. This is especially true in the current climate where WotC think they can keep selling to the same dwindling audience and that will sustain them so they need not improve their services. Decipher has not got that luxury... yet.
Well... As far as the award for best people to give WotC a run for their money the prize goes to (bum bum bum!) Kenzer & Company. If Decipher took a leaf out of this much smaller company's book then things would get really interesting.
Licensing problems and all that slow things down I'd guess and being a card game company they probably aren't used to dealing with an RPG. I felt a surge of optimism when I heard the shout out for writers to submit Trek adventures for their online resources, who knows, they may even pull it off. I would submit most of my ideas but as they constitute a series I will wait until my group finish each season and put them up on an independent site. I just hope that this is not a half-hearted attempt at being bothered about their products. If they put up enough web-resources this may get us thinking a little less about when the new books come out (although my game would run smoother with the screen, ships book and species book).
If anyone from Decipher is reading then go to www.kenzerco.com and www.shadowforcearcher.com. These are how companies should look after their game and the consumers of their products. Like the Buffy RPG, Decipher have a chance to sell these products to a general audience and therefore not be trapped in the dwindling niche audience that Wizards seem to feel they can pander to.
(cynical retailer mode off...)
Charlie E/N
