Where is this game going?

[AllenS]

Originally posted by TFVanguard
Hey, I know I said 'SRD' in there somewhere :P

I just wanted to look over the core mechanics involved without all the setting material, or magic system, involved. The CODA games that have been out are fading from shelves around here, and I really can't justify buying the books anyway. :S

In order for there to be a System Reference Document, CODA would have to be an open system like D20, and as it is not, there is no SRD.

Allen

[AllenS]

Originally posted by TFVanguard Simply put, why should I, as a customer and possible CODA supporter, choose to support the system if any question about it is met with such an attitude? Why should I rush out and spend $100 on a new Star Trek RPG, when simple questions are met with derision by the people who made it?

I guess I ask why should the attitude of anyone else affect the rules themselves? It's not like the text changes to match the mood of this forum.

People are essentially having one of their favorite games taken away from them. (or at least there will be no new products for it) This is bound to make some people a bit unhappy.

By the way, it wouldn't cost you $100 to buy the game. You really only need the Player's Guide and Narrator's Guide and I'm fairly certain those might cost you $60-80, depending on where you get them. Still a lot, but not quite $100.

Allen

[7 of 11]

What's a SRD?

7 of 11
A

[AllenS]

Originally posted by Tobian
Yes sorry guys, it was a contention, my contention, it's how I feel and in more based in personal opinion than objective statement.

However I just don't see the point in bending and folding and spindling a rules system so much that all you basically have left is a.... 20 sided dice... Once you've taken out everything which makes a game what it is.. all you have is that.

Yes there are such things as feats, special abilities and skills but I mean come on guys - they are present in other rules systems which would be FAR more appropriate to use than d20 - because they WOULDN'T have to be changed at all.

Mutants and Masterminds is a system which works for it's genre.. But it is about as similar to any other D20 game as Coda is to White Wolf.. You could NOT take a D&D Character OR Stargate OR D20 Moder, OR d20 Traveler into MnM - you just could not - which *IS* the entire point of having a cross compatible rules system - so all you basically have is ... a 20 sided dice and skills..

Take Coda.. if you are so D20 obsessed replace 2d6 with a d20 and you have... a D20 game which is about as interoperable with D20 modern as Mutants and Masterminds is... there you go .. happy?

Actually there are guidelines for converting creatures and items from standard d20 to Mutants and Masterminds, and I have seen ways to convert characters as well..and have done so. I converted the d20 stats for Great Cthulhu to M&M...nasty stuff

The basics of any game system can be converted to ANY genre if you are willing to do the work to add on the genre specific rules. The key here is "willing to do the work".

The argument that "d20 only works for D&D" has been disproven substantially.

Allen

[Tobian]

I can't argue that it can't be done, but what exactly would be the point? Sure, if you really hate Coda or really love D20 so much that you feel you need to do a special rendering of it in that system, but other than if a major house decides it will produce StarTrek using a unrecognisably mutated D20 system I don't see the point, when we still own Coda... and for that matter Icon...

These are games systems, not computer games, they do not expire, and certainly Coda works just fine on my graphics card

[TFVanguard]

Originally posted by AllenS
In order for there to be a System Reference Document, CODA would have to be an open system like D20, and as it is not, there is no SRD.

Nah, you can have a 'core rule book' available, sans setting-specific material and rules, which would be an SRD , but not have it open. It would just be the very core rules, taken aside, for GMs that want to use it for other games.

[TFVanguard]

Originally posted by AllenS
I guess I ask why should the attitude of anyone else affect the rules themselves? It's not like the text changes to match the mood of this forum.

It's like really liking a Big Mac, but you stop going to McDonald's because the girls at the registers are rude. You either look for another McDonald's, or you decide that maybe Wendy's isn't all that bad.

People are essentially having one of their favorite games taken away from them. (or at least there will be no new products for it) This is bound to make some people a bit unhappy.

It's a bad time for the franchise as a whole right now, not just for Decipher's handling of the Star Trek RPG. Still, there's a lot of things the fandom can do. Remember, for the longest time, there was no Trek, yet fan-books and other materials were out in droves, even without the benefit of the internet, or the publishing programs we have now.

By the way, it wouldn't cost you $100 to buy the game. You really only need the Player's Guide and Narrator's Guide and I'm fairly certain those might cost you $60-80, depending on where you get them. Still a lot, but not quite $100.[/B]

$80, unfortunately, which is more than I can justify. I was hoping to grab SS and the PG on clearance from Hobbytown, but all they had left by the time I got there was the Alien's Handbook. None of the other stores has the CODA game marked down.

I did manage to snag the LUG Narrator's book, though.

[TFVanguard]

Originally posted by 7 of 11
What's a SRD?

'System Resource Document'. It's largely used for open game systems (though a couple of closed systems used something similar) as a 'core' rule set.

D20's SRD has all the rules in it that make a game d20 compatible. Fuzion's SRD has all the rules in it that make a game a Fuzion compatible game, etc.

(Hero, GURPs, etc, all have had similar documents, just not called 'SRDs')

[AllenS]

Originally posted by Tobian
I can't argue that it can't be done, but what exactly would be the point? Sure, if you really hate Coda or really love D20 so much that you feel you need to do a special rendering of it in that system, but other than if a major house decides it will produce StarTrek using a unrecognisably mutated D20 system I don't see the point, when we still own Coda... and for that matter Icon...

These are games systems, not computer games, they do not expire, and certainly Coda works just fine on my graphics card

SRD. or System Reference Document, is a term derived from the Open Gaming License. A CODA core rulebook, something akin to the Hero System rulebook or the GURPS Basic Set, is not an SRD by the legal defiinition of the term.

In any event, I would be very surprised if Decipher decided to release a core CODA rulebook, given the systems failure when connected to two of the best-known licenses in all of gaming. (The system failed commercially, not as a system; I rather like CODA myself).

Allen

[Space_Cadet]

Originally posted by TFVanguard
......
That said, I'm tempted to get the Starships book, since it seems to be the most complete, but I'm still a bit iffy. I'm not a really big TNG-VOY fan, and the books are heavily focused on that era......

Well, of course its gonna be big on TNG through VOY. Three of the five ST series took place in the 24th century and only 3 seasons for TOS. But then again, how much more info do you need to extract from little ole TOS? If you're looking for non-canon stuff search the net and this board. There's enough of the TOS in the core books and supplements. Like what the writers and players have said, Coda Trek is era-agnostic. Unlike some of the previous post, I do believe you can get your books at cheaper deal than at your local comic book store. Instead of wasting your time posting nonsencial posts, go to ebay or amazon and buy a used copy.

[Space_Cadet]

Originally posted by AllenS
.... given the systems failure when connected to two of the best-known licenses in all of gaming. (The system failed commercially, not as a system; I rather like CODA myself).

Allen

Explain???

[AllenS]

Originally posted by Space_Cadet
Well, of course its gonna be big on TNG through VOY. Three of the five ST series took place in the 24th century and only 3 seasons for TOS. But then again, how much more info do you need to extract from little ole TOS? If you're looking for non-canon stuff search the net and this board. There's enough of the TOS in the core books and supplements. Like what the writers and players have said, Coda Trek is era-agnostic. Unlike some of the previous post, I do believe you can get your books at cheaper deal than at your local comic book store. Instead of wasting your time posting nonsencial posts, go to ebay or amazon and buy a used copy.

It sounds as if the Star Trek and Lord of the Rings line were dissapointing in the area of sales, otherwise I would think Decipher would still be producing them.

Allen

[Ergi]

Originally posted by AllenS
It sounds as if the Star Trek and Lord of the Rings line were dissapointing in the area of sales, otherwise I would think Decipher would still be producing them.

Allen

You are wrong. According to several former Decipher employees both lines were profitable, far above the average for profitable RPGs. The problem is that Decipher can make more money with their CCGs, so why should they spend their capital on roleplaying games?
This almost sounds like I have understanding for their decision!

[CorpBoy]

Originally posted by Ergi
You are wrong. According to several former Decipher employees both lines were profitable, far above the average for profitable RPGs. The problem is that Decipher can make more money with their CCGs, so why should they spend their capital on roleplaying games?

Here's are a few reasons:

1. Because some profit realized from the venture is better than no profit at all. And since the game line was segregated to its own office (before what I call "the big lay off") that would be profit realized with little or no work involving CCG assets.

2. Because Decipher, IMO, needs to break into new product areas. With them pumping out so much CCG product, I believe they are actually competing with themselves for customer dollars. That is not a good thing. Oh, and if they keep all of their eggs in one basket, and some kind of industry-wide CCG decline occurs (yeah yeah I know its unlikely, but still possible), they are in trouble.

3. Because Decipher can use the RPG market to bring new players to their CCG products. Being a Decipher CCG burnout I hate pointing this out, but if I can come to the RPG products via the CCG, it can work the other way around too.

How's that?

[CorpBoy]

Originally posted by TFVanguard

Does Decipher have any interest in continuing the CODA system, even if they're waning interest in the Trek license? [/B]

Well, since it appears that nobody else answered this piece, let me say that noone here knows if Decipher will be continuting the system, or games. Personally, I think it looks farily slim, but I'm not the best source to quote hehe.