Any chance a 3rd Ed. ASLRB will be published?

hongkongwargamer

Forum Guru
Joined
Apr 4, 2013
Messages
7,180
Reaction score
5,569
Location
Lantern Waste
Country
llUnited Kingdom
but therein lies the problem, MMP has been working on an eASLRB for a few years now and when finished you will get Ch's. A - E

I have 85% of all official MMP stuff in an eASLRB (fully searchable). That is a huge step back for me and quite a few others. That is not saying that I will not purchase this.
Yeah, heres the thing, most of us has an electronic rulebook one way or the other. Perhaps spending the time on other projects might yield a higher return?
 

Philippe D.

Elder Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2016
Messages
2,132
Reaction score
1,393
Location
Bordeaux
Country
llFrance
Yeah, heres the thing, most of us has an electronic rulebook one way or the other. Perhaps spending the time on other projects might yield a higher return?
Just getting one official version out, that just one person (or small set of persons) is responsible for keeping updated, is a good enough return in my mind.
 

Vinnie

See Dummies in the index
Joined
Feb 9, 2005
Messages
17,426
Reaction score
3,365
Location
Aberdeen , Scotland
Country
llUnited Kingdom
I think quite a few people have. It's depressing the amount of wasted effort we've all gone to because we got sick of waiting for an official eASLRB... :mad:
On the contrary, I've learned some valuable lessons creating mine. Now into could only work out hiw6 yo implements search function.
 

Philippe D.

Elder Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2016
Messages
2,132
Reaction score
1,393
Location
Bordeaux
Country
llFrance
So as it is now then, just an e-version....
Well, just an official electronic version, even unmaintained, would be better than the current situation. Then some helpful people (say, someone who spends time keeping lists of Q&A) could write diffs for it to help people keep their own electronic rulebook up to date, or include Q&A in it, or whatever - something that is currently not possible because each version of the eASLRB uses a different data format.
 

Tuomo

Keeper of the Funk
Joined
Feb 10, 2003
Messages
4,652
Reaction score
5,537
Location
Rock Bottom
Country
llUnited States
I would pay to subscribe to a service that updates my e-ASLRB with the latest official errata and links to official Q&A and Perry Sez.

I can pay Pacman Ghost, Sparafucil3, any number of other people who are willing to do this for verified ASLRB-owners. I'd sure love to pay MMP, though.
 

Pacman Ghost

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2017
Messages
590
Reaction score
298
Location
A maze of twisty little passages, all alike
Country
llAustralia
Then some helpful people (say, someone who spends time keeping lists of Q&A) could write diffs for it to help people keep their own electronic rulebook up to date, or include Q&A in it, or whatever - something that is currently not possible because each version of the eASLRB uses a different data format.
As part of my own eASLRB effort, I converted the Perry Sez Q+A that Klas is maintaining from HTML to JSON (i.e. from the web page he has on his web site, which is for humans to read, into another format that computer programs can read). I sent him a copy of that, with the idea that it would make maintaining both HTML and PDF versions much easier, but also, if there was enough interest, he could also distribute the JSON version to anyone who has their own eASLRB and wanted to incorporate the Q+A into it.
 
Last edited:

larrymarak

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
303
Reaction score
100
Location
burbank calif
First name
Larry
Country
llUnited States
Maybe down the road Hasbro will have its computer products subdivision take over the eRules project, and sell licenses for one years access. Or something like streaming video. Or sell a box that has to be relicensed each year to enable access.
 

Bob Walters

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2017
Messages
868
Reaction score
360
Location
Santa Clara, California
Country
llUnited States
I can understand that people do not like CH, however, there are others that routinely publish ASL modules and some of them are from companies that do their due diligence and research, playtest, and proofread their products. I have not heard of them having trouble being sued by Hasbro. I suspect that if it was an issue LFT, Lone Canuck, and Bounding Fire would have been sued ages ago.

I doubt that MMP has that freedom. Hasbro owns Advanced Squad Leader, not MMP. MMP has an exclusive license to produce and sell it for Hasbro, paying royalties to Hasbro for that privilege. Hasbro is not going to sign another license with any TPP to produce additional pages for inserting into the rulebook, thereby violating their agreement with MMP and in effect abandoning their copyright ownership of ASL. If a designer creates a HASL and wants it integrated into official ASL material then he has to sell it through MMP. There are several TPPs that design, conduct rigorous playtests, make revisions, and repeat that corrective loop several times to produce a good ASL product. There is also one TPP, with scores and scores of titles, that does not follow that pattern and publishes low quality material, woefully inadequately play tested, seeking only a constant influx of cash, so much so, previous editions are retitled and sold or marginally re-edited and sold as updated titles, only to need another re-edit a year later.
 

apbills

Elder Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
3,406
Reaction score
931
Location
Pewaukee, WI
Country
llUnited States
Definitely not a waste of time. How would I have so many questions when new products come out if I didn't go through the rules and notice issues?

For Tuomo, I'd love to take you up on the offer, but alas, mine still does not have the Q&A and Perry Sez in it. I used to have them in it when it was a WinHelp format, but I found I did not use them much and figured I had better things to spend time on.

And finally, distribution. At one time a version of my eASLRB inadvertently got out. I found out when I was contacted by someone with feedback about it. I was much surprised! I also got an inquiry from someone else regarding when I would have an updated version out. Based on that experience, there is no doubt that once it is out, it will be widespread very quickly.
 

RandyT0001

Elder Member
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Joined
Dec 5, 2016
Messages
1,055
Reaction score
1,272
Location
Memphis, TN
First name
Cary
Country
llUnited States
I can understand that people do not like CH, however, there are others that routinely publish ASL modules and some of them are from companies that do their due diligence and research, playtest, and proofread their products. I have not heard of them having trouble being sued by Hasbro. I suspect that if it was an issue LFT, Lone Canuck, and Bounding Fire would have been sued ages ago.
I was not playing ASL at the time, I do not know all of the details. A lawsuit was filed and from what I have read on 'View From the Trenches', a settlement was made with a non-disclosure clause in it. I think that CH changed some of its marketing of ASL products (now, ASL compatible) and, like other TPPs, the layout of scenario cards to distinguish them from official MMP scenario cards.
 

Kijug

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2008
Messages
418
Reaction score
390
Location
Texas
First name
Matt
Country
llUnited States
I wonder if OP is still around... :rolleyes:
LOL! Yep. All good.

Actually, while I desire a paper ASLRB3, years ago I scanned in the ASLRB text and wrote an app that converts paragraphs to bold and searched the text and hyperlinked everything. As a software engineer I challenged myself that, with just text only, could I "find" paragraph starts, rule numbers, pick out the examples and make smaller fonts, etc., and create an HTML eASLRB that is all hypertext'd and searchable. It worked about 98% as I did have to hand fix a few things. Then there was Chapter F. Do I italicize the paragraph headers or bold them? The ASLRB changed standards on me. Humph!

So I have my own eASLRB, albeit no pictures, just text and some tables, but fully searchable and you can click on any keyword or rule# in any of the text anywhere.

However, over the years I've found myself using the paper version more and more. I don't really use my eASLRB much and I keep one of my binder ASLRBs near my computer and use that for reference most often. The reason? I know on page X on the bottom left corner was the rule I'm looking for, I just need to recall a specific detail. So it is faster for me to use a paper rulebook than the eASLRB. That said, my iPad is a great carry-around reference for all the rules, scenarios, articles, boards, etc. Wherever I'm at I can look up something if I get the hunch.

In the end, I really, really, dislike errata and would continue to buy ASLRBs [every three years!?] and/or pay for update pages [every year!?]

It is amazing how many folks have created various eASLRBs, tho. I saw one with pictures and it looked really nice. Mine is just text.
 
Top