What do you think of MMP's stewardship of ASL so far?

What do you think of MMP's handling of ASL so far?

  • They are doing a fantastic job!

    Votes: 9 6.3%
  • Not perfect, but they're doing very well

    Votes: 42 29.6%
  • Good. Better than I thought they would

    Votes: 8 5.6%
  • I'm content with the job they're doing

    Votes: 32 22.5%
  • They're doing a mediocre job

    Votes: 30 21.1%
  • Not terrible, but I wish they were doing a lot better

    Votes: 16 11.3%
  • Terrible. I'm very disappointed so far

    Votes: 5 3.5%

  • Total voters
    142

Dr Zaius

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What kind of job do you think Multiman Publishing is doing with the Advanced Squad Leader license so far? Why?
 

Priest

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I also voted "not perfect", but, they are doing a very good job considering that they are still a small company.
 

Aries

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Looks like we are basically happy so far with them.

But let's let them have their year or more to actually do something other than just get the game revived.

If in 2005 they have not done anything much, then we can start bugging them.

Then again, once they have the game up and running, the only thing left really is to just keep it in stock eh.

It's only one game eh, there WILL come a time when there is just nothing more to do.

I hope they can branch out to similar wargames in time.

I want to see Panzerblitz II brought out of limbo. I want to see Up Front fully reborn. I want to see a number of solid AH classics given a new day in the sun.
 

LaPalice

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I can't understand why they don't print other ASLRBs. Do they have good reasons ?

La Palice.
 

Aries

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No Idea La Police, a direct email to them might not hurt though.
 

da priest

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LestheSarge9-1 said:
Then again, once they have the game up and running, the only thing left really is to just keep it in stock eh.

It's only one game eh, there WILL come a time when there is just nothing more to do.
Well they do have several HASLs in the hopper, and will continue to do so in the future I hope.

LestheSarge9-1 said:
I hope they can branch out to similar wargames in time.
Going to have a hard time doing that as part-timers, and it is more than one game now--they got the whole passel of games from the Gamers!
 

Dr Zaius

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My main complaint with MMP is that they let Beyond Valor and the ASLRB, the only two things really required to play the game, run out. This isn't helpful at all. I can see some of the more exotic modules perhaps running out for a short time, but the ASLRB? That's pretty bad. On the flip side, they have been releasing add-ons at a steady pace. I'm not sure I agree with breaking WoA into parts unless there is going to be some significant new content.
 

Priest

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I agree that we need the ASLRB and BV more than we need AoO, but, I can see MMP's point of view. They stand to make very little on titles like WoA, because a lot of ASLers already have this mod. I suppose that they need to sell some other titles in order to get the money in order to reprint WoA. Remember that MMP doesn't have the financial resources that AH enjoyed.
 

LaPalice

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LestheSarge9-1 said:
No Idea La Police, a direct email to them might not hurt though.
So I did it, and here the answer :
"We have two more projects to get out, then we're doing the ASLRB. I hope
to tell the printer to start printing sometime in September."
Brian Youse.

La Palice.
 

Dr Zaius

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That's good news even though I already have mine. The only thing I am really hurting for is a WoA module. If anyone comes across one let me know.
 

Priest

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@ Don
In another post da priest said that the British OOB would be coming out in "For King and Country" and that "West of Alamien" would contain only control counters and mapboards. So we may actually need both to play the WoA.
 

Aries

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I think a serious part of the part of the problem is while yes there is a great number of clearly devoted ASL fans out there, there is only so much market for entirely new sales.

Couple that with the reality that yes they are a real business and yes they have been producing new product fairly well, there is again only so many people out there standing in line to buy a new copy of a lot of the modules.

I think if it was my company, I would be a bit nervous as well.

Just thinking of something interesting. What some might not know, but because of my father's hobby I am familiar with, the model railroad hobby routinely has to ask for an item first in sufficient nuimbers before it gets made.
Model railroad companies that produce the highly desirable brass model railroad engines also make them in finite production runs, and then they say there that's it, we are moving on to the next item in demand.

I am not sure if this would work for wargaming or not. Let me say that tooling up to make 500 units only of a brass engine of a specific make is not easy. But then they sell these things for several hundreds of dollars too.
My dad has more insurance on his model railroad collection than he does his house. And for good reason, his collection is worth more than a new home too :) .

Board games enjoy what computers don't though. Just try and copy a wargame that is a board game.

I laugh each and every time someone claims that board games are destined to die from the rise of 3d real time computer programs. But each time they make a fancier and more graphically intense computer wargame, they only people that benefit, are the people that retail the latest in computer HARDWARE.

It isn't benefiting the makers of wargames just making fancier programs eh. And a pirate can copy the latest wargame just as easily as the older ones too. Sadly I see it all the time.

But no one has ever offered me a pirated copy of a board game eh.

Part of the puzzle in getting MMP to get releases out the door, is cash flow. I have to admit, it will not be paying cash in advance EVER for a computer program, but I feel my money is safe pre ordering board games. They are known quantities in the case of ASL too.
I mean, are you really able to say you would not be aware what was going to be in a 2nd Edition copy of West Of Alamein?
 

Dr Zaius

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Comparing board and computer wargames is somewhat difficult because they are apples and oranges. It's clear that most "real" computer wargames have their roots in board wargames. The Panzer Campaigns system is an obvious example of this. it even looks like a board wargame. Computer wargames can suffer some disadvantages though. First, your options could possibly be limited by the programmer's ability to code the game system. This could mean the designer wanted certain features, but the guy doing the code couldn't get it to work right. Features may also be modified and/or deleted in order to get the AI to function correctly.

On the flip side even the best wargames suffer from one really glaring problem: unrealistic fog-of-war. Even ASL's HIP system is only a crude attempt to build at least a token fog-of-war effect into the system. In reality the majority of the counters on the map would be HIP at any given time. Also, an opponent would not be able to see the true strengths and quality of the enemy units. Computer-based wargames bring a level of realism to fog-of-war that boardgames could never emulate. I've seen convoluted fog-of-war systems devised that used two separate map boards and a referee to act as a go between. I haven't seen such a system yet that was practicle.

I play both board wargames and computer wargames. Both have advantages and disadvantages and I see both being around for quite a while. I do see computer wargames continuing to evolve and improve while I'm not sure the same can be said for boardgames in general. There is also little doubt that computer-based wargames will find a much larger potential audience among young people ten years from now than boardgames will. Even today most young people have never seen or been exposed to a true hardcore board wargame. ASL has stood the test of time because it is a unique system that no computer system to date has been able to surpass in realism. We really do need to find ways to bring fresh blood to the table or the system will eventually wither like any other product. Thankfully, that seems like it's a ways off.
 

Aries

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I agree Don.

If not for Fog of War in most computer wargames, I am fairly sure I would not play them at all.

Have you seen Victory the blocks of War from Columbia Games. Blocks provide a very doable Fog of war in a board game.

Up Front though ranks as the best Fog of War in ANY game I have ever seen. Cards making it so you just never knew how your men were going to act react.

I just wish someone would jump on this design and make more of it.
 

Priest

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da priest said:
Hmmm--only 8 votes--is that all the ASLers visiting here? :cry:
So far we have 12 players, granted not a lot but considering that this ladder just started up. Talk it up out there let evryone know that the ladder is here. I'm not sure if a lot of ASL players even know that this ladder is here.
 

Dr Zaius

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I have dealt with MMP several times within the last few weeks and I must say, all things being equal, their customer support was excellent. All my questions were answered quickly and my order was sent out the following day. Can't complain about that. It siounds as if they are aware of their shortcomings and are making a good faith attempt to correct them.

I understand their difficulty with publishing some of the core modules as they don't make a lot of money from them. That is a problem, but I'm not sure how we can help other than to spread the word about ASL.
 

Aries

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Polls are annoying things, you can ask any question and get lame results, here I will prove it, look for the soon to appear acid test poll :)
 

Chris Milne

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I believe that the main restrictions on MMP printing more ASLRB and BV is working capital.

Both items have a significant cost element - the ASLRB for colour printing and binders, and BV for those mounted maps. Neither will fly off the shelves in the same way that a wholly new product will, which means they're tying up a lot of cash that MMP doesn't necessarily have spare. I'd imagine that one reason for putting the ASLRB up for pre-order - they know that once it's printed, they can charge those pre-orders straight away.

FKaC - the British OoB - has been given priority, I think, because WoA has been out of print for far longer than either the ASLRB or BV. Together with the fact that there are now three HASL modules featuring British/Commonwealth forces, that should mean that there's a pent-up demand out there (look at the prices WoA can fetch on eBay) which should allow them to recoup a significant portion of their initial outlay within a short space of time.

Of course, getting AOO out of the door would bring in the cash at a fair rate, I'd imagine :)
 
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