Columbia Games Print Option

HarnWorld - with an umlaut 

My initial purchases of  Columbia Games Harn line of role-playing game products, which as I recall was sometime in the late 1980s, were several saddle stitch (stapled) softcover books detailing regions of the island of Harn and a boxed product which includes maps (beautiful, color fold-out maps!) and paper covered and staple-bound booklets that describe in detail the world of Harn. These are traditional TTRPG fare in terms of the physical product and production format, but are quite unique in their content. I was (and remain) captivated by the world of Harn. At once the fictional world created by N. Robin Crossby is engaging. It contains elements borrowed from Tolkien, including that "vaguely familiar" feeling which any fiction based on dark-age European (or other) history provides, Harn wraps these elements in a novel interpretation that produces something delightfully fresh packed with wonderful details that make me want to explore this imaginary world.

My interest in the Harn setting has persisted and I have continued to add to my collection of materials based on the world Mr. Crossby created and others have continued to expand. The Harn products published by Columbia Games have often been marketed as loose leaf and three hole punched color pages to insert into a binder. It's an interesting choice that is both flexible and modular allowing the individual collector to assemble a binder that could include both published and home-brew contents. This is how Harn has been marketed, until recently. Starting a couple of years ago, Columbia Games began offering certain of their Harn products in bound hard-cover book format. I assume, based on the examples that I have purchased that this involves a technology very similar to print-on-demand. The material in the books is the same as what I see available in digital and loose-leave format, but the physical hard-cover book is nice to have and may be preferred by some. 

As I continue to ponder the possible futures of our hobby, I am also enjoying the diversity of product formats that are currently available. Digital has it's advantages - and disadvantages when compared to other formats. Physical books can be produced using traditional technologies of bookbinding or may involve newer technologies that have their own advantages and disadvantages depending on preference and comparison with other formats. All of this publishing thought interacts with how we use the products both in preparation and in play. (It's pretty easy to pull a map from a digital file and put it on-screen for remote players.)   

Honestly, I have no idea how to authentically pronounce many of the names I find in the Harn setting, but I suppose pronunciation is one of the ways each referee makes the setting their own. As you like it!

An End to the In-Print TTRPG

The Future is not certain, but...

One of my favorite tabletop role-playing game systems is GURPS - the Generic Universal Role-Playing System written by Steve Jackson and published by Steve Jackson Games. It was first released as a boxed set including cardboard stand-up "heroes", a tactical display map, game charts, character sheets and two soft-cover rulebooks providing me with everything needed to play (there may have been dice too, but I don't honestly recall this). The boxed first edition GURPS is a nice product that I still cherish as part of my collection. 

The game has received enormous support from Steve Jackson Games across several decades and is in its 4th edition with numerous physical and digital supplements available. The GURPS 4th edition Basic Set comprises two attractive hard-cover volumes subtitled Characters and Campaigns. 

Until recently, I could purchase them from the Steve Jackson Games online Warehouse 23 store as full-color books or as digital files. Since the beginning of the year, the color hardback physical copies have been labeled "Sold Out". The books are available as digital downloads and as print-on-demand black and white books either in hard-cover or soft-cover. The current options are nice enough and offer affordable ways to acquire the desired game materials, but I wonder what this change in print situation may portend for the future of our hobby?

Some years ago Steve Jackson Games started offering print-on-demand of their older edition GURPS material (which is a large catalog), some of this is through a popular online corporation that you can easily find for yourself (visit Steve Jackson Games and you will have no trouble) so I won't "advertise" the online market here by name. 

In the time that they have been available, I have ordered and received several volumes in this print-on-demand format thus rounding out my collection of older GURPS supplements (which still contains gaps since Steve Jackson Games publishes so much). I have no quibbles with the format or the quality of the print-on-demand products. I find the print-on-demand books are perfectly serviceable and the fact that this process enables us as the consumer a wider choice of what's available is definitely an advantage. Demand will always drive supply in a market economy. 

I enjoy reading on a tablet, but I like to have a physical book in my hands as well. It is not unlikely that I will have both if it's something I value and enjoy. Options and choice are generally a good thing as I see it. As things change as they constantly do, some changes seem to offer more and some changes seem to result in less. Not everyone sees a change from the same viewpoint (of course). I do wonder what print-on-demand spells for the future of brick & mortar game stores?

Steve Jackson Games is an innovator and not a small player in the tabletop game world. Is the switch to print-on-demand a temporary solution to an availability challenge in a changing logistical scenario or does it mark a transition in the way we will consume virtually all printed media going forward? My crystal ball isn't clear on this matter. If Steve Jackson is at the forefront of a new trend, it will not be the first time.