The issue of Third Party Producers (TPPs) is a hot one. At one time, Avalon Hill officially (in an article written by Rex Martin in the 1992 Annual) advocated a thriving third-party market. At one time (1994-1995) pretty much all we had was a third-party market. Now, people can get pretty uptight about this subject, and it has been the cause of a lot of ill-will on the mailing list. I suspect that many people who read the ASL mailing list already know my position, but here it is anyway.
Variety is the Spice of Life
Let's face it, one of the keys to the ASL marketplace is new scenarios and HASL campaign games (CGs) for existing ASL players. New people are not being brought into the hobby very rapidly as kids have enough computer-related distractions that they don't need to play Dad's old-fashioned board games (but see my gripe below about efforts to cultivate new players). Demand for new scenarios and CGs is strong, by wargaming and ASL standards. Witness the popularity of the Action Packs, Annuals/Journals, Schwerpunkt's packs, Bounding Fire Production's Hell on Wheels pack, and HOB's set of CGs and scenario packs. The problem is that the official stuff is slow to be released and is not large enough to satisfy demand. TPPs offer ways for players to increase the variety in their scenario collections frequently and often rather cheaply. Without TPPs, we would get a Journal a year max, plus maybe a new HASL (1999 was a banner year though, with a Journal and 2 official HASLs). This just isn't enough variety for many players. This is because in every set of scenarios there will be several that just don't look too good, for some reason (some people, for example, don't like big/small/night/PTO/caves/desert/whatever scenarios). Having several producers of ASL material ensures a steady stream of stuff for the ASL addict and ensures that enough variety exists so that everybody has a larger selection of stuff to play. This is particularly the case right now, since MMP seems to be struggling with getting old material re-released. As such, they've been forced to simply re-publish existing scenarios rather than sets of truely new ones. Witness how many reprints were in Journal 2, or their "latest" scenario pack of old Squad Leader retreads. To get consistent doses of new ASL products, we absolutely need TPPs. MMP simply does not have the capacity to satisfy all segments of the ASL market. Rex Martin, way back in 1992, recognized the need for a third-party press in order to keep ASL fresh and exciting. He recognized that TPPs do nothing but enhance the game.
Markets
This talk about markets and demand raises another issue. MMP just isn't going to publish a big HASL that doesn’t promise a reasonably large demand. For example, Dan Dolan's fine Ruweisat Ridge HASL went the Critical Hit rout as MMP most likely would not put out a desert HASL. Not enough people would buy it to offset the time/energy/money to produce it. CH could afford to do it with a smaller print run, and now we have it. This also allowed the now-defunct Kinetic Energy and Bounding Fire Productions to do things like theme scenario packs. Let's face it, a lot of the unique stuff on our ASL shelves just wouldn't be there if not for TPPs.
CH-Bashing
I guess this has become sort of a sport on the mailing list. I find it funny that people become enraged when Critical Hit is mentioned. Some are so sure of CH's crappiness that they can bad-mouth CH products without even seeing them. I'm always amazed that rational, logical people can suddenly transform into such passionate haters, offering poorly-argued attacks to justify their position. I always cheefully engage them in debate, if only to take my mind off of work for a few minutes. My take is that I like ASL. I like MMP since they produce ASL stuff. I like TPPs since they produce ASL stuff. This includes Critical Hit.
BUT, do I like all the ASL stuff produced by all these groups? NO, I don't. MMP's stuff is probably the most consistent, but they screw up far more frequently than they should. The counters in Doomed Battalions were a major disapointment and the amount of mistakes in BRT and ABTF was alarming for $50 a piece. TPPs, depending on what they're trying to do, have some rough spots. They're better at smaller things like scenario packs. Kinnetic Energy's scenario packs were very well done, but some TPP CGs have an incredible amount of errata and other problems. Two that come to mind are HOB's Berlin Red Vengence and CH's Dzerhizinsky Tractor Works. I own all the official ASL products, but not all the stuff put out by CH and other TPPs. I stear clear of products that I think are not high-quality or that don't look fun. And none of these groups are universally good or bad, and I think it's pretty silly to claim this. Again, I like ASL. I like it when new products hit the market. I like the fact that a strong third-party press exists to ensure a diverse and near-constant stream of ASL goodies.
MMP Cheerleaders
Several people on the Mailing List would have you believe that MMP is the savior of ASL, and that it's morally wrong to buy, play, or design ASL material outside of MMP's oversight and production control. These people are occasionally amusing since they offer some true gems when it comes to twisted logic. One MMP Cheerleader displayed an especially poorly thought-out sentiment, stating that he "[doesn't] need a lawyer, judge, and/or jury to tell me what is right or wrong". Apparently, he believes that MMP has a divine right, outside the realm of the United States judicial system, to be the sole producer of anything related to ASL. Of course, this Cheerleader is incorrect: you do need a judge to tell you what is right and wrong (legal or illegal). Issues of copyright can only be decided by a court or a legal, binding, settlement. MMP is not a church; it is not a religious institution; MMPers are fallible; they have no divine right to ASL material; MMP's will should not be followed simply because it exists.
These rabid anti-TPP Listers are problematic in that they are bad for ASL and actually bad for MMP. These cheerleaders have a very serious side-effect. They blind MMP and ASL players to the fact that MMP has serious problems that need to be dealt with. And they are quick to shout down debate and dissention, which produces an atmosphere that is not conducive to criticism, even if done in the most constructive way. The bottom line is that if MMP is surrounded by yes-men who never question what is being done, then MMP's quality will slip. In short, MMP needs competition from TPPs as well as vocal critics to "keep them honest" and give them an incentive to continue to try to improve both their products as well as their public relations.
Well, this page should generate some email. J
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