PARANOIA

Now that another Year 214 of The Computer has closed with record-breaking increases in all approved happiness metrics, your friend The Computer has wisely decided to commence yet a third Year 214. After all, why tamper with proven success? Let us praise The Computer!

2005 was a mixed year for PARANOIA. When the new Mongoose edition appeared in August 2004, the task was to convince gamers that PARANOIA, after its long sad decline at West End Games in the early 1990s, was once again good. That worked out well, so in 2005 the next idea was to broaden the range of experiences players associate with the game. Results so far are, to repeat, mixed.

Sales were generally good; the rulebook is entering its third printing (still the same "Service Pack One" as the second printing). And editorially, everything went fine. I'm exceedingly pleased with the 2005 roleplaying supplement line. It demonstrates anew how PARANOIA can be more than silly parody; it works best as dark satire, and can positively own the territory of paranoid fear and suspense.

The Traitor Recycling Studio, a gaggle of fine creative designers who all understand PARANOIA deeply, wrote every book in the line: The Mutant Experience, PARANOIA Flashbacks, the STUFF equipment book, the Straight-style mission collection WMD, Extreme PARANOIA, Service Service!, and I just missed (well, by a couple months, cough) a December ship date for the character creation rules supplement Criminal Histories. (There was also a card game, which I had nothing to do with.) I consider all of these standout books. Extreme PARANOIA, with new rules for player characters of all security clearances from ORANGE through VIOLET, opens up the game in amazing, unsuspected ways. WMD, a landmark book in the line's history, is the best roleplaying supplement I've been involved with in 22 years as a professional designer.

So the books themselves pushed the game to rewarding frontiers -- but the gaming audience largely hasn't found out. Outside the fan communities on Paranoia-Live.net and RPG.net, many gamers, imprinted 20 years ago like baby ducks, still mistakenly associate PARANOIA with atrocious shoot-everything punfests. Mongoose Publishing doesn't send out review copies or buy ads for the game, so there is no good vector to spread the truth, other than word of mouth. So I ask everyone reading this to mouth the words -- to spread the truth. Thanks.

Personally, I had a hard time staying on track this year. My wife, Beth Fischi, and I edited and packaged over 1,000 pages of PARANOIA material in 2005. This was exhilarating and rewarding, but oh man, it kept us hopping like chickens on electrified grillework. It was expensive, too, in opportunity costs -- that is, it took so much effort to put together the PARANOIA roleplaying line (a more than full-time job, far more), I had to pass up design work that paid much better. Don't take this as a complaint! I asked for the job; I'm glad for it, and would do it over again in a second. But it's a bald fact that editing PARANOIA basically costs about US$1,000 a month in lost income. I went into debt, and won't get out for a few months yet.

Again, no complaints -- but for 2006, strictly for personal financial reasons, I have asked Mongoose to scale back the line. There will be just as many books, but they're shorter -- mainly 32- to 64-page mission collections, not 128-page supplements. Don't worry; there's still great stuff in the works, including (at long last) an introductory guide for new players. I'll talk more about the upcoming schedule in later posts.

Perhaps you ask, "Why not hand off the job to someone else?" Unfortunately, I am mortally certain the line would instantly revert to dismally dull-witted Zap-style puns and parodies. This style brought a 90% drop in sales during the late West End era, but as I say, too many gamers imprinted on that style, and veer unfailingly toward it. It may take at least another year to prove the PARANOIA audience is smart, not bone stupid. You can help prove it by buying the books!

And now I must return to finishing up The Underplex. This time last year Beth and I were slaving away on Flashbacks, and now here I am again on New Year's Eve (Day, now) working on another deadline. At least this one is less heinous, and I'm not even actually late this time. Well, not much. By the next time Year 214 rolls around, I hope everything will proceed much more smoothly, and happiness pills will prevail all around. Be loyal, citizens, and have a Mandatory Happy New Year!

Labels: yearinreview