PARANOIA

The Computer's loyal servants in Technical Services have discovered Communist sabotage of various timekeeping devices across Alpha Complex. Doubtless the traitors, who will doubtless soon be apprehended, intended to sow doubt in The Computer's doubtlessly accurate chronological fidelity. Because all these devices display different degrees of error, Central Processing has ordered a complex-wide reset, requiring Year 214 to be repeated from the beginning.

Nothing of import happened with PARANOIA in 2012. But stay tuned, because a large project is afoot, or soon to climb to its feet. Should it happen, PARANOIA will have a strong 2013. As always, The Computer commends all loyal citizens for their cooperation.

Labels: yearinreview

Chronometric innovations introduced during Year 214 by The Computer's loyal servants in Central Processing have been, through traitorous sabotage, unevenly applied. In particular, the new mandate to report all times to femtosecond precision has met with unexpected resistance, possibly due to consequent variance in reports due to the time elapsed in writing, reading, or speaking said times. CPU has determined a need for additional education. For these and other reasons, our friend The Computer has ordered Year 214 to be repeated, commencing promptly at 214.00.00.00.000000000.

The big news for PARANOIA in 2011 -- at least I hope it will turn out, in retrospect, to be big news -- was the launch of the new line of official novels from Ultraviolet Books. As I mentioned in the original Ultraviolet Books launch post, these books are never-before-published novels written by Famous Game Designers long associated with the roleplaying game. Inexpensive (holiday sale price US$2.99 apiece) and DRM-free (not copy-protected), they feature new covers by The One True PARANOIA Artist, Jim Holloway. Three novels have been posted in Kindle format on Amazon:

• S1 Reality Optional by Gareth Hanrahan
• Y1 Traitor Hangout by WJ MacGuffin
• T1 Stay Alert (Book 1 of the trilogy The Troubleshooter Rules) by me, Allen Varney

I'm editing the fourth book now, an introductory promotional anthology called The Computer is Your Friend. Soon I hope to post ePub versions of all these on many bookselling sites. Follow @UVBooks on Twitter for updates.

There will be more Ultraviolet novels in 2012 and, if all goes well, in the years beyond. In these books we're hoping to continue a tradition of smart science fiction satire in the mode of Philip K. Dick, Robert Sheckley, John Sladek, and Pohl & Kornbluth. In my view that tradition has subsided in recent decades. The audience is relatively small, and for a publishing conglomerate the finances don't make sense. But for a small, scrappy band of High Programmers -- on our own! backs to the wall! fighting The Man! -- the business case is more attractive.

The main obstacle right now is a shortage of reviews on Amazon. If you're inclined to read one of these novels and post a review, contact me at allenvarney (at) Gmail and I'll send you links to free downloads of all three books. If you're not inclined to write a review, you can find the Kindle versions of all three novels in the Ultraviolet Books Amazon store, which is spartan right now but at least includes links to current PARANOIA roleplaying books.

Speaking of which: The roleplaying year for PARANOIA was unremarkable. The only Mongoose Publishing releases were the two hardcover compilations of past missions, Flashbacks Redux and Flashbacks Redux Redux. The latter, through traitorous sabotage, accidentally reproduced the same My First Treason mission already included in Flashbacks Redux. Mongoose Publishing CEO Matthew Sprange has announced a corrective Materials Treasonously Deleted volume that will be issued free to all purchasers of the errant volume.

(The following opinions are mine alone and don't necessarily represent those of Mongoose Publishing or the owners of PARANOIA).

It seems obvious the commercial tabletop roleplaying business -- the traditional three-tier model of publisher-distributor-retailer -- is stagnant and probably moribund. When RPG.net forum members post questions like "Is the hobby doomed?" (as they do with increasing frequency), some naysayers always pipe up with, "People have been saying the hobby is doomed since the 1980s" -- as if that somehow proves the field's vitality. I never understand this; people have been saying "the RPG field is doomed" for 30 years because, hellooo, the commercial field has been visibly, provably dying for 30 years. The two temporary episodes of commercial vitality (White Wolf in the early '90s and the OGL fad) were intermissions, impermanent stalling actions in the long gradual decline of the player base since the D&D fad of 1979-82. The bright spots today, such as Pathfinder, the Old School Renaissance, retro-clones, and the effervescent indie scene -- and some other isolated examples in this cheerleading RPG.net thread, "RPGs are NOT doomed" -- aren't bringing in large numbers of new players and, more to the point, aren't earning much money.

One recent example: The finale of Greg Tito's three-part Escapist article series, "The State of Dungeons & Dragons: The Future," cites the sad condition of the field's flagship game and speculates briefly about a 5th edition rumored to arrive in 2013. Raise your hand if you think a new edition of D&D will bring lots of players back to tabletop roleplaying. Uh-huh.

But for PARANOIA, at least, there has been one hopeful sign. Though the fan site Paranoia-Live.net continued quiet in 2011, the last High Programmer still standing, Phial, has recently acquired root access from longtime P-L.net doyen Andy "Jazzer" Fitzpatrick. Phial is leading an overdue site redesign -- nothing ambitious to start, but well conceived and helpful -- that may restore vigor to PLN Sector. My congratulations and best wishes to Phial and all the loyal PLN citizens. Stay tuned.

Labels: yearinreview

The impressive and timely finish of Year 214 of The Computer has prompted nostalgic recollection across Alpha Complex. Who can forget the many landmark victories of loyal citizens against the retreating Communist threat? Who can fail to shed a tear for the noble spirit of sacrifice and camraderie engendered in loyal citizens by the ever-growing Communist threat? Let us recall and celebrate the signal achievement of [NAME DELETED by order of Internal Security], whose actions against the [DELETED] menace have proven to be [DELETED]! In that spirit of remembrance, of happy optimism and courageous vigilance, The Computer's loyal servants in Technical Services have reported Communist sabotage of certain timekeeping devices that require reset, and therefore Year 214 will be repeated. Give thanks for this exciting opportunity!

In February Mongoose Publishing produced Gareth Hanrahan's High Programmers -- the last of their three 25th Anniversary PARANOIA rulebooks. Using a unique and highly original system unrelated to the other PARANOIA rulebooks, High Programmers revealed how to play the highest of the high, the psychopathiest of the psychos, the ULTRAVIOLETs who rule Alpha Complex.

Soon afterward, Mongoose also published Gareth's collection of High Programmers missions, None of This is My Fault (which, almost in passing, revived and updated Sam Shirley's 1988 West End Games adventure The Iceman Returneth), as well as a new mission collection for Troubleshooters, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Termination Booth.

These fine books proved to be Gareth's grand finale as a Mongoose staff designer. He has embarked on a successful freelance career, with many supplements in the pipeline for Pelgrane Press, Cubicle 7 Entertainment, and others. Cubicle 7 has just published The Laundry RPG; Gareth was a principal designer. And he's still writing freelance for Mongoose. The upcoming issue 88 of Mongoose's free in-house magazine, Signs & Portents, includes Gareth's newest PARANOIA mission, "Security Theatre."

2010 brought some obstacles. When Google's Blogger service treasonously shut down this blog and many others (they say it was for technical reasons), we commenced a rocky transition to Blogspot that is still causing problems. (The last nine months of archive links are, um, broken.) After a four-year delay, I finally managed to produce the WMD bonus material .PDF and posted it as a free download on the leading fan site, Paranoia-Live.net. As though jinxed, Paranoia-Live went down in early May. But the site surged back a couple of weeks later and is still, knock electrons, poking along pleasantly enough. In fact, the future is brightening for JParanoia, the free client/server application for playing PARANOIA online. In November High Programmer NoryB unexpectedly announced he intends to release the JParanoia program as open source.

It's been a tough year and a nightmare decade. The commercial roleplaying market is increasingly challenging, and the delta of the increase will rise in the years ahead. But so long as paranoia remains strong in the world, PARANOIA will remain strong. Stay strong with it, and all will be well.

Labels: yearinreview

The Computer's loyal servants in Housing Preservation & Development and Mind Control report greatly increased happiness metrics associated with Year 214 across all polled sectors. Congratulations to all sector entities that achieved performance review ratings of Acceptable or higher, and best wishes to the successors of those that didn't. Following recommendations by the HPD&MC Committee for Applied Social Tranquility Resource Allocation and Technical Optimization (CASTRATO), The Computer has instructed all service groups to repeat Year 214 until further notice.

The first edition of PARANOIA, from West End Games, debuted at Gen Con in August 1984. In 2009 Mongoose Publishing marked PARANOIA's 25th year in high style with two new anniversary rulebooks: Troubleshooter, for RED-Clearance missions (a "point-one" revision of the 2004 edition), and Internal Security, for BLUE-Clearance missions. For each of these rules sets, Mongoose issued a companion mission collection: Treason in Word and Deed for Troubleshooter, and Termination Quota Exceeded for Internal Security. Soon the new year will bring another Troubleshooter mission collection, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Termination Booth, and -- ta dahh! -- the third and final anniversary rulebook, High Programmers (for ULTRAVIOLET-Clearance missions). The companion High Programmers mission collection, None of This is My Fault, will include a partial adaptation of Sam Shirley's 1987 West End PARANOIA adventure, The Iceman Returneth.

These fine books were all written by one gifted designer -- Mongoose's ever-industrious staff writer Gareth Hanrahan. Gareth also wrote Citizen's Guide to Surviving Alpha Complex, published this past spring for Free RPG Day. All told, in 2009 Gareth wrote or adapted over 700 pages of PARANOIA -- around 400,000 words! He also found time to write Aslan and Scoundrel for Traveller and an ongoing webcomic, Fish for Fish. We are fortunate Gareth has chosen to use his powers in the cause of good.

At this writing PARANOIA ranks #14 of 1,422 core rules systems in the RPG.net Gaming Index, and #18 overall of 13,550 products. Among RPGs originally published in the 1980s, only King Arthur Pendragon, Call of Cthulhu, Talislanta, and Warhammer Fantasy rank higher, with Fantasy Hero close behind. Fine company!

Labels: yearinreview

With Year of The Computer 214 fast drawing to a close, The Computer's loyal servants in Power Services are making excellent progress on their latest Five-Year Universal Illumination Optimization Plan to upgrade the fluorescent bulbs in all public facilities in Sectors AAA through CZZ and associated sectors, subsectors, and corridors to new energy-efficient Hyper-Mercuron bulbs. (Rest assured the gas in these bulbs is only minimally radioactive and in no important way more toxic than their precursors, given reasonable maintenance.) To constructively address an unexpected 20% shortage of Hyper-Mercuron gas production, and to rectify consequent temporary shortfalls in FYUIOP milestone completion achievements, The Computer has wisely instructed all affected sectors to repeat Year 214 indefinitely until further notice. Thank you for your cooperation -- and keep those lightbulbs clean!

(The following opinions are by me alone, Allen Varney, and don't necessarily represent those of PARANOIA's owners or publisher.)

In 2008 there was essentially no PARANOIA news at all until just this month, when Mongoose Publishing suddenly produced three new books in two weeks: Alpha Complex Nights 2, Big Book of Bots, and The Thin Green Line. (A fourth book, Mandatory Mission Pack, will appear in January 2009.) All these supplements were designed by Mongoose's gifted staff writer Gareth Hanrahan, who had a banner year with a well-received new edition of Traveller, as well as the webcomic Fish for Fish and a new blog, Figures of Text. All these books also featured covers by the One True PARANOIA Artist, the incomparable Jim Holloway.

Though there was little news to report this year, we can expect wonderful things in 2009. In his 2008 State of the Mongoose post, CEO Matthew Sprange brought the news:

PARANOIA has always been an odd duck for us. You see, when publishing RPGs there is a set formula you can follow as to how many supplements you will sell, based upon how many main rulebooks have sold. With the exception of Flashbacks, PARANOIA does not follow this. At all. The main rulebook is one of our bestselling titles of all time, but the supplements, while cheerful enough at the sales end, are disproportionately low compared to the rulebook. Clearly, this is something we need to take a look at, and as 2009 is PARANOIA’s 25th Anniversary, it seems like the perfect opportunity!

First up will be a 25th Anniversary rulebook. Don’t panic, this is not a new edition per se, and if you want to stick with your current rulebook, you’ll find it works just fine with everything else coming for PARANOIA in the future. We are twiddling a few bits and pieces in the rulebook, including moving Zap and Straight games to an appendix, while concentrating on Classic (all future supplements will follow the Classic mould too). There will be a limited-edition version of this book to mark the anniversary, and we are currently putting together a plan of what this will include (we are currently investigating the possibility of using Rebellion’s recording studios...). If you are a PARANOIA fan, you will not want to miss this one, as we are packing a lot into it.

That will be the Troubleshooters taken care of. Later in the year, two more rulebooks will appear – the second covering IntSec troopers, the third High Programmers (there was actually a lot of debate about the third, as Vulture Warriors were the first choice – but when Gareth Hanrahan suggested that High Programmers might play like an insane version of Yes, Minister, he won the argument hands down). Each will form its own ‘sub-line’ in Alpha Complex, with its own set of scenarios appearing throughout the year, each providing a very, very different take on Alpha Complex as a whole.

This is an experiment in expanding the scope of Alpha Complex, while staying true to the roots of PARANOIA itself. The analogy we have used is actually some of White Wolf’s games – if PARANOIA is the World of Darkness, then IntSec troopers, High Programmers and, of course, Troubleshooters are the equivalent of Vampire, Werewolf, and Hunter (won’t say which is which, of course!). If this idea proves popular, we may add some new dimensions to Alpha Complex.

I think this is an inspired approach, entirely in keeping with the Mongoose edition's avowed goal to expand the range of experiences players associate with PARANOIA. I won't be involved with these three (!) new rulebooks, but I'm confident Gareth will do a terrific job, and I look forward to reading them.

PARANOIA continues to hold the gaming community's respect. This past fall, among 1,100 core rules sets, the Mongoose PARANOIA edition rose as high as #10 in the comprehensive RPG.net Game Index. At this writing, the rulebook stands at #16 among core rules sets, #40 among all 11,117 indexed products. The Flashbacks hardcover reprint collection is #30 among 2,542 adventures, #296 overall. Meanwhile, the leading fan site, Paranoia-Live.net, still simmers in a low-key way, though it has declined with the departure of most of its original High Programmers.

For me, the most exciting development of 2008 -- my 30th anniversary in the roleplaying field, counting from my humor article "Pond War" in Metagaming's magazine The Space Gamer #19 (Sept-Oct 1978) -- has been the chance to work again with several writers from the Traitor Recycling Studio, the gifted bunch who wrote almost all the books in the first two years of Mongoose's PARANOIA support line. Our new satirical humor site, Ninjalistics, is still finding its way, but all goes well. Last week, "Six additional political operatives die in separate accidents unrelated to Karl Rove" became our first article to get more than 1,000 hits, and its affiliate link earned our first US$1 of income, of which I was foolishly proud. Anyone who enjoys the PARANOIA style of humor will find Ninjalistics worth a look.

Of course, for me and all the Traitors, PARANOIA remains our first love. Though we have moved in many different directions, in 2009 we'll still follow the game closely, and I expect we'll enjoy it a lot.

Labels: yearinreview

As Year 214 of The Computer drew to a close, loyal Internal Security agents detected sabotage of the following year's newly printed CPU forms by a previously unsuspected yet wide-ranging conspiracy of Communists, Computer Phreak vandals, rogue PLC supply clerks, and other traitors to be named later. These inscrutable saboteurs replaced all instances of "Year 215" with "Year 214" but left the forms otherwise unaltered. Acting on a sensible recommendation from CPU's Form Wastage Prevention Bureau, The Computer advises all citizens to foil these saboteurs by simply repeating Year 214. Rest assured The Computer's loyal servants will eradicate this conspiracy before next year!

For the last half of 2006 and much of 2007, there was no PARANOIA news. Mongoose Publishing delayed new books for the line while it installed a high-tech in-house printing system. In August the drought broke with the long-delayed Flashbacks 2, a 96-page hardcover mission collection reprinting and updating the 1980s West End Games adventures Orcbusters, Clones in Space, and The People's Glorious Revolutionary Adventure. I had the honor to restore these long out-of-print classics, and I took special pleasure in one respect. For the original 1986 publication of Clones in Space, West End's art directors gave Jim Holloway (The One True PARANOIA Artist) a tight deadline that prevented him from working at his accustomed high level. In Flashbacks 2, Jim created new illustrations -- some of his best work -- that do justice to Erick Wujcik's text.

Another 96-page hardcover, September's STUFF 2: The Gray Subnets, is a huge equipment book (written by Eric Minton and the Traitor Recycling Studio) that I packaged for Mongoose. A shady companion to the first STUFF volume (2005), STUFF 2 concentrates on illegal goods, blackmail material, and other contraband. The book offers extensive information about the illicit private data networks of Alpha Complex, the Gray Subnets, and about the illegal INFRARED Market.

And in the omnibus 96-page hardcover mission collection Alpha Complex Nights, Mongoose finally published three PARANOIA missions written in 2006 by staff designer Gareth Hanrahan: My First Treason, Spin Control, and Sweep of Unhistory. Gareth did a commendable job with all three, especially Spin Control, the mission that finally brings zombies to Alpha Complex -- and then makes the Troubleshooters run public relations to promote zombie-hood to unsuspecting live citizens. I wish Gareth had had more than 32 pages to cover the millennia-spanning futurism in Sweep of Unhistory, but I'm glad all three missions finally saw print. (Collector note: Apparently Mongoose issued, in Britain only, a short experimental run of an abortive 64-page softcover with My First Treason and Spin Control bound back-to-back. They quickly recalled this volume, but apparently a few copies reached store shelves.)

After the long drought of 2006-2007, good order is starting to return to Alpha Complex. Mongoose CEO Matthew Sprange, in his annual "State of the Mongoose" posts on the company forum, shows his usual hardy optimism for the roleplaying biz, as well as continued fondness and support for PARANOIA. 2008 will bring a long-needed bot book, new missions, and The Thin Green Line, a treatise on the Armed Forces and the Vulture Squadron.

And there is one more book in the works. Throughout the last half of 2007, the Traitor Recycling Studio has been laboring -- looong past deadline, which I must certainly regard as evidence of their careful attention (grumble) -- on Brave New Complex, a book of alternate Alpha Complexes and variant settings. I have occasionally spoken of this book ever since PARANOIA's current edition debuted in 2004. In the event, it has transformed into something a good deal more ambitious and interesting than I'd imagined. I'll have more to say about Brave New Complex and other PARANOIA projects in the year to come. Stay loyal, citizens! Loyalty is, of course, mandatory.

Labels: yearinreview

Because this past Year 214 saw certain traitorous factions undermine loyal citizens' ceaseless efforts to ensure Pervasive Maximal Satisfaction Quotients across Alpha Complex, The Computer has decided to correct the historical record by repeating Year 214 in its entirety, commencing tomorrow. Give thanks to our wise friend The Computer!

Note: The following opinions are strictly from me (Allen Varney), totally unofficial and uninformed, and in no way reflect the views of PARANOIA's owners or publisher.

After a decent start with Criminal Histories and The Underplex, in mid-2006 PARANOIA nearly stalled. In the rest of the year, we saw only a 32-page mission collection, Sector Zero, and a reprint of the rulebook's player section, The Little RED Book. Year's end was to have brought new 32-page Classic missions by Gareth (The Traitor's Manual) Hanrahan: The Sweep of Unhistory, Spin Control, and one that I believe remains unannounced. But though the energetic Gareth has already completed all three, Mongoose Publishing has delayed them until next spring, after the March publication of the 96-page hardcover reprint collection PARANOIA Flashbacks 2.

This setback reflects the degringolade of the entire commercial roleplaying business. True, small-press indie RPG sales are growing, through direct-sales websites such as Indie Press Revolution and Key 20 Direct, among others. And Mongoose CEO Matthew Sprange, in his annual "State of the Mongoose" post on the company forums, remains customarily bullish about both his company and the industry:

"What was once [North America's] 80% share in our business has shrunk to something like 55-60%. However, not all is doom and gloom, as this has been matched (even exceeded) by a growing tide in Europe and the UK, where we have seen both RPGs and miniatures games experience a sharp rise, to the point where even relatively small UK distributors have leapfrogged most of those in America. The second largest distributor (in terms of Mongoose sales) is in the UK, and is nipping at the heels of the Number One in America. My first prediction for 2007 is the Rise of Europe."

The great success of Mongoose's new edition of RuneQuest, and the continued strength of its many other licenses, bode well for PARANOIA's publisher; Mongoose is even buying its own printing press. But in the industry as a whole, the traditional three-tier system of publisher-distributor-retailer has been broken for many years, and (again, purely in my own opinion, the Rise of Europe notwithstanding) it shows not the least sign of recovery.

As I see it, in the forums at RPG.net and elsewhere, the RPG fan base is graying and shrinking. Young people self-evidently aren't attracted to roleplaying today in the numbers they once were. Many longtime fans correctly assert massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft can't yet, and may never, match the experience of a good tabletop roleplaying session -- but these people overlook many other, non-MMORPG venues for net socializing and roleplaying, such as MySpace, fan fiction, and forum and blog games. Together, the whole spectrum of Internet activity, of which MMORPGs are only a part, seems to scratch the new generation's roleplaying itch. Meanwhile, the existing fan base remains passionately resistant to necessary price increases.

In a few years, I believe the "industry" will consist of Wizards of the Coast, White Wolf, Mongoose, a half-dozen struggling diehards like Palladium and Steve Jackson Games, and a numberless horde of indies. I (unofficially) perceive PARANOIA's position in that future landscape as secure -- by some definition of "secure" -- but unexciting. Though Mongoose staffers have always been enthusiastic about PARANOIA as fans, I (an outsider, not privy to their internal plans) don't expect the company to support it over properties with greater immediate potential. And PARANOIA's owners are hectically busy with their own careers. In the absence of champions, support for the game in 2007 will probably keep subsiding from the very active level of 2004-05. As I understand it (though I speak under correction), after Flashbacks 2, Mongoose will thereafter focus solely on 32-page Classic-style missions.

It's hardly a calamity. From a design standpoint, with the publication of Criminal Histories, the game is basically -- I shouldn't say "complete" -- but, perhaps, "sufficient." I think we could still use a bot book and an Outdoors supplement, and I dearly wanted to do a book of new play styles to expand on the current Classic, Straight, and Zap. I also wanted Brave New Complex, a collection of alternate Alpha Complex settings. As of now, it seems none of these will happen. But with the existing dozen-plus supplements, any Gamemaster can keep Alpha Complex running with its customary efficiency for years.

I'm no longer packaging the support line. I wrote the introduction to Sector Zero, but otherwise had relatively little to do with it; I haven't even seen The Little RED Book. The last book I edited and laid out is Flashbacks 2, due in March. Thereafter, Mongoose will bring PARANOIA in-house. At first there will probably be little change; Gareth's delightful missions are in tune with existing books. I expect Mongoose will eventually reinstate the punning character names I heavy-handedly banished. That said, because PARANOIA's owners still approve each book, we probably won't see the parodic excesses of the late West End Games line, which decimated sales and poisoned the market.

When Flashbacks 2 appears, or perhaps even beforehand, I shall grudgingly do the decorous thing and withdraw from this blog. I'll remain active on Paranoia-Live.net in some low-clearance unofficial capacity, and like any good citizen, I shall patiently aspire to serve The Computer again someday. It took me 20 years to get Send in the Clones published the way I wrote it....

Labels: yearinreview

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