G'evening gents!
Might I intercede here for a few minutes? Hopefully, this will be read as a voice of reason, or at least it will be seen as neutral bias on the subject of CGL entertaining the novel idea of creating a new version of the Mechwarrior RPG system for the future.
First, let me say thank you Sanpats for showing the folks who troll these forums the prospect that there is a possible new version of the RPG system in the works. If it happens and it works for the GM's and their player's gaming venues in that future, then great! If not then those current GM's out there at that time should see no harm and no foul in the attempt and can stick with one of the other editions of the game as each iteration of this game system seems to have a small and loyal die-hard fan base anyway for whatever reasons that they do for whatever version of the game that they particularly like to play.
Now for those stuck in the time warp of believing that the current 4th edition version of the RPG, aka ATOW, is the shiznit and/or the end-all of be all in perfection in balancing and blending the tabletop to the RPG elements. Then let's be real and break down the myth for you that it's truly not a great RPG edition in and of itself. Simple math... we've had two real books for this edition of the Mechwarrior RPG at the moment and that's all we've had for nearly a decade. Think about that for a minute and let it sink in... two real books and nothing else... the base ATOW RPG and then a companion book. Other then that nothing really at all. Now some would argue that it's because the rules are perfect and adaptable to the tabletop as is so why do we need anything else, others could argue against that idea for any number of various reason and they too could be seen as right in their ideas as well.
Now having said that, then let me make this part clear, the rules in ATOW function well enough to keep most gamer groups happy once you get past the time-consuming character creation, the confusion of the combat mechanics, and the vast amount of charts and rules in general that have to be kept track of until you become an expert at them for most likely however long it takes for that to sink in to your gamers minds. However, so does any of a number of dozens of other RPG's out on the market which could be made to adapt and run this game genre just fine with some creative imagination and conversion by their group's gamemaster if they decide to invest the time into doing so for their group and their desires. Truly the best reason as to why having the possibility of a new RPG version of the game is something that we all should want. Is if the game does commercially succeed and everyone learns to adapt to the new ruleset with an open mind then there is the likeliness that CGL will continue making more products for the game line specifically oriented for the RPG adventures with possible intent and ways of integrating new ideas, maps, modules, rules, and new cannon into the lore... as well a better melding the rules to further and hopefully seamlessly adapt the RPG to the tabletop for a truly cinematic experience rather then just a mathematic nightmare of numbers and charts.
Let's face a simple truth and fact that happens at most gaming stores and venues across the world is that most gamers want a simple enough but diverse enough game system that can entice more people to play their desired game quickly and efficiently. Yes, there has to be a reasonable ruleset put in place with a good technical balance for the game system to succeed. But let's face it, the Battletech/Mechwarrior brand and licensing is not likely to win millions or even tens of thousands of fans over if the rules are too convoluted with hundreds of charts and/or require your GM to make the players characters for them especially if it requires a nice fancy excel or PDF character sheet to calculate the mathematics for them. Sure those things help the community if folks are willing to invest the time into assisting their players to do so (by the way kudos to those who have made sheets). But the point is that if we want the RPG game to truly succeed, it needs to be easily read, easily adaptable, and hopefully innovative and elegant enough to break the stigma that we currently have when approaching a new player to the genre other then by telling him/her that hey here's the book... you'll have a lot to learn if you want to play.
The bottom line is that each edition of any game system will appeal to a certain crowd. The ones that do it and win the hearts of the masses are the ones that will continue to succeed the most and consequently will be the game systems that will continue to flourish and grow.
Cheers!
-CoreWatch
