Can I have some cheese with my whine please?

WotC's decision to reprint the original 1e core books with new covers in support of the Gygax Memorial Fund is sheer awesomeness.  The thing that isn't so awesome for active old schooler like myself that live outside the US is that it looks like I'm not going to have any direct means of purchasing these items.  If the goal is to honor one of the founders of the game by raising money for the memorial, why not let folks order them from the web so that fans around the world can not only have a nifty new printing of the edition they love, but get a chance to chip in to the fund as well?  Seems a bit exclusive and looks like I'll be forced to go the eBay route.  Ah, sigh... more cheese please ;).

Comments

  1. Greyhawk KnightJanuary 20, 2012 at 4:08 AM

    Call me cynical but the reason for this edition is not "raising money for the memorial". That is a nice side effect.

    The reasons, as I see them, are:

    1. Soothing the OSR community.
    2. Making a fast buck out of the OSR community (as in, "Heck, they buy loads of OSRIC, they could, or will, buy freshly printed originals as well. And to be on the safe side, we only print a limited run.")
    3. Getting back the trust of the game stores by giving them an exclusive item.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. XyanthonJanuary 20, 2012 at 9:24 AM

      Your points do have merit. I do have to admit though that they at least have been making overtures to the OSR for the past year or so. I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing, especially since they have not made any attempts to seriously squash efforts like OSRIC.

      I do wonder how much influence Gail Gygax had on this with the memorial fund. I was at GenCon this past summer and there definitely was a buzz over this OSR thing. I'm not sure if Gail was approached by WotC on the whole memorial thing at GenCon but I was at the OSR booth with the memorial fund folks most of the time and they certainly were busy. I do think it'd be nice if Dave Arneson was recognized for his efforts too.

      Delete

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