The Big Box

[Henry Fitch]

Y'know how some games used to come in big boxes, with bunches of different books and maps and funs stuff like that? Getting Everway recently made me realize how much I love that style of publishing; it's like opening christmas presents, and you feel like you get a lot for your money. So my question is, why doesn't anybody seem to use it anymore?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there Henry,

Historically, that mode of packaging is a holdover from wargaming. Avalon Hill, SPI, and others had a particular "look" - the cardboard box - that was associated with a particular venue - the neighborhood hobby store. It also included the idea of "booklets," as various people during play needed to refer to different rules sets simultaneously, and the idea of lots of little chits in ziplock bags.

Anyway, once role-playing enjoyed its first wave of commercial success, the venue changed. The new ideal marketplace was bookstores, like Waldenbooks (which TSR managed to get into), and the new product-look was therefore ... a book. Boxes were "that old hobby look," and books were "this new Revlutionary New Hobby look." It might be hard to believe, but we oldsters can still remember when kickboxing was going to be the Great New Sport and role-playing was going to be the Great New Hobby.

By the late 80s, just about every role-playing game had to be a book. Although RPGs turned out to occupy a different venue (the game-store slash comic-store), the proprietors prefer to be selling books, not boxes. There are probably several factors involved there, not the least of which is shelving - retailers tend to deep-order RPGs (which is a whole 'nother thread right there), and one can deal with a dozen extra books much more easily than boxes.

Cyberpunk was an exception, as it was composed of cheap pamphlets in an ol' black box, but its second edition changed to a book anyway. Everway, the other exception, is a difficult case - in many ways, its production value was ramped through the roof in an attempt to "capture the mainstream," and certain aspects of its content were part of that goal as well. Its terrible economic failure has been blamed on many things, but I think it has partly to do with the fact that Wizards dropped all promotion for it like a hot rock to concentrate on Magic instead.

Anyway, the long and short of it is that role-playing publishing can often be like a U.S. election during times of prosperity: two or more guys fighting to occupy the exact middle-of-the-road position. Hence, all the candidates/products look very much alike. In terms of format, from the middle-late 80s until very recently, the glossy-paperback-RPG has been that "look" that everyone tries to get.

Very possibly, for those who can afford it, the coffee-table-book look may become the next ideal. Nobilis, Godlike, and a couple of others have moved in that direction with surprising success. I'm reasonably certajn, though, that the old-style wargame-like box is no longer part of the picture.

Best,
Ron

[Bailey]

I'd guess that the main reason is the expense.  It costs more to produce and the odd size makes distribution a pain.

And a box can't take the amount of weight on it a book can so warehousing becomes more expensive.

Coupled with the fact that gamers bitch about not being able to flip through the game with their gresy fingers and the box just isn't what it once was.

[Matt Gwinn]

Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't Hero Wars come in a box?

,Matt G.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Matt,

Hero Wars is a series of books, the first one called "Hero Wars," including others like the Glorantha sourcebook, the Narrator's Guide, and so on.

You can buy a boxed set called the "Deluxe Edition," which is the Hero Wars book, the Narrator's Guide, a collection of short stories called Gloranthan Visions, and some game aids like player-character sheets, quick-start rules, and maps.

Best,
Ron

[rafael]

Y'know how some games used to come in big boxes, with bunches of different books and maps and funs stuff like that? Getting Everway recently made me realize how much I love that style of publishing; it's like opening christmas presents, and you feel like you get a lot for your money. So my question is, why doesn't anybody seem to use it anymore?

Dude, that's exactly what I'm doing.  Handful of 11"x17" maps, a couple saddle-stitched books, a couple of CDs with random stuff on 'em.  I can't wait.  For me, the basic set, the red box, that was just like Christmas.  So that's what I'm shooting for.  Big box of stuff.

As for getting it boxed, I'm working on it.  The people who'll be printing it have some ideas.  Soon as I figure out what we're doing, I'll let you know.  It'll be an interesting experience, if nothing else.

-- Rafael

[Jack Spencer Jr]

Well, I think this depends on the physical components of the game. Everyway, for example had two decks of cards to deel with as well as the books. The books could have been combined into a single volume, but the cards are a different story and, unlike most RPGs, you can't assume that the buyer can/will pick them up like polyhedral dice.

So, if you're considering a box for any reason, you need to consider what you're putting into it. If you have a couple books, just sell the books, possibly shrinkwrap them together if you must make it a total package, but don't bother with a box. If there are physical components necessary to play that cannot be simply purchased separately or safely assumed that the buyer already has it, then you might want to consider the possibility of the box.

two cents, no waiting.