Feedback (or why I bought the game and what I think of it)
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:48 pm
I probably am not going to cut up the back of my pretty new book, but at the same time I understand that the folks at wiseturtle want some feedback from their customers as to what their customer base is, what they think about the game, and what they want to see in the future for buisness planning purposes (and also to help with marketing and distrubution).
[EDIT] I also want to say that I am a big fan of the game. If I seem sometimes to be critical of aspects of it, that is because I think a writer actually wants to get honest and trueful opinions. I think Clay and Company have dones fantastic job and give it a 4.5 out of 5 for a game (sorry but the Shojou stuff with lack of a mecha character keeps out the extra 0.5) It can be hard to sift through an all postive response and think - but what do I really need to work on. Feedback that is only glowing and postive is not really useful. If I were to write a review, it would be completly glowing and full of praise, with only a small amount of the critical to keep it real. [EDIT]
So again I did not see a consolidated thread on this topic, so I though I would start one. My apologies to the moderators if I am starting too many threads. Just let me know and I will stop. I would hope that other Wiseturtle and Ova fans would post the same type of information
How did you find out about it: Saw it on the bookshelf at LGS, under new releases
Where did you purchase it: Yellow Submarine, Shinjuku, Tokyo. (just so you know the RPG's in Tokyo are about 50% mark-up as they are imported, so it was 3,300 yen, or about 30 USD).
Anime Magazines - None
Websites - DrivethroughRPG (for PDF files online), Wizards of the Coast
Roleplaying Games I Have Played/GMed: DnD (in all incarnations), Exalted, 7th Sea, Legends of the Five Rings, Marvel Superheroes (D10 and Saga System), DC superheroes, Call of Cthulu (both D20/Chaosium), Deadlands, D20 Future, D20 Modern, Spycraft, Hackmaster (a bit), Gamaworld (in many incarnations)
Rankings -
Easy to Understand - Agree (although it takes a bit of time to get the idea that not abilities are on your character sheet, once I got through that the rest was easy)
Fun to Play - Can't comment yet, my group hasn't played yet, but it does seem like it will be based on the type of games we have run in the past
Simple and Fun Character Generation System - Agree (at first glance I would have given it a 3 oo 5, but now that I understand abilities a bit more, it seems a lot easier)
Rules Exciting and Useful - Strongly Agree
Sample Characters - Agree (would have been strongly agree if you had replaced one of the Shojou characters with a Mecha character and Mech - I would really want to see one of those on the website perhaps with the art and same treatment as the other characters before the Mecha game comes out, many folks will want to pick up an anime game and be able to play mecha straight out of the box. A good sample character would have gone a long way to making that possible, even without a tactical system)
Art Was Good - Strongly Agree (although again, I wish cat girl had not been on the back of the cover when I am riding on the train)
I will use Richoet for Other Games - Agree. I really like the system
What would I change:
- Add a sample mecha character
- Put a blurb about the rule mechanic in the beginning of the book, I kept flipping through it and thinking so if I don't have an ability I don't get any dice since the 2 dice default was in the back.
-Add a short table of common abilities that stack for attack roll, defense, and damage
-This is really nit-picky but there can be a lot of multiplying in the game. For those of us who have been out of school a long time, I would have put a multiplaction table on the back cover for anything over single digit multiplication, I know what 4x5 is, but I can't remember 13x4. That way I don't have to spend time thinking at the gaming table or whip out a calculator.
- Add a section for building power moves. I think this is one of the real versatile and just "cool" parts of the game that make it stand out from the crowd. Similar to combos in other Anime games but a lot less complicated. I would have for example had a page or two describing how the power moves for sample characters were created just like you did for character generation.
What I really like:
- The size and the design. Hands down, I would not have picked the book up if it was the sized of WoTC Players handbook, or if it had bad design (by that I mean graphic design, layout, art, use of gray boxes for rules clarifications, the nice spreads for the sample characters, the whole thing. I was extremly suprised to find out that WiseTurtle was one of the smaller publishing houses and not one of the big guns that I had missed. Please don't ever sacrifice the design or the art for price.
-Power Moves
- Versatility and ability to create my own characters
- Easy flowing combat system
- It is rules lite without being so open ended that it is tough to get started. Often generic or simple systems either are bland with no flavor, or actually very complicated to get going out of the box. This was neither. A very innovative and good fit. The reason why I have shied away from Tri-Stat, Risus, Fudge, and others, is it seemed almost too generic with no framework or required a lot of GM work to get it going. OVA was not that way. In less than 3 days I had a good grasp of the rules, character generation system, and was already starting to work on the fun stuff like characters and adventures.
- The index - a godsend, thank you for doing that, most smaller companies skip out on the index.
What I disliked:
- Could be a matter of taste - but Shoujou stuff. I don't think kitty girl or bunny boy will be making it into my campaign.
-Not really knowing what stacks and doesn't.
Products I would like to see (in order)
A book of campaign capsules (meaning a short write-ups of campaigns with a few unique twists and bit of moves to go with them, such as what was done in D20 Modern and D20 Future, including maps and such). I could see such a book (if the same size the current rule book) having three campaign settings. Including a few maps, NPCs, and adventure hooks for a story arc. Such a book would let a fledling or (lazy/busy) GM have a game of out the box, with only a little grunt work to get going. Also many groups that will be interested in OVA will be willing to try different settings. In my game group we rotate games every 3 or 4 sessions.
Mecha/Space Opera
Pirates/High Seas
Customer Information
Tokyosteve
Male - Married with Childern
31
Engineer
[EDIT] I also want to say that I am a big fan of the game. If I seem sometimes to be critical of aspects of it, that is because I think a writer actually wants to get honest and trueful opinions. I think Clay and Company have dones fantastic job and give it a 4.5 out of 5 for a game (sorry but the Shojou stuff with lack of a mecha character keeps out the extra 0.5) It can be hard to sift through an all postive response and think - but what do I really need to work on. Feedback that is only glowing and postive is not really useful. If I were to write a review, it would be completly glowing and full of praise, with only a small amount of the critical to keep it real. [EDIT]
So again I did not see a consolidated thread on this topic, so I though I would start one. My apologies to the moderators if I am starting too many threads. Just let me know and I will stop. I would hope that other Wiseturtle and Ova fans would post the same type of information
How did you find out about it: Saw it on the bookshelf at LGS, under new releases
Where did you purchase it: Yellow Submarine, Shinjuku, Tokyo. (just so you know the RPG's in Tokyo are about 50% mark-up as they are imported, so it was 3,300 yen, or about 30 USD).
Anime Magazines - None
Websites - DrivethroughRPG (for PDF files online), Wizards of the Coast
Roleplaying Games I Have Played/GMed: DnD (in all incarnations), Exalted, 7th Sea, Legends of the Five Rings, Marvel Superheroes (D10 and Saga System), DC superheroes, Call of Cthulu (both D20/Chaosium), Deadlands, D20 Future, D20 Modern, Spycraft, Hackmaster (a bit), Gamaworld (in many incarnations)
Rankings -
Easy to Understand - Agree (although it takes a bit of time to get the idea that not abilities are on your character sheet, once I got through that the rest was easy)
Fun to Play - Can't comment yet, my group hasn't played yet, but it does seem like it will be based on the type of games we have run in the past
Simple and Fun Character Generation System - Agree (at first glance I would have given it a 3 oo 5, but now that I understand abilities a bit more, it seems a lot easier)
Rules Exciting and Useful - Strongly Agree
Sample Characters - Agree (would have been strongly agree if you had replaced one of the Shojou characters with a Mecha character and Mech - I would really want to see one of those on the website perhaps with the art and same treatment as the other characters before the Mecha game comes out, many folks will want to pick up an anime game and be able to play mecha straight out of the box. A good sample character would have gone a long way to making that possible, even without a tactical system)
Art Was Good - Strongly Agree (although again, I wish cat girl had not been on the back of the cover when I am riding on the train)
I will use Richoet for Other Games - Agree. I really like the system
What would I change:
- Add a sample mecha character
- Put a blurb about the rule mechanic in the beginning of the book, I kept flipping through it and thinking so if I don't have an ability I don't get any dice since the 2 dice default was in the back.
-Add a short table of common abilities that stack for attack roll, defense, and damage
-This is really nit-picky but there can be a lot of multiplying in the game. For those of us who have been out of school a long time, I would have put a multiplaction table on the back cover for anything over single digit multiplication, I know what 4x5 is, but I can't remember 13x4. That way I don't have to spend time thinking at the gaming table or whip out a calculator.
- Add a section for building power moves. I think this is one of the real versatile and just "cool" parts of the game that make it stand out from the crowd. Similar to combos in other Anime games but a lot less complicated. I would have for example had a page or two describing how the power moves for sample characters were created just like you did for character generation.
What I really like:
- The size and the design. Hands down, I would not have picked the book up if it was the sized of WoTC Players handbook, or if it had bad design (by that I mean graphic design, layout, art, use of gray boxes for rules clarifications, the nice spreads for the sample characters, the whole thing. I was extremly suprised to find out that WiseTurtle was one of the smaller publishing houses and not one of the big guns that I had missed. Please don't ever sacrifice the design or the art for price.
-Power Moves
- Versatility and ability to create my own characters
- Easy flowing combat system
- It is rules lite without being so open ended that it is tough to get started. Often generic or simple systems either are bland with no flavor, or actually very complicated to get going out of the box. This was neither. A very innovative and good fit. The reason why I have shied away from Tri-Stat, Risus, Fudge, and others, is it seemed almost too generic with no framework or required a lot of GM work to get it going. OVA was not that way. In less than 3 days I had a good grasp of the rules, character generation system, and was already starting to work on the fun stuff like characters and adventures.
- The index - a godsend, thank you for doing that, most smaller companies skip out on the index.
What I disliked:
- Could be a matter of taste - but Shoujou stuff. I don't think kitty girl or bunny boy will be making it into my campaign.
-Not really knowing what stacks and doesn't.
Products I would like to see (in order)
A book of campaign capsules (meaning a short write-ups of campaigns with a few unique twists and bit of moves to go with them, such as what was done in D20 Modern and D20 Future, including maps and such). I could see such a book (if the same size the current rule book) having three campaign settings. Including a few maps, NPCs, and adventure hooks for a story arc. Such a book would let a fledling or (lazy/busy) GM have a game of out the box, with only a little grunt work to get going. Also many groups that will be interested in OVA will be willing to try different settings. In my game group we rotate games every 3 or 4 sessions.
Mecha/Space Opera
Pirates/High Seas
Customer Information
Tokyosteve
Male - Married with Childern
31
Engineer