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Post by ringsyde on Mar 22, 2005 16:47:30 GMT -5
There's been a lot of talk about the WWE RPG, "Know Your Role". Even some of the people who are involved at various levels of development have updated us on the game right here on the board. Oddly though, the ISBN (International Serial Book Number) provided on the demo site leads EVERY book seller to a dead end.
ISBN's are like Social Security numbers in that they are permanently assigned to publications. This number allows book sellers to identify and order the product. Since I was interested in getting a more concrete idea of the release date, I thought I'd check out what info was out there on the game. As of today, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon have no record of this game, and the ISBN prompts nothing from any online seller.
Having had a bit of experience in retail book sales, I recall that ISBN dead ends meant one of two things; someone has put up an invalid ISBN (Comic Images had the ISBN posted on the demo page some months ago), or the book is likely nowhere near completion and most likely ISN'T going to be completed.
I personally want to see and play a full version of this game. My detective work has me doubting it will surface. I hope I'm wrong. Perhaps it's just a mix-up or perhaps the game is severely behind schedule (which isn't exactly great news considering how rapidly wrestling changes and how dated this product will be upon debut). Hopefully, one of the insiders will jump on here, call me an idiot (uh . . . please don't) and tell me why there's nothing to be concerned /confused about.
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Post by TheOtherTravis on Mar 22, 2005 18:48:49 GMT -5
Hey man- Your entry got me wondering so I went and did a general book search for "Know Your Role", and it came up with a "WWE Know Your Role" slated for release on March 30, 2005. The ISBN they gave was 1930950616.  |
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Post by Mark 138 on Mar 22, 2005 20:44:43 GMT -5
March 30 does not seem like a possibility for the release date, as the yahoo group for the game has info that it has been delayed. It looks like April or May at this point. Honestly, with the $40 price tag and the repeated delays I'm losing enthusiasm. This had better be something special because I'm afraid by the time it does come out it will be very dated like Ringsyde wrote and I will have lost all interest and/or forgotten about it. It's a shame people put so much hard work into games like this one to have the company putting it out drop the ball like they have.
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Post by TheOtherTravis on Mar 22, 2005 21:06:22 GMT -5
That doesn't sound all that surprising because for some reason it happens more often than a lot of people realize. When it does get released, Amazon has a pretty big discount. I think they'll be offering it for around $25. The date was just something that Amazon had. I really only wanted to give RingsYde the ISBN Amazon had listed for it.
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Post by ringsyde on Mar 22, 2005 21:36:40 GMT -5
Travis, that's the ISBN I have (I printed the Comic Images demo INTRODUCTION page that includes the ISBN). I'm pretty sure that March ain't happening, and I do think this thing is ultimately going to be canceled. Again, perhaps someone on the development or retail side can shed some light on this.
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Post by TheOtherTravis on Mar 22, 2005 22:27:56 GMT -5
Ah, okay. Just wanted to see if Amazon's went with the one you had. |
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 22, 2005 23:48:26 GMT -5
I still don't understand why Comic Images doesn't promote this at all. They mention nothing about it on their website. Besides a few hardcore wrestling fans (like most of us), no one is going to even know about it. Even if it's a really good game, it's going to flop in the sales. That's really too bad.
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Post by CynthiaCM on Mar 23, 2005 5:59:46 GMT -5
Hey, guys...
Let me put your fears to rest. KYR is coming out, but it won't be in March. As someone mentioned, it will see the light of day in April or (early) May. I have seen the PDFs of the book and it looks incredible... Comic Images dropped a large chunk of cash into this product. Cancelling it now would hurt them in a big way. Furthermore, as they have a formal contract with WWE, I doubt they could get out of publishing it, especially this late in the process.
Mind you, I'm not an employee of CI, so don't take any if this as the gospel. Even still, I do have a bit of an insider scoop, so I feel I'm relatively well-informed.
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Post by CynthiaCM on Mar 23, 2005 6:01:43 GMT -5
I still don't understand why Comic Images doesn't promote this at all. They mention nothing about it on their website. Besides a few hardcore wrestling fans (like most of us), no one is going to even know about it. Even if it's a really good game, it's going to flop in the sales. That's really too bad. Believe me, I feel exactly the same way. It irks me to no end that they've not made people more aware of KYR. As someone who specializes in marketing, I can say that games won't sell themselves. A company needs to put some effort into the marketing. |
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Post by ringsyde on Mar 23, 2005 8:47:30 GMT -5
I appreciate your information, Cynthia. I am still concerned about this because my insider info (which entails talking with PREVIEWS magazine publishers and planners - this mag is the GOSPEL for comics and gaming, and has been for years) says that Comic Images has had numerous licensed agreements that have "died on the vine" (essentially got delayed into extinction). It's also interesting that contacting Comic Images gets you a small fluff piece about many upcoming projects, none of which are KYR.
I hope I don't come across as attacking your points. I'm playing a little devil's advocate, and I'm reporting my own experience with tracking down info on obtaining this game.
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Post by thefamoustommyz on Mar 23, 2005 9:11:57 GMT -5
March 30 does not seem like a possibility for the release date, as the yahoo group for the game has info that it has been delayed. It looks like April or May at this point. Honestly, with the $40 price tag and the repeated delays I'm losing enthusiasm. This had better be something special because I'm afraid by the time it does come out it will be very dated like Ringsyde wrote and I will have lost all interest and/or forgotten about it. It's a shame people put so much hard work into games like this one to have the company putting it out drop the ball like they have. Welcome to the world of RPGs...where delays are the norm. Heck, if this game makes it within a month of the projected release, it'll be positively early by industry standards! |
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Post by CynthiaCM on Mar 23, 2005 11:54:51 GMT -5
I appreciate your information, Cynthia. I am still concerned about this because my insider info (which entails talking with PREVIEWS magazine publishers and planners - this mag is the GOSPEL for comics and gaming, and has been for years) says that Comic Images has had numerous licensed agreements that have "died on the vine" (essentially got delayed into extinction). I understand your point, but I doubt those projects died after the entire things were written and already laid out. It's true that CI has done little to nothing in terms of publicizing KYR, which is a shame. I completely understand. |
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Post by CynthiaCM on Mar 23, 2005 11:55:46 GMT -5
Welcome to the world of RPGs...where delays are the norm. Heck, if this game makes it within a month of the projected release, it'll be positively early by industry standards! You called that one right on the mark, Tommy. |
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Post by Tone Cold on Mar 23, 2005 12:08:24 GMT -5
It definitely ain't gonna make March 30 release. I don't know why the long delay. I did my final proof over two weeks ago, expecting it to hit the printer the week after... no idea if it's there yet. It may be true that many other projects died on the vine with Comic Images, but if I know them like I think I do, they will release KYR because it's been all bought and paid for; it's just not in their blood to let something they already invested money into go to waste  As for the ISBN, it's the delay, not because it's not coming out... Realize that this is Comic Image's first-ever RPG, and no one there is fully familiar with RPGs (hence they got us outside designers to do it), so they are experiencing the typical release process for RPG--slow with lots of delays. I have no doubt it will come out, though. Tony Lee, Lead Designer, WWE Know Your Role |
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Post by ringsyde on Mar 23, 2005 15:55:01 GMT -5
Tone, I'm glad you weighed in here, because your points do clear up some things. A lot of the aforementioned "died on the vine" ideas were rpg's. If this is (Comic Images') first rpg, it may be taking an especially long time because they finally have a hot property and they refuse to let this one fail. That, and they may only now have the resources to recruit the talent necessary to undetake such a major project (you guys have all played rpg's; you know how much work goes into them).
Cynthia makes a good point too. Some of the more comic-oriented games CI abandoned weren't fully paid out or supported. Sounds like the WWE has thrown some heavy duckets the way of Comic Images. I hope this does mean good news.
Here's the ugly problem, refrenced before on this thread; the numerous delays and lack of advertising and excitment-generating will likely result in an out-dated product that wont draw enough interest to justify the creation of updates.
Those of you working in cooperation with Comic Images have a leg up on the rest of us. Have you tried to find out more about release dates or why they aren't promoting this thing already? If so, what responses have you gotten? If not, why?
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Post by CynthiaCM on Mar 23, 2005 18:35:54 GMT -5
Cynthia makes a good point too. Some of the more comic-oriented games CI abandoned weren't fully paid out or supported. Sounds like the WWE has thrown some heavy duckets the way of Comic Images. I hope this does mean good news. They've thrown a few, but nothing that couldn't be easily handled. Heck, I even noticed some of my old school references that weren't omitted... which makes me happy. Before I made this post, I breezed through the PDFs of the book to see how much of it is outdated. Honestly, there's nothing of note. A few tiny things in the flavor text and examples, like referring to Batista as a part of Evolution -- but nothing that makes any difference. Besides, a bit of outdatedness happens to all WWE merchandise, especially their video games. I can't speak for Tony, but I've not asked CI about any of these things. The reason I haven't is because I've been so swamped with work. Still, I do my best to promote KYR; so do the other designers. As for why they're not promoting it, well, I think they really don't know how to market RPGs effectively, as they're primarily a card-based company. |
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 23, 2005 23:51:24 GMT -5
I can understand the company not knowing how to handle the marketing of the RPG. But they don't even mention the name on their website. I don't think it takes a marketing genius to at least mention the name of your upcoming products.
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Post by CynthiaCM on Mar 24, 2005 1:34:09 GMT -5
I can understand the company not knowing how to handle the marketing of the RPG. But they don't even mention the name on their website. I don't think it takes a marketing genius to at least mention the name of your upcoming products. I don't understand it either, to be honest. Hopefully, they'll pick up the intensity once the game hits stores. Even still, it would've been better to build up some noise far before its release. |
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Post by Allensh on Mar 24, 2005 1:38:22 GMT -5
I don't understand it either, to be honest. Hopefully, they'll pick up the intensity once the game hits stores. Even still, it would've been better to build up some noise far before its release. I'm betting they are waiting until the book actually ships before talking about it too much...which may be a smart move, as I have been chomping at the bit for this and the delays are killin' me (and of course the designers are waiting even more anxiously than me...) Allen |
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 24, 2005 18:35:30 GMT -5
Negative comments aside, I've been waiting for a good wresting role playing game for a long time. I was an avid player of the old WWF years ago.
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