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Rolemaster Unified art: what happened?
pawsplay:
I was pretty excited about the new Rolemaster. However, after sitting with it, I finally decided to get rid of my hardcover. I was just too unhappy with how it looked. The question I have is: what happened?
I can see several possible scenarios.
First, maybe the dev team love how the new books look. We just agree to disagree, and I just part ways with this version of the game.
Second, maybe there was a budget constraint. Maybe all the art across three books had to cost $1000 or less or something. Maybe this is the painful result.
Third idea, maybe some of the artists just didn't deliver. Their portfolios looked okay, but what they turned in was really uneven, and even after revisions, this is where we are. This could be the result of a slightly less constrained, but still tight, budget.
Fourth idea, no one was really in charge. A bunch of art was ordered piecemeal, no one was responsible for QC, and this is the result.
Does anyone want to comment on this? Sorry if this comes across as harsh. I was just really hoping for a Rolemaster I would be happy to have on my shelf, and this does not hit the mark.
jdale:
I like that there are characters who carry over from book to book, I like the gratar, and everybody having a familiar is a callback. It's got some dynamism, a variety of characters, and they are dressed like adventurers and not, well, undressed like some fantasy art.
That said, sure, ICE has a small press art budget not a Hasbro art budget. I don't know the actual numbers but, look, Core is platinum on Drivethrurpg. That's something around 1000-2000 copies. The proceeds of sales have to be split between ICE, writers, editors, art, and layout, plus DTR takes a cut themselves. So what do you think that actually means for the art budget? Now what does that mean on a per-piece basis?
pawsplay:
Well, if the budget was truly sparse, I find myself wondering, was there a Kickstarter at some point to get some funds up front for the art?
Cory Magel:
I'm not a fan of the covers. But, I don't like obviously digital art, so I've got an instant biased right there. I think it looks cheap (from a quality standpoint) a vast majority of the time. And, I'm sure, to a degree it literally is (actual cost) as there are no material costs involved and you can try as many times as you want to make something that looks cool. Sure, you have to pay for the program and your computer, but after that it's all simply your time - which is worth something, but not in the same way that $1000 is.
I've got a good amount of framed art around my house and only one of them is digital... and it doesn't look like it. It looks like the original piece was an actual painting.
Actually, I do have a set of six digital pieces: Nerdy Star Wars, Firefly and Dr Who mixed silhouette/word art. But most my stuff is Elmore, Easley, Caldwell, Parkinson, some of my own photography, etc.
Thing is, I couldn't really care less about the art for Rolemaster. I end up deconstructing the books and making my own anyhow. Probably not the normal response though.
nash:
--- Quote from: pawsplay on April 24, 2024, 12:00:38 AM ---Well, if the budget was truly sparse, I find myself wondering, was there a Kickstarter at some point to get some funds up front for the art?
--- End quote ---
Best way to help would be to spread the word about rolemaster and get more people to buy it. The more sales each book has, the more money can be budgeted for the next one.
Throwing 8-10% of funds (and time) away on a kickstarter doesn't seem a great way to improve anything.
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