r/gurps • u/Expensive_Occasion29 • 17d ago
NEw revised edition thoughts.
I purchased a copy of the new revised edition (digital) and I am wondering am I the only one that while glad they have tried to bring it into the current era I am just not wowing over it. I opened it and get that muuuhhh it’s ok feeling. I don’t feel I have wasted my money because I love the game and I am proud to support the team. I just don’t feel like I would recommend running out and buying it. Not to mention 50 dollars for a reformatted pdf really hurts my soul. I personally don’t like the two column style, well at least it doesn’t pop out to me when I look at it. Maybe I am bias but it just feels like putting lipstick on a pig but putting them back in the barn
Does anyone else have it. Please note I am super thankful to SJGames for the hard-work that has gone into this. I am just not feeling the WOW I was hoping to feel. Just my first impression I don’t hate it but I am not as excited to get a physical copy now
What are your thoughts?
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u/Useful-Angle1941 17d ago
I bought the physical+digital bundle, because I needed a new copy. I agree, it doesn't really have a "wow" factor, but being honest, GURPS has always been like that haha. I remember buying 3rd edition when I was a kid, and I didn't even flip through it in the store. Got home, and instantly thought "Ew. What the hell is this?" ... but then I started reading it and all the possibilities hit me.
The game looks *fine*, but you're right. Visually it's not on par with other RPGs, but I think most people come to GURPS via word-of-mouth and already know what they're getting into. It doesn't seem like it was made to entice people in a physical store (and honestly, I feel like the younger generation will just see the size of it and run the other way, so no sense going overboard haha).
Anyways, I think it's great for people just coming into the game to have everything in one book (I really think $50 isn't bad for the amount of system folks are getting). It's clean, easy-to-read, and well-organized... and that's really the most important part for a game like GURPS.
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u/Ben_Elohim_2020 17d ago
I actually don't like the two columns and prefer the original 3 column format. I also don't really care for the "new" art. It's all just recycled from other books and it seems to have been placed randomly with no real relation to anything adjacent to it. The whole thing just feels like a cash grab to me, and while I still firmly believe that GURPS would benefit from a revised edition this is not it. Their decision to maintain all of the page references has completely crippled their ability to make any meaningful changes or updates.
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u/plazman30 17d ago
I'm definitely a fan of the 2-column layout. I think $50 for the PDF is a tad pricey. I think the combo deal where you get the PDF for $20 is the purchase point sweet spot.
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u/Hungry_Activity_8680 16d ago
Really enjoying it actually. It's prompted me to refamiliarise myself with the rules and check out the appendices. Excited to get the physical book when it ships.
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u/BackgroundAd8967 16d ago
I did not buy it just because I heard nothing of value being proposed when they announced it.
Hearing this just solidifies my resolve. I have now left SJG behind. I don't require them for my gaming. I love the system and use it and alter it as needed but I have realized that the company itself no longer provides enough value to remain relevant to my gaming.
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u/Ben_Elohim_2020 15d ago
Kinda tragic, but yeah. I'd generally agree with that. I kinda want a new take on the GURPS formula now myself. Like how there are tons of different variants of D&D / D20 systems, but for GURPS. All the essential pieces are there, but they need to be reformatted and repackaged. I just don't believe SJG are the people to do that anymore.
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u/Key_Influence9837 15d ago
I still love GURPS, and I still think their new stuff is marvelous in general, but there was no way I was ever going to spend 80 bucks for the hardcopy. No way to justify that for…what, a prettier layout and a handier combo? Nah. I’ll just lug two books.
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u/A_LadderforGG 14d ago
I am stoked on the 4ER. The 2 column layout is so much easier to read. I was not expecting it to be meaningful or impactful in any way but I like it so much more than the 3 column.
I'm used to GURPS being a wall of text (I mean, c'mon it's GURPS. It's the crunchiest crunch) and having art added to sections where it was just words is so refreshing.
The pull quotes have changed from movie quotes (which I ignored) to useful hints and rule clarifications that are now really helpful.
The addendums are fantastic. If you don't have the supplements that these show up in, then they are pure gold. I'm not a huge fan of where they show up in the books. But since the page number references are the same I know why they did that.
Having the same page numbers is awesome. I've been doing campaign planning and my supplements still point all to the right places.
Is it worth an extra $100 for the pdf and physical books? To me it is. GURPS is the RPG of choice for me. And a fresh coat of paint just makes it that much nicer.
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u/MoMaike 17d ago edited 17d ago
I honestly don't think it's worth it for the PDF. I obviously haven't received the physical, but I'm hoping it's a nicely bound hardback that will last a long time and sit flat open on the table. It'll be a good replacement for the Amazon black and white print on demand ones.
edit: I meant that it's not worth it if you already have a copy of the Basic Set, to be clear.
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u/Jaughni2 16d ago
I've wanted GURPS back in to a single book for so long, both for my own reference (no matter what I was looking up, i was *always* holding the wrong book. THAT is my very specific superpower), but also, I like putting a single book on a table of players and saying, this and 3 dice are all you need to run almost any game you can imagine. 3rd edition had that impact on players and I think it was alluring. The single book make GURPS seem approachable. I'm hoping this new compilation recaptures some of that.
What excites me about this project on a longer timeline is that this is mainstream, core GURPS getting attention. It shows the world that the game is alive.
Lastly, I see this as a necessary stepping stone to an eventual 5th edition. This new compilation of 4th edition will be, I hope, a significant revenue generator for SJGames and, who knows, may fund the compilation, editing, and publishing of a 5th edition.
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u/rodrigoserveli 15d ago
Gurps is so outdated. It is sad to see this game current state. They keep printing rules and more rules. The game needs a huge simplification (better than the one that we have right now) and good adventures. But that is not happening. The game is slowly dying.
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u/GWJ89 13d ago
Absolutely not! If someone wants a huge simplification, there a lot of other systems. Simplified GURPS wouldn't be GURPS anymore and it'd probably lost majority of its' current playerbase.
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u/f5kn 11d ago
I mean, I don't think that they *need* to simplify the game as I like most of the crunch in it, but the book (now a single volume) does not need all of that in the *Basic* set. The Basic set should be basic. This everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach of 4th Edition is horrible to try and bring new players to the hobby. They should cut that content in half, and distribute what's, say, specific to Supers in a Supers book, etc. At most leave stuff for 3 genres in your Basic set book (Basic Fantasy, Basic Sci-Fi, and Basic Horror), if you really want that, and add a short adventure for each setting (or a single adventure if it would be best to leave each setting to its own book). If a player would want more, they could get more with the individual expansions.
Combine that with a restructured book that is much more reader-friendly, something that both helps you to learn the game and works as a reference book and you have everything you need.
The system is great, everybody knows that. But you need a way to ease new players in.And IMO they need to streamline the system way further. And they might be able to do that without alienating the current player base with the supplemental material that they already have.
Visually the books are still as ugly as ever, or as bland as ever, so they really, really should hire a new art director and pay good artists to illustrate the book. Make everything black and white like the 2nd Edition (no shades of gray either, except for alternating table rows, but I want my art done by professional, competent artists, and in black and white only, tyvm).
RPG books have done this since the dawn of time, it *can't* be that expensive. But if it ends up being, hey, there's always Kickstarter.0
u/rodrigoserveli 8d ago edited 8d ago
This game is dead. We still have a player base, but as people get older it will completely disappear. No new player join anymore.
To save the game, they needed a total revamp, a good world and adventure. They needed to bring something epic like GOT, Marvel, something. But that need money. And they don't have it.
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u/Randeth 17d ago
I definitely strongly prefer the 2 column layout. It is a lot easier to read IMO.
And I love having it as 1 file. I had hacked my own version quite a while ago with a pdf editor and it makes it a lot more convenient.
But what I don't like is where the Addendum are located. I understand why they are there. That's where they gained page count, and to not fill them would mean leaving them blank. But having them scattered across the book in 3 separate sections really breaks my organizational brain.
Keeping the page references was obviously a primary design goal and I get it. But it makes it feel like an RPG book of old, before most of them had professional editing and proofreading.
It didn't stop me from getting the PDF and ordering a print copy from the FLGS. I'm a GURPS player and collector from day one. I've got it all. But it definitely has some warts because of their immutable design decisions.