The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I know, I know, everyone here is reviewing games, but I want to talk about the company that makes the games. My favorite company, DP9.

If you take the chance to read all the review available for their games you'll know that they make great games. What you don't always get is the community and the connection that the loyal gamers have with this company.

DP9 started with a different name which I've forgotten, producing supplements for Cyberpunk I believe. Then, about 3-4 years ago they blew everyone away with their premier game Heavy Gear. A combined tactical and roleplaying game with an attention to detail that many other games lacked. But the real star of this new RPG was the system. Switching from tactical to RPG required only that you change change the amount of damage inflicted. Tactical Scale damage was 10 times that of RPG Scale. Easy to convert, you didn't even need seperate books when you did so. The system, called Silhouette by the way, had other great features. Character creation was simple and easy and the only dice you needed were D6s. Unlike many games the logic was simple to understand, there were no strange charts of skills costs to remember. A simple mathematical formula could be used to decide how much each skill level cost.

But I digress, I'm reviewing the company, and not the games. I think my favorite example of DP9's dedication to its customers was their fan club, now cancelled because the company would rather produce product for all the fans instead of newsletters for a few. It began with an add in the back of their early books. For $30 (Canadian) you were to recieve 4 newsletters, be able to create a character that could advance in rank within the fanclub, and possibly even appear in upcoming game releases. I believe that you would have also recieved various rank pins as you went up. Of course, I didn't play tactical much, so I didn't have any games to report. That's not important, the important thing was that the first newsletter was extremely delayed. I letter was sent including a north or south pin, depending on what kind of character you made.

A few months later I discovered that DP9 was thinking that they may have to cancel the fanclub, but instead of sending a check for $30 (Canadian) to every member they were going to send 2 books valued at $40 (American). Fair enough thought I, but that was not to be. The fanclub was still on, and to thank everyone for being so patient DP9 was sending one of the 2 books with the first newsletter. And that's how I got the NLC Confederacy Sourebook.

Well, 3 newsletters and a few years later the fanclub is being closed again. Even though we've all already got more then our money's worth, for DP9 is sending everyone a $10 token good for any direct purchase from DP9, either on their online store or at a convention.

But how does one really get to love this company. There was a thread on the Starship Modeller's discussion board, musing about when the new Pathfinder kit from Fusion model's will be coming out. Fusion models is DP9's sister company. They produce resin kits of DP9, and are already setting industry standards. Check out DP9's webpage www.dp9.com for links to both Fusion and Starship Modeller, as well as links here. Anyway, I'm digressing again. People were wondering when the new kit would be out, somebody alerted the attention to Mark A. Vezina, who promptly went to the discussion board and answered people's questions, including some incidental ones, such as when the Syreen was designed.

You can ask any question, either in an e-mail directly to the game designers, or on the mailing lists that deal with the DP9 games.

You can write for DP9, either on their Funhouse page, where you work is rewarded with a free book, or by reading their submission guidelines which they occasionally post on how to write for them. The best bet is to write for the funhouse and let them come to you.

So that is it in a nutshell. DP9 is dedicated to quality, quantity, and the gamers that ultimately pay their saleries. Like any company that produces as much material as DP9 occasional typos and layout mistakes can be found in the books, but that is the only imperfection in this great company.

I know I've wandered and rambled throughout this review. It's very early in the morning and I wrote this on impulse. I hope this has influenced you to take a look at the company, a Canadian company that is breaking standards in the industry. A company that will answer any question with a smile.

I wish all of you a very good day.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

HG, Jovian Chronicles, Tribe 8
Author: Various Category: Company Company/Publisher: DP9 Capsule Review by Tyler Provick on 02/05/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Far_Future Space Post-apocalypse	I know, I know, everyone here is reviewing games, but I want to talk about the company that makes the games. My favorite company, DP9. If you take the chance to read all the review available for their games you'll know that they make great games. What you don't always get is the community and the connection that the loyal gamers have with this company. DP9 started with a different name which I've forgotten, producing supplements for Cyberpunk I believe. Then, about 3-4 years ago they blew everyone away with their premier game Heavy Gear. A combined tactical and roleplaying game with an attention to detail that many other games lacked. But the real star of this new RPG was the system. Switching from tactical to RPG required only that you change change the amount of damage inflicted. Tactical Scale damage was 10 times that of RPG Scale. Easy to convert, you didn't even need seperate books when you did so. The system, called Silhouette by the way, had other great features. Character creation was simple and easy and the only dice you needed were D6s. Unlike many games the logic was simple to understand, there were no strange charts of skills costs to remember. A simple mathematical formula could be used to decide how much each skill level cost. But I digress, I'm reviewing the company, and not the games. I think my favorite example of DP9's dedication to its customers was their fan club, now cancelled because the company would rather produce product for all the fans instead of newsletters for a few. It began with an add in the back of their early books. For $30 (Canadian) you were to recieve 4 newsletters, be able to create a character that could advance in rank within the fanclub, and possibly even appear in upcoming game releases. I believe that you would have also recieved various rank pins as you went up. Of course, I didn't play tactical much, so I didn't have any games to report. That's not important, the important thing was that the first newsletter was extremely delayed. I letter was sent including a north or south pin, depending on what kind of character you made. A few months later I discovered that DP9 was thinking that they may have to cancel the fanclub, but instead of sending a check for $30 (Canadian) to every member they were going to send 2 books valued at $40 (American). Fair enough thought I, but that was not to be. The fanclub was still on, and to thank everyone for being so patient DP9 was sending one of the 2 books with the first newsletter. And that's how I got the NLC Confederacy Sourebook. Well, 3 newsletters and a few years later the fanclub is being closed again. Even though we've all already got more then our money's worth, for DP9 is sending everyone a $10 token good for any direct purchase from DP9, either on their online store or at a convention. But how does one really get to love this company. There was a thread on the Starship Modeller's discussion board, musing about when the new Pathfinder kit from Fusion model's will be coming out. Fusion models is DP9's sister company. They produce resin kits of DP9, and are already setting industry standards. Check out DP9's webpage www.dp9.com for links to both Fusion and Starship Modeller, as well as links here. Anyway, I'm digressing again. People were wondering when the new kit would be out, somebody alerted the attention to Mark A. Vezina, who promptly went to the discussion board and answered people's questions, including some incidental ones, such as when the Syreen was designed. You can ask any question, either in an e-mail directly to the game designers, or on the mailing lists that deal with the DP9 games. You can write for DP9, either on their Funhouse page, where you work is rewarded with a free book, or by reading their submission guidelines which they occasionally post on how to write for them. The best bet is to write for the funhouse and let them come to you. So that is it in a nutshell. DP9 is dedicated to quality, quantity, and the gamers that ultimately pay their saleries. Like any company that produces as much material as DP9 occasional typos and layout mistakes can be found in the books, but that is the only imperfection in this great company. I know I've wandered and rambled throughout this review. It's very early in the morning and I wrote this on impulse. I hope this has influenced you to take a look at the company, a Canadian company that is breaking standards in the industry. A company that will answer any question with a smile. I wish all of you a very good day. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

HG, Jovian Chronicles, Tribe 8