Mix & match at your own risk 

Steve Jackson, why doesn't that guy mind his own business and worry about making good games out of his company than concerning himself over a long retired TSR game that no one is making money off of. He should be so lucky that someone will care enough to resurrect one of his retired games and give it new life. I hope he, or one of his people reads this site, and see this. I will never purchase support, or recommed his products to anyone, ever. So Steve, may be take a page from the book on playing nice and learn to cooperate with people instead of just try to be a bully.

The same goes for Hasbro, Oprah, and WTOC, I will never purcahase, support, recommend, or endorse any product produced by this company with the exception of Star Frontiers (Which isn't an active product of theirs, so I guess my boycott is safe there.) And be certain, I will tell everyone I know, do business with, or have any contact with, to do the same.

I believe that people and companies do have the right to fiercely protect their intellectual and proprietary property. However! when you discard a product and choose not to publish it, produce, it, support it, or license it to others then It is my firm opinion that there is no longer a need to guard it away for all eternity and penalize those fans who have already spent their hard earned money on it from being able to keep it alive and active. It is the highest form of flatterly and if they were smart they could make a little additional legitmate money by licensing the product at a fair price so others can still enjoy it. It would be a different story if they planned on re-opening the product for a new release and if they planned on doing that they should just tell people that this is their plan. But we all know what this is about: Greed, Punishment, and unadulterated bully-ish behavior. SHAME ON THEM!

Refuse to support these companies, put your efforts, support, and ideas behind great small businesses like DWD Studios in creating new and exciting products that are offered to the public fairly with the spirit of respect for old school gaming and the enduring fun these games offer to players and their families accross the world.

But by golly, don't let a few fans try to keep an out of print game alive.

I know little about Steve Jackson Games (or Oprah) but I can speak from experience about WotC. It's easy to see WotC/Hasbro as a "big evil corporation," but I think it's important to keep in mind that the actual people who make the games are generally bright, talented, creative, and friendly gamers who happen to have scored a job doing it full time. Heck, Steve Winter works over there--the original editor of Star Frontiers! And he's a phenomenally awesome guy. Rich Baker, Mike Mearls, James Wyatt, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, just to name a few... these folks are wonderful people and they're really good designers. 

I'm not saying I agree with, or understand, everything the company does; I just feel that every product shouldn't be written off. There's some really great stuff coming out these days, imo.

On topic: I discovered Star Frontiers.com before I discovered this one. Dowloaded their pdfs, donated some money in appreciation for their efforts, and had some very friendly exchanges with Tim. I found this site when I googled "Star Frontiers miniatures" just because I was curious to see what they used to look like. Came here, downloaded the awesome content, bought some DwD stuff, and everybody here is awesome too. 

No matter how large (WotC) or small (Star Frontiers sites) the game, it's probably best if we stick together in this hobby/obsession and try to understand one another... despite our perhaps different gaming preferences.  Just my two and a half cents. 

Lorraine Williams still sucks.  

Hrm.... a donations button. 

[wrings hands]

I'll be rich. Credits galore!

Muhahaha *cough*.... hahaha *cough*

Heh.

[Hillbily accent] "We here at sf.US try to provide da bestest star'ish frontierman'ish table game content in the hills. We'z, a, hopes you buys our products to show yours appreiations. Donations are axe-cepted in the form of SFman lulu prints." :-)

-The Network of Stars and Frontiersmen

(looking for single frontierswomen. PM me.)

My nerd-rage boycott is Star Wars films. I just want the originals in high def; no revisionist stuff.

I like D&D 4e better for the ways it departs from that tradition (i.e. since monsters and PCs use different rules, the DM has more freedom as storyteller), and due to its board game style combat mechanics, it's the ONLY version of D&D where I've been able to endure someone's hack & slash grindfest without wanting to slam my head into the table 'till it turns to pulp; those mechanics are interesting enough to at least keep me engaged in that action. On the other hand, while 4e combat takes less time than 3e combat, it still takes longer than I'd like. 

I've been playing lots of indie RPGs lately: Fiasco, Kagematsu, Dogs in the Vineyard, Don't Rest Your Head, Dread, Mouse Guard... and I feel like the looser the mechanics are, the more the players tend to role-play. Without tons of "game" options screaming for their attention, they're interacting with the game more as characters than as, well, game pieces, I guess. I feel like my wife (who was new to RPGs when we met) was a better role-player when she started than when she learned the rules. Analysis paralysis. 

Which brings me to Star Frontiers. 

As I read through the rulebooks, I was pleasantly surprised at how simple, yet encompassing the rules were written. Not only is it easy to customize, customization and world-building is actively encouraged in the rules. It's actually a lot (and I do mean a lot) like D&D 4e in principle--just doesn't have the loads of specific powers. At any rate, for me that simplicity of design equals more role-playing space. Star Frontiers characters have pretty basic skills and abilities; that's your skeleton, your structure. But it's up to you to flesh it out and add all the story details. Though the simple Perks & Flaws stuff as well as the ability mods to skills are very nice (and thankfully very light) touches. 

I still have a lot to do before the game is up and running, but I'm kind of in love with it at the moment. If I were to convert it to a d20 style, the only thing I'd do is switch the percentages to their d20 equivalents so that you were trying to roll high on a d20 instead of low on a d100. However, I don't care about that enough to actually invest the time. 

It's available, or rather it was available...long before the debut of the DVD player in a "medium-def" format. It's called the 12" Laser Disc, and I enjoy watching my remastered set often (remastered meaning restored, not altered like the DVD).

Sure, it's not quite as good as a standard DVD on a 720 flat screen, and certainly nowhere near a BLue Ray on a 1080 set --- but at the time it was just as effective as the DVD player was when it debuted. 475 lines per inch projection compared to the 650 of a standard DVD player...at the time all TVs projected at 425 so you couldn't tell the difference in the DVD's "superiority" beyond not having to flip the disc midway through the movie.

Running through a gen-1 5.1 amplifier (meaning post Dolby ProLogic but not quite up to today's standards...S-video cable is about as fancy as that one gets), it's more than acceptable on the CRT I watch it on for satisfying my rage on the issue. It sure beats dusting off the ol' VHS player.

I thought I'd seen something like that on the market before, I just wasn't sure. Good to know, I'd like to see the originals in a slightly higher def format.  

I have to ask as both versions were available on Laser Disc back in the 80s --- grainy/unrefined versions and the restored/clear-as-a-bell w/THX remastered sound versions at a higher price. Don't ask how, but I ended up with both versions.

Along with BetaMax and VHS copies to boot. I even have a super-8 copy of New Hope (although the projector was tossed yeasrs ago, I still have the film LOL).

Only the Holiday Special eludes me...which, oddly enough, has yet been released on DVD