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In a different thread, people are talking about whether they play or would play an "Unsupported" game. That made me wonder what that even means to folks?

For example, a game like Osprey's Broken Legions. It is a single rulebook without a distinct line of models from any manufacturers. However, most of the components are just Historical models and a few common fantasy trope style monsters. These models are available from many manufacturers.
There are no additional supplements for the game, and it is rules only. Is this an unsupported game?

How about a game like Dirtside II? It was a game published in the past, but is available for free download (IIRC) from Ground-Zero Games. It is a generic small scale sci-fi battle game. There are any number of miniature companies to get models and terrain from. There are no supplements, but the rules are readily available. Is that an unsupported game?

How about a game like Squadhammer? It is only available on the Wargames Vault, but the author continues to put out additional content in the form of rules and scenario packs. There are no miniature lines, but it is purposely intended for generic minaitures from any line. Is this an unsupported game?

I am trying to make sure I understand the dicussions that occur around this topic? I have a feeling the answer is... it depends.... but am curious about what YOU think.

Can you get in contact with a representative of the publishing / producing company to ask a question and get an answer? If yes, that game is supported.

If not, the game is no longer supported, because you can't get support for it.

IMO an unsupported game as discussed in forums is one which is no longer produced including the form of official supplements, add ons and errata.

Generally it applies to first party manufacturers and Licencees. In the past Blood Bowl and Epic from GW would have been considered unsupported in those legacy formats.

If a game was never intended to have regular releases (could be a game in a box, loose rules etc) I don't tend to consider it unsupported even if it's no longer being made (even though it technically is)

as long as it's around on the secondary market you can pretty much have the same experience as those who bought in during the production run

I'd reserve the dreaded unsupported badge for those that were intended to have regular releases so players got used to a flow of new stuff (and new recruits), the whole scene around the game gets to depend on these, metas develop and change as new stuff changes the 'best' way to play etc

once this stops in most cases the community runs into trouble, players that used to be enthusiastic get bored as the final meta gets 'stuck' with nothing new to break it up, new players are a lot harder to get with no advertising/store owners not promoting it etc

(Support can, however, come from enthusiastic fans, and from smaller businesses who keep a dead game alive with look-a-likes, fan made rules etc like Bloodbowl and in these cases too I wouldn't give them an Unsuported tag)

I always find old games fascinating, found one called Legion of Steel (though it's missing 3 miniatures, and to replace them, will cost money, though at least they exist somewhere that I can buy them).
It's like Space Hulk but with robots.

 greatbigtree wrote:
Can you get in contact with a representative of the publishing / producing company to ask a question and get an answer? If yes, that game is supported.

If not, the game is no longer supported, because you can't get support for it.

LOL why would you ever need to?

"Unsupported Game" to me means you're not 'new' anything. It is what it is, a final product that won't be getting any changes.

There's some beauty in that, but I can see why it's also awful.

IMO "unsupported" means "OOP". An unsupported game is one I can't play without resorting to ebay, third-party sites hosting pirated rules, scrounging around for miniatures that are at least somewhat compatible, etc. If someone is watching my game and expresses interest I can't just give them the manufacturer's website and a list of starter set items to buy. That puts the game in a state where people who have already invested in it can continue to play with their current collections, but expanding or getting into it as a new player is not worth the trouble.

A game that is no longer getting new releases is not necessarily unsupported. If the game is finished then that's all there is to it. Chess is not unsupported just because nobody is releasing new rules for it, if you're interested in the game you can easily stop by your local store and pick up a copy. There's no support that anyone could want and not receive. Same thing with other games. If the company finishes the game and keeps it available to buy then it's just a game that is complete and is receiving all of the support that it needs. It would only cross into being unsupported if it's an unfinished game where the manufacturer dropped planned releases but hasn't pulled the products from their store yet.

Yeah, OOP is about as close as you'll find. No longer made/sold so hard to get hold of outside the 2nd hand or 3rd party markets. Still perfectly playable but hard for new players to get in on.

Just to be contrary, Kryomek is not OOP (Scotia Grendel still offer PDFs of the rules and sell the miniatures), but it's definitely not supported. The core rules are playable, if somewhat unclear, but the expansion book's a mess.

Of course you can have the opposite as well, OOP games that are supported. So as ever there are different shades of a thing.

We play allot of Warmaster (the superior and more accurately depicted younger brother of WFB) in these parts and there is a growing international player base. This has resulted in the Warmaster Rules Committee and thanks to some talented chaps in the Czech Republic a new Edition called Warmaster Revolution that has been adopted in most of the growing number of Tournaments and a number of Miniature manufacturers that have taken up the slack.

GWs involvement is quite inconsequential to the game at this point; although they are welcoming of games/events at WHW and we’d all dearly love them to make the models available again on a cast to order basis.

But in common with all games (including those still in production) it’s dependent on the community and players. Without those to glue a scene together any game with sit on the shelf unplayed.

When I started the thread that the OP is talking about my thoughts were centering around a game that the company has removed itself from the rule making of. The specific example was X-Wing changing to its second edition which, though it shares a lot of commonality with v1, is such a divergence that it is a different game. My further thoughts were B5 ACTA, which the makers of lost the license after a number of years and ceased production of the models. I did not consider splash release/one offs to be either supported or not as they tend to be self contained (so I suppose technically they are supported as long as they are sold but are unsupported as they do not expand or evolve?).