I don't really have a favorite RPG Publisher right now, for reasons that should be apparent to anyone who has read my other post entries for the RPGaDay Challenge this month.
If no one is producing anything I really want, or have to have, and certainly not a line of such products, there is no one company that stands out as the best, or worst at not doing that.
Ah, I do so miss the heyday of RPGs in the 80's.
Not only did publishers put out great stuff at reasonable prices, but they kept putting it out. Product support wasn't limited to D&D, and it continually rocked in many cases. For some companies less was more, and although they made fewer books, those books were of high quality and usefulness. Others just kept cranking out great stuff month after month with no end in sight.
I guess I'd have to say my two favorite RPG Publishers of all time were West End Games and R. Talsorian Games.
West End Games, based right here in New York City, created and published some of my all time favorite games. Star Wars most notably, but also Ghostbusters, and Paranoia. As I mentioned above, they didn't just publish them, they supported them. The least backed of the games mentioned was Ghostbusters, and even that had two boxed set editions, and eight adventures and supplements in total.
I have a number of rather unusual connections to West End Games, and my name can be found in at least two of their Star Wars products. One of these days I'll have to tell that tale.
R. Talsorian Games, thanks to writer and game designer Mike Pondsmith, fueled my burning love for Japanese Anime, Manga, and culture when they produced Mekton, and Teenagers from Outer Space around the same time (or just after) I first discovered Japanese animation. I instantly grokked their games, and it was very clear to me that they grokked my friends and I, and what we wanted to see in the RPG industry.
Other favorites of those days were FASA (although I was mostly a fan of Star Trek, and Shadowrun only), Game Designers' Workshop and Digest Group Publications (for Traveller), and Fantasy Games Unlimited (for Villains & Vigilantes, Space Opera, and others).
Years later, I became quite fond of the people who made up Last Unicorn Games, and of course loved their products.
Nowadays, the closest thing to a favorite I have is probably Green Ronin. I like the people that run it, and many of their freelancers. Unfortunately, the only game I really like that they make is Mutants & Masterminds, and it doesn't receive quite as much love as it used to. *Sad Panda*
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