Author: Andy Kitkowski (---.eds.com)
Date: 12-25-2001 10:35
Don't you just love comments that begin that way? OK, to be fair, I agree with some of your points, but have a bunch of comments:
If more companies were willing to release their house systems to free license like WoTC, I suspect that there would be an industry boom.
How so? Will WEG/Yeti releasing d6 or White Wolf opening up the Storyteller/d10 system REALLY make an industry boom? I mean, aside from 2-4 fringe projects, that is. How will opening a few systems that a few thousand people use drag people away from computer or console games and put them around the gaming table? How will it attract any more roleplayers? How will it make money that couldn't be made by now with the d20 system?
The only thing that we've seen in the past two years that could be called a "boom" (results of the current LotR hype have yet to cash in) is the giant shitstorm-explosion of products after the release of D&D 3E the year before... And even that is petering out as vanity press companies consolidate, die, or actually eke out a meager existence. I don't see how opening ANY other system will produce an industry boom that's even half as big as the d20 aftermath.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the boys at WEG/YETI give in and open up "d6" (and will argue economic reasons for it), but I don't see it affecting "the industry" any more than a few more vanity press projects on the shelf (and then, later, in the bargain bin)- Most companies who appear successful these days pushing non-d20 systems made up great systems of their own. Who's to say that this will change if other companies open-source their game systems?
I want to belive what you said here, but logic and hindsight can't allow it.
WoTC will also become known as the company that a) killed Star Wars and b)Betrayed Dune. Oh, and c) created that damned Pokemon game.
Yeah, yeah, I know that you're being entertainingly facetious here, but still:
When you said "killed Star Wars", are you not referring to the now-legendary Star Trek deal that fell through and just made a typo? If not, then look at the sales and support of the WotC Star Wars line- Although I hate the system, I must admit that Star Wars, as an RPG, has MUCH more open support than back in the WEG days (look at the mag "Star Wars Gamer", for instance).
Betrayed Dune? Hardly. They were the ones who released it, spending their own money, even though they were under NO obligation to do so. Sure, they were either misinformed/lied about their holding of the license for months after GenCon 2K (it was months later, about 2 months after they announced that there would be no future Dune support or d20 games, that they hadn't had any legal hold of the license since like 2 weeks after that GenCon because they didn't renew it.
If anyone "Betrayed Dune", it would have to be the staff of the old Last Unicorn Games with their long history of vaporware projects and products (they had the covers and names for about 8 Dune supplements that probably hadn't even been started). WotC didn't so some sort of "evil corporate takeover" of LUG, but rather named a price which LUG agreed to. People tend to forget that, if LUG hadn't agreed to be bought out, the deal would have ended there.
Pokemon: Heh. "Will work for Gold Edition Ferfetch'd..."
And on Deepak Chopra:
HIS EYES! THOSE FUCKING EYES!!! AAAARGH!!!
FASA was forced to close their doors near the beginning of this year. It was a great loss to the industry and yet also another warning sign to other major players about the risks that lie in over-flooding such a fickle market.
Hmmm. FASA's move was regarded by people following the case as removing excess baggage: Mister A owns directs game line material for Game B which is attatched to Company C. Company C is sinking. Mister A sells the rights to Game B to self and casts Company C away before he's dragged down with it. The property hasn't changed hands. The only thing that's changed about the Shadowrun property is that we haven't seen a "More Rigger Gear 3" sourcebook in the LGS's bargain bin. Selling off Earthdawn 2 years earlier to a company that would do something with it was the best thing to happen to that property (better than releasing half-assed projects that amount to little more than handing out plastic cups for bailing to the deck crew of the Titanic).
Hero Games - I don't know anything about that mess, but I've seen enough fire from bona-fide followers/lovers of the Hero System to know that it was probably all their fault.
Guardians of Order: Cinematic/Anime style games. These guys should have done Star Wars and Dune.
Judgement call, I guess. I'd say "no" for certain reasons (even though I love BESM), but I can't deny that I would have loved to seen Dune/Star Wars sourcebooks as creative and detailed as their Anime guides...
The greatest problem here is that companies believe that they only exist to turn profit -- not provide goods. This is somewhat erroneous thinking on the part of executives.
Huh? The ONLY reason that executives exist in this world, and the sole reason they are paid, is to generate profit and minimize cost for their company on all levels. There is nothing more to it than that.
Nice imagery and prose follow, but it all denies the above simple and undeniable fact. I'm an undeniable existentialist, but I also favor rationalist thinking/doing in the traditions of James, Dewey, and Rorty- And so I cannot ignore the elephant in the living room: Executives exist to generate profit, and that alone.
You should have made the point that turning a profit depends on pushing high-quality goods (as TSR proved, turning profit means nothing if you release a steady stream of human waste). That was probably the link you were looking for.
D20 has inadvertently instigated a mini renaissance for fantasy.
Don't know if it was coincidence or not, but I'd call it more than Mini, in any case! Don't forget Dying Earth and FVLMINATA (on second hand, maybe you could forget those... I haven't heard anything from them lately myself...).
Of interest to me was the unusually subdued release of Hong Kong Action Theatre 2nd Edition... Yet HKAT2 seemed to slip by unnoticed... odd.
I was all over the forums after its supposed release date trolling for info. What I heard had to be confirmed with my own eyes when I saw the game 2 weeks later in the store: It was almost, but not completely, entirely forgettable. I love the genre, I love GOO, but I couldn't bring myself to spend (at that point tight) money on that book. Sure, it had much better rules than the older version (from what GMS, creator of the first, readily acknowledged), but the layout was unimpressive and boring, the pictures didn't take away from the feel but neither did they add, and the book was void of any usable campaign settings or campaign setting ideas... yet a huge percentage of the book was used to relay basic info about famous HK actors, movies, and the like... all of which HK fans should already be familiar with.
In short, it failed.
I have already stated it, but I feel that this needs to be mentioned again -- more game systems need to be made open license like D20.
Again, while I want to believe this, it just doesn't work. Sure, there is much to be gained by a vanity press company that uses the WW, GURPS or BESM system to sell a product- but there isn't a second "revolution" waiting to happen here. Any of those companies opening up their system won't generate as much reaction, or money, as when WotC did it.
All the systems aren't "closed", BTW- they can be licensed, FOR MONEY, and many of these companies have fairly liberal licensing policies if you inquire.
At this point, though, opening up gaming systems, while offering new opportunities for small press projects, would do little for the company. This kind of One-Way relationship probably wouldn't work over time.
Even though I would LOVE to see it happen, make no mistake of that.
This brings me, once again back to open licensing -- face it; it's a damn good idea that could literally revive the industry back to the wonder days of roleplaying.
Again, the only thing that could revive the industry to the "wonder days" is if scientists discovered that PS2/XBOX/GameCube/PC Games caused cancer. No matter how good a game is, you're not gonna be able to drag people away from their consoles for anything more than a passing glance. If anything, it's changes from outside the industry (perhaps the release of LotR, that has yet to be seen) that would cause a revival.
Why did FASA, ICE and Target fall? Because they weren't selling enough product. Come on people, we need to show these guys our support.
Mwah Ha Ha Hah He He He Heh Heeeeeeeehhhhh. <wiping tears from eyes>
I absolutely agree 100% with your idea of giging feedback to publishers. But buying up supplements is not going to raise the IQs of game company presidents, or un-fuck clearly fucked-up situations (Tolkein, INC).
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Not to completely lay my ass all over your article, I have something to add:
I think that R. Talsorian Games (and, to a lesser extent, SJG) still proves to be a shining example of what many RPG companies should consider before the axe comes down:
GET A DAY JOB.
Back in (was it 1997? 1998?) they realized that they couldn't keep up their product base- Even then they were sacrificing quality to Release Product to the Masses. So they took a deep breath, measured up their priorities, and stepped away from the edge before it was too late. R. Talsorian went back to a part-time company. While this meant that since then they've put out very few products, it has let them concentrate on a few strong releases and properties rather than pushing out a shitstorm of half-baked books.
Admittedly, I'm not a fan of everything they've done since going back to part-time (the new edition of TFOS makes me want to barf), but I can see their enthusiasm and effort with what they have.
-Andy
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