Do we even need Decipher anymore?

[Cigarman]

Reflecting upon the rate of new material being released, the state of the Trek-rpg net site (other than this forum), and the condition of the Decipher boards, it is obvious that Decipher has abandoned the ST RPG line.

We will never see the Worlds, Mirror Universe, or the Klingon sourcebooks. Posting new adventures on the Decipher boards is a transparent attempt to keep ST alive just enough to move out their remaining stockpile of Core and sourcebooks to the distributors before officially pulling the plug.

Lately, I have been reading a lot of the netbooks available here and have come to the conclusion that we have some amazingly talented people here. I especially loved the Borg vs. Dominion book.

So, I was thinking that if Decipher won't give us the material we want, we should cut out the middleman and make our own netbooks covering the topics we are dying for, such as Worlds, Klingons, and Mirror Universe.

If Decipher won't support ST- RPG, we can do it without them.
They are more interested in their more profitable CCG lines anyway, and haven't put out any material to make the RPG line a profit earner for them, so what would it hurt to cut them out of the loop?

I'm tired of waiting and getting nothing but empty promises, excuses, and apathy from Decipher. How about you?

Cigarman

[faenril]

I will keep waiting...

I follow another game line call Mutants and Masterminds (from Green Ronin) and two future supplements are late for several months, but one of them finally has arrived... so I have learnt that patience is not an easy thing but sometimes is necessary.

[Cigarman]

I follow M&M as well.

There is a big difference between the two companies. Green Ronin regularly provides updates on the status of their products in their forum, actually replies when you write to them, and provides real answers to your questions. Decipher does not.

Green Ronin is interested in the continual success of the M&M RPG line. Decipher couldn't care less about STRPG. All they care about is their vastly more profitable CCG lines. Can't blame them. It's simple economics. Continued profit equals continued existance for the company, so they focus on their main income generators, CCGs. They just don't have the time to support RPG lines.

If they had any concern whatsoever for the fans of STRPG, they would sign over the rights of the RPG line to a company who is actually interested in supporting it.

It all boils down to this:

Green Ronin deserves my patience, Decipher does not.

Cigarman

[Ineti]

Nope, no reason to wait on Decipher. If you have a burning desire to write stuff for the game, do so! Gandalf of Borg is putting together a regular webzine for the game (much like his Hall of Fire zine for the LOTR RPG) and is always open to new content.

I'm almost done laying out the first issue, but there will be as many more issues as people make stuff to print.

[First of Two]

The answer is probably no, but I'll ask anyway...

One of the upcoming vaporwa... erm, Decipher products I was most interested in was the Mirror Universe book.

Will anybody be working on stuff to replace what Decipher has lost us? I mean, now that it's paid for, I half-expect everything that people worked on for Decipher to be considered forbidden territory by their lawyers/nondisclosure crap, even if none of it ever makes it to the printed or online page.

I mean, it would really rather suck if the details of the Klingons, the Mirror Universe, the Worlds, and all that were to be forever denied us just because Decipher's (expletive deleted)s couldn't be bothered to bring the info out of limbo.

Or maybe I just don't understand how this sort of thing works.

[D.S.McBride]

I'd like to offer my congratulations to Cigarman (and what's the story behind that moniker, anyway? ): this is certainly a very worthwhile topic for these boards, and it's great to see someone coming right out and stating what - inevitably, very likely - will need to be done if the game in its current incarnation is to survive.

It is worth noting, however, that for every fan-created Netbook, there have been several others that have ended up stillborn. The Cardassian sourcebook for Icon that was put together here was a superb piece of work. However, there was also a project to replace the lost LUGTrek Blood and Honor and a Trill sourcebook that ended fizzling out. I don't know what sort of difficulties, if any, that the Cardassian group faced, but the main source of contention behind the Klingon work, as I understand it, was the ubiquitous shadow of personality conflicts. This, I think, is almost invariably what ends up quashing what would otherwise be a fine idea.

If there are to be Coda-based works produced through the auspices of this forum and/or site - and I'm writing as someone whose interest in DecipherTrek is periforal - I would think that some sort of contract between the parties would need to be hammered out in order to ensure that everyone, a) does their fair share and b) does what they promised to do, in the manner they promised to do it. Handshake agreements are the best-possible scenario, but they have an unfortunate tendency to fall apart when egos start clashing, especially when people get into the "It's a shoe/No, it's a sandle" realm of arguments. A project head, whose authority on matters is the final and binding word, would also, I think, be of benefit.

That's it for my immediate thoughts; I don't know whether any of these ideas have been tried before and found to be of some value, or full of something warm and brown.

BTW, Ineti, looking forward big-time to seeing the first issue of that fanzine.

[Don Mappin]

Nice to see some interest and a positive attitude.

Need more of that. Keep the spirit!

[Tas II]

"It's a sandal/ It's a shoe"

I am more a "Follow the gourd" kinda guy!

I dont think that we really need Decipher. What we really need is for people to be able to collaborate on any Netbooks that are made, and keep creative differences to a minimum. People can and should be able to reach a compromise on almost everything IMHO.

I loved the Cardassian sourcebook, and several of the others are excellent too. If anyone wants to do more Netbooks, and wants help/ another willing body to help out, gimme a shout.

Cheers

Tas

[Greg Smith]

Originally posted by D.S.McBride

It is worth noting, however, that for every fan-created Netbook, there have been several others that have ended up stillborn. The Cardassian sourcebook for Icon that was put together here was a superb piece of work. However, there was also a project to replace the lost LUGTrek Blood and Honor and a Trill sourcebook that ended fizzling out. I don't know what sort of difficulties, if any, that the Cardassian group faced, but the main source of contention behind the Klingon work, as I understand it, was the ubiquitous shadow of personality conflicts.

The main problem faced by the Cardassian book was people dropping out. Fortunately there were a couple of folks (including me) willing to take up the slack. But it was the dedication and perseverance of Anomaly, who organised the whole thing, wrote a big chunk of the rules for book 2, and layed it all out, that got the thing completed.

There was a Starfleet Operations type sourcebook too. It never got off the ground because they couldn't agree on whether there were Starfleet marines or not.

[7 of 11]

KillerWhale's ESO

Wow talk about a huge team effort! Beautiful pictures, great layout, and a labor of love. It's in the style of LUG but it's fantastic source of info. If you want to know if we can (might have to) survive without Decipher (get this Decipher* we DO NOT WANT TO BUT IF WE MUST) check out the ESO from KillerWhale and all who supported him. Nuff said.

7 of 11
A

[Commander Ramey]

Not to hijack your thread but I'm wondering - isn't the website done unofficially?

[Mac417]

First off, as someone who contributed art to the Cardassian netbook, much thanks for all the kudos.

Second off, I wholeheartedly agree that the survival of this game need not depend on the company that's showing strong signs of not even trying to keep its fanbase informed regarding the game's future. No dissing intended to Doug Burke or anyone else Decipher-employed here, but as long as we've kept Icon Trek going, we'll do the same for Coda Trek as well.

That out of the way, some ideas I'm throwing out for netbooks for anyone interested in making them (excluding the big three [Klingons, Mirror, Worlds])...

--Series SBs (including Enterprise, in case Don is unable to bring his here, and heck, throw some in for the comics, animated series, and novels if you want)
--Adventure collections/campaign books
--A "weapons locker" type book of Trek weaponry
--"The Galaxy," a guide to space, spatial anomalies, nebulas, etc.
--"Who's Who," a collection of character write-ups for all the movers and shakers in the Trek series

--mac

[redwood973]

Originally posted by D.S.McBride
"It's a shoe/No, it's a sandle" realm of arguments.

It was a boot.

[Space_Cadet]

Originally posted by Mac417
That out of the way, some ideas I'm throwing out for netbooks for anyone interested in making them (excluding the big three [Klingons, Mirror, Worlds])...

--Series SBs (including Enterprise, in case Don is unable to bring his here, and heck, throw some in for the comics, animated series, and novels if you want)
--Adventure collections/campaign books
--A "weapons locker" type book of Trek weaponry
--"The Galaxy," a guide to space, spatial anomalies, nebulas, etc.
--"Who's Who," a collection of character write-ups for all the movers and shakers in the Trek series

--mac

I'm actually working on an outline for an ENT sourcebook or mini-sourcebook (just stats only). If anyone is interested in helping , especially with layout, let me know.

[neurozombie]

Which Decipher books actually are available now? Just the Players and Narrators guides? Those are the only two I have seen in the stores.