Do we even need Decipher anymore?

[Ineti]

Originally posted by Don Mappin
Okay, get right on that, Jim.

Uh...Jim? You still there?

I have at least 75 cents in my piggy bank, maybe even 1.00 in change.

[GenesisWeapon]

Originally posted by Don Mappin
Can't/won't discuss in this venue. Sorry.

Tease.

I dunno. If I were being wooed to license it from them, I wouldn't. I'd wait until their license expired, and then get it from Viacom at a discount. Give it a year or two, and I rather imagine Viacom will have no grounds to charge exorbitant fees for the Trek license.

If somebody went the "license it now" route, Decipher might renew said license, thus potentially screwing the RPG community out of regular Trek products for another five years.

[First of Two]

Originally posted by Ineti
Random aside: Get a group of gamers with capital and a little business sense and bid for the Trek RPG and CODA rights. Then publish it yourself and make what you can out of it.

Right.

All I need now are the Powerball numbers...

[Ergi]

Originally posted by GenesisWeapon
I dunno. If I were being wooed to license it from them, I wouldn't. I'd wait until their license expired, and then get it from Viacom at a discount. Give it a year or two, and I rather imagine Viacom will have no grounds to charge exorbitant fees for the Trek license.

But there is always the possibility of Star Trek XI being the best movie of all times, increasing the license fee by the factor x.

If somebody went the "license it now" route, Decipher might renew said license, thus potentially screwing the RPG community out of regular Trek products for another five years.

Why should Decipher want to renew the licence. I don't think they ever want to have anything to do with RPGs again. Besides, I doubt that Viacom would give the licence to somebody planning to sublicense, because this would be similar to a real estate agent hiring another real estate agent to sell his house, they would reduce their profits.

[jened]

i've done a few searches and can't find how long the license is supposed to last. is this public knowledge? i'd imagine decipher would have gone for a long term license to compliment their trek ccg and fan club licences. i found the lotr rpg license goes until 2006 so that fits a long term license on that property.

edit: oops found it. trek rpg license agreement was for 5 years:
http://www.trektoday.com/news/101000_05.shtml

[D.S.McBride]

Originally posted by jened
oops found it. trek rpg license agreement was for 5 years

Indeed. Don alerted us to the fact that the Trek license was "purportedly" for five years back in Sept. '00, when the annoucement about the acquisition was first made. Working this out on a percent-per-month basis, I believe that as of now, Decipher is officially two-thirds of the way through their tenure.

Can't say they've distinguished themselves terribly much during that period.

I strongly suspect that once Decipher's official RPG death notice and obituary have been publicized and filed away, Paramount/Viacom will recind the rights and begin trolling for new prospects. Who knows - maybe this is what WotC was waiting for all along: give the hot new gun in town enough time to strut their stuff, screw up, self-destruct, and let the older, more experienced warhorse move in to pick up the pieces and start doing what they do best again. It may be total pipe-dream stuff, but...golly, it'd be nice to see all that LUG material (currently in suspended animation) unthawed and released on an unsuspecting world. Just imagine...

[BouncyCaitian]

Trek...d20....*shudder*

[aelius]

Originally posted by BouncyCaitian
Trek...d20....*shudder*

I see that *shudder*, and raise you an *uunngghhh*

[Sea Tyger]

Originally posted by aelius
I see that *shudder*, and raise you an *uunngghhh*

Why? What makes you think that someone can't make a good d20/OGL Trek game? No one ever thought you could do it with superheroes, yet Green Ronin produced a phenomenal game.

No, I wouldn't want to run Trek using 3.5 straight out of the book. But d20 Trek isn't going to look very different from Coda Trek.

[redwood973]

Originally posted by D.S.McBride
It may be total pipe-dream stuff, but...golly, it'd be nice to see all that LUG material (currently in suspended animation) unthawed and released on an unsuspecting world. Just imagine. . .

Amen brother!

[D.S.McBride]

Originally posted by redwood973
Amen brother!

Thank you. For those who experienced the Sideshow Bob "Geeyarrrahuh" at the thought of d20 Trek, please rest assured I am praying that - if LUGTrek Blood and Honor, Glass Darkly et al are ever released - Wizards does not see fit to put those works through the not-so-tender mercies of the conversion machine. Coda was hard enough a pill to swallow; as I've related (ad nauseum) in previous posts, my group and I never did take to it. A d20 Trek version would be, I think, a poor match at best.

Geeyarrahuh.

[REG]

Sighs. And the d20/OGL skepticism continues...

Ah, well. At least for now, I'm getting a good laugh, that is until Decipher finally begins to wise up.

:devil's smiley:

[cerebrolator]

I think Solo made an excellent suggestion earlier in the thread. Why don't we post a list of all the net books that are already available? As a fairly clueless member of this forum, I know that I would certainly benefit from such a list.

[aelius]

Originally posted by Sea Tyger
Why? What makes you think that someone can't make a good d20/OGL Trek game? No one ever thought you could do it with superheroes, yet Green Ronin produced a phenomenal game.

No, I wouldn't want to run Trek using 3.5 straight out of the book. But d20 Trek isn't going to look very different from Coda Trek.

I will agree that CODA and d20 have agreat deal in common. However, d20 gives you a schedule for the advancement of your character. Whether you want your character to acquire those abilities then or at all, you get them. CODA allows you to decide what sequence you get your abilities in. The only limits are a few prerequisites, and they make sense. While I will grant that CODA is not as flexable as, say, GURPS. It is also nowhere near as complex.
I feel that CODA is an excellent compromise between simplicity of play and "realism". So to speak.
d20, on the other hand, is extremely limiting. Whenever I have played a d20 game i have always felt hemmed in by the limits on when I get feats (edges for CODA folk) and the fact that class abilities (professional abilities to CODA folk) come only when your class progression chart says they do.
As to Mutants and Masterminds, I like it. It is much closer to CODA, you get points to spend at each level and can buy most anything you want. If that varient of d20 were used it would be okay, but you know it would not be.
And I think I have rambled on long enough, I didn't mean to go on a tirade. I know that d20 is popular with many, including a number of my friends. I will even play it, if the setting is compelling enough. Oh well, If they do a d20 version I already have the CODA conversion for d20.

[Solo]

Originally posted by cerebrolator
I think Solo made an excellent suggestion earlier in the thread. Why don't we post a list of all the net books that are already available? As a fairly clueless member of this forum, I know that I would certainly benefit from such a list.

I couldn't agree more And I don't think that just us clueless will benefit...

Right now I just have the link for one netbook, but the greatest in my opinion...

Killerwhale's Expanded Spacecraft Operations: http://rpg.lionelkw.com/trek/eso.htm