News about Star Trek Worlds

[trekkypj]

That letter's absurd!!!

It's like not hearing from your partner for two years and then getting a brutal 'Dear John' letter. At least people didn't get charged for it.

I feel a rant coming on....

I have spent almost EUR120 on Coda Trek books. I'll not spend another penny supporting a company that shafts its customers in this way.


This of course is no reflection on the people who actually put the work in to the excellent system. It's just a pity that Decipher's management doesn't put the same effort into publicising and supporting what are fabulously put-together RPG books.

I'll still play the system. Not in support of Decipher, Inc., but rather the fans and the people who made the system what it is, a fantastic Trek RPG which unfortunately is stuck with an owner who frankly couldn't give a damn.

[D.S.McBride]

Repeating what I posted on the FBR site: Pathological as it sounds, this is actually a step up for Decipher - they've finally discovered what that "Reply" button for e-mail does and are at least letting the fans/consumers know, first-hand, that we're not important enough to warrant spitting on, let alone get the books that were promised to us nearly three years ago.

Originally posted by Don Mappin
Thank you for understanding the difference between the authors and designers who worked hard on a product they enjoyed and cared about versus a publisher that, frankly, shows a shocking lack of respect for their customers.

Harkening back to that rather revealing thread on RPG.net regarding this subject - the one where most of the ex-LUG/Coda deisgners chimed in, including Don, Matt Colville and George Vasilikos - it was pretty clear from the get-go that there was a HUGE divide between what the creative talent wanted to accomplish and what the blinkered management was insisting on. To quote Mr. Vasilikos, the management was running the RPG studios as a design-by-committee system, and the degree of frustration that resulted - and I speak here from personal experience - must have been nuclear in yield. No wonder the talent started to bail.

[Doug Burke]

Finally got a response from TPTB regarding Worlds.

The first response was based on confusing WARS with Star Trek. No alternate publisher for Trek.

The second response was generated because Decipher has cancelled the original order for the book due to the situation with Paramount/Viacom. Once that's cleared up, the order will be resolicited.

Scott also mentioned they are looking into softcover books, so the MSRP may change as well.

[koraldon]

Hi dougi,
Thanks for the clarification.
I just wanted to ask if you can inquire that maybe someone up stairs will give *gasp* an update on the website?
even a honest - " we are talking with paramount, no solid information available" will be better then the emptiness....

[Doug Burke]

Hi dougi,
Thanks for the clarification.
I just wanted to ask if you can inquire that maybe someone up stairs will give *gasp* an update on the website?
even a honest - " we are talking with paramount, no solid information available" will be better then the emptiness....

I'll see what I can do. No guarantees, though...

[Tobian]

"Tobian, his interest piqued" - The Children of Tamar version

[templartiger]

I just left a scathing post on the Decipher board earlier this afternoon concerning their announcement asking the fan base to create scenarios for convention purposes.

For the most part anyone that reads it, will get the impression I am against Decipher and its volunteer staff.

While its true I do not sing the priases of Decipher, I am not against the volunteer staff doing what they can to keep the ST Coda universe alive.

However, I have seen a warning posted that says the following:

So either contribute to help him, or post your problems in another thread. But further posts like this one will be summarily deleted.

So I ask this: How can we contribute when basically we are shown total apathy and ambivalence? How can we show that @$%#@@ company we want to help only to be told that if we don't play by their definition of nice we'll be censured?

[Cochrane]

And so it draggeth on. This is wierd, wild stuff.

[Tobian]

I think you answered your own question there, most people who read it thought you were against Decipher, it's staff and the fan contributors, including the mods. What do you expect if you shout down someone on their own company forum? They are hardly likelly to like it are they!

While we all have a dig at Decipher, we still have to be 'nice' on this forum all the same, especially to each other. Only going off what you said you let your broadside fire without worrying about who it hit, and in such cases you'd not get a positive resonse on here either.

[templartiger]

Very true...

Thinking of it now.. well... not my better moments...

Just getting tired of this 'dance.' Kinda over done.

[Space_Cadet]

Finally got a response from TPTB regarding Worlds.

The first response was based on confusing WARS with Star Trek. No alternate publisher for Trek.

The second response was generated because Decipher has cancelled the original order for the book due to the situation with Paramount/Viacom. Once that's cleared up, the order will be resolicited.

Scott also mentioned they are looking into softcover books, so the MSRP may change as well.

Doug,

A couple of question...

1. Off Topic: I was wondering if WARS is using d20 or Coda system for their RPG?

2. What does MSRP stand for?

[Ezri's Toy]

Finally got a response from TPTB regarding Worlds.

The first response was based on confusing WARS with Star Trek. No alternate publisher for Trek.

The second response was generated because Decipher has cancelled the original order for the book due to the situation with Paramount/Viacom. Once that's cleared up, the order will be resolicited.

Scott also mentioned they are looking into softcover books, so the MSRP may change as well.

Ach! Now I'm just fatigued and confused over the whole thing! Maybe I should just click my dice together three times and repeat: "There's no game like D&D. . .There's no game like D&D. . .There's no game like D&D. . .There's no game like D&D. . . There's no. . . ."

[Doug Burke]

So I ask this: How can we contribute when basically we are shown total apathy and ambivalence? How can we show that @$%#@@ company we want to help only to be told that if we don't play by their definition of nice we'll be censured?

By being constructive. Just yelling about how much the company sucks is not really contributing. It's just yelling.

As a mod here and on the Decipher boards, I can assure you I would have had the same response Maelwys did.

[Doug Burke]

1. Off Topic: I was wondering if WARS is using d20 or Coda system for their RPG?

Honestly, I have no idea. I haven't gotten any info on the game.

2. What does MSRP stand for?

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price.

[First of Two]

Very true...

Thinking of it now.. well... not my better moments...

Just getting tired of this 'dance.' Kinda over done.

Don't beat yourself up too badly.

While the placement of your post may have been somewhat inappropriate (still a debatable point, IMHO), it's not as if anything in it was untrue or didn't need saying. (And you said it in a much more civil manner than I considered when I first read that post.) I thought I understood it for what it was.

Indeed, I agree even with some of what others thought it implied. Quite frankly, I would try to discourage anybody I knew who was thinking about entering into any partnership or collaboration with Decipher at this point. At least, a complete refusal by supposed fans of the game to cooperate might bring Decipher's attention to the fact that something is very wrong in Gamerland. Or it might hasten their dropping of the line. In my opinion, either would be preferable to the long limbo we've been in.

My father, who taught for 30+ years, gave me one piece of advice when I was looking into the education field: No matter how dedicated, willing, and good a teacher you are, you cannot teach a rock.

To the Trek RPG consumer, Decipher has been a rock for more than a year now.
*Scans with tricorder*
Hm... detecting high levels of... Palladium.

Be constructive? The first step in construction is to lay the foundation. Without that, this house will not stand. But over the years, this foundation has crumbled. It cannot be built upon unless the debris is cleaned away and the breaks mended.

And that's not our job. It's Decipher's.