[Idea] Lets Do Our Own Con Campaign

[D.S.McBride]

Originally posted by Don Mappin
Where my opinion changes from the bulk of you (or maybe not) is that Coda Trek is already dead. Enterprise is on the way out, apparently the approval process at VCP is all messed up, and Trek -- as a whole -- just isn't in the mindset of consumers like it used to be. I've no doubt that the Trek books would recoup their production costs but I've seen nothing to say that Decipher thinks that way. They want to see CCG revenue numbers from their RPG lines. That just isn't going to happen. (And if it were, LotR is the only one to have a shot.)

It's very late and I've stayed up way past my bedtime (as usual) whiling away the hours with City of Heroes, but I have to say that this pretty much encapsulates my own take on the whole sordid mess. Star Trek - largely due to the actions of a couple of individuals whom I will not name here - has fallen into a doldrum period in the public's - and therefore the business community's - eyes. Too much of it? No; the market was triple-saturated with TNG, DS9, and VOY for a while, and nobody seemed to feel that the sky was falling back then. Of course, the overall quality level was considerably higher for a couple of those series than the one currently being nailed in the coffin, but we won't go there.

A similar situation that comes to mind is the movie industry back in '85; the Western, at that time, was popularly touted as an obsolete artform - you couldn't tell interesting stories with it anymore, and even if you could, no one would come to watch it. The conventional wisdom on this issue held firm...until a certain Mr. C. Eastwood came out that summer with Pale Rider, and block-long lineups were the result. Since then, the Western has had its good days and its bad...but it's never fallen into obscurity the way the studio executives were predicting it would. I have a feeling that a similar fate awaits Star Trek, including televised/cinema and RPG versions: after ENT's demise and B & B move on to greener pastures, it'll go underground for a while, and the pundits will cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and wonder "Whither Star Trek?", and finally someone will take it into their head to actually take a chance on telling a good story with this format, and the Phoenix will rise again. It may take several years, but as for the final result, I'd bet the farm on it.

It's very easy (or easier than for some) for me to write, since my gaming group and I only used DecipherTrek to fill in the blanks on what LUGTrek left unaddressed, but I believe that Don is pretty much right on the money with this: Creatures was the last hardcopy work we'll ever see from Decipher, and the poor scattering of on-line adventures the last, shoddy attempt made to maintain faith with the fans. If there are to be any other Trek RPG works - like another movie, or televised series - it'll be handled by people we've never heard of before, and given a treatment that differs about as strongly from Coda as Coda did from Icon.

That's it. Nighty-night.

[Cpt. Lundgren]

People (the fan community) like a good drama. We're the little guys who've been sitting around for the better part of a year for some news. We've been lied to, mislead at best, and ignored at least. Casting Decipher as the villain is a handy way of rallying the troops for the Good Life After Decipher (GLAD).

And we need to cast Decipher as the villain among the fan community? I thought they already had that role
But who would we rally with drama, and would we want the drama to continue here?

If nothing else, a good run at the convention would assure the fan base that no matter if Decipher abandon Trek RPG or not, it will not die. We might also manage to increase the fan base. After all, there is a lot of roleplayers who like to watch Trek.

Is there any chance that Decipher picks up the ball? Maybe, maybe not. But if not, it is the same work to increase the chance that someone else will pick it up, when Decipher no longer hold the license. As long prestige don't enter the equation, there will be more boats.

As I have never been to a gaming convention as the ones we are talking about here (this sounds like a trade fair, but about gaming?). What would we need, except the booth fee, to pull anything off?

[Don Mappin]

On the Decipher boards they announced the Trek adventures:

Trek RPG:

"Perdition's Flames" by Doug Burke and Don Mappin. The discovery of a rogue planet, a missing Federation starship, and an unstoppable creature that feeds on hatred and violence is the background for a roleplaying adventure that will challenge even the most experienced gamer!

"Pieces of You" by Dave Biggins. A maverick scientist conducts mysterious experiments while at Deep Space Nine, opening a dangerous portal into another realm. Can the players undo the damage before it's too late, or is something more sinister going on?

"The Crusoe Effect" by Dave Biggins. The crew of the U.S.S. Hood must rescue the castaways of an ill-fated runabout that crashed on a planet. Unfortunately, a primitive civilization lives on the planet, posing special restrictions on the crew. Can the crew locate and rescue the survivors while preserving the Prime Directive?

Yes, these are the same adventures from two and three years ago when I was running the Con demos!

To give you an idea of how old "The Crusoe Effect" is: it was a LUG adventure and was used during playtesting of Coda. It's over five years old. Is it that hard to write a Con adventure?

Sad.

[KillerWhale]

I remember the Crusoe Effect, it was... an ICON link (or whatever those "i" thingies were called)!!!

Don't YOU have the rights over these adventures?

Decipher sure boldly goes where noone has gone before.

[Taurik]

I'm planning on going to Origins...I'd love to do some Trek RPG there, time constraints notwithstanding. I had gotten a bunch of ICON stuff a while ago, but haven't gotten around to playing yet (no time or other players )

[spshu]

Well the deadlines have come and gone for Orgins (4/10) & GenCon Indy (4/11). I take it that we have not going forward with this for 2005. Unless we go to GenCon SoCal in November or try to use open gaming space (if any is available), we might as well start planning for 2006. On another note, I do not see any Trek RPG events run by Decipher yet.