[News] Decipher RPG Product Lines Transferred

[Hugh Casey]

I gots me some friends in Philly might be able to help... they work for the... uh... Unions... yeah, that's it...



Seriously, let us know if you need us.

[TFVanguard]

I think there would be an anti-sub-contracting clause out there. . . especially for Star Trek. The only reason the Star Fleet Battles universe exists , and material is still published for it, is because of a legal screw up with the licensing deal with Franz Joseph Designs for the Star Fleet Technical Manual.

More like, "Wow, you want to do a book on a dead TV show? Okay, you just do that, I'm going to go pitch these other shows I've been working on..."

Remember the time frame, Star Trek had a niche following, but it wasn't a huge license yet. So Franz Joseph got a very easy deal due to the timing, and that begat SFB.

Probably one reason it was such a craw in the side when Gene Roddenbery was pitching and then drafting TNG. There was this 'fan Trek' out there that was no longer his.

As for the point, I would imagine that there's a 'no sublet' clause involved. Any sub-licensee would have to go to Viacom directly, else you run into a 'sub-licensor' reseller problem.

[tonyg]

So true TFV,

Back in the early 70s, not only did Franz Joseph get a good deal on TREK, but so could anyone else. Paramount didn't want the property (they offered to sell it to Roddenberry, but he just didn't have the cash).

Rumor has it that Gene himself was selling off props and copies of props through ads in SF magazines.

Star Trek was considered a failed, dead TV series---until it went into syndication.

[bpi_jonathan]

Remember the time frame, Star Trek had a niche following, but it wasn't a huge license yet. So Franz Joseph got a very easy deal due to the timing, and that begat SFB.

While it doesnt solve the problem with the Trek game Decipher is or is not putting out now, Prime Directive is also being released in a d20 and a d6 version this year.

[REG]

While it doesnt solve the problem with the Trek game Decipher is or is not putting out now, Prime Directive is also being released in a d20 and a d6 version this year.

Yeah, but you need to put out more than just a core game product and a line of supplements/accessories. We need adventures (plural) to help gamers start off.

BTW, I'm looking forward to your work, with a pinch of caution.

[Owen E Oulton]

We need adventures (plural) to help gamers start off.

This is not a Decipher-specific problem, it's industry-wide. Unfortunately, about a decade ago games publishers decided that adventures don't sell. None of the major games publishers issue much in the way of adventure materials these days. LUG, f'rinstance, published only 3 adventure-related books, one of which was a mini-campaign (A Fragile Peace, The Neutral Zone Campaign Volume 1), with the other two being general books on specific type of adventures (Planetary Adventures, Volume 1: Federation Space and Holodeck Adventures).

Back when I got into gaming (1980), the idea was that people would buy the rule-book(s) and a few sourcebooks, and then buy a lot of much less expensive adventures on a more-or-less regular basis. Now, with the new paradigm, with no adventures available, companies expect you to pay ever-more expensive prices for multiple editions of the rules, and more-and-more highly specialised sourcebooks which you simply MUST have... I think the industry as a whole must reevaluate its current marketing model and seriously consider going back to the older model.

[REG]

I think the industry as a whole must reevaluate its current marketing model and seriously consider going back to the older model.

The problem is, back in the old days, when we were so novice about the new games, we were pretty open-minded about the adventures given out.

Now, we tend to be very picky and finicky about the content in the adventures ... about as finicky as watching a Braga-written episode. Heck, I'm finicky about which movies I'm willing to pay them high-priced matinee tickets.

So, should they treat adventures as promotional tools that they're willing to eat up their loss like they spend on advertising, OR valid game products to make a profit on? And which of the two would motivate an adventure designer to go all-out creative?

[bpi_jonathan]

Yeah, but you need to put out more than just a core game product and a line of supplements/accessories. We need adventures (plural) to help gamers start off.

I am not saying there is not a need for supporting adventures (because on occasion you just don’t want to make something up), but I am not the guy to write them. I don’t believe there will be a problem with someone that follows ADBs submission guidelines soliciting adventure outlines and if they are accepted the actual manuscript is turned in on time. Of course I don’t make the final decisions on that. I am adapting the introductory adventure that is found in the back of GURPS Prime Directive called "Rescue on Roon" to d20 for the core PD20 book.

With all that said, I am not big into published adventures since I haven’t bought an adventure for a game in nearly 20 years, anything I run comes out of the material I write, or if I used a published adventure its one that I had bought a long time ago (its amazing how many people in my gaming group never played any of the 1e adventure modules that were printed). In the PD20 game I am currently running I adapted the adventures from the FASA Star Trek game published about 20 years ago. If you have any of those, those adventures work great and contain the correct "feel" for Star Trek adventures.

[Space_Cadet]

So, if i'm not mistaken, PD is basically centered around the TOS era, correct?

[Mac417]

Basically, yeah. Continues on as an unofficial expansion of the Trek universe, ignoring everything that occurred after TOS (the cartoon, the movies, the other shows, etc.).

[Space_Cadet]

That sucks.

[bpi_jonathan]

Basically, yeah. Continues on as an unofficial expansion of the Trek universe, ignoring everything that occurred after TOS (the cartoon, the movies, the other shows, etc.).

The ADB license covers TOS and TAS, ignoring anything afterwards.

[Jem'hadar]

We need adventures (plural) to help gamers start off.

I agree. I certainly like supplementary sourcebooks to flesh out the "universe" of any RPG setting, but as a GM, I generally find published adventures to be more useful for my money.

In fact, I remember when adventures used to contain supplementary info. so that as you played the adventures, you learned more about the setting.

I do have ideas for my own adventures, but rarely have time to write those ideas down. That is why published scenarios are more useful to me personally. If I don't like something about a published scenario, I change it or modify it as necessary.

Personally, I would prefer an RPG setting to have just the basic books, a few supplementary/optional sourcebooks a year, and new adventures every month. But that doesn't seem to be the way the industry currently publishes.

[Owen E Oulton]

Originally Posted by Owen E Oulton
We need adventures (plural) to help gamers start off.

Well, actually I was merely quoting Reg, but I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment.

In fact, I remember when adventures used to contain supplementary info. so that as you played the adventures, you learned more about the setting.

My idea of the perfect adventure book is essentially similar to the original Classic Traveller LBB adventures. Softcover, saddle-stapled, no interior colour (or spot-colour only), with a minimum of artwork required (mostly maps, equipment diagrammes and character illos), at a reasonable price. Keep ths costs down to maximise the number of purchases. Adventures do not need to be hardbound glossy colour books - neither do Core books or supplements, but especially adventures. What they do need to be is well-written and well thought out.

[REG]

That sucks.

That's Star Fleet Battles universe.

Honestly, I'm glad Paramount didn't shut it down.