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Thread: [News] Decipher RPG Product Lines Transferred

  1. #46
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    Angry

    oh...damnnation. I wonder who is going to handle the new group
    A brave little theory, and actually quite coherent for a system of five or seven dimensions -- if only we lived in one.

    Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "Now We Are Alone"

  2. #47
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    Re: Okay what will our generation do....

    Originally posted by 7 of 11
    When the old school LUG RPG went out, what did we do?

    7 of 11
    Amanda
    Some of us wrote the Cardassian book.
    Greg

    "The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had."
    Madworld, Donnie Darko.

  3. #48
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    Originally posted by Don Mappin
    So, another day of speculation!
    That's what we do best!
    Greg

    "The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had."
    Madworld, Donnie Darko.

  4. #49
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    Just when I found a RPG my wife likes play, Decipher had to pull this. Capt. Anderson is not a happy camper. Let's hope that Decipher releases what was contracted for last years release dates.
    The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them. -- Mark Twain

  5. #50
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    Just when I found a RPG my wife likes play, Decipher had to pull this. Capt. Anderson is not a happy camper. Let's hope that Decipher releases what was contracted for last years release dates
    I just hope Decipher makes a decision and then lets its fanbase know about it.

    I fear us languishing in an information vacuum for months only to find out that Decipher had made a decision from the start and not bothered to let us know about it.

    If Decipher does decide that RPG's aren't the moneymaker they thought they would be and cancel them, they should at least farm the rights out to another company... I mean they have two hot licenses, with almost 2 dozen manuscripts completed between them. Its something a lot of companies would like to get involved in.
    I love deadlines - I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by
    - The late Douglas Adams

  6. #51
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    Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
    The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them. -- Mark Twain

  7. #52
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    It seems strange to me that a company would take this step, and not release a reassuring statement to its fans and customers that the product is in no danger -- if that's the case.

    Change makes people nervous. Wise companies work to mitigate that to the degree they can.

    On the other hand, Decipher is closed-mouthed to a fault. So this may well just be business as usual.

  8. #53
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    Well, with the unfortunate dismissal of their entire left-coast RPG studio, Decipher will likely do one of several things, as others have intimated elsewhere (and here):

    1) Drop the game lines entirely and nothing "in the works" gets published. I really can't see this happening, but who knows.

    2) Sub-contract the games to another publisher and let them get on with it. (Is this even possible with the licenses? It would seem like a big legal rigmarole.)

    3) Continue to publish the game lines on a purely (or mostly) freelance basis. Freelance developers, writers, editors, and maybe in-house layout and graphic design? I think this is a sketchy area in long-term design issues, but it allows Decipher to continue to sell books, but at a reduced cost to the company.

    4) Publish the books "in the works" and then let the games die off. This seems like a waste of a valuable asset though, meaning the licenses to make Trek and LotR RPGs.

    I would think 2 or 3 are the most likely scenarios. But, hey, like everyone else, I'm just speculating. My admittidely erratic Ferengi business sense leads me to this conclusion, though.


    LQ
    Last edited by Liquidator Queeg; 01-27-2004 at 05:31 PM.
    Drunken DM and the Speak with Dead spell: "No, I'm not the limed-over skeleton of the abbot, and no this special key in my boney fingers does not open the door to the secret treasury! ... Oh crap."

  9. #54
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    Much depends on how the contracts for the licenses are written.

    It may be that they are still analyzing this, as part of an effort to determine a strategy.

    Certainly, if I licensed a property for development, to a group that made a pitch, I would expect that group to be responsible for the work. I'd certainly want to meet any substitute players, and depending on my evaluation, I might want to yank the license. I'd be surprised if there isn't language like that in the license agreement.

    Given that Trek's ratings are at a low ebb, and the fanbase is perceived (by Paramount) to be shrinking, I'd think they'll be very careful who gets to handle the property.

  10. #55
    Originally posted by Liquidator Queeg

    3) Continue to publish the game lines on a purely (or mostly) freelance basis. Freelance developers, writers, editors, and maybe in-house layout and graphic design? I think this is a sketchy area in long-term design issues, but it allows Decipher to continue to sell books, but at a reduced cost to the company.
    Though I'm extremely upset at seeing the RPG guys go, I think this is what will likely happen.

    As a comparison, WotC recently did an almost identical thing - laying off a great number of their full-time RPG studio staff (artists and writers) and turning most of their RPGs into entirely freelance-produced material.

  11. #56
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    Originally posted by Jason Durall

    As a comparison, WotC recently did an almost identical thing - laying off a great number of their full-time RPG studio staff (artists and writers) and turning most of their RPGs into entirely freelance-produced material.
    Actually, many other game companies have use the same business formula, or at least use freelanced authors from the beginning, such as Steve Jackson Games and their GURP lines.

    As for former TSR/Wizards employees, some have found work in other d20 publishing companies, such as Chris Pramas' Green Ronin Publishing, Monte Cook's Malhavoc Press, Jim Ward's Fast Forward Games, etc. Then there are others who formed their own d20 companies, such as The Game Mechanics (JD Wiker, Rich Redman, Stan!, and one other formed after last year's layoff) and the three companies I've mentioned.
    Anyhoo, just some random thoughts...

    "My philosophy is 'you don't need me to tell you how to play -- I'll just provide some rules and ideas to use and get out of your way.'"
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  12. #57
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    Sub-contract the games to another publisher and let them get on with it. (Is this even possible with the licenses? It would seem like a big legal rigmarole.)
    It depends. It seems like most rights are bundled together - you tend to see CCG's and RPGs lumped together in licensing agreements. Wizards consolidating Star Wars, Decipher consolodating Star Trek, Score getting the Buffy and Angel licenses for instance all involved the CCG and RPG rights.

    Now the only other example I have is Score, which is a Card company. It had no intention of making RPGs but didn't want the RPG rights to go to waste. So it sublicensed the game to Eden, who produced the RPG. I expect Score got a cut of the action.

    The only difficulty was when Score cancelled its agreement with Fox when it canned the Buffy and Angel CCGs. That required Eden to make a new agreement with Fox for the RPG rights.

    The big question is does the license allow sub-licensing. Honestly, I don't think there would an anti-sublicense clause in most of these agreements. Vicom wouldn't care who made the books as long as 1) if followed its guidelines, 2) they had the proper approvals, and 3) it got its licensing fees. I expect there may be some veto rights (to give Viacom some legal say in how the sublicense is used) but I wouldn't expect the contract to be so strict that sublicensing is totally out of the question.
    I love deadlines - I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by
    - The late Douglas Adams

  13. #58
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    Originally posted by prophetsteve
    The big question is does the license allow sub-licensing. Honestly, I don't think there would an anti-sublicense clause in most of these agreements. Vicom wouldn't care who made the books as long as 1) if followed its guidelines, 2) they had the proper approvals, and 3) it got its licensing fees. I expect there may be some veto rights (to give Viacom some legal say in how the sublicense is used) but I wouldn't expect the contract to be so strict that sublicensing is totally out of the question.
    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.
    "The American Eagle needs both a right wing and a left wing in order to fly."
    -paraphrase of Bill Moyers

  14. #59
    Originally posted by prophetsteve
    The big question is does the license allow sub-licensing. Honestly, I don't think there would an anti-sublicense clause in most of these agreements. Vicom wouldn't care who made the books as long as 1) if followed its guidelines, 2) they had the proper approvals, and 3) it got its licensing fees. I expect there may be some veto rights (to give Viacom some legal say in how the sublicense is used) but I wouldn't expect the contract to be so strict that sublicensing is totally out of the question.
    Matt Colville mentioned on rpg.net that Decipher had been shopping the rights to subcontract the LotR RPG out when he was studio head, which was months before the studio closure, so this would indicate that there is no particular barrier to a sublicense/subcontract situation.

  15. #60
    On the subject of licences:

    "Decipher still has all the licenses it had last week. They didn't announce that they were canceling the lines, which is what makes me think they're going to take the dozen+ books they had finished, and print them."

    M. Colville
    (from rpg.net)

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