[News] Decipher RPG Product Lines Transferred

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by REG
Consider yourself lucky. Who knows when another RPG publisher is going to get the license from the Herbert Estate.

Might be sooner than you think, REG.

[D.S.McBride]

Now, stating that without offering any further explanation is just plain mean. Details should be forthcoming or I'm going to have that painbox and the gom jabbar standing by...

[jened]

signs of life from decipher:
http://forum.trek-rpg.net/showthread...&threadid=9835

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by D.S.McBride
Now, stating that without offering any further explanation is just plain mean. Details should be forthcoming or I'm going to have that painbox and the gom jabbar standing by...

Discussions go on in private industry circles that are poor form to reveal in public. Ensuring that those private discussions stay in private is what allows the discussion to take part in the first place. Suffice it to say that, since LUG/Wizards lost the license, I know that a handful of parties have shown interest to the Herbert Estate.

You really think no one is looking now, or will be in the future?

[REG]

Originally posted by Don Mappin

Might be sooner than you think, REG.

Well, considering that I have counted over 3 years -- about 38 months and one day -- what's taking them so long?

[Lowly Uhlan]

I would love a new Dune RPG but to the topic...

When Decipher announced the closing of the RPG Studio I was really, really pissed. CODA is the best-ever RP system and Trek is without a doubt my favorite RPG. I felt like I was being dumped on. I've chilled since then and the release of the online adventures seems like an attempt to whet the appetite of we who want the line to continue. I'm hoping for a release of the books that have been written, additional books after that would be great but I won't hold my breath for that one. I hope I'm not being too optimistic about new books being published. It's hard to have faith in anything that Decipher says though, considering their track record.

But hey, here's a thread from the Mongoose boards about a Dune RPG. Mongoose did a great job with Conan using OGL and a (highly modified) version of those rules would work. They have some good talent over there.







http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/ph...pic.php?t=1212

[REG]

Personally, Mongoose Publishing is taking on way too many license products that how they maintain them all is beyond me. I'm not saying it is a bad thing, but I hope they do not overextend themselves. They still have the Joe Dever/Kai Lord product to be released hopefully this year, and most recently acquired the right to publishe Paranoia XP, apparently it will be their first non-d20/SRD/OGL product.

If UK-based Mongoose get any bigger, they could acquire Decipher for their CCG venture.

[Lowly Uhlan]

And they are taking on more. Starship Troopers later this year as both a non-D20 RPG and as a minis game. It's supposedly really hard to make money off of licensed properties, I don't know how they do it. And they keep up a decent release schedule.

[D.S.McBride]

I don't know if this qualifies as a "non-event", or how others may interpret it, but the Decipher Trek products page has been "updated". While Worlds is still there, and listed as coming out in August '03 (?), all other books - Glass Darkly, Blood and Honor, Peacekeepers, and of course, the Limited Edition - have been excised.

I don't know if a further update is in the works - i.e., with a new, amended release schedule for the above-named books - or if Decipher has decided that Worlds is going to hit the shelves - sometime - and that's going to be about it for DecipherTrek.

[Ineti]

I wouldn't put too much stock in it. The LOTR RPG book Helm's Deep has been on the order page for months, and that doesn't appear to be coming out anytime soon.

[D.S.McBride]

Quick addendum: Worlds has been changed from August '03 to the ever-popular "TBA". I guess somebody realized that the office coffee was decaf and switched it back to regular before the end of business hours.

[Don Mappin]

Some not so new information:

• At GAMA, the industry trade show, Gaming Report says that Decipher towed the official line again: "The question of the status of the RPG division did come up. At this time there is no official word on the status. No firm comment on if the RPG lines will return in print and continue, or if they will end and no longer be supported. They did say they are looking hard at this part of their business to make a determination in the next few months on the direction it is to take."
• I've had communications with two high-placed Decipher directors regarding the RPG lines. At this time there really appears to be no new news to report.

I suspect they're still considering their options and/or shopping the line around. I'd wager they're focusing more on an exit strategy than a long-term business plan. I'll refrain from speculating any further until there's more information to be had.

[Phantom]

Is Decipher now part of the Government? Because they are getting real good at talking, but not saying anything.

[joeman]

Originally posted by Phantom
Is Decipher now part of the Government? Because they are getting real good at talking, but not saying anything.

Marketing and politics are sometimes horribly similar.

[Balok]

Originally posted by joeman
Marketing and politics are sometimes horribly similar.

They're exactly the same. Politics is all about selling your ideas, especially the bad ones, to people who have more sense most of the time.