I don't get it..

[Major Rakal]

I'm pretty new to Decipher's Star Trek RPG, and I don't know much about it. Here on the boards I've seen indications that Decipher has gave up on Star Trek, but has there been anything official... I would really like to know if they really have gave up, and if yes, why?

[Rayaru]

No they have not given up yet.

[D.S.McBride]

First of all, welcome to the boards, Rakal.

Second, and with regard to the state of the Decipher RPG at present, I guess the best summation I can give is, "On Hold". There are a pair of stickies (threads that stay at the top of the forum list regardless of how long it's been since someone posted on them) in the General Chat section that give a very detailed history of this sad chain of events; pretty much eveyone here started off with only the greatest of hopes for DecipherTrek, only to see them dashed against the rocks of administrative indifference and - yes, I'm going to dare to write it, since there's been no indication otherwise - incompetence.

There are roughly a half-dozen books that are pretty much ready to go at this point, but even if Decipher does decide to get on the stick and start releasing them, there's no "Horn of Plenty" as far as supplementary materials are concerned: once the well of in-waiting products is exhausted, that's going to be about it.

Decipher - after an unconscionable delay - has also started releasing downloadable adventures, the first of which was written by this site's own Don Mappin and the RPG Net Rep, Doug Burke. It can be found on Decipher's opening page - you'll need Adobe Acrobat 6.0 in order to read it.

Sorry for the rather pessimistic tone, but the last few months have been a series of unpleasantly hard knocks for the Trek RPG crowd, and especially Don Mappin, who was planning to bring this site into corporate sponsorship after funding it out of his own pocket for the last six years.

[Jesse Heinig]

Umm. IIRC, wasn't "Major Rakal" the handle used by one of the Decipherians a few years back, who was involved in the TCG?

Yes . . . check back archives, Design Log: Stardate 12.16.2002. Kathy McCracken.

[Major Rakal]

Originally posted by Jesse Heinig
Umm. IIRC, wasn't "Major Rakal" the handle used by one of the Decipherians a few years back, who was involved in the TCG?

The handle?? What do u mean?

Major Rakal was a Tal Shiar operative before she was killed and Deana Troi took her personality on "The Face of the Enemy"...

[D.S.McBride]

Jesse! Good to hear from you again; hope things are well.

Not to get too far off topic, but what have you been up to recently?

[Jesse Heinig]

Job huntin'. The RPG industry isn't what it used to be.

Jess.

Originally posted by D.S.McBride
Jesse! Good to hear from you again; hope things are well.

Not to get too far off topic, but what have you been up to recently?

[D.S.McBride]

My sincere condolences. I've been in similar boats before - although not quite as extreme as I perceive this one to be. I know this is a rough time for the field; God willing, there'll be a company out there in the very near future that recognizes your talent when they see it, and be prepared to do something about it.

Again, somewhat off the original topic - and please pardon me if this is too forward - but have you been in contact with any of the other ex-Decipher crew? If so, has it been a rough go all around, or have a few of them managed to find their niche in the last month or so?

[Jesse Heinig]

Matthew is doing quite well over at Pandemic. I'm not sure about Jesse Cassem. Kieran decided to take the offer to continue working for Decipher as an artist and moved back east (otherwise, he would've had to leave the country). Jeff Tidball I haven't heard from recently, but I expect this is giving him time to work on his screenplays!

Jess.

[Don Mappin]

Yea! Jesse stopped by!

Good to see you, man! If you check Jeff's blog (http://www.jefftidball.com) you can see what he's been up to. He's got a gig with FFG and is working on a script treatment.

Nice to hear that Kieran is still employed, even though it meant moving.

Best of luck...I'm sure something will turn up for you!

[Don Mappin]

FYI, a reverse lookup on Major Rakal places them in Bosnia. I'm pretty sure it's not Kathy.