General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
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Perhaps, the late great Gygax cut TLG too many slacks, or have gotten too personal with the company to overlook what they did to his Castle Zagyg franchise. If it is in Gail and Gygax estate's interest to find better professionals to license the franchise, then so be it.
TLG should consider this as a wake-up call to improve their own business model, IMHO. It should also be a wake-up call for all RPG industry despite hard economic times.
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As far as TLG goes, I find it a bit worrying that the most recent product of theirs I bought (StarSIEGE) looks less professional than the first I bought nearly 8 years ago (Lost City of Gaxmoor).
Honestly, I suspect part of the issue is that Castle Greyhawk (and pseudonyms) and other projects might not be as coherently set down as people would like to hope. certainly, Gygax's private use of game systems was far more off the cuff than what he published, and it seems likely to me that his own game material was in that vein too.
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Note - I'm not referring especially to this thread or the linked thread with regards to this:
I'm pretty disturbed by the attitude a lot of the fans have had to Gail since her husbands death. Frankly considering:
(a) How she has always seemed to be a decent person (I mean the ENWorld D&D game run by Gary - on their wedding anniversary!)
(b) It has been less than a year since her husband of many years passed away,
The accusations (explicit or otherwise) levelled at her following the removal of the Gygax Games IP from TLG has been unpleasant to witness.
As to why TLG lost the license? I don't think it's difficult to believe that the Trolls interesting release schedule had something to do with it....
What is (sort of) amusing, is that you would oftens see TLG fans defending the Trolls release schedule - normally on the basis of "when it's done, it's done" (CKG I'm looking at you). That approach now seems to have bitten them on the butt.
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Last edited by La Bete; 21st December 2008 at 01:55 PM..
Reason: cant spel
Unless there is an IP ownership dispute, people should leave her to do as she will. It certainly appears that she is doing what most fans would want anyway, which is getting things on track to be released in a proper and timely manner.
I'm finding these critiques of Mrs. Gygax a little hard to take. If Gary had wanted TLG to have exclusive rights to any of his IP he could easily have arranged that before his unfortunate passing. Gail Gygax has been Gary's loving and devoted wife for a very long time. For anyone to suggest that she has less right to decide what happens to Gary's possessions, including his gaming IP, than a bunch of guys he hung out with at conventions and published a few gaming books with is absolutely ludicrous. And the idea that a bunch of nameless internet fans have a right to know what arrangements Gary made with his wife for the disposition of his estate after his death is even more ridiculous.
Unless there is an IP ownership dispute, people should leave her to do as she will. It certainly appears that she is doing what most fans would want anyway, which is getting things on track to be released in a proper and timely manner.
Eh? I don't believe that's what most fans want. They want it released under the system that Gygax claimed was a near perfect fit for his vision no? I'm pretty sure there's a direct quote of Gygax saying something of that nature and why he went with C&C as opposed to his own game system no?
I'm taking a "wait-and-see" attitude on this one. Certainly Gail Gygax, in virtue of her standing as Gary's devoted wife and now bereaved widow, has earned a little slack. Few people could honestly claim to have been so devoted to Gary and facilitating Gary's pursuits.
On the other hand, I suppose I have become a bit cynical, especially over the past year. So if a simple answer is not forthcoming to a foundationally basic question like "What system is Castle Zagyg going to be released for" then I calculate about a 95% chance that the answer is going to be something miserable that totally POs the existing fans. Hopefully that's an unscientific and erroneous calculation. But my gut feeling is that if it were an answer I was going to like, I would have gotten that answer by now.
The worst case scenario is that Gygax Games releases CZ for LA in an ill-conceived attempt to circle the IP wagons, or for 4E under the tragically mistaken view that "Gary's slavish fans will buy it anyway, plus we'll score some of the new kids." Either way I think CZ would end up being a flop (I certainly wouldn't buy it, speaking purely for myself). I'd much rather it never be released than to have it mishandled... I'd rather always dream about how cool the Black Reservoir was than to see it and find it "meh".
Still, the fact remains that Gail Gygax absolutely has the right, and moreso than anybody else in this particular regard, to be considered "innocent until proven guilty", to borrow a somewhat inapposite phrase. Even those of us who are used to seeing Gary kicked around by practically everybody can rest assured, given her status and reputation, that Gail won't deliberately mishandle Gary's literary legacy.*
* - For those who flame first and comprehend later, I'm speaking of the "literary legacy" as a separate issue from the IP. The matter of the IP is totally cut-and-dried: it belongs to Gail Gygax and she can do whatever she wants with it. Obviously the whole discussion makes no sense without drawing that distinction.
__________________ "I despise all weavers of the black arts. Speaking of which, can you pass the gravy?"
Right now it might be smart if Gail has them publish the other works using as much of a system-neutral approach as possible, such as was done with the most recent "Wilderlands of High Fantasy". That way it is easily convertible, whatever your preference. I have a feeling it might use a new version of the Lejendary Adventures system.
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I'm finding these critiques of Mrs. Gygax a little hard to take. If Gary had wanted TLG to have exclusive rights to any of his IP he could easily have arranged that before his unfortunate passing. Gail Gygax has been Gary's loving and devoted wife for a very long time. For anyone to suggest that she has less right to decide what happens to Gary's possessions, including his gaming IP, than a bunch of guys he hung out with at conventions and published a few gaming books with is absolutely ludicrous. And the idea that a bunch of nameless internet fans have a right to know what arrangements Gary made with his wife for the disposition of his estate after his death is even more ridiculous.
You mirror my thoughts on the matter. I find the majority of the "discussion" borderline sickening. I usually get annoyed with some fan's sense of entitlement to other's creative properties in general, but to even hint that Gygax's widow might somehow "fail" at managing her husband's intellectual property . . . "get a life" doesn't even begin to cover it . . .
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Perhaps, the late great Gygax cut TLG too many slacks, or have gotten too personal with the company to overlook what they did to his Castle Zagyg franchise. If it is in Gail and Gygax estate's interest to find better professionals to license the franchise, then so be it.
TLG should consider this as a wake-up call to improve their own business model, IMHO. It should also be a wake-up call for all RPG industry despite hard economic times.
I would agree with you if they were moving to better/more experienced people, but they aren't. All Mongoose does is final layout and print it, then put it into distribution. The two guys she has gone two are far less experienced than TLG.
So I am betting that they will be slower than TLG ever was.
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