Necromancer Games-update by Orcus

Coldwyn · Jun 19, 2009

That´s sad news and in more than one way.
I always liked Necro Adventures and the later mini-campaigns. That was what I was missing from WotC and to which Necro catered - good adventures. And that´s still missing.

That aside, I never cared for their rule books (Tome of Horror series, etc.) and was never into the whole 1st edition feel thing.

In my opinion, two things threw Necro out of the field: The fact that Orcus is a lawyer and seemingly understood the GSL better than the competition (or gave it more thought) and the retro-focus, quite evident in their boards and projects like 4E classic. The GSL thing can´t be helped, but what about the latter?

AlleisterH mentioned the CB, but why would this be an issue when it comes down to adventures w/o any stuff for the players?

Dark Mistress · Jun 19, 2009

carmachu said:
While supporting pathfinder is great, hell its the path I choose, it doesnt really help the 4e fans that waited patiently for them. That doesnt help them.

I was just pointing out as a company they had a backup plan from a business point of view.

Things were pretty tight back in 2001/2002 around. Hobbies tend to be inelastic(there's a discussion over in GW lands about that) as the hobby stretches your entertainnment budget- so long as you get off the constant buying wagon.

Didn't say it was not tight then but the economy does have a impact on what people are buying and how much right now. Thats all i was saying is it was ONE of the factors involved.

Someone pointed something out elsewhere-even before 4e announcement they were slowing down. Have you looked at their upcomiong product page? The first few entries have an assigned release date of Sep 2006 (Shades of Grey, Mother of All Treasure Tables, and Tower of Jhedovar). I thought the last was released already? The next set includes a bunch of "To be announced" and others from 2006-2007. Nothing with a release date from 2008 forward.

All three was released as was City of Brass the last product came out I believe summer of 07 from them(not sure the exact time). Which will mean they have not had a product in 2 years now.

JeffB · Jun 19, 2009

After seeing the absolute mess that was the "4E classic" discussions and virtually no direction or input from the Necro crew themselves, I gave up on that ever seeing the light of day, and mostly dropped off from posting there re: 4E- but I was still hopeful for some good 'ol Necro modules for 4E.

Although I'm not surprised by his post, I am disappointed with Clark's decision (or perhaps another "lack of decision"). All the back and forth back BS for months about the GSL, and then the changes are made yay... all the cheerleading yayy and these are the products we are gonna do yayy, and now...pretty much nothing-just like before. While I understand he has to make the best decision business-wise for himself, a bunch of times I found myself thinking "OK Clark, just

, or get off the pot".

Goodman has been getting my 4E money, will continue to do so, and I'm glad Joe took the ball and ran with it- GG is putting out some great stuff for ALL the editions.

Dire Bare · Jun 19, 2009

carmachu said:
While supporting pathfinder is great, hell its the path I choose, it doesnt really help the 4e fans that waited patiently for them. That doesnt help them.

Poor 4e fans, no one to "help" them other than Mr. Goodman.

You make it sound like Necromancer failed in their responsibility to the fans, to provide us with product. While I would love to see Necromancer do 4e stuff (and I would buy it), and I sympathize with Clark's position, I find it ridiculous to "blame" him for "failing" or for not "helping" me out. Jeesh!

Fan entitlement and the disdain some fans seem to dredge up for creators who don't do things the "right" way (i.e. the complainer's way) never ceases to boggle me. Clark has no responsibility to anyone but himself and his partners at Necromancer. If he makes good stuff, awesome, I'll buy it. If he doesn't, I'll be disappointed, but won't feel the need to "dance on his grave" and mock the "delicious irony".

thecasualoblivion · Jun 19, 2009

Dire Bare said:
Poor 4e fans, no one to "help" them other than Mr. Goodman.

You make it sound like Necromancer failed in their responsibility to the fans, to provide us with product. While I would love to see Necromancer do 4e stuff (and I would buy it), and I sympathize with Clark's position, I find it ridiculous to "blame" him for "failing" or for not "helping" me out. Jeesh!

Fan entitlement and the disdain some fans seem to dredge up for creators who don't do things the "right" way (i.e. the complainer's way) never ceases to boggle me. Clark has no responsibility to anyone but himself and his partners at Necromancer. If he makes good stuff, awesome, I'll buy it. If he doesn't, I'll be disappointed, but won't feel the need to "dance on his grave" and mock the "delicious irony".

So, 3E fans are more deserving of 3pp support than 4E fans?

Twowolves · Jun 19, 2009

Coldwyn said:
That aside, I never cared for their rule books (Tome of Horror series, etc.) and was never into the whole 1st edition feel thing.

In my opinion, two things threw Necro out of the field: The fact that Orcus is a lawyer and seemingly understood the GSL better than the competition (or gave it more thought) and the retro-focus, quite evident in their boards and projects like 4E classic. The GSL thing can´t be helped, but what about the latter?

See, the "retro" feel was a MAJOR appeal to me back in the early days of 3rd ed ("3rd ed rules, 1st ed feel!"). You can't target some groups without alientating some others. It's hardly fair to cite their direction in regards to the flavor of their products when A) that's what they like in their own games and B) that was the target niche to whom they were marketing.

Sunderstone · Jun 19, 2009

Meh, I think Necro just wanted to jump out of the 4E gates with AAA titles (imho) like Eamonvale Incursion and Slumbering Tsar and hit the ground running. The GSL screwed that, and maybe thats what took the sails out of Necro.

Regardless, as people have stated NG hasnt put out anything in a long time and its run more as a side job than an actual 3PP like Goodman.

On a tangent-Goodman is hopefully going to be re-releasing the older stuff on PDFs again soon. Makes me kind of curious about how well their 4E stuff is selling, im probably reading too much into that though.

Remathilis · Jun 19, 2009

Sunderstone said:
On a tangent-Goodman is hopefully going to be re-releasing the older stuff on PDFs again soon. Makes me kind of curious about how well their 4E stuff is selling, im probably reading too much into that though.

I think you are. Since all they are doing is re-releasing their old DCCs (with corrections and necessary edits to make them OGL rather than d20) its pretty much a few weeks work for some easy money.

If they start making new 3.5/Pathfinder related material though, then I can officially believe their something to this "4e isn't selling" conspiracy...

rounser · Jun 19, 2009

I don't think there is anybody, including anybody from WotC, who would try to argue that they didn't seriously drop the ball when it comes to the GSL.

Why? Didn't 3rd party stuff glut the market and the lack of quality control from some 3PPs damage the brand? Orcus even implies that there's not much appetite for it from distributors and retailers. In light of that, maybe the GSL is working as intended i.e. WOTC not forfeiting control over the latest edition under the D&D brand.

I'm A Banana · Jun 19, 2009

Booooooooooooo. I was hoping to get my paws on a lot of good Necro stuff to shoehorn 4e into more of a game that I'm excited for (I play it and enjoy it well enough now, but it's kind of perfunctory).

Ah, well. I'll keep up with what they're doing for Pathfinder.

It's very frustrating when the lawyers get in the way of a good product.

Still, I'd take this as an opportunity to get a handle on the online market. The publishing industry is going through a shake-up, so now is the time to get wildly experimental, throw everything at the wall, and see what sticks.

I'll take those 4e Necro PDF's, and I'll use the heck out of 'em. Use 'em, abuse 'em, etc.