How is Palladium doing?

[Ottergame]

Why the heck don't Palladium bring out d20 versions of their material!? They would make a fortune. Are you guys worried that if you have Rifts d20 you might lose some players from Rifts? Even if that was the case, surely the sales increase of one would far outweigh the decrease of the other.[/B]

Their IP laywers supposedly hold the belief that if they publish anything under the OGL, they will lose the rights of their IP.

I think a bigger part of is that if they publish converted material, they will lose players from their in house system, and they very much want to keep control of their in-house system fans. The people who leave rarely come back.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think a bigger part of is that if they publish converted material, they will lose players from their in house system, and they very much want to keep control of their in-house system fans.

Solution: Publish the books with the same fluff and dual-stat it for Palladium and WhateverSystem, especially if you have a Palladium/WhateverSystem conversion appendix.

Possible side benefit- people who only play WhateverSystem may buy Palladium back catalog because of the fluff.

 

[Owen K.C. Stephens]

Palladium has always provided me with what I need most, cool ideas, at price points and production qualities I found very satisfying. I have played in Palladium games I enjoyed greatly using their rules, homebrews based on their rules, HERO rules, and d20 rules.

I often wonder if part of their popularity is that the style of gamer who gets the most out of their worlds and setting is generally the type of gamer who likes their rules. While I have always enjoyed the idea of a d20 version of Rifts or Palladium Fantasy, I wonder if those would fail to catch on because their core customer might actually be people who prefer the mechanics as written.

And, of course, I'm sure a lot of existing Palladium fans would have strong opinions about a d20 Rifts that might breed ill-will.

Regardless, I'm always pulling for them even as I'm wondering if they're leaving money on the table or if they know more about their decades-old business and customers than I do.

 

[Kafkonia]

One thing that puzzles me is how almost every book has "by Kevin Siembieda" on the front. Does he actually write all these books? I'll admit, this has dissuaded me from picking up a few, simply because I feel that quality control might be a bit lax when the publisher is also the author.

 

[Felon]

Me too. About 2/3 of my Palladium collection and the "collectible" poster sketch was bought because I wanted to support the company.

Of course, then I lost my job so I can't do much of that for awhile.

Sorry about the job loss. I've been there.

But seriously, next time you got some cash to burn, send some to UNICEF or some other deserving charity. Let Kevin sell off his U-boat and a few other of his assets to keep Palladium afloat...or, more likely, stiff a few more of his freelance contributors.

I think RIFTS is such a cool setting that it makes sliced bread look like crap, but in the long run the best thing for Palladium would be for Siembeda to go bankrupt. He's been in dire need of a reality-check for a while now.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I know he had several writers involved at different times, some of which publicly stated that the working relationship ended when KS yo-yo managed. Worse, that information often made its way into books. I had a copy of the Palladium Manhunter. It was an awesome setting, lots of flavor, excellent in execution. The book was, iirc, "presented by Kevin Siembada" with others listed as the authors.

Turns out Manhunter had been published before with their own mechanics but it hadn't done so well. I don't know if it was because the mechanics blew or if it was Myrmidon Press's first book. Either way, Palladium (aka KS) had decided it was worth adding to their line.

However KS felt the need to discuss in the foreword how he took this dirty little jewel in the rough and polished into into something worth having. (Paraphrased, I've loaned the book out.) That's just not kosher IMO. If Manhunter was good enough to license, it was good enough to license. No reason to complain about how much editing and polishing was needed.

Need I say that the only errors I noticed tended to be the ones in the Palladium mechanics, where Kevin probably had the most hand?

Palladium books have horrible editing, the art varies wildly between mind numbingly gorgeous and laughable, and according to at least one former writer, the books are still published using masters rather than anything digital. The reason all those thefts hurt was that it took the litho masters.

KS has managed to keep his baby going for several decades so he's not stupid but he is somewhat egomaniacal. KS knows the right way to do things and KS doesn't do anything wrong. He's like Steve Jobs, only less successful. From what I can tell he is pretty much identical to the Gary Jackson character from KoDT.

 

[Felon]

Kev seems to enjoy the same kind of slack that Rob Liefeld gets in the comic industry. In both cases, guys who have met them personally go on at length about what really, really, SWELL fellows they are. They were expecting obnoxious egomaniacs, but instead find them very warm and approachable. Logic takes a backseat when affection kicks in. How can anyone who's likable be truly deserving of criticism, much less misfortune?

So they defend them adamantly and uphold them as major talents in the industry. All those people saying bad things about are just bitter jerks. If you just got to know them you'd realize that none of that bad stuff said about them is true.

Man, if only you could bottle that kind of charisma...

 

[Gundark]

I'm definetly not a Palladium fan

However I would rather a Palladium be around, I think different companies staying afloat is a healthy thing.

That said they're core system needs some very LARGE overhauls. I don't know why the power(s) that be at Palladium still insist on living back in the 80s.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

That said they're core system needs some very LARGE overhauls. I don't know why the power(s) that be at Palladium still insist on living back in the 80s.

I dunno... Maybe because its his system, he wrote it, and he's happy with the way it is...?

I can live with or without the crunch portions of the Palladium products, but I find the fluff portions of those products to be invaluable. If 'living back in the 80s' is what it takes for me to get that material, then I'm all for it.

Later
silver

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Ah yes. TMNT. Probably my "entry drug" into the RPG world. I just loved making all sorts of mutant animals with the Bio-E system and with the Transdimensional TMNT you could do the same with dinosaurs!