Wizards of the Coast/Kenzer & Company License Agreements Expiring

[Jolly_Blackburn]

One question (ok maybe several):

I recently (April timeframe) purchased a bunch of the available KoK pdf and print products available on the Kenzer site. While I like print products, pdf are more convenient for me.

I inquired as to whether the non-pdf KoK products would be offered as pdf. Kenzer's Art Director/Editor/Writer/Convention Manager (won't mention his name unless its ok to do so) stated that there were no plans to do so in the "near future (emphasis mine). Does this mean that they *will* be offered as pdf after the license expires?

KoK products after the license expires won't have the logo. I assume they will be OGL-only when it comes to using anything from "core" D&D? If so, what happens if/when D&D goes to 4th edition (I am assuming 4e will be similar to SWSE)? Will Kenzer be able to offer a "converstion" document without getting into problems with WotC?

Questions for our in-house legal dude I'm afraid.

Our policy has always been to sell through printed inventory before offering a pdf version.
When the license expires we'll probably be looking at going over our KOK product line and deciding what we can offer as pdfs. The beauty of pdfs of course is that we can remove logos and material not in the OGL. (as well as add new material to it).

But that's not my department.

Can speak about the conversion document for 4E. Guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

[Jolly_Blackburn]

Will your wild west game be out for Gen Con?

Already out. (about a month now).

It's real 'iffy' at this point if we'll still have copies at GenCon. We seriously underestimated demand for it.

The book is moving fast and we're at the point a reprint is order.

I can tell you for sure a few days before GenCon if we'll have copies at the booth.

Either way we should have display copies for people to look at as well as demos.

 

[Jolly_Blackburn]

I'm guessing it made it easier to get product into FLGSes early on, which certainly helped sales. So while the D&D logo may not have sold you directly on any product, it probably had something to do with the product being there for you to buy.

Definitely. We have sold a LOT of Kalamar product the last seven years.
Nobody complaining here. And we've built a respectiable customer base.

While it would be nice if everyone appreciated our efforts the line has done well by us.

So it's all good.

 

[kenobi65]

Jolly,

What impact will this have on the Living Kingdoms of Kalamar RPGA campaign?

 

[Greylock]

This is a bummer. Played Hackmaster for the first time this year.

But if this means that you're going to have to throw all your money into Aces & Eights, then *sigh* I guess I'll just have to learn to live with that.

 

[Ranger REG]

So, does this mean the next evolution of Hackmaster will be powered by OSRIC?

 

[Mark CMG]

I've gotta say that the Kalamar Atlas is one beauty of a book and there was a lot of good buzz around Ace and Eights at the last gameday. I'm hoping to see a Deadwood tie in for A&8s someday. We really appreciated you guys setting up our little event with some sweet gaming goodness. Best of luck as you continue to move forward and keep raising the bar.

 

[Banshee16]

Personally, I think that will greatly diminish the D&D brand. I never bothered too much with KoK, but I understand that others did. And I do like Paizo's work. There's quality stuff in that circle that not only produces d20 material, but stuff that had the right to bear the D&D logo. A lot of this stuff was better than much of what Wizards put out themselves.

Yup....especially given their reticence to experiment to the degree 3rd party companies have, and the lack of options for campaign settings. It'll be interesting to see where things are in 5 years.

One thing I was thinking of.....what if pulling in all the licenses etc. *is* linked to 4E, but not in the way we think? What if they're pulling in the licenses etc. to reduce competition in the market, so they can "coast" for a few more years while they get ready for the launch of 4E? Maybe they're concerned that competition from D20 companies etc. will make it harder for them to turn profits until 4E is released?

Banshee

 

[Ranger REG]

One thing I was thinking of.....what if pulling in all the licenses etc. *is* linked to 4E, but not in the way we think? What if they're pulling in the licenses etc. to reduce competition in the market, so they can "coast" for a few more years while they get ready for the launch of 4E? Maybe they're concerned that competition from D20 companies etc. will make it harder for them to turn profits until 4E is released?

That's more than one thing.

Are you sure Kenzer & Co. tried to renew or extend the license with WotC? I mean, it could be that they're no longer interested in splitting their sales portion with WotC.

Throw in OSRIC, and they have an option.

 

[Nepenthe]

Are you sure Kenzer & Co. tried to renew or extend the license with WotC? I mean, it could be that they're no longer interested in splitting their sales portion with WotC.

I'm pretty sure the whole situation is explained by posts 6 and 12 in this thread...