WotCs Other properties that could go on the DMsGuild.

[darjr]

The question about PDFs in DMsGuild and things like Alternity has me wondering what else can WotC out up? What have they taken down that hasn’t gone up yet? Was Alternity ever on Drive Thru?

I believe WotC, though TSR purchases and WitC purchases of other companies and IP also have ownership of think like Dragonlords. Depending upon the price I’d buy many of those PDFs just to see them now. What else does WotC own they could put up?

Yup. It's been 14 years since they made that cruddy decision about PDFs, and they've completely changed their approach to that issue.

The OGL continues to allow the wonderful renaissance of third party publications for D&D we've seen for the past decade and longer. WotC's explicit support for publication platforms like DTRPG actively supports it further.

WotC keeps making more and more older books available for sale in PDF or Print on Demand formats. What appears to be the main hangup is just getting high-enough quality scans created and uploaded over time. It's not a huge profit source AFAIK and they're not massively overstaffed, so this is a gradual process. But folks who've had the old PDFs and compared to the newer ones have attested to the generally higher quality and clearer scans.

I can absolutely understand the original anger about what they did back in 2008, but they've definitely changed policy since then, for the better.

 

[Mannahnin]

Good questions! I'm curious too.

 

[darjr]

SPI had Dragon Quest and Universe. Both of witch I’d like a look at.

I’ve heard Dragon Quest is super crunchy, was it the game with division?

Universe was a Traveller clone? Is that right?

 

[Nikosandros]

Mythus used to be available (I'm positive about the rules and the magic book, not sure about the others) before the takedown.

 

[darjr]

Avalon Hill had Lords of Creation by Tom Moldvay, right?

I know Victory Games James Bond is probably a no go same with Rune Quest. (WotC doesn’t own the IP).

 

[darjr]

Avalon Hill had Powers and Perils. I’ve always wanted to look at that, skill based fantasy with magic points supported by AH in house magazine.

 

[TerraDave]

Avalon Hill had Lords of Creation my Tom Moldvay, right?

I know Victory Games James Bond is probably a no go same with Rune Quest. (WotC doesn’t own the IP).

Some Avalon Hill stuff got sold or licensed to others (Squad Leader must apparently always be in print) but I really have no idea what.

And then there is the licensed products. James Bond, Wheel of Time, Star Wars of course, but what I would love to see and won't is MARVEL.

I guess you can find, if you are willing to pay.

 

[JEB]

And then there is the licensed products. James Bond, Wheel of Time, Star Wars of course, but what I would love to see and won't is MARVEL.

I could see a remote possibility for Wheel of Time or even Bond, if Wizards was willing to try (though I'm skeptical they would). But Star Wars and Marvel both have RPGs being published by Wizards competitors, so the chances there seem to be less than zero. (And Marvel's new RPG is being published by Marvel itself...)

 

[JEB]

I really wish Alternity (the original) would find its way onto DTRPG. The Dark*Matter setting especially was one of my favorites, as was the Tangents sourcebook (on alternate timelines). A quick look at Internet Archive versions of the DTRPG site suggests it wasn't ever on there, surprisingly, but obviously I can't search there very well...

I'd also to see is the complete runs of Dragon, Dungeon, Polyhedron, and particularly Imagine magazine, but...

• Paizo still owns the PDF rights to the 3E Dragon and Dungeon issues. Somehow.
• They did start to post issues of Polyhedron, but seem to have stopped - possibly because one issue they posted, and removed, had Marvel material.
• In fact, a lot of TSR magazines contain material from other RPGs and various other creative properties, which presumably makes them a litigation landmine. They did include that material in the Dragon Magazine Archive way back when... and got famously sued by Kenzer over it.
• I also have no idea who owns Imagine's rights now, which could be a further complication.

 

[TerraDave]

I could see a remote possibility for Wheel of Time or even Bond, if Wizards was willing to try (though I'm skeptical they would). But Star Wars and Marvel both have RPGs being published by Wizards competitors, so the chances there seem to be less than zero. (And Marvel's new RPG is being published by Marvel itself...)

Sadly, agreed. Another one is FASA Star Trek, though at least used copies are a little easier to find.