TSR TSR5! A modest proposal. Paizo (or Modiphius or Free League) buys TSR, for a true rebirth

[Morrus]

Well, they would have to weigh that themselves.

I think the answer would be short. They're busy building their own brands, which are probably far more valuable at this stage than TSR, not rescuing tarnished brands from the past. it's like asking Ford to suddenly start making ice cream -- why, when they can make more cars?

 

[Dungeonosophy]

I was with you until you went and said: use their own system.

Nope. Those things would be awesome in some kind of wannabe retro-d20 system, but not 2d20 or Year Zero. They are great systems, but wayyyyy too complex if the idea was to create a nice throwback to TSR.

Both of Modiphius or Free League publish material of incredible quality, so I would be super stoked to see one of them publish retro-TTRPG stuff.

Well, I skipped the part where PF3 (or 2d20 2E, or Year Zero 2E) follows the trends of 2030-era "back to basics" TPRGs, and is designed to be a super simple game (no more complex than The Black Hack or MAZES), but which can modularly scale in complexity up to an "advanced" version

(It can be done. In fact, my own recently-designed Twelvefold Storytelling Organism is something like that....it's part of the rules that the baseline is freeform diceless, but that it can be scaled in complexity so that polyhedral dice are used. It's even part of the rules that one player (say, a newcomer to RPGs or a child) can be playing the Diceless Mode, while another player at the same table is playing the Polyhedral Mode.)

 

[Dungeonosophy]

I think the answer would be short. They're busy building their own brands, which are probably far more valuable at this stage than TSR, not rescuing tarnished brands from the past. it's like asking Ford to suddenly start making ice cream -- why, when they can make more cars?

Well, it's hard to argue. I'm not making a staunch case for this -- only a blue sky thought experiment.

 

[Parmandur]

Paizo already has a better brand name than TSR, why would they pay to downgrade?

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Paizo already has a better brand name than TSR, why would they pay to downgrade?

What companies would you say could use the name-recognition boost? Troll Lord Games comes to mind.

 

[billd91]

I'm content with letting it die, savaged by the complete mismanagement of the current attempt to sponge off the nostalgia. Besides, why should any of the chumps with their fingers in that pie (like LaNasa) be able to benefit from any company buying the trademark?

 

[monsmord]

IT'S TSRs ALL THE WAY DOWN.

 

[Parmandur]

What companies would you say could use the name-recognition boost? Troll Lord Games comes to mind.

At this point, it would be a downgrade for any company out there

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I think it would be utter folly, leaving aside the current catastrophe, WoTC continues to use the TSR trademark on reprints of TSR era on DMsGuild, so WoTC are, as far as I can tell, using that trademark in the TTRPG space.

As far I can see, this gives WoTC a string case to litigate against a competitor and why would any potential games company want the risk. Most of these companies have a brand as strong as TSR at this point in time.

Even, if (nu)TSR had not flamed out so spectacularly, even if they had a product, I would have been dubious on their choice of name.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Not sure why I feel so protective toward Free League, but even a whimsical thought experiment that includes them dipping a toe into this quagmire is disturbing. Whatever nostalgia some might feel when they hear "TSR," there was also a huge amount brand tax there, even before the recent disaster. Anecdotal, I know, but I would probably never buy anything TSR, whereas I'm rapidly becoming a Free League superfan, in part because their brand has none of those crusty old bits clinging to it.

Yeah, but imagine if Free League had picked up the TSR trademark a year or two ago, in cooperation with the Gygax mag folks. Instead of these sorry clowns. Before this quagmire unfolded.

It would be a total fit. I mean, Free League does tap into the 1980s suburban zeitgeist which TSR emanated on its better days. I mean, there were lots of good times through TSR. And some ugly marks. Including the most recent.

So yeah, I feel what you're saying. Yet, as a thought experiment, I'm whimsically picturing Free League deftly coming in and saying to Ernie and crew: "here's a few thousand bucks," let's put TSR3, TSR3.5, and TSR4 to rest, make amends for all the marks which have been done in its name, let's heal the hurts, and let's wait a year, and then launch: Free League's Worlds of TSR Kickstarter.

Where Free League launches a new streamlined fantasy RPG house system, with a total 1980s "Tales from the Loop meets Stranger Things meets Larry Elmore" aesthetic. And setting-wise, begins to actively acquire old school IPs from ye ol' TSR designers, artists, and novelists, bringing them into a shared Free League "TSR Multiverse."

C'mon that'd be cool.