Arthaus reverts rights to Ravenloft and Gamma World back to Wotc

[Knight Otu]

And the D&D logo for Kingdoms of Kalamar. That's just a trademark, obviously, but it's relevant to the conspiricy theories.

The only time facts are relevant to conspiracy theories is when the facts support them. Otherwise, they're cover-ups, half-truths, or plain irrelevant.

BelenUmeria, I think you wanted to type Heroes of Horror instead of Tome of Horror. The latter is still with Necromancer Games, as far as I know.

 

[Buttercup]

Not just gaming shelves. More and more these days I'm encountering novels that, I feel, were never edited.

Amen, brother. The last three Harry Potter novels spring immediately to mind. These days major publishers don't seem to have the spine to edit blockbuster authors.

 

[Ruland]

I have long since given up on d20 gaming and started Storytelling system gaming, but I did not do so because of the game systems (the World of Darkness setting is what lured me) - I still like the d20 system, and so I feel the need to give my personal comment about the end of Ravenloft and Gamma World.
Ravenloft was (and is) gorgeous, und Gamma World d20 was a decent try. It is a sad day. The decline of the Sword&Sorcery line is not good news for the d20 world.

 

[Frostmane]

As to Van Richten's death, that was a 2e descision <circa Bleak House boxed set> I personally loved the concept of Van Richten's heirs taking up his legacy and found the twins very engaging characters in themselves.. Personally, I deeply, devoutly wish we could get Masque of Jade Horror and the 'Islands of Terror' stuff thats been rumored for so long. *sigh* well I guess now that my RPG budget balances better..just the occasional Necromancer module/Malhavoc splatbook to pick up from White Wolf. Seriously though, my local store isn't going to like this at all. Turns out about all of White Wolf's stuff lately has tanked on sales locally with the exception of Necromancer, Malhavoc and Ravenloft. The scary thing is it seems to be a general trend with everyone I've talked to in the DC/Maryland metro area <that gamestore's kindof a magnet for all us gamers in the region> . This may not have been the wisest of moves for WW if this is a general trend in other areas too.

 

[philreed]

Amen, brother. The last three Harry Potter novels spring immediately to mind. These days major publishers don't seem to have the spine to edit blockbuster authors.

It's true of even the smaller authors. I was reading one of those "Year's Best" sci-fi collections and ended up throwing the book into a corner of the room out of disgust. I make typos, we all do. But when you get mutiple commas in a row -- and now,,, we'll get the hell out -- and words that run together or have extra letters -- itt would have been the bestof times if a spellchecked had at least been used -- it's time to review the process.

I am not perfect. I try to be careful but I am only one person relying on help from freelancers, some trusted people, and a few valuable playtesters. I like to think if I had the backing of a company the size of some of the book publishers out there I could at least find the time to run a spellcheck. Oh wait, I do that now.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I'm off to Gen Con in a matter of hours, but before I go, I'd like to thank folks for the generally positive comments for the Kargatane and our work on 3E Ravenloft. (And as for those with complaints... well, I know where you're coming from and generally agree.)

John, I was a fan of the Kargatane in general and of your work in particular since way back when there were less Books of S . . . than fingers on your hand. I can only hope that you folks will find a way to keep it up - and I'm sorry that I never bought more Arthaus Ravenloft material than I did.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Ari,

Aren't you working on Heroes of Horror for WotC?

Sure did. But HoH isn't a Ravenloft sourcebook. While I got to do a lot of cool stuff in that book, it still didn't sate my desire to play in the Dark Lords' playground specifically.

 

[TiQuinn]

Given the relative immutability of Ravenloft, why do we need more sourcebooks for a setting that has dozens of adventures and supplements if you count the 2nd edition material? It seems like the framework has been given to everyone, now all a DM has to do is mine other sources for material, like Heroes of Horror. Plus there is a large fanbase on the web that's always coming up with new material.

 

[GMSkarka]

Ravenloft never quite jazzed me as much as I wanted it to.

I was wanting something that felt like the Hammer horror films that I'd stay up late to watch on the local horror-host show in the mid-80s (Crematia Mortem, here in the KC area), and really, only Masque of the Red Death came close to that.

The rest of the stuff struck me as.....well, perhaps this SAT-style analogy explains it best:

Ravenloft is to Horror, as ShadowRun is to Cyberpunk.

It erred a bit too much on the side of vanilla D&D for my tastes....the whole demi-plane thing, where characters could come in from other settings, etc.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Given the relative immutability of Ravenloft, why do we need more sourcebooks for a setting that has dozens of adventures and supplements if you count the 2nd edition material? It seems like the framework has been given to everyone, now all a DM has to do is mine other sources for material, like Heroes of Horror. Plus there is a large fanbase on the web that's always coming up with new material.

Because people without hundreds of game books -- even people who have just started playing -- also deserve a chance to experience Ravenloft.