Attorney vs Lawyer

[zenld]

I dunno. I mean, when did the last Indy film come out? 1989? I'm not sure if that's "hot" enough to assume that the license would boost sales. It certainly didn't help the Masterbook version of Indy much.

There is a new Indy film in development. Timed right, this sort of book would fly.

 

[JPL]

There is a new Indy film in development. Timed right, this sort of book would fly.

Right.

And WEG Star Wars was apparently a strong seller even in the years without a movie [although Star Wars had more merchandising through that era that Indy has had].

I don't know much about the Masterbook Indy game...but were ANY Masterbook games really all that successful?

Adventure is a great game, but if it had really been successful financially I suspect a follow-up product would've emerged by now. Also, the production values are not quite up to par with some of the nicer WotC hardbacks...I'd rather see a mix of Indy still and original arts than photoshopped pictures of LARPers.

But you're right, Buzz --- a non-licensed pulp d20 Modern setting might just work. It's a niche that needs filling [Forbidden Kingdoms has apparently not caught on]. If I had my druthers and a million bucks, I'd buy/lease the rights to Pulp Heroes or homebrew something very similar, swipe liberally from GURPS Cliffhangers, Adventure!, and my stack of Doc Savage paperbacks, and crank out my very own pulp game.

 

[buzz]

And WEG Star Wars was apparently a strong seller even in the years without a movie [although Star Wars had more merchandising through that era that Indy has had].

Yeah, I think it's hard to compare *anything* to SW. SW is a cultural pheonomenon... Indy is just a very successful series of movies.

Adventure is a great game, but if it had really been successful financially I suspect a follow-up product would've emerged by now. Also, the production values are not quite up to par with some of the nicer WotC hardbacks...I'd rather see a mix of Indy still and original arts than photoshopped pictures of LARPers.

Well, FWIW, WW stated outright that Adventure! would be a one-off deal. And, FWIW, there are only a few photos in the book. Mostly it's art by the guy who did Nevermen. And it's been successful enough, despite being OOP, that WW are supposedly resurrecting it.

But, I see your point nonetheless.

Thankfully, GR is publishing print versions of Game Mechanics' d20M material, which is about as good as WotC publishing them (as it's all the d20M designers). Perhaps GR will start to branch out into setting material as well.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

WoTC will do the same thing with Alternity/Dark Matter that they did with Planescape. They will NEVER publish a new book based on the property but they will mine it for all it's worth and use the ideas for new books.
The new D&D and FR books are riddled with Planescape content. Heck, some Planescape characters' names were even present in the Character Generator's random name function.

 

[Sir Elton]

Agents of PSI and Dark Matter

WoTC will do the same thing with Alternity/Dark Matter that they did with Planescape. They will NEVER publish a new book based on the property but they will mine it for all it's worth and use the ideas for new books.
The new D&D and FR books are riddled with Planescape content. Heck, some Planescape characters' names were even present in the Character Generator's random name function.

I think the Agents of PSI setting can be expanded with Dark*Matter material quite easily. After all, it has a little X-Files in it. Of course, you can combine Agents of PSI with Spycraft as well (you get Shadowforce Archer if you do).

 

[buzz]

I think the Agents of PSI setting can be expanded with Dark*Matter material quite easily.

Heck, Urban Arcana as well. I mean, the bodaks in the new Menace Manual are undead greys, after all. And I'd much rather work for the Hoffman Institute than Department-7...

 

[Sir Elton]

Heck, Urban Arcana as well. I mean, the bodaks in the new Menace Manual are undead greys, after all. And I'd much rather work for the Hoffman Institute than Department-7...

Don't forget Shadow Chasers.

 

[Greatwyrm]

They will NEVER publish a new book based on the property but they will mine it for all it's worth and use the ideas for new books.

I think that's a bit strong. They said when 3e came out that they weren't going to publish anything from old settings. Then we started seeing stuff like Ravenloft and Gamma World. Oriental Adventures was basically licensed out to AEG. We just got a Dragonlance hardback. There were persistant rumors of Planescape making a comeback with White Wolf. Even good ol' Dark Sun is still trying to claw its way up out of the sand.

WotC may not produce a new Dark Matter book, but there's nothing to say somebody like Monte Cook, Wolfgang Baur, or Jim Butler couldn't get a license and get us a d20M version.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

They said when 3e came out that they weren't going to publish anything from old settings. Then we started seeing stuff like Ravenloft and Gamma World. Oriental Adventures was basically licensed out to AEG. We just got a Dragonlance hardback. There were persistant rumors of Planescape making a comeback with White Wolf. Even good ol' Dark Sun is still trying to claw its way up out of the sand.

They aren't WoTC though.
It may sound simplistic, but there it is.

 

[Greatwyrm]

They aren't WoTC though.
It may sound simplistic, but there it is.

True, they aren't WotC. But at the same time, none of those properties were just mined dry without putting out new books. Through licensing, WotC has given all of them a new lease on life. Whether WotC prints them or not really doesn't matter all that much.