Decipher's LotR RPG..Toast?

[JeffB]

I saw this over at www.guildcompanion.com

Anyone else know anything about this?

"Decipher and Lord of the Rings RPG

The final instalment of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy has come, has been and is being watched by millions. And despite the fact that Peter Jackson had to make changes in migrating the epic from book to cinema, it was a thrilling and gloriously spectacular film. Jackson and the film deserve to win a clutch of awards.

Which makes the news that Decipher has closed one of its studios - the studio that was responsible for their Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game - all the more tragic. All of the staff who worked at that studio were fired and it seems likely that most, if not all, of the projects they had been working (even though which are essentially finished) will never see publication....."

This sucks

 

[Son_of_Thunder]

I'll add what i've heard!

Well,

This was scooped on RPG.net awhile ago. And the fans are none too pleased. It seems the whole rpg division (los angeles) was let go, so no star trek either. From my understanding the rpg license came with the ccg. It just seems that Decipher put more energy into the card game than the rpg. The fans blasted Decipher for sitting on a potential platinum mine and not capitalizing on it, which I agree.

There wan't even a release to go along with Return of the King in theatres. There is a possiblility that what has been written will be released, eventually. Latest I heard was that Decipher was shopping the RPG around to other companies. I hope it's true, maybe we'll finally get a D20 Lord of the Rings.

Son of Thunder

 

[Wombat]

Given how badly edited the games are, how badly they were behind on the production schedule and all the rest, I cannot mourn Decipher's experiment.

The system was good, but horridly explained, and even tons of erratta did not solve matters.

These games were poor stepchildren to the card games...

 

[Ranger REG]

I know that some of you wished that Decipher had used the d20 System for their games. After all, the company was created initially as a TCG publisher following Wizards' sucessful launch of Magic: The Gathering and a whole new gaming hobby.

Then again, there are those who resisted because they don't think that the system can fully embodies the "feel" of Middle-Earth, or that they do not want their games to be lost in the large d20 market. I encountered that resistance when Last Unicorn Games was acquired by Wizards (and along with it, the rapidly expiring Star Trek and Dune licenses).

I can't help but look back in time and chuckled, when Decipher made a surprise announcement (acquiring Star Trek license) at GenCon 2000, in an attempt to undermine Wizards (basically going behind their backs to secretly negotiate with Paramount) and in my POV, overshadow the launch of 3e and the limited sales run of Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium RPG.

Yet I still have faith in Decipher, especially when they hired the familiar pool of game designers that worked on LUG-Trek (To this day, whenever I can, I still play their game with the Icon System) out of that LA office.

And I still have faith in Decipher now, even though the bulk of game designers that created Decipher RPG Studio in 2001 have now left since or have been laid off due to the closing of their LA office.

Oh, well. Whatever they do, I wish them all the best of luck.

P.S. Mongoose have been hinting yet another new licensing deal, aside from Starship Troopers. Hmm.

 

[Unseelie]

Yeah, and we all know that Mongoose = quality. [/sarcasm]

 

[Wormwood]

Yeah, and we all know that Mongoose = quality. [/sarcasm]

Judging by the Conan RPG, I'd say Mongoose definitely "=quality". And then some.

Excellent writing. Imaginative use of OGL. Strong evocation of source material (REH's Conan). Highest quality printing/artwork throughout.

Anything else?

 

[Atom Again]

Judging by the Conan RPG, I'd say Mongoose definitely "=quality". And then some.

Excellent writing. Imaginative use of OGL. Strong evocation of source material (REH's Conan). Highest quality printing/artwork throughout.

Anything else?

Mongoose's OGL Horror is also excellent. But, ah, Quint books, anyone?

We can probably agree that Mongoose is a mixed bag at best.


Atom Again
[who is still trying to find someone to buy his copy of Quintessential Witch]

 

[Acid_crash]

Yes, with the exception of Quint Monk, Sorcerer, Barbarian and Ranger (the only four I liked), the rest of the Quint line is rather bland and uninspiring...at least to me.

But, when it comes to their actualy rpg's, I think all of them are pretty good in their own right...Judge Dredd is cool, so is Slaine, and Argameddon, and B5 even, and Conan looks cool, I don't know what Lone Wolf is, and I do like Starship Troopers, so all of those are cool...and if they happen to get Star Trek and Dune, well, I hope its Dune cuz Star Trek just bores me.

 

[Banshee16]

And here I was thinking of giving the Lord of the Rings RPG a try, to get a break from the sometimes bland style of D20 and try something different.

Hopefully the books will remain in print for a little while. I was actually impressed with the core book despite the errors, and had been thinking of picking up the others.

I'm not sure I'd want WotC to make LOTR. It would be too cheesy unfortunately..we don't need Middle-Earth with +3 Halberds of Wounding, and the game balance issues that D20 has (ie. mainly that in Middle Earth some character choices are flat out better than others.....but WotC doens't like that).

However, some D20 companies, like Green Ronin and Fantasy Flight Games would do amazing jobs with the license I bet...

Banshee

 

[KenM]

I heard Mongooses' Babylon 5 stuff is really good, faithful. I mean to pick it up someday.