Major WotC Announcement At Origins?

[Ranger REG]

I doubt it.

Monte Cook seems happy with his Malhavoc Press company he owns and operates.

Sean K Reynolds had planned to leave the company this year anyway. The company decided to let him go earlier.

If the company goes back to Peter Adkison, how do I know that he will not be pressured by Wizards' shareholders (the very reason he sold his company) to do that again? What will happen to the whole d20 movement since D&D is the "flagship" of the new rules system? We're gonna dump it after two years? That'll piss me off more?

While this may be good business move, I wonder what other people think of D&D as a hot commodity if a major toy manufacturer prefers to sell it off?

That is like Ford Motor Company selling their Thunderbird line to a company like Kia.

 

[Detwiller]

Hey Ranger

Ranger scribed:

"That is like Ford Motor Company selling their Thunderbird line to a company like Kia."

Hasrbo doesn't really view D20 as much of a success, it'd be more like Ford selling a hunk of old equipment to some guy from Iowa. D&D3 wasn't even a blip on Hasbro's earning report radar. The money makers –– Magic, Pokemon, Harry Potter –– the card games in short, are what interest Hasbro...

Game design for RPGs is not very cost effective and is very time consuming–– paying a ton of people 30,000 a year plus healthcare to pound out books that don't earn enough to even touch a tenth of the Magic sales, is not very sound thinking, as far as Hasbro is concerned.

I for one hope Peter buys it, ever since I started doing stuff for Wizards way back in '92, Peter's love of the game was evident. He'd be a good guy to run things...

-Dennis

 

[Dahak]

Maybe the reason WoTC is looking for a campaign setting is because they are selling D&D and they want to become just another D20 publisher under the open game lisence. Nah not possible.

Perhaps something similar though.

Theory: Peter A. buys the TSR brand name, the D&D brand name, and a few defunct TSR-related brands. Wizards of the Coast retains the Dragonlance brand, the Forgotten Realms brand (which has the potential after the TV series comes out of making a TCG/CCG setting), and gains an exclusive irrevocable license to publish both brands under the D20 System without using the OGL.

 

[Friadoc]

...from Steve Jackson's Site

Ok,

...this rumor, according to Jackson at http://www.sjgames.com is as follows:

Quote:

Now for the rumor from Origins. I am advised that WotC was demonstrating but not selling from their booth, that the buzz is that a sale is about to be announced, and that the rumor, I repeat RUMOR, on the floor was that media mogul Ted Turner has bought D&D. Remember, you heard it here first, unless it's not true.

-- Steve Jackson

End Quote

Although he obviously is known as a conspiracy junky, creative guy, and this could all be a joke - but....Argh!

 

[Dahak]

Re: ...from Steve Jackson's Site

Quote:

Now for the rumor from Origins. I am advised that WotC was demonstrating but not selling from their booth, that the buzz is that a sale is about to be announced, and that the rumor, I repeat RUMOR, on the floor was that media mogul Ted Turner has bought D&D. Remember, you heard it here first, unless it's not true.

-- Steve Jackson

End Quote

Oh great... in ten years, Vince McMahon will buy the failing D&D brand name from Turner for <3 Million dollars, and then a slew of midcard-level halflings, gnomes, dwarves and some jabroni named Booker Tarrasque will invade the WWE during a pay-per-view. Deja vu all over again...

 

[Nightfall]

LOL! I doubt Vince will be around long enough to buy it from Teddy. Or either of them actually. I think they'll be dead WAY before any of that happens.

 

[Friadoc]

Re: Re: ...from Steve Jackson's Site

Oh great... in ten years, Vince McMahon will buy the failing D&D brand name from Turner for <3 Million dollars, and then a slew of midcard-level halflings, gnomes, dwarves and some jabroni named Booker Tarrasque will invade the WWE during a pay-per-view. Deja vu all over again...

Yeah,

...then, mid-way through all of it, he will higher Gygax, bring him in as a heel and quickly turn him into the 'savoir' of the brand.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Should (emphasis, double-emphasis, big if) Turner bought D&D, I'd definitely be ambivalent (yay for using the word the right way).

On the one hand, Ted Turner... D&D... ugh.

On the other, Turner did create a huge media empire and made millions of dollars - the man knows how to manage money at least, something that I don't think Hasbro nor TSR were capable of doing very well. If someone like Turner is willing to take a chance on D&D... hey, great. Can't do too much worse than has been done, unless he announces 4E...

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Re: Re: Re: ...from Steve Jackson's Site

...then, mid-way through all of it, he will higher Gygax, bring him in as a heel and quickly turn him into the 'savoir' of the brand.

Oh, man, I need to dig out my Gyga-maniac t-shirt. Oh-yeah.

You know what I am saying, brother?

I just hope he lays off on the fake tan oil this time- trying to look like an efreet for dramatic effect is just creepy.

FD

 

[Furn_Darkside]

On the one hand, Ted Turner... D&D... ugh.

Well, the limit of his partcipation would be to fund it and force them to put orc symbols on the pictures of elves*.

Otherwise, he would put a flunky in there would run it by ego.

Though.. I could see it turning much darker and doing anything possible to make religous people angry.

FD


*explanation: he got kicked out of Brown for painting swastika on the doors of Jewish students. And, he has been known to walk down to cnn and tell anchors to make editorial points while on air.