No more Star Wars RPG - It's Official

[Sledge]

Heh. Interplay once tried to countersue Paramount for their inability to sell Trek software and breach of contract (they want to opt out of the agreement).

Their defense? Paramount isn't putting out good Trek shows, ergo not attracting enough customers to their licensed merchandise. You should be a lawyer for Interplay and perhaps WotC later down the line.

The difference being that there was official word that there would only be 3 new movies when WotC got the license, so they didn't lose out. Additionally with the tv series in production SW may pick up again.

 

[Gez]

Sadly, I never recall an RPG that had great long term success that was tied in with a series of movies.

I don't recall a series of movie that had a great long term success that was tied in with an RPG.

I think that it may have something to do with people feeling that they are tied to the setting's doctrine or set characters.

Or it could just be because licensed products are less good than products intended from the beginning to work for their associated medium.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Did you follow the old d6 SWRPG? There were dozens and dozens of books made for that, there are many products that WEG made that never had anything like them made for d20.

I did follow the d6 version. In fact, I played in a campaign for awhile. Whereas I thought the game was kind of fun, I thought some of the products were a little suspect.

 

[delericho]

Or it could just be because licensed products are less good than products intended from the beginning to work for their associated medium.

That's not a universal truth, but there's certainly something in it. The fact is that storytelling in each medium is different, and needs to be handled differently to work. This is one of the reasons that the original series Star Trek transfers better to the movies than the Next Generation did: the core dynamic of the show was Kirk/Spock/McCoy, with the others as secondary characters. This triumverate is then the focus of the movies, which is ideal for a 120-minute adventure film. By contrast, Next Generation had a lot more emphasis on all seven major characters. When the time came to move to film, the focus had to be put squarely on a very small number (I think Picard/Data/Worf were the ones chosen), and the others relegated to the background. It changed the dynamic a great deal, and hurt the films. (Of course, that wasn't the only problem with the Next Gen films.)

Likewise, most films and TV series these days have a single major character (or, at best, a very small number of main characters). 24, for example, is very much the Jack Bauer show. When you move a show such as this to an RPG, where you really have to have a team of main characters who are each of equal importance, the dynamic changes, and the game suffers by comparison.

That's not to say that roleplaying in a licensed setting if doomed to failure. However, you have to accept that the tone will almost certainly be different, and work from there. Don't go into a Buffy game expecting the same group dynamic as you see in the show - what works for TV doesn't work for an RPG.

 

[Ranger REG]

The difference being that there was official word that there would only be 3 new movies when WotC got the license, so they didn't lose out.

Three new movies? Yes.

Impressive movies (compared to the Original Trilogy)? Hah! Hardly.

 

[Ranger REG]

That's not a universal truth, but there's certainly something in it. The fact is that storytelling in each medium is different, and needs to be handled differently to work. This is one of the reasons that the original series Star Trek transfers better to the movies than the Next Generation did: the core dynamic of the show was Kirk/Spock/McCoy, with the others as secondary characters. This triumverate is then the focus of the movies, which is ideal for a 120-minute adventure film. By contrast, Next Generation had a lot more emphasis on all seven major characters. When the time came to move to film, the focus had to be put squarely on a very small number (I think Picard/Data/Worf were the ones chosen), and the others relegated to the background. It changed the dynamic a great deal, and hurt the films. (Of course, that wasn't the only problem with the Next Gen films.)

I don't know if the dynamic changed at all when porting from TV series to film. I also don't know if that actually hurt this particular series on film. Picard will always be the "star" captain. Granted, TV series allow many stories to air that can give other characters equal airtime (one episode can spotlight La Forge while the next episode will be on Troi), but in the end it's always about captain first and then his crew.

If you ask me, it would be an [invalid] excuse used by writers. First Contact did pretty well of all the TNG films. It all boils down to how to use the character properly. Having Worf undergoing puberty all over again in INSURRECTION is how to improperly use a character.

And if Brent Spiner want to pull a Spock stunt in NEMESIS at least make it a final death without having to introduce B4 as a failsafe feature in case he wants to return.

On-Topic...

The only two things I want from WotC to release within the next 12 months are the Ultimate Starships with expanded material for use with and compatible to RCR (besides Jedi & Lighsaber, starships are just as important when it comes to SW), and Ultimate Battlestations (already written and submitted by Rodney Moridin Thompson and now collecting dust in WotC's building).

 

[delericho]

The only two things I want from WotC to release within the next 12 months are the Ultimate Starships

I would very much like to see this, too. Shame it's not going to happen.

and Ultimate Battlestations (already written and submitted by Rodney Moridin Thompson and now collecting dust in WotC's building).

See, I don't understand why they aren't releasing this. There are only four expansions to the miniatures game slated for next year, so why not? Presumably, the work has already been paid for, so... (Hey, even an eBook release would be welcome.)

 

[kenobi65]

See, I don't understand why they aren't releasing this. There are only four expansions to the miniatures game slated for next year, so why not? Presumably, the work has already been paid for, so... (Hey, even an eBook release would be welcome.)

Been paid for, but, from what I understand, it's not been art-directed or laid out yet. So, it's not like they've got the file ready to go to the printer.

(The other thing that's come up in a similar thread on the WotC board is that WotC's license with Lucasfilm severely restricts their ability to provide any sort of electronic or online products...and that includes PDFs, unfortunately. So, for those of you who might be thinking that might be a more economical way for WotC to publish SWRPG products...you'd be right, but, it ain't gonna happen.)

Also, the "six releases per year" also includes those scenario books they've been publishing for the Miniatures Game. So, I'd guess that the remaining two slots in 2006 that aren't being taken up by actual Minis sets will be that sort of thing.

 

[LostSoul]

7D is only the human maximum trait rating, IIRC. Maybe he was playing a mad whack Twi'lek Jedi or something

Oh yeah, you're right. (Although it's 4D for humans, 5D for others.) A wookie with 5D str and a melee weapon that does STR+4D could do it. That's a mighty big stick, though.

 

[Ranger REG]

See, I don't understand why they aren't releasing this. There are only four expansions to the miniatures game slated for next year, so why not? Presumably, the work has already been paid for, so... (Hey, even an eBook release would be welcome.)

They paid for the written text from the writer himself. They need to assign editors to go over the submitted draft, have meetings whether the rules text is workable, get layout designers to design the page and place artwork, illustrations, maps, etc., artists must do them illos as well as the cover art, and then call the printer and schedule an appointment to send the final layout to them for printing and distribution.

It's not like they can go down to Kinko's.