Orcus of Necromancer Games says "You were right, I was wrong"

[JoeGKushner]

Oh come on now, Joe I havent responded because it seemed like there wasnt much to say to the whole tulip conspiracy thing. Plus, I put it out there for people to discuss. I dont want to shape the conversation. But if my non-posting is going to be interpreted as an "I dont care" move, then here I am posting. Caring is one thing I do do.

I'm certainly not saying you don't care. It's just En World is not the haven it used to be. This isn't a slam against EN World, it's the evolution of the other companies to handle more and more of the support on their own if anything. This is especially true when compaies move beyond the D&D model and start doing their own games. While non-D&D games are welcomed here, they're certainly not the mainstream.

 

[Qwillion]

I am glad to see that these were finally released. I hope they do well. I would not expect real #s to be released but I would love to hear if these are doing about what Clark expected, worse than expected, or Better than Clark expected.

I look forward to more releases from Necromancer Games. Crosses fingers from a Tome of Horrors IV for Pathfinder Rpg

 

[DaveMage]

Word from Bill Webb on the Necromancer Games boards is that it will depend on sales of the first which, as a pdf only right now, have been slow based on what I've heard However, Drive Thru RPG is supposed to be launching POD within a few weeks and a lot of people have stated that they are holding out for dead-tree versions. Hopefully sales will spike then. So here's my plug: if you want to see 'em published (and I do as a decidedly biased observer) buy the first one!

I'm waiting for POD, so you'll have at least 1 more sale at that point. And, as I'm sure you've seen on the Necro boards, I'm not alone. (Actually, I'm hoping for a .pdf + POD option as Paizo has spoiled us in that regard.)

 

[Nikosandros]

I'm waiting for POD, so you'll have at least 1 more sale at that point. And, as I'm sure you've seen on the Necro boards, I'm not alone. (Actually, I'm hoping for a .pdf + POD option as Paizo has spoiled us in that regard.)

Yes, I'm also waiting for the POD. A print + PDF would be lovely indeed.

 

[PatrickLawinger]

A few points...

If I could ask, was the problem with the license or the conversions? I can certainly understand if there were legal issues that couldn't get resolved, but if it was a conversion problem, I find it a little bit harder to understand. Some clarification would be most appreciated!

--Steve

I am not answering for either Bill or Clark here, but I want to point out that things were a little more complicated than they appear. Publishing a book, particularly a printed book that has to go into distribution, is not trivial.

First, the announcement of 4e caused Necro and Kenzer (who was their partner on these books) to pull these three finished books (the books just released as .pdfs) from the printer.

Artwork, etc. is generally paid for when the book is printed/released and the art contracts for these books were based on a print release and the much larger predicted sales that would have been expected with a print release.

In order to allow Bill to release these books as .pdfs he had to negotiate with Kenzer (their partner on these books) to have them released to him (kudos to Dave Kenzer, one of the coolest guys in the business). Then he had to renegotiate with the artists and author(s) because the expected profits/margins for a .pdf release are much lower than the planned for print release(s).

Second, books like this that were held back pending the GSL, and then the "revised" GSL were not converted right away. There was no sense trying to convert rules to the new system until Necro knew for certain they would/could use the GSL. By the time the revised GSL came out, apparent sales of 3rd party 4e books, and distribution of those books, was low enough that Necro and Paizo (their potential partner for new 4e books) decided against converting books at that time.

Finally, conversion of an already designed, and mapped, product to 4e might be fairly simple for a DM, but for a published product it isn't as trivial. Many 4e powers for both PCs and monsters involved pushing, pulling, etc. opponents on the battlefield. This means that room sizes and terrain play a larger role in the game.

Running out of time here, I'll just say that I think it is great that Bill went through all of the time and effort to get these books released. Obviously they are out much later than he (and many others) would have liked, but they are out. I know that Bill wants to release some of the other books that were prepped and ready to go when the 4e announcement was made, but that is going to be dependent on how these books sell.

Back to real life,
Patrick

 

[cnath.rm]

Running out of time here, I'll just say that I think it is great that Bill went through all of the time and effort to get these books released. Obviously they are out much later than he (and many others) would have liked, but they are out. I know that Bill wants to release some of the other books that were prepped and ready to go when the 4e announcement was made, but that is going to be dependent on how these books sell.

Back to real life,
Patrick

Patrick, do any of those other books have your name as the author offhand? and is there any word on when/if Hall of the Rainbow Mage will get reworked and/or the "offending" artwork removed for pdf sales

I rather enjoyed your Necro work so I figured I'd ask.