Rich Redman: Why licensed properties suck

[johnsemlak]

I'm wondering if this rant is a bit too generalized. Of course, I have NO idea how much hassle liscences are other than what I read in Redman's piece, but many companies seem to use them

Wouldn't the level of hassle depend somewhat on the kind of liscensor. I mean, if the liscensor and the liscensee are similar types of companies (e.g. both RPG producers), there must be a greater likelyhood of some common language. For example the liscences that WotC gives to KenzerCo (Kalamar and Hackmaster), Sovereign Press (Dragonlance), and S&SS (Ravenloft). Of course, WotC is now part of Hasbro, so that may change that a bit. Still, those lisecenses seem to work well for the companies involved.

Still, I can only imagine that the above relationships must differ somewhat when a RPG producer deals with a liscensor that doesnt' deal with RPGs at all, like WotC's liscense to make StarWars stuff, or S&SS's Warcraft liscense.

 

[trancejeremy]

Hmmm, he has really bad taste in movies. Liking the movie versions of Starship Troopers and McHale's Navy?

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Funny thing: I (and my gaming group) have bought quite a few licensed RPG products. I picked up WarCraft, I picked up Alternity/StarCraft, I have quite a few Star Wars books. My buddy (and the only other GM I know) has the entire product line of Everquest.

And we never play any of them. The only one we've actually played is Star Wars, and, even then, we don't play it much. They're good books (except for StarCraft), but we're just not that interested in playing those worlds.

I'm not even sure what it is, but licensed products just don't do it for us... no matter how much we're interested in them when we buy them.

 

[Desdichado]

Hey, Starship Troopers was good for a laugh! It's the book that was really hard to slog through.

 

[Rand]

One would think WoTC licensing DragonLance to Soverign Press was a good idea, as most of those behind Soverign Press were the original designers of the DragonLance modules, and the primary writers behind the novels... surely they would understand DragonLance and care more about it then anyone?

Logically it would seem to be, this one example negates many of his issues with licensed properties.
Decent rant, but it strikes me as being much too generalized.

 

[Henry]

One would think WoTC licensing DragonLance to Soverign Press was a good idea... surely they would understand DragonLance and care more about it then anyone?

I agree, but would also call that one the exception instead of the rule; the property was not in development, they WERE part of the original design team, and being a one-off supplement for WotC, I would suggest it was a very smart use of license. Also, it was originally a "gaming" property, in one sense - that "RPG industry nepotism" that many people have spoken of really was beneficial to seeing that product through.

 

[Unseelie]

I've heard some pretty amazing horror stories about the second Star Trek RPG (never did get a clear answer on why they were required to suspend production on that one T:tNG product), regarding Paramount. I wonder if STJ has had problems in this area; they certainly have produced a lot of licensed products (Discworld, Witch World, Horseclans, etc).

SJG I presume...

Not a representative of the company, so I can't speak for them, but it's my understanding that their licensed books normally have a MUCH smaller print run than their non-licensed products. The sole media product exceptions seem to have been Discworld, and to a lesser extent, Wild Cards.

Effectively, media licensed properties are generally either works of love, or vanity projects... a way to promote your system to license holders so that you might land the holy grail of licenses one day.

 

[s/LaSH]

The rant makes perfect sense, but as a consumer, I can callously not care and just buy the stuff thoughtlessly...

On another note, I liked Starship Troopers (despite the lack of powered armour), and my father (who I believe is entitled to use the rank Major, and was once assigned to a group to be parachuted behind the Iron Curtain) commented on how realistic the casting choices were. Just for the record.

 

[2d6]

Decent article and on the one hand I can understand and sympathize....

On the other I tend to agree that I like well done licensed products and can callously not care life's tough all over...

 

[BrooklynKnight]

Guys let me remind you, if you want to discuss this article with Rich Redman feel free to go post at the TGM EZboard, which is at their site www.thegamemechanics.com (click on torches and pitchforks)

If you want you can also join the official game mechanics chatroom which is based on chat.psionics.net in #TGM. There is a link in my sig.

If ya guys want i can try go get rich to stop by for a small chat about this soemtime this week. (note, i said TRY)